Too Much Hype or Not Enough Time? (and the Mashed Potato Story)

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You know how when someone tells you about how great a movie is and you get so excited to see it; then when you actually watch the film, it's good, but doesn't meet expectations? That.

We've been a family of 4 for 11 days now. Seven of those have been at home. Granted I've had quite a bit of help; today I had them both by myself at naptime and tonight was my first night alone at A's bedtime (it went pretty well too.) It wasn't supposed to be that way, but Jake's 8pm quittin' time has become 10pm and he's still not on his way home...I'm hoping this is a good thing! Back to my point. Have I not given it enough time, or was I over-warned about how much of an adjustment this mother-of-two thing would be, or am I just incredibly blessed with adaptable and easy-going children?

A's had his share of temper tantrums and attention ploys over the past week, but we've had days like this before...it's more of a developmental/age phase that might be intensified by Jaron's arrival, but definitely not something I attribute totally to family expansion.

J, so far, is the perfect newborn. He rarely cries (but when he does it comes loudly and without lead in...not so great in public!) and sleeps in 3-4 hour blocks during the night. I'm getting more sleep now than I did in the 2 months leading up to his birth! I know that this could change at a moments notice and at his first growth spurt's appearance, but I'm grateful and living it up while I can.

It has just seemed like such a natural thing to have J here, it's like he's always been here. There hasn't been a huge, world changing adjustment; we've all just shifted a bit and kept going. I was warned, told, accused, fussed at, and laughed at about how hard it would be making the change to having 2 kids. Maybe it is, maybe I'm jumping the gun and I'll be writing another blog next week talking about how I got my feet knocked out from under me.

Or maybe it's like when I saw Passion of the Christ. I had been told for weeks how it would tear me apart, how I would have to sit in the theatre for awhile afterward, how I wouldn't be able to function, etc. My mom wanted to go with me since she'd already seen it, so I wouldn't have to drive afterward. I didn't even shed a single tear. Yes, it moved me, yes it was sad, it was hard to watch...but how "horrible it was, was over-expressed to me. I have a pretty good imagination, it was exactly what I expected, in how I prepared myself for it, I inoculated myself against letting the movie shock me. Maybe I over-imagined how "bad" or "rough" this adjustment would be and now it seems like nothing? Guess we'll see in the next few weeks!

On a different note, a friend asked for the full story of the '09 Mashed Potato Incident, so here it is. A was about 2 weeks old, I think, when I really got a craving for my mom's mashed potatoes. So I peeled, chopped and cooked a decent amount of spuds. Well someone decided they needed to nurse, so I had to stop working on my potatoes and feed Mr. Great Timing :) My wonderful hubby decided to be nice and try and finish them for me. BIG MISTAKE. He put BLACK PEPPER in them! NOT MY MOM'S RECIPE. I went into a full out rage. Not exaggerating, I was ready to choke him for putting pepper in my mashed potatoes, I don't remember ever being this angry before in my life. I finished feeding A, put him in his crib and stormed outside in the snowy, 20 degree weather and paced and cried about my potatoes and how stupid I felt for feeling that mad about something as stupid as pepper. I finally came back in and went back and forth between laughing and crying as I apologized. Definite mood swing of the year award for me!