I admit it. I am in need of a therapy session right now, so I turned to my pictures. I didn’t have much of a break today–Brayden’s nap didn’t line up with one of Carter’s sporadic is-that-what-you-call-a-nap? bits, so I wasn’t able to let my brain run away at all. When Carter does actually sleep, oh look! . . . I still have another child! There is an incredible advantage to only having one child, when going through the newborn phase. Lately, it just seems like we are having a horrendous time getting Carter to actually get to sleep, and then get him through the first bit of his nap without waking up and trying to start all over again. As I type that, memories of Brayden as a newborn just came flooding back. He was the same way. Maybe that’s how all newborns are.
I had to take Carter to the doctor today. He is an expert projectile spitter-upper. I’m not quite sure that he actually retains any food after he’s eaten. If you could observe the boy spitting up, I’m certain that you’d come to the same conclusion. I finally called the pediatrician’s office, while nursing Carter this morning. Great. They could get me an appointment in exactly thirty minutes. Plenty of time. Oodles of time. We could take a morning stroll and still get there on time. We live only a quarter of a mile away from the office.
I got off the phone. Realized that I still had the switch Carter to the other side. Take a shower. Get Brayden dressed, Carter changed, Brayden to go potty, the diaper bag packed, a snack and cup for Brayden, toys to keep him occupied, and the list could continue on. I swear I forget that I have two kids still. In my old life, I would’ve gotten to that appointment twenty minutes early. My high school volleyball coach instilled in me the importance of timeliness . . . being early is being on time. Being on time is being late. That’s what I used to pride myself on. . . always being places on time. Apparently, adding another child to the equation shakes things up a little bit. Even after a thirty second shower, the other 29.5 minutes somehow disappeared from right under my nose, and I was LATE to the appointment. Late. That’s a word that never used to belong in my vocabulary. I guess now I’m going to have to get used to it.
Going back to the statement I made in the beginning about a therapy session. It’s a good thing I just got one for free, without anyone else having to be present. Choosing these pictures for my post, looking through them and editing them helps me to forget the hard time I had today and remember how blessed I am. Instead of complaining about how I had no break for nearly thirteen hours, I can look back and remember that yes, I actually did have moments of joy today. Many of them. And yesterday. And the day before. Life is not all work, as it often seems these days, but a journey that when I look back on in a few years, I will be sad to realize went far too quickly. Today may have been a hard day. But it was another day given to me from the One who breathes life into me each day. I shouldn’t be so quick to wish this stage away. This too shall pass . . . but in all honesty, I don’t truly want it to.
The appointment added to the craziness of the day. I took a few moments to write to James after the appointment to let him know how it went. I told him of my experience in very proper English. It went like this: it was very difficult with two children in a super hot room when they make you take all of your baby’s clothes off when he’s in a dead sleep and then make you stick him on a scale and he freaks out and shivers and shakes up a storm and does the moro reflex twenty times and the nurse says “oh my! what a shaky baby!” and then they proceed to have you wait in the room for an unknown amount of time while you wait for the doctor and you try to entertain your two year old while your one month old is screaming and your two year old keeps accidentally dropping his snack bag on the floor. at least we didn’t have to wait longer than that. we did, in fact, make it out alive though.
Going back to the statement I made in the beginning about a therapy session. It’s a good thing I just got one for free, without anyone else having to be present. Choosing these pictures for my post, looking through them and editing them helps me to forget the hard time I had today and remember how blessed I am. Instead of complaining about how I had no break for nearly thirteen hours, I can look back and remember that yes, I actually did have moments of joy today. Many of them. And yesterday. And the day before. Life is not all work, as it often seems these days, but a journey that when I look back on in a few years, I will be sad to realize went far too quickly. Today may have been a hard day. But it was another day given to me from the One who breathes life into me each day. I shouldn’t be so quick to wish this stage away. This too shall pass . . . but in all honesty, I don’t truly want it to.
newborn, child and family photographer
rochester new york