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Life has been full of its ups and downs lately, but luckily mostly the former. My girls are completely in love with one another, there is literally no end to the kisses, snuggles, and hugs that Miss Lucy gets from her big sister each day. I'm so happy for both of them - having a sister myself I know how special that relationship is and will be for the rest of their lives. It's like having a best friend for life no matter what.
At the same time, Violet has been having a difficult time adjusting to the fact that I'm not available to her at every moment. I thought that being home from work would help her to be a little more independent of me, but she really seems to be feeling a lot of stress and I'm not sure how to help her. After a particularly challenging day, I was surfing the web and came across this post which talked about how we start expecting more of our older child when we have a new baby, but really they're still just a baby too and need us just as much if not more. Luckily Lucy is a champion sleeper and my mom has been helping out a lot, so I do get a lot of time with Violet throughout the day to play, although my house and this space have been feeling neglected for sure. (Any tips on keeping your house decently clean with two little ones? It feels somewhat impossible at the moment!)
The other evening Lucy had just eaten and was having a long snooze with her papa, so Violet and I snuck off to the park together. It was a gorgeous evening - the perfect temperature, the smell of wood burning in the air (always reminds me of camping!) and we had a wonderful time. It felt so good to get out with just her, and not with the baby in the carrier.
Speaking of baby carriers, we tried out our new Ergobaby carrier with the infant insert this week and Lucy loves it! We used it three times and each time she fell right to sleep. Lucy had another first as well - her first bottle of mama's milk! Violet has been itching to feed her ever since she was born, and her and Lucy both did a great job. It's hard to motivate myself to pump with everything else that is going on, but it is nice to have a small supply frozen in case of an emergency. It gives me peace of mind, so definitely worth the extra time it takes.
If you'd like to see more photos of our daily happenings you can follow along on Instagram here.
Happy Friday!
xo, Lauren
One idea for making pumping easier- Have you ever looked into the Medela hands free pumping bustier? My sister has it and says it has saved her life! Finding time to pump is so difficult, so she pumps while she gets ready for the day or checks her emails. She just wears a baggy shirt over it and it gives her a little sense of normalcy. Even more of a bonus is that because she's not focused the entire time on how much she is pumping and can relax more, she has noticed that she produces more!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip Emily! That would definitely help for sure.
DeleteOh my gooooosh. Sweet baby yawns MELT ME!!!
ReplyDeleteMe too :)
DeleteSuch sweet girls! I was so good at pumping with #1 but haven't been with #2...it's so hard to find the time! I agree that having 1:1 time with the oldest has been hard...and Sky seems extra fiesty lately. Hopefully it will get better as we go along. :\
ReplyDeleteTime is definitely my enemy these days! Hope things are calming down for you - Violet is pretty feisty as well :)
DeleteThey are so gorgeous! Looking at the just makes me smile so I know every day must be so amazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks C June! :) They make me smile too - I am so blessed.
DeleteAs my little one is sleeping I'm catching up on your posts and it's so refreshing to read someone else's thoughts that is going through a similar situation. I've actually had an easier time pumping this time around - I do it first thing in the morning after my first feed with Allison. And if I miss a day I don't get upset - it's not a ton but I've built up a nice stash so that I can go out or do a date night. I also just rinse my parts off right away and then soak and wash more thoroughly later (that at least seems to save a little time).
ReplyDeleteI'm more laid back with the pumping this time around as well! I wish I was able to be on a stricter schedule, but I just remind myself that missing a day or two isn't the end of the world, and I'm not away from Lucy that often anyway. (And sometimes I use my new parenting mantra - CTFD ;))
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