Adjusting

Three weeks have come and gone quicker than I thought possible. Most days I have no clue what day of the week it is and I'm lucky if I get dressed. How do mothers with young ones have time to brush their hair much less put make-up on? I'm honestly curious. I'd be lying if I said adjusting to having a newborn and a 19-month old firecracker has been easy. I can't tell you how many times I've seen 'Tangled' and 'Toy Story 2' in the last few weeks all while trying to suppress the quilt! We knew we'd have our work cut out for this go round, we do after all have my own hormonal en balance in the equation (poor, poor Cony). Each day, Olive and I are figuring each other out and my life got a little bit sweeter when I let my guard down and put her on her stomach. The girl loves her tummy and sleeps so much better this way. I know, I know what the doctors say but considering she holds her head and has already rolled over without any assistance, I say my motherly instinct is smarter than any doctor out there.

There are moments in the day that I feel so content and blessed my heart could burst and then there are moments I'm so overwhelmed my head could burst. This experience thus far couldn't be more different than Maddie's adoption. Cony was in school and was home a lot and was very much involved with taking care of M3. Now, he's working for the man and hardly home and even if he was he can't feed Olive. I love breastfeeding but the only drawback is Cony not being involved in the bonding more and we know what conveniences the bottle brings-mostly letting the father bond with feeding too. 

Although for the last 6 weeks, we've all been fighting off different illnesses, Maddie just keeps getting more and more fun. While Olive keeps becoming more alert and chunkier. 

My favorite things at the moment:

*Maddie*
-requesting to wear her jelly sandals in the house everyday
-carrying around her stuffed monkey
-folding her arms to pray the second she sits in her booster seat
-waving to anyone peeking during prayer while keeping one arm folded
-her new wave that involves a little twist at the wrist
-while playing with outside chalk, she'll immediately lay down for me to trace her
-new animal sounds that consist of an Elephant, Owl, Monkey and a Horse 
-eating breakfast at her little table like a grown up 
-her new squinting of the eyes and teeth together when asked to smile 
-when in trouble she'll walk into her little play tent and pout (ohh can't wait for her to be a teenager!)
-she's becoming more cuddly and "talkative"

*Olive*
-her chubby cheeks
-rubbing my cheeks against her cheeks... I could do it all day long
-her skies for feet 
-her long torso and short legs (was really hoping she wouldn't get the stumps but....) 
-while sleeping her bottom lip caves in because of her big cheeks 
-fuzzy little ears 
-my absolute favorite is her beautiful pink skin
-loves to be held (probably too much)
-her little purr when she eats 

*Cony*
-laying in bed at night folding piles of clothes watching the West Wing with me
-doing the dishes every night without complaint
-the way he loves on the girls with tenderness but also some roughness
-waking up and catching a 6:15 bus for work (I don't actually like this but I'm grateful he does it!)
-doing the grocery shopping and estimating the total within $1- saving us a ton of money!

*Gracie*
-I'm honestly ready to get rid of her at the moment but she is really patient with the girls!(?)