Now that our family is complete, we have truly experienced bliss and euphoria.
Where to begin?
Honestly, the transition has been nothing but seamless. Nixon Dean is an angel babe and he loves to sleep all day and night. I remember the newborn days with Nevaeh being the same. I have already had people asking me when the next baby is coming and when I’m going back to work. I’m honestly so shocked as I have a 2 week old newborn baby boy and being pregnant again and going back to work are the last things on my mind. Let’s put those questions to rest right now – Nixon is our last baby and I will go back to work whenever I am ready. This time around knowing this is our last baby, we are taking everything in as we are much more confident in our roles as parents. It is like we are on autopilot, but fully present at the same time because we know what we are doing. It is so amazing.
Managing time with both babies
After coming home from the hospital, Josh and I both were like “Woah we have 2 babies.” It felt so surreal and still does! Spending time with each baby individually each day and giving them 100% attention has been the most fulfilling. Nevaeh loves to play and read, so when she’s playing, reading, or doing an activity we are there with her for long periods of time. Nevaeh will sometimes go with just mama or just dada on an errand and the other parent will get to spend time with just Nixon or vice versa. We will ask Nevaeh what she wants to do if she wants to go in the car on a ride or to stay home if one of us is going to be going out and about. If she wants to go in the car on the errand, she will run to the carseat and hand us her shoes to put on. She is our smart little peanut!
Ever since we have been home with Nixon, we have gotten back on track with a routine and it is really helping Nevaeh know what to expect each day. Naturally some days are a little different than others depending on what we have planned, but we try to do somewhat of the same things each day as far as eating and sleeping goes for setting an internal clock for her. I have learned to be way more lenient with our daily routine as things come up and it’s not worth the anxiety. We try to get at least one nap in and have her in bed before 8:00PM every day. It has been really great putting Nevaeh to sleep earlier in her crib as mama and dada get more time together or alone time and time with Nixon. Since Nixon sleeps most of the days away, Nevaeh still gets a lot of mama’s attention throughout the day. Nevaeh is very helpful. She loves to help unload the dishwasher, laundry, vacuuming, and other household tasks with mama. I love teaching her how to do things because we are spending quality time together and she is learning important life skills. I nurse Nixon throughout the day every 1 1/2 – 3 hours and pump 2 times each day. Here’s a look into what most of our days look like without running errands and such…
Our daily schedule
7:30AM-8:30AM Wake up, nurse Nixon right away in the morning for his morning feed, get myself dressed/ready for the day while pumping, Nevaeh is usually running around upstairs or in the bathroom in the drawers and cabinets taking everything out and going through everything. HAHA! Then, I will change Nevaeh and Nixon’s diapers/clothes, brush my teeth and Nevaeh brushes her teeth by herself. I will also start a load of laundry pretty much every day or every other day to keep up with the laundry right away in the morning. Then with both kids in my arms, we walk downstairs and tell Alexa to say, “Good morning to Nevaeh and Nixon.” Nevaeh used to be afraid of Alexa, but now she likes her and will wave at her as we are walking down the stairs and want her to say Hello. It is so cute!
8:30-9:00AM Breakfast and unload the dishwasher. We will always run the dishwasher during the night so it is ready to be unloaded in the morning. As soon as we open the dishwasher Nevaeh comes running and is ready to help! Nevaeh will eat breakfast in her high chair while I sit at the bar and eat my breakfast. Nixon is either in my arms or in the bassinet at this time. Sometimes I will just unload the dishwasher quick while Nevaeh is eating, but we usually always do it together.
9:00-11:30AM Playtime – Nevaeh loves to play! Her favorite things to play with are her lawn mower, duck walker, lego blocks, puzzles, Cocomelon house and Cocomelon bus, and taking rides in her pink car. She also enjoys playing peekaboo, hide and seek, and going in all of the cabinets in the kitchen and half bathroom and taking everything out. She loves making messes. I love her messes because it tells me she was here. A mess I know I will miss one day… Playtime and cleaning up after he is never dull. We will go upstairs and switch the laundry over at this time too. Nevaeh will help unload it from both washer and dryer. She sometimes takes clothing items and runs away so fast with them. I will nurse Nixon again while Nevaeh is playing or occupied by herself.
10:30AM Morning Snacktime – Her favorite snacks are apples with peanut butter or colby jack cheese, caprese: tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and balsamic glaze, peas, chocolate pudding, gold fish, triscuits, kettle corn, rice krispy bars, cheez-its, chips and guac/spinach & artichoke dip/salsa. The list goes on and on. This girl loves her snacks. She pretty much eats whatever I eat. I usually do not have her in the high chair while she eats her snacks, so the vacuum cleaner is out daily and I am vacuuming at least 3-4 times a day to keep everything clean. I am not kidding either. LOL! If there is the smallest crumb on the ground or anything, Nevaeh will see it and grab it and eat it so best to just keep everything clean.
11:30-12:00PM Lunchtime – Her favorite meals are of course the easy ones and I have no mom guilt/shame about what I feed her. It is hard coming up with 3 different meals/snacks throughout the day. I am happy she eats. She loves banging her forks and spoons on her high chair tray. She tries so hard to use them and it’s the cutest thing watching her eat.
12:00-1:00PM Quiet time/Reading time – We will put on some quiet music and I will tell Nevaeh it’s quiet time and to get a book or markers to draw on paper. We are not riling her up at this time, so she can get her internal clock working and get in the mindset of it’s time to take a nap after I do this activity. It is working great as she only takes 1 nap per day. I will nurse Nixon again right before nap time, so we all can get some rest.
1:00-3:00PM Nap time – Nevaeh will nap anywhere: In the car, on the ground in front of the fireplace, on the couch, and even in her crib. She enjoys her one nap of the day and I am happy when she doesn’t refuse her nap and goes down for a nap right away. Nixon and I get to snuggle together when big sis is sleeping or the 3 of us will snuggle together depending on where Nevaeh decides to fall asleep. LOL!
3:00PM Afternoon Snack time – We are always snacking. It is good for Nevaeh to eat lots and lots.
3:00PM-5:30PM Playtime, getting things done around the house, and nursing Nixon.
5:30-6:00PM Dinnertime – We like to go out to eat a lot so dinner time looks different every day. One day she could be eating taco bell and the next she could be eating a 3 course meal which includes an appetizer like a salad, entree like a pasta, and desert like chocolate chip cookies. Her palate is very versatile and she eats a variety of fruits, veggies, and meats. She is getting all the nutrients she needs.
6:00-6:30PM Bath time – Nevaeh loves bath time. She will sign that she’s ready for a bath and start repeating “Ba” over and over again and then go upstairs and run into her bathroom to turn on the bath and get her duckies. She will also pick out her pajama’s and get mama the diaper for when she’s done with her bath. Sometimes she will want a shower, but that is a rare occasion as she loves splishing and splashing.
6:30PM-7:00PM Bedtime Snack/Bedtime – Sometimes Nevaeh will want to have a bedtime snack. After bath time I always ask her if she wants to go downstairs or go to bed in Nevaeh’s room and she will point. If she points to go downstairs, I know she wants to play or have a snack. Once we come downstairs I will set her down and she will either run to the refrigerator, the pantry, or to her toys and that will tell me what she wants. If she points to her room, I know she is very tired and is ready to crash. Putting her to sleep takes about 5-10 mins. Every night we rock in the glider for a couple minutes and then go to Nevaeh’s room, turn the sound machine on, and pray out loud and then set her in her crib and leave. It has been a great routine for us and she does not wake up in the night for anything. Praise the Lord.
Once Nevaeh goes to sleep I will clean the main level and switch out some of her toys for the next day. It feels so good to end my day with a clean house, light a candle while holding my newborn son, and let out a big sigh of relief and say to myself, “I am an amazing mama, we are doing it.” This makes me happy and feel like I have it all together. I will spend the evening doing something I want to do whatever that looks like: spending time with Josh if he’s not on xbox, writing, cleaning, drawing, calligraphy, or watching a show or movie… I like to stay up later to give Nixon a dream feed before I go to shower and sleep. This has been wonderful for us.
How are mama and dada doing
I’m not going to lie because that’s not me, but everything is honestly just fine and dandy. The second time around has just been way easier on the both of us for a lot of reasons (I will be sharing my Postpartum Journey with baby #2 in a separate blog post that I’ve already started soon)! Going from sleeping 10-12 hours a night with no interruptions, besides getting up to pee every hour for me when pregnant before Nixon’s arrival LOL, to having to be up around the clock to change and feed Nixon is a little rough, but nothing we didn’t expect. Of course we knew that was coming and we are just going with it because we know there’s going to come a time that he won’t be needing us to change his little diapers and feed him in the middle of the night. Mama is doing all of the diaper changes and feedings. Dada has fed Nixon a couple times with a bottle during the day, but not in the middle of the night. Dada said he’s too used to whipping Nevaeh around for her diaper changes and going back to a newborn who is a lot more fragile just isn’t his jam. I’m fine with that. We have learned how to be better communicators and are continuing to work on our communication. Parenting is hard, but we know that we are a team and both want what’s best for our babies. We are doing a great job at getting everything we both want to done, spending time individually, together, and with the babies. We are just rocking it and enjoying the present here and now with our babies.
How is Nixon doing + What activities we do with our 2 week old
Nixon Dean is a dream. He is so precious and smells like baby. I simply cannot get enough of holding him close and smelling his sweet baby scent and kissing his soft cheeks. I love putting my face up to his cheek and whispering lovely things in his ear like: “You are so special,” “this is your mama talking,” “mama wanted you,” “you are God’s child,” “you are an angel,” “you are going to do great things,” and etc. I love singing him worship songs and watching him smile big gummy smiles to mama. He is eating well. He nurses and I also give him supplemental bottles of breast milk, so he will continue to grow happy and healthy. We do morning and night stretches to stretch his whole body out and move his arms and legs around when he’s awake while making eye contact with him and talk to him. Whenever he is awake, we try to be very intentional with the time as that is only for about 2-4 hours a day total that he’s up in a 24 hour period and it’s fun to see him with his eyes open. Looking at our baby boy with his eyes open is surreal as he is getting his first few glimpses of what his world is going to be. He is doing amazing!
How is Nevaeh doing + My final thoughts
At first she didn’t know what to think as she was poking, hitting, and not being gentle to the new addition. She did not like her mama holding the baby and not her. Sometimes I will hold both my babies at the same time. She has gotten better and is starting to wave to the baby and gets so excited when she sees him. She hasn’t quite figured out how to be gentle, but she is really trying and it makes my heart smile the biggest smile seeing her excitement. I think now she realizes he is here to stay, and knows she will still get attention so all is well there. She will adjust more as time goes on, but she is doing well with the change of adding her baby brother.
I am so happy we have two babies under two years old. This is exactly what I prayed for. Some days are more overstimulating than others, but we are learning to handle each day with grace and patience. We could not be happier being a family of four and we thank the Lord every day for our little bundles of joy.
