Tomorrow Ava will be two weeks old. We've been getting to know each other and we're all doing well adjusting to life as a family of four. Ava is a pretty easy-going baby so far. She doesn't cry much and when she does she is easily soothed. She loves close contact and spends a lot of the day sleeping peacefully in our arms. She also does well in the bassinet in our livingroom while we make sure Jonas gets the attention he needs. So far, parenting a newborn for the first time is much easier than being a first time parent of a 7 month old. Jonas broke us in well. :) The lack of sleep doesn't seem like a big deal this time around. Ava is doing well with sleep though. She usually sleeps one or two 3 hour stretches at night before she wants to nurse again. Sometimes she even sleeps a 4 hour stretch at night.
Jonas is doing extremely well. He loves his little sister and often tries to touch her and kiss her. He gets a little over-exuberant with his affection, so we need to watch him very carefully with her. But he is learning to be more gentle. So far he hasn't really shown signs of jealousy. The only attention-seeking behavior I've noticed is that he has starting pretending to fall down and then he will say "You okay?! You okay?!" until we ask him if he is okay ang give him a hug and a kiss. Overall he's doing better than I thought he would. It has helped that Ray has been home for these 2 weeks. There have been inevitable changes to Jonas' routine, but we have been able to keep things pretty normal for him.
The real test of our adjustment will come next week when Ray goes back to work. Your prayers would be appreciated! :) There are moments that I feel overwhelmed when I think about caring for both Ava and Jonas, making sure that they get the attention they need, and hopefully finding time for myself to at least take a shower! Thankfully Ray is going to adjust his work schedule for awhile to make sure he is home in the morning to help me with breakfast and at lunch-time to help get Jonas down for a nap. In order to do this, he is planning on waking up at 5:30am every day to work for a couple hours from home before we all wake up. I have an amazingly supportive husband and I'm so thankful for him. Hopefully we will get into the swing of things quickly and he won't have to keep that schedule for too long. I know that it was God that planned our family this way, so I am sure that He will help me with the responsibility He has given me. He will be my confidence. Once again, I am feeling extremely blessed. Within 14 months I have been given two beautiful miracle children. Neither one of them would be in our family if God had not acted in some pretty mighty ways!
