day 7.

Hello friends! We made it through the first week! Thank you so, so much for the emails and texts. Every one of them has encouraged me, and I am sorry I’m responding via blog post for now. But I am responding! A minor miracle!

There have been highs and lows in our household over the past 7 days (a low included me standing out on the front porch sobbing when my parents drove up to meet the boys), but on the whole I’m here to report that we’re doing well.

We were shocked and delighted to discover that Gabriel and Noah sleep through the night! I feel like we can make it through anything during the day if we’re all getting sleep at night. The boys have gone to bed like champs. I was prepared to sleep in their room at first but they haven’t needed it. A little fussing and calling out sometimes, but they are easily reassured and quieted, and wake up happy in the mornings. I mean, look at this face . . .

They both have such sweet spirits and even though there are hard moments, there are so many more things to celebrate. David and I agree that the most challenging part of all this is really just that there are two of them! And it suddenly feels like instead of simply adding two members to our family, we also kicked it up a notch with parenting the two we already have. Right now it just doesn’t feel like there’s enough of us to go around. Which means there is almost always someone in tears. But maybe that is just normal life with four kids?

Of course this transition has rocked everyone’s world and all of us are facing our selfishness and exhaustion. Having said that, Judah and Amelie are doing amazingly well. They haven’t just gained two siblings, they suddenly have very active little people going through all their things, not yet having to follow the same rules they have to follow, and demanding most of Dad and Mom’s attention.

Today Judah was playing Transformers on the sofa and Noah kept trying to grab them. Judah was not having it, but I said, “Judah, please? He just wants to see what you’re doing. Will you show him your toys?” Judah finally handed them over, and before either of us could do anything, Noah ran straight to dump them in the trash. Poor Judah. I just had to laugh (and then of course rescued and washed the Transformers). Oh, life with a little brother!

David and I are suddenly experiencing a flood of memories of our first two being toddlers (somehow when they were these exact ages we also lived in an apartment without a yard in a big city in South Asia! Whaaat!?). Three and two-years-old were some of our most challenging years. But it’s so much fun too. I love toddlers’ incessant curiosity and exuberance for life. I don’t want to wish this time away.

We love that having Gabe and Noah around has made us all become so much more active again. We’re outside almost constantly, whether in the backyard, chatting with neighbors in the street in front of our house, or at the park.

We’ve instituted a “Judah night” and “Amie night.” One night a week Judah gets to stay up an hour later than everyone else to hang out with us, and another night Amie gets to. This week we played Uno, watched a little Food Network, then they each took a night walk with Daddy. One-on-one time with our big kids has suddenly become so much more precious.

We made the decision to count every little victory, and in one week have seen many. The boys are already showing more affection with us and engaging with their big brother and sister. There are smiles and laughter throughout the day. We’re astonished by how naturally they fit into our family already, how secure they seem to feel with us. I know this is because so many people are praying. We can feel it. Please don’t stop!

After all my “whole foods” blog posts you would laugh if you saw my grocery cart at Publix: stacked high with Cheerios, jugs of apple juice, and Goldfish crackers. We’re trying to pick our battles, so right now if Gabriel wants a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, he gets it. Last night was the first time the boys ate a normal dinner; they wolfed down Miss Carrie’s chicken pesto pasta complete with spinach and tomatoes and we did a happy dance!

David and I fall into bed bone-tired every night, but we are so happy. This is what God has been preparing us for. It’ll continue to take time to find our new normal, but with one week under our belts we’re feeling hopeful!