Harlan Place

With Joshua, I never really set a schedule. We fit him into our routine, and that routine often changed daily. He stayed up late and slept in late, and that worked beautifully for us (as neither of us are early risers, to say the least).

Well apparently with two kids, all of that changes. Schedules seem to be necessary, and that is a difficult adjustment for us. We’re just not schedule people. We’re flexible, last-minute, impulsive, and nearly always late… people. So how do we set a schedule? And how do we make that schedule work??

Right now, I’ve got Joshua on a fairly decent schedule. He’s been sleeping in his own bed (in exchange for a new little toy car each morning - trust me, bribing is well worth the freedom of having him sleep on his own), waking up at around the same time, napping (again, in his own bed - for a reward of M+Ms) at about the same time, and going down to bed at about the same time each day.

Unfortunately, Jadon is making his own schedule. That schedule includes nursing at least every two hours (he refuses bottles), going to bed very early in the evening (sometimes as early as 6:30), sleeping through for one good, long stretch to the middle of the night, at which points he naps in between two hour feedings until about 6:30am when he is ready to be nursed and then played with. The problem?? Unless I go to bed really really early, I don’t get to take advantage of that long stretch of sleep, and I’m a zombie (a zombie who’s constantly breastfeeding) all day long. The other problem? Unless I go to bed late… Lane and I don’t have any kid-free time together. Hmmm.

So how do schedules work? And why can’t two kids be as easy as one??? 

Wow. The last two months have been a whirlwind of activity. So much has changed, I hardly recognize our lives. The greatest and most wonderful change is the addition of Jadon to our lives. Of course I posted that he was born, but I haven’t provided many updates since. I’ll try to play catch-up now.

Jadon had a rough go of it for the first 6 weeks or so. He was a gassy, spit-upy baby who would often awake from sleep screaming with stomach pain. And of course, having a big brother who lovingly shares his germs with his kisses and hugs, Jadon got his first cold at 2 weeks and then had weeks of congestion in addition to the tummy troubles. But by 8 weeks he was a new baby. Still not sleeping through the night, but his sleeping stretches are getting longer and longer, and he is much more content. He often laughs in his sleep, which is a nice change from painful screams! His smiles are a delight. I love that my little man is becoming a happy baby.

 

Joshua adores Jadon. He wakes up each morning and comes into visit me while I nurse Jadon. He wraps his arms around us, lays his head on Jadon, and says “I love my little brother”. He also asks to hold Jadon often, but what he really wants is for me to hold Jadon facing Joshua, inches apart from his face, so he can stare into his eyes and exclaim “Jadon is looking at me!”

 

Here I am, paragraphs into my update and I’ve neglected to fill you in on our other big change. Most of you know already (though perhaps not first-hand, and for that I apologize!), but for those who don’t… we have moved to Atlanta. Yes, it actually happened. Nearly a year after we said it would, but it happened. Of course, it’s not how we expected. We still have our home in PA, and our move is just temporary (we’re here for a short-term contract for Lane), and we’re living in an apartment instead of the home we purchased. But… at least we’ll have the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with Atlanta to see if we want to make it a permanent move.

Lane received this contract just days before I gave birth to Jadon, and the move happened very shortly thereafter. So because of the short timeframe (and the fact that I was a little consumed with my newborn and recovery from surgery), I didn’t exactly have ample opportunity to say my goodbyes. I really miss everyone. We’ve been here for a little over a month, and lonliness is definitely my biggest struggle (well, lonliness and adjusting to life in an apartment - who vacuums in the middle of the night???). I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss my church. I miss my home.

But I suppose that, in a way, it’s a good thing for us to have some time alone to bond as a new family of four. Lane’s enjoying his job, Joshua’s learning to sleep through the night, I’m learning to cook dinner for my family, and Jadon’s along for the ride.

One thing I can say is that we are all really enjoying the weather. Lane has spent time biking and playing tennis, and Joshua loves playing at the playground and in the pool. I mostly just tag along for whatever activity the boys (Lane and Joshua, that is) want to do outdoors. There’s not much I can do with Jadon, but what I enjoy most is just soaking in the rays of sunshine, so just tagging along suits me well anyway.

We visit our home in Flowery Branch, GA on Sunday and fell in love all over again. The neighborhood is beautiful, so family-friendly (unlike this apartment - more to come on this), and the pace of life actually feels slower the moment you pull into the neighborhood. We decided during our visit that we are going to put our home in PA back on the market. That doesn’t mean that we’re definitely moving to GA permanently, but we at least want to give ourselves the option to do so. If we’re able to sell our PA home, it opens up our options. We can always buy another PA home if we decide to stay (hopefully one a little closer to family and friends). So please pray that our home sells quickly and the Lord leads us to choose the right place to live for our family!

Well - I’ve got to sign off for now. Jadon’s waking up. More to come soon, hopefully.