Adjusting... and family matters

Parenting is a lesson in adjusting
... comes the reminder from a parenting newsletter, to my in-box this week, as Kaitlyn turns 2 weeks old yesterday. And it adds, too, "...don't get too comfortable; your baby will continue to surprise you with new developments and changes to keep you on your toes."

Now what it didn't say, to second- or third-time parents like me, is that besides the baby, the older children are also the ones to keep us on our toes!

Kaitlyn is our third child, yes, and some things (about babies) we've been through before with Jon and Ben. Like the "nocturnal" phase, that we just have to bear with it for awhile more, but yes, I'm pooped!

Things around the house are also more routine, like, cooking and doing laundry, these being lighter chores I've gone back to do as soon as I could, and where we can cut corners, we do, if not put on hold. Bringing home baby, we've been blessed, too, by families from our church who provided us with a week of dinner, under a service to help parents with newborns adjust to the new routines.

The biggest challenge is, how can we meet every child's needs, when not just the baby is the only one crying out for attention?

The boys have been more prone to meltdowns and tantrums especially since school started, and we've had many a crazier-than-crazy moment! And if not at least one boy who's going "Waaa!" instead of using words, then, the other is choosing to have selective hearing and shoots back with, "Can't hear you!"!

At this time, we can't be more grateful that we had help from my sis at first, and then, now after she left, my MIL is here. Before that, I was really concerned over how we have so many more disorganized messes than organized messes around the house, and all are messes... yikes! But if all I focused on was how to straighten out our place, then I would have missed out on the whole point of spending precious time with our loved ones.

It is such a luxury having family visit us in a home away from home!
My sis and I both cried when she left to go back to Singapore at the end of the first week. My MIL, too, or "Nana" as our children call her, has travelled a long way, to come dote on Jon, Ben, and Kaitlyn, not just to be here for Vern and me.

Earlier, celebrating Vern's birthday...
Besides Daddy's little girl, the daddy himself is also an August child!

Vern's mom arrived the same evening he turned a year older, just in time to sit down with us for a simple homecooked meal, and the birthday cake that was the surprise...


When Vern was getting the boys ready to fetch Nana from the airport, the craziest idea seized me when I had just enough time to scrounge our pantry for a boxed cakemix -- to whip up simply, and leave it to bake at the same time the chicken was being cooked in the oven.

And good girl Kaitlyn, she took a cat nap right after the cake was done! So I didn't have to try and frost the cake using one hand, and managed to stow it away just before the guys and Nana got back!

Can you spot the heart, as Stardust may ask, in this little gesture on my part to celebrate the husband's special day? =)

Happy Birthday to the super wonderful daddy Vern is!


And day by day, step by step, we're adjusting... slowly but (I pray) surely... to being a 3-kid family!

School starts!

The first to sit down to breakfast, Ben asked the same thing he'd gone to bed looking forward to, the night before, "Is it the first day of school?"!

Jon was not quite as excited though. Because school = "homework, and more homework!" And I wasn't about to get him started on how "not fair!" it is that Di Di doesn't get any real homework.


A couple more shots, and a funny face here and there...


... and the boys are off to a good start for the schoolyear, I pray!


Their good daddy took these other shots, so I'd get a slice of the action in school, too...




So then, it's more adjustments to new schedules. Longer hours for Ben, Jon's afterschool activities starting already, and depending on Vern's schedule, I may have to get back to driving the boys faster than we thought.

Meanwhile, I'm allowing myself a bit of luxury -- ordering hot lunches from the school for Jon and Ben for these first weeks as I settle down with Kaitlyn. I thought it'd be a treat for them as well, but my fussy eaters tell me we'll have to wait and see!

Bringing home baby

The first days of bringing home baby are both exhausting and exciting at the same time!

Kaitlyn has her day mixed up with night, and quite the pair of lungs. In the otherwise still darkness, her eyes are wide open. By the crack of dawn, I'm hunched over and panda-eyed from all that nursing and poopy diaper changing, and carrying and patting, trying to soothe the fussing babe.

In their enthusiasm, Jon and Ben fight over who'll get to carry Kaitlyn. And it's not a pretty sight whenever this ends up in crying bouts and tantrums.

Neither do their blatant disobedience, and their roughhousing (when more than once, they fall "splat" on the wood floor, and land one on top of the other... OUCH!!!) go down well with me. Especially in my sleep-deprived state, once the adrenaline's worn off, and I, too, have my crazy moments =(.

Vern has been really wonderful, and bears with it all. Balancing his schoolwork alongside his fatherly duties, being there for the boys and spending time with his little princess, of course!

No, it's not easy to juggle every one's needs. Our hands have never been so full! But while boys will be boys, and they won't stop their boisterous ways because there's a baby girl in the home, Kaitlyn does have a way of bringing out the gentle side of our three guys...

I like how Vern speaks to Kaitlyn in a gentle voice, and the best moments for me this first week must be watching Jon and Ben begin to bond with Kaitlyn in their own ways...



Praise God, we've made it through the first week!
There is much to be grateful for, and you've all been oh so sweet with your well-wishes and kind words, and thank you for keeping us in prayer! Your reminder for me to take care of myself, was also what my sister said to me when she arrived and saw me indulging the guys. And now, I have one more new love to dote on!

My sis leaves tomorrow, she's been such a blessing, being there for us more than we can ask for.

And there, we finally got Aunty G to carry baby Kaitlyn also, not just bond with Ben and Jon...

Yesterday, Kaitlyn had to make a return trip to the doctor's for a second bilirubin test. Thankfully, the jaundice (typical in breastfed babies) is within reasonable levels.

I hope this has been a fruitful visit for my sis. And I don't mean the hands-on experience of "days in the life of this at-home mom" for her. Or the good buys she snagged in the pockets of shopping time here and there, though we all know retail therapy helps! But most of all, warm memories to take home with her, of this time of bonding with us =).

P.S. Sorry I'm not able to respond to your comments individually. But if you're still curious...
- This is my elder sis. It's OK if you think I'm the more (ahem!) senior one ;p
- I did get to enjoy the epidural for 20 minutes, even though the contractions were already 2 mins apart by then, and pretty unbearable!
- Glasses can work wonders to hide dark circles and eye bags! =)

Have a wonderful weekend coming up! God bless!