Mother of Two

So I haven't really been on the computer since my stroke. With how my handwriting suffered I wasn't really in a rush to find out how bad my typing was. But I am going to give this a try. Life with two little boys is hard, I'm not going to lie. However, I feel extremely blessed to be the mother to these two amazing children. They really are children of God and it shows in everything they do; especially when it comes to Michael. I feel so blessed to watch him grow and learn. Even if there are times when he has an attitude and drives me up a wall I still love him. When he throws tantrums or does the opposite of what we tell him I just have to remember that he is only two and will learn if we continue to teach him. I never would have thought that life would lead us to where we are now. If you asked us where we'd be two years ago we would have told you we would still be in Hawaii while Tyler did nursing school. I guess that wasn't the plan though. I never thought we'd be starting over for the third time in our marriage; but that's what happens when you move across an ocean. Not that I'm complaining, we enjoyed our time in Hilo and wouldn't change it for anything. But the way things are going it's hard not to think about where we would be if we hadn't moved. Anyway I'm getting off track. Benjamin in a little over two weeks old and he is such a good baby. He sleeps a lot still, but that's normal. He is getting better at nursing which I'm very grateful for... He is also well above where they expected his weight to be. All in all we couldn't be happier. The only complaint I have at the moment is that because Michael isn't sleeping in his own room, it is sometimes a guessing game on if he wakes up when I feed Benjamin. So far there have been a couple nights where he wakes up at four when Tyler gets up to get ready for work (coincidentally also a time Benjamin has picked to eat most nights) and won't go back to sleep until after five. My hope is that we will have the opportunity to get Michael comfortable sleeping in his own bed and own room. As for being a big brother, Michael loves it. The first time he came to visit us in the hospital he was more interested in eating my cookie, but he has gradually warmed up to having a little one around. He loves to come up and give him kisses, always wants to lay next to him, is really good at patting his tummy when he is upset, and he loves to hold his brother. In fact he loves holding him so much that no one else is allowed to touch Benjamin when he is holding him. (It is quite hilarious). We moved into our own apartment this week, meaning it has been me at home alone with the boys until Tyler gets home from work. He took this week off of school in order to help me get adjusted to being with the boys by myself. So far it hasn't been terrible. I'm really trying to get away from watching TV all day so hopefully soon we will be able to navigate the bus system. Then my next big thing is going to the park hoping that Michael understands that I also have brother. Eventually I will get this two kids thing down, everyone else does right? Until then I guess I'll just do the best I can and be grateful for any help I get.

Update: I wrote this a couple months ago, but never published it. Benjamin is now over two months old and doing great! He has almost doubled his birth weight and is such a happy baby. Michael continues to be a great big brother! Every time Benjamin cries, Michael is right there to pat him and give him a hug. And although there are times when Michael wants me to come with him and I can't because I'm feeding Benjamin, he is slowly understanding that I will help him as soon as I can. Emphasis on slowly, because he is only two and still has a big temper. As for Michael and his development, I finally broke down and started the evaluation process for speech therapy. His next two evaluations are this week and we are praying that they go well. I just want to be able to help him communicate more and get back up to where other kids his age are.