Life With 3 Kids

I come from a two child family, it was just me and my brother who is 18 months younger than me.  Growing up I often wished that there was someone else to play with, particularly when my brother was alone playing Legos, something that held no interest for me -- I built the same thing every time:  a house. 

I decided from a young age that I wanted more than two kids -- probably three, maybe even four.  When my husband and I started dating and talked about children, we both said three or four (at least one of which would be adopted). 

Then we had our first.  He was fussy (bordering on colic) and slept horribly for the first 12 months of his life.  I was beginning to reconsider this whole 3-4 kids idea.  We were surprised with our second child, but we were fully intending to start trying to conceive in the next few months, so it was not shocking.  I was terrified of a repeat experience as I had with my first in his newborn years, but our daughter could NOT have been more different.  She was an amazing sleeper (sleeping through the night by 8 weeks and from 7 pm - 7 am by 12 weeks) and nothing seemed to bother her.  She was the most laid-back and easy baby.

It was the memories of my second that drove my desire to give birth to just one more baby about a year and a half ago.  I wanted to squeeze those chubby thighs and kiss those chubby cheeks.  I missed having a child that didn't yet talk to me, just gave me sweet little grins.  And, I knew that this was most likely going to be the last opportunity -- I am going to be 35 next year and with a previous c-section, I didn't want to take chances that I would have to have a repeat c-section and I feared being on a short leash while in labor.  Plus, I would like to get some sleep at SOME point in my life!

Our third baby has been all of the chubby smooshiness that I could have wanted.  Seriously, if I could bottle up the sensation of kissing fat baby cheeks and sell it, I would be a billionaire.  For the most part, he has been a hybrid of my two previous baby experiences -- mostly laid-back, happy baby, but not a great sleeper, though he's not as bad as his brother was.

I have been able to take things more in stride this time around.  Yes, sleep deprivation is still a really horrible feeling, plus having to take care of two other children after you haven't gotten any sleep and can't take a nap since the other two need attention, in addition to my husband going out of town for work two separate times for a few days apiece within 5 weeks.  However, this time I have admitted my weakness and called on the Lord and I know that He's given me the strength, energy, and yes, joy, that I have needed in this season.  I don't want to look back at this time and only see a sleep-deprived fog.  I know how quickly this baby time with Elias is going to go and I want to make sure I enjoy it!

I will say though that there are times when I think "Wow, was this totally crazy that we had a third kid???"  Mostly I say that when the sleep deprivation gets really bad.  However, the other two were potty-trained, sleeping through the night (mostly), they were both in school, and now we started all over again.  Elias is at the point that he needs regular naps, so I'm once again tied to home while he naps -- which isn't a bad thing, but difficult because I would really love to volunteer to go on field trips at Ben's school, but I can't right now since I don't have a babysitter and he won't take a bottle.

However, I know that this is all just a phase and it will go more quickly than I want it to.  Having Elias was absolutely the best thing that we almost didn't do.  As happens with each child, I can't imagine our family without him anymore!