"M" Stands for "Modify"

Yes, modify. Most of you are probably well aware that my adjustment from one to two children has, as promised by my brother-in-law, "rocked my world." I'd like to think most moms have a hard time with this particular adjustment. It was one thing to be up all night with a baby when it was just one child and it was actually feasible to do as I was advised and "sleep when the baby sleeps." It's another thing entirely to be up all night and then face the racing footsteps and all too cheery "good morning!" of an energetic four year old at 8 a.m. (which, these days, feels like 4 a.m.). And in my particular situation, I feel I've gotten an extra run for my money with the combination of nonstop Eliot and ever-eating Zach. I literally have not gotten a good night's sleep for over four months. I. Am. Exhausted.

Enter the need for modification. I'm sure this will only continue as more children come to our family (which, at this point, is questionable), but I've had to modify my life and expectations. Needless to say, the first-time mommy fussiness over dropped binkies and matchy-matchy outfits is out the door. Gone also are my incessant needs to be makeuped and hairstyled before leaving the house, of having mopped floors on a weekly basis, and resisting thrown-together dinners of corndogs/nuggets (whatever's in the freezer) and fries. We are surviving around here. Expectations are changing.

I have added to my mantras the phrase, "stress less." I tell it to myself in numerous situations throughout each day, like when I start feeling guilty about dumping my baby in the swing (again) for his nap. Yes, I know it's forming bad "sleep associations" (or so I've read in one of the many sleep books I've been studying lately) and that he will eventually grow out of the thing. But, for now, he fits and he sleeps, so I "stress less" about it. Hey, it's a win-win: he sleeps, and I get things done (maybe -- or maybe I just sleep, too). So for now we'll keep buying D batteries in bulk and keep Zach a-swingin' until his legs are hanging out over the swing. I'll worry about fixing his sleep associations then. My hope is that when that happens, I will at least have gotten a few good nights of sleep under my belt to be able to deal with the sleep training.

So yes, we're trying to "stress less" and modify expectations. I do less ironing and more rocking my baby (I know, yet another bad sleep association). I try to help lefty Eliot properly "pinch" his crayons and pencils and cheer for his efforts to memorize his address and phone number so he can earn his coveted candy corns at preschool. We don't make it to the library or park as often as we should. Eliot watches way too many Disney movies. But, we are surviving. We are modifying. We are streamlining.

Which is why I'm cutting down to "just" one blog. And no promises on how frequently I'll update this one. When I get a baby that sleeps through the night, I'll post more regularly. Until then, it will probably be hit and miss. But I will try to share as often as I can, because even in this crazy, sleep-deprived haze I'm living in, there are fun and funny moments, there are adorable photo ops of the boys, and life is good. It's a new, modified, not-so-perfect good, but it's good.