The Smith Family Adventures

This afternoon we needed some down time between church service in the morning and The Festival of Lessons and Carols in the evening, in which Nathan and I are performing as members of the bell choir. I’ve really wanted to participate in the service, but it has caused me a great deal of anxiety and stress figuring out the logistics of who will care for the boys and where, and how we are going to do it all with a three week old. I will frankly just be glad when it is all over and my baby is back in my arms. Hopefully I will still be able to enjoy the service while I am there and not just worry the whole time.

We needed some down time so we allowed the boys to watch Ratatouille. At one point in the film, Remy, a rat and one of the main characters gets separated from his family and gets advice from an unlikely source. Remy is told, “If you only think about what you have left behind you will never be able to see what lies ahead.”

Even though it is just a kids movie, I feel like that was very timely advice for me today.

Tomorrow Nathan will return to work after three weeks of family leave. While I know I am perfectly capable of caring for my three boys on my own, the prospect of actually doing it is daunting. I have found myself thinking a lot about “before” and how good we had it. We had a nice routine going. Both boys were doing well. I had some personal time and was more well rested. It’s easier to dwell on the past than to try to figure out how our new routines and new way of life will be.

But as Remy finds in Ratatouille, it was good advice. There will be so many better things ahead of us. Once I realize I’ve been in that pattern of thinking I feel so guilty because Caleb has only added love and light to our family. Despite all the difficulty that comes with caring for a newborn, it is more than worth it. Onward and upward for us. I just have to keep reminding myself to look for what lies ahead.

It’s like the olden days around here. Everything is new and hard and exciting with Caleb joining our family. But I am constantly reminded of almost three years ago when Simon was a newborn.

This morning I decided to have Caleb try some tummy time while I played with Simon. Instead of playing with me, Simon wanted to play with Caleb. He got right down in front of him and showed him the Baby Einstein music player.

It was a sweet moment and I reveled in the joy of watching the two boys interact. But I had to smile and laugh to myself because it wasn’t too long ago that I took this picture:

That is Simon having some tummy time and Elias in front of him.

How the tables have turned! Things are old and new again at the same time.

Today was the first day since coming home from the hospital that we haven’t had any visitors whatsoever. No one even quickly dropping off a meal. We just spent time home together.

Elias and Simon have really been loving playing the guitar with their Daddy, and got in some guitar time as dinner was baking.

These are the kinds of things that just seem so ordinary, but that I will wish we had more of as the years pass by. These may even be the things I forget. That’s why I write about the little things. I don’t want to forget the sound of their laughter and delight at guitar time with Daddy.

And yesterday morning before school Caleb was awake, alert, and happy. I set him down in Elias’ room and told him to play with his brother. He just instinctively knew exactly what to do. He got right down to Caleb’s level and started talking to him.

The whole thing was pretty magical and fun to watch. Simon joined in as well, and then the boys started showing Caleb all of their cars. They explained about the colors and the names. It will be fun to see how their relationship grows.

Caleb will be two weeks old tomorrow. It seems like the second week went by even faster than the first. We took him to the pediatrician today for his two week well check. Everything seems to be good and he is a healthy baby boy.

We found out Caleb now weighs 9 pounds, 2 ounces…just one ounce shy of his birth weight. So effectively, he has reached his birth weight which is a goal by two weeks old.

Also, he is now measuring at 21.5 inches…a whole inch longer than at birth.

At the end of his appointment, he had to get his newborn screen done. Basically, they poke his heel and fill little circles with drops of blood. He was screaming pretty loudly, and in trying to calm him we attempted many different things. Finally, she gave me a pacifier.

I swore I would never give another of my children a pacifier after Simon became so addicted to them.

What have we done?

Nathan wanted to throw it away as soon as he saw it. I don’t want to overuse the thing…especially when Caleb is only two weeks old. But I have to admit it was really nice to have some peace and quiet during dinner this evening. Oh! The decisions of parenting.

This might be one of my favorite pictures of all time.

I mean…sure if Caleb and Simon were smiling I may have liked it even more.

But I really do love this picture just the way it is. Caleb screaming. Simon nervously trying to do what he is asked. Elias leading the way. It’s the way our family is right now and the photographer captured it perfectly.

I love my boys.

I may be a tired, recovering from surgery, mother of a newborn, toddler and preschooler, but I can still get my craft on. I can’t do whole projects in one night anymore. Nathan and I don’t have much time to ourselves. That will go back to normal some day…but for now we do a lot of baby holding and attention giving to the older ones.

I did manage to finish one fun project, though. I wanted to capture how little Caleb is during this Christmas season, so I made this. I got the idea from pinterest.

It took me a number sessions to get it completed because I only have a few minutes at a time. Caleb absolutely hated doing the footprint. He just screamed and screamed while I painted his foot and then washed it off afterward. But I got his little footprint captured for all eternity, and he’s not scarred for life or anything. I’m sure he’s already forgotten about it.

Mission accomplished.