A mum of two...

You may have noticed I haven't been posting quite as much as usual. And these two little rascals are my excuse!

I have been a mum of two for exactly one month today. One long, tiring, amazing blur of a month! Life is really zooming by now, which is funny because the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy seemed to drag by at snails pace. Dave went back to work two weeks ago and that was when the reality of having two children under 3 really hit home! It's been a massive learning curve and totally overwhelming at times. Being sleep deprived and still having to run around after Alice all day is a lot harder than I imagined, and I often feel guilty that I don't get to spend quite as much quality time with her as I used to... But she has adapted so well to having a brother and I am so proud of her.

Thomas is one month today. He is the happiest little baby! He has sort of gotten into his own little routine so I'm just going with the flow at the moment. No strict routines as such, except for bedtime. Becasue I have Alice to put to bed as well as Thomas, bedtime is a bit of a military operation! I make sure Thomas is awake at half 4 so he will go to sleep for about half 6. Then he is bathed, fed, changed and put to sleep downstairs, followed by Alice's bath and bed. So far, it's been pretty good. He is still up every 3 hours for food so I'm up at 10pm, 1am, 3am, 5am and then with Alice at half 6... but it all just seems a lot more manageable this time around. It helps that he will wake up, have a feed and then go straight back to sleep... but also I just get this overwhelming need to savour this time with him. Having Alice in the room next door is a constant reminder that the baby faze doesn't last forever, and soon he will be a walking, talking toddler just like Alice is.

There are a lot more challenges with having two children. Leaving the house takes about 2 hours of careful planning! Sometimes Thomas and Alice will both be crying or trying to get my attention at the same time and I will have to figure out who needs me more urgently first, or Thomas will do a poo just as Alice has splashed water all over her clothes... I sometimes wish I could split myself into two!

I do find it very hard to complain too much though. Right now as I write this, it is 7.30pm and both of them are sound asleep. Alice went to bed at 7 and Thomas at half 6. Dave is out playing football tonight and I am here, with a cup of tea, waiting for the Great British Bake Off to start... I mean. Two children under 3 and I am able to sit down with a hot cup of tea and watch TV before the night shift commences. I consider myself very very lucky, I know not all babies and toddlers are this good! And I am looking forward to sleeping all night through on Saturday when Dave takes over the night shift, so to complain would be a really silly thing to do!

xx