from one to two.

hands down the most popular question posed to us these last six months:
"how is it going from one to two children? tell me the truth."

thought about this post for a long time. answer(s) have changed throughout the course of the last six months as some days have been divine and some days ... well not so much. to follow is our answer(s). our meaning this includes gary's perspective. a summary more so than a simple answer. here goes ...

remarkable ... your heart swells with more love than you ever dreamed possible. it IS just that simple.

different, or as gary says "complex" ... life in all aspects is different than with just one little one. it changes your perspective, changes your previous routine, changes your relationship with your spouse, changes your roles as parents and husband/wife. you name it. these are not bad changes by any stretch of the imagination, but definite changes.

touching ... seeing two God given blessings interact with each other, even in the smallest of ways is completely heart stopping at times. seeing each spouse lovingly interact with multiple children is also touching.

exhausting ... not every day or night is exhausting, but it is a new "tired." again, not necessarily a negative. requires double the energy, double the smiles, double (and sometimes triple) the patience, double the concern of "are we doing everything God wants us to do to be the most loving and diligent parents to our children?" double the planning, quadruple for some reason, the laundry, double the you name it. but with all of that comes far more than double the joy they bring to our lives. no question.

less time ... less time to spend one on one with henry, with owen, with each other, with our dogs. even with dedicated planning, there are simply more things to fill up the day than there were. but the good part about this is that it forces us to make the time we are together count. to make it special. that doesn't mean we fill up the day with 100 things to see and do. some days that means enjoying the smallest of things. some days that means planning a fun outing or play date with friends. some days that means we make it a point to have date night rather than putting it off like we used to do. it demands that we try to make each day meaningful and we don't lose sight of what is truly important ... loving your neighbor as yourself, always being grateful, being thoughtful, being content, being prayerful, being disciplined, being healthy, serving others and serving our Lord.

easy ... what you say? easy?! that doesn't follow everything I've read so far ...
allow me to explain. there is a lot to be said for first hand experience. having some idea of what to expect with a baby the second time around makes that whole process easier. practice makes a difference. I will also make the disclosure that owen did not have colic, he is a happy baby, he has been very good to us thus far. BUT, even IF those statements weren't true. I still think having been down this road once better equips you for the transition. you are more relaxed. you don't sweat the small stuff.

hard, or as gary says, "trying" ... summer/gary, are you making any sense? you just described it as easy?!?
for us, the transition from one to two was harder, more challenging, than the transition from zero to one. who knows if that's true for everyone. but the constant juggling act, playing man on man so to speak, it is just plain harder. I don't even remember what we expected the transition to be like, but anything in life that is truthfully worthwhile comes with tests and demands patience and perseverance. it is not meant to be easy.

thankfulness, undeserving ... children ... one, two, three or however many, are God's greatest gifts. you bet we express our thanks each and every day. good days, so so days and bad days. and we surely don't deserve such two phenomenal little boys.

fast ... we thought time passed quickly with one bambino. quadruple that with two. I really can't imagine how much faster it would pass with three or more.

reflective ... it is so amusing to re-live these "firsts" with owen. first smile, first laugh, first foods, first movements, and many more to come. with toddlers it seems you are always in the now of whatever stage they may be in. you forget how fascinating it is that a baby learns to use a spoon so easily, or learns how to purposefully grab an object. what a miracle this whole experience is.

an adventure ... every single day is an adventure! some days the adventure entails lots of laughs. some days lots of tears. some days lots of surprises. a game of suspense (even with regular routines/schedules there is much, much truth in this).

so there you have it friends. our thoughts surrounding the first six months of having two children. we should revisit this subject down the road and see what new insights exist. there is indeed more to learn, more to experience, and always more love to be shared.