A first smile

Having another infant in our lives has made me reminisce about Rhianna's infancy. I realize some of the things I worried about were silly and useless. I realize that it does, in fact, go by pretty quickly. But in looking back only about a year and a half ago, one question comes up over and over again, what did I think was so hard? When Rhianna napped, I could nap. When she cried, I could give her my full attention. When she did something cute, I was sure to capture it with a picture. None of these things are true with two children. When one naps, the other, inevitably, won't. When one cries, the other either starts, or is, ehem, climbing to dangerous heights and needs immediate attention. And I'm not sure what cute things Owen has done because, frankly, I'm too busy making sure Rhianna doesn't kill him by ramming his pacifier too far down his throat. (Ok, so that's not entirely true, he has done some cute things.)

Nonetheless, this is one of those times where I look back and can honestly say, I was clueless. Strangely, I don't now feel that I'm clued in, but I'm more aware that there are bigger fish to fry. When I'm at the end of my rope, with Owen crying in my arms and Rhianna throwing a tantrum on the stairs, I try to remember that no matter how hard I think it is now, it could be harder. Really, I count my blessings. I have two healthy, happy children, a warm home, food, and so on. And though we certainly have our hands full right now, we're managing pretty well.

So the first question everyone has asked me is "how is life with two babies?" My official answer is that living with two babies isn't that bad but living with a toddler is damn hard work. For example, even though I spent most of yesterday pulling Rhianna off the (chair/table/bookshelf/third shelf of pantry), I still wasn't prepared to find her on half-way on the kitchen counter this morning. Yep, she taught herself how to pull the drawers out and use them as stairs. I'm not sure much can prepare you for the reality that you're sweet little baby is no longer a baby but an independent -- often defiant -- person. About a week ago she said Mama for the first time (at least the first time she actually meant me when she said it) and when I asked her to say it again, she looked me straight in the eye, shook her head back and forth and in the sweetest little 16 month old voice said "no." Little brat. Nonetheless, her ridiculously cute moments do make up for the snotty times. Good thing toddlers come in cute packages.

In more nitty-gritty news, we've found a new daycare and both kids will start part-time the middle of this month and more come December. I am going back part-time mid-month then back to my 32hour/week schedule in December. I got the promotion at work I applied for which means I'm the lead designer for the new university magazine which is tentatively slated to be published in March.

Haven't had a whole lot of "free" time to spend blogging but I'm hoping to get back to it soon. Here are a few photos to tide you all over. We're all healthy and happy for the most part -- tired, but happy :) Anyway, enjoy the photos!