Life with Three Kids: Is it as Bad as it Really Sounds?

I've been meaning to write this for a while now, but one of the big aspects of "life with three kids" is that I just don't have much time anymore!

I was pretty nervous about how our adjustment would go, adding a third child. The first 2 weeks were pretty rough, for a number of reasons, very few of them having to do with the actual number of children in the house. First, Biruk arrived just days after Gebreyesus turned 2 years old. Enough said about that. Second, in spite of all the recommendations that new mothers spend as much time as possible lying down, and "don't do too much", I have found that impossible from my first child on.

Right after birth there is that flurry of doctors appointments and checkups that one is expected to attend. Whether one has one toddler or two or four, lying down and resting comes in fits and spurts, if at all. And my lovely family helped out a great deal but they live an hour away so after the first week I felt bad about having them come all the way out here just to wrassle the kids. And Josiah's working full time, just finished school, and repairing houses on the side, so guess who's still doing the grocery shopping? I have to admit that voices were raised on a regular basis the first couple of weeks (mostly my voice, as in: "What are you two doing? Whatever it is, STOP IT and be quiet for a few minutes!!!!!!).

I also never get to eat an entire apple all by myself anymore. The boys can hear the sound of the peeler being pulled out of the drawer from a mile away. And shopping trips and simple errands take exponentially more time.

So that's the bad stuff. It's not easy. But this transition has been vastly easier than the transition from one to two. Part of it is probably that I am a more relaxed, laid back mom this time, but part of it is also that Biruk is a more laid back baby. Having an infant that sleeps more than two hours at night and doesn't eat every 45 minutes is a real novelty. It's really amazing to me that I can lay him down somewhere nearby and he will just lie there kicking and looking around, happy as can be. He is one of those amazing babies who will not wake up the second they're placed in the bassinet.

All of this means that I get to sleep, and I occasionally get a whole bunch of stuff done. Then of course there is the sheer sweetness of having a newborn around and watching him grow, and the added joy of watching Asrat and Gebre learn to relate to each other better and loving on the new baby. They argue a lot, but when they argue about who gets to kiss the baby first, I can hardly complain. Aches and pains and "What were we thinking?" fade away when Asrat tells me I'm a good mommy, and Gebre tells me he's "gwad" to see me, and Biruk lets loose with a "I'm in heaven sigh" as he nurses in the evenings. I wasn't really worried about it, but I'm glad to know for sure that there's more than enough love and affection to go around even for three children.

In short: I'm lovin' it.