If sleeping wasn't required, this would be the life!

So this having two kids thing is a little bit more challenging than having one.  Not that I thought it would be a cakewalk.  I expected some pain and I've found some things are harder and some are easier than I thought.

Easier:

Jackson's 1st bath.  Yes, that is poop and pee on my white tank top.  Not
 pictured is the poop on the carpet.

Adjustment for Brady: He's been really awesome the past few weeks.  He may be incapable of telling Jackson how much he loves him, but he does like to get in Jackson's face and yell, "Hiii Naxon!!" over and over.  And he shares his balls.  That's love. The most jealous I've seen him is when a friend
helped me load Jackson into his car seat a few days ago.  Brady got mad because he thought she was taking him away. 

Recovery: I've felt really great since my delivery.  After about week, I've been able to do some (slow) jogging and have gone out a few times since then.  I was in pretty good shape leading up to my delivery and I think chasing Brady around all day helped prepare me for after the birth.

Going out in public:  I try to get out with the boys at least once a day and this has proved doable.  It definitely helps to be a) in an enclosed area where Brady can't escape or b) somewhere with other moms who can keep an eye on Brady if I'm nursing Jackson.  But even in the case where I'm by myself in an open area, we've managed pretty well.  And while I'm less judgmental of those moms who choose to leash their child, I haven't had to resort to such measures.

Napping: I've managed some of these.  Jackson's sleeping during the day is far better than his sleeping at night, and his longest nap generally coordinates with Brady's nap.  The only problem is that these days when I nap, I nap very hard and I wake up not knowing what time it is, what day it is, or how many kids I have. 

Harder:

You can fool the camera but you can't fool me!

Night time:  There is really no other way to put it...Jackson sucks at night.  He did ok the first week of life and its gone downhill since.  Usually, I'm too sleepy to even remember how many times I get up each night, but last night I paid attention.  Here are the times that he woke up: 10:30, 11:30, 1:15, 2:45, 4:15.  Things went downhill after 4:45 (not that things were cruising along very well prior to that). He didn't want to go back to sleep after I fed and changed him, so I asked Eric to take him.  He took him downstairs and delivered him back to me at 5:30.  Jackson grunted his way to 6:30.  I think we were both in a half-conscious state during this time so I'm not sure if it counts as sleep or not.  Sadly, this is a pretty typical night.  I don't remember the last time he gave me a 3-hour stretch but right now, that would feel like an eternity.  Even though 3-hour stretch (or any stretch) is deceiving, because going 3 hours between feedings probably actually means 2.5 hours (or less) of sleep for the mother who has to feed her child and get them back to sleep.  I'm trying to make the best of my middle-of-the-night time, though.  I'm reading a good book on my iPhone so if I'm awake enough, I do that.  The other 80% of the time that I'm not, I watch TV.  It takes some searching to find anything worth watching, however.  Do you know they are still airing Married with Children?  Such a terrible show.  Lots of infomercials in the middle of the night, too.  Haven't bought anything yet.

So I guess since I have more items in the "easier" column, it would appear that this whole thing is easier than I expected.  Perhaps...but I expected it to be pretty hard and it hasn't exactly shattered my expectations.  And if you ask my husband, he might have a different opinion (don't ask him his opinion if you're pregnant with your second or thinking about having more children).  He'd never admit it, but I think he was excited to go back to work after a week at home.  He's been a big help when he is here and I am just thankful not to have a newborn during basketball season.

Up next...camp, a week at beach, then moving day!  At least one of those things should be fun.