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Saturday, May 7, 2016

BACK AT IT - with an update!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...........

This last chapter in our life has been crazy. I will fully admit that I completely dropped the ball on blogging. Adding another little one into our already crazy, hectic life has been quite an adjustment. But, I'm back!

Last time I blogged, it was the Sunday before I was suppose to give birth to our second little boy. I was scheduled for an induction on Tuesday afternoon with an expected delivery on Wednesday, but we didn't make it that far. I will be posting our birth story in a different post (because it's worthy of a post of it's own) so be sure to look out for that. After quite the labor, we welcomed McKinley Edward Andrews into the world on Tuesday August 4th, 2015.


He weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces, and was absolutely perfect!! Big brother, Easton, came in for a visit and when I first laid my eyes on our now family of four, my heart could have burst with happiness! Mick (which is what we usually call him) came out already trying to latch and he took to breastfeeding almost immediately. After the usual recovery stay in the hospital, we made our way home with our newest addition!



The first few weeks of having two under two was quite the treat. Easton didn't take too well with no longer being an only child. We had a good month of jealousy, tantrums, and aggressive behavior. But after we got over that hump (and Easton came to terms with the fact that Mick was staying for good) they've been amazing together! We celebrated Easton's second birthday in January and shortly after that is when things got, well, busy.



We were in the process of purchasing a home, Jake's winter work schedule was crazy, I was in the process of packing up our whole condo, all while juggling taking care of my dad (who lives with us because he has poor health and can't be on his own), taking care of a toddler who was trying to find his way, and an infant. Ultimately stress took over my life, things we're chaotic, and my milk supply suffered because of it. I tried soon many things to get my supply back up but nothing was working. My heart was in a hard spot. I felt a ton of mom-guilt and completely broke down. I was, and still am, such an advocate for breastfeeding. I completely understand that it isn't for everyone and it doesn't make or break someone as a mom. With Easton, I exclusively nursed him for a full year until he weened himself naturally around 14 months old. When he did, I was devastated. I wasn't expecting him to ween himself, let alone when he did. So when I had McKinley, I again expected a long road of nursing ahead for the both of us. But sometimes, God has different plans. We went through a two month period where Mick was just not happy. He wasn't sleeping for longer than a two hour period, he was crabby - literally - all the time, and I knew something was off. We took him to his six month well child check up and his weight wasn't where his doctor had projected it to be, let alone where she felt comfortable with it being. Reality hit me while I was sitting in that room and I completely broke down; crying to our pediatrician, crying to my husband, crying to myself. As hard as it was for me, we all decided that it would probably be best to switch over to formula. This was a huge thing for me. We left the appointment and went to Target, and I broke down crying in the middle of the formula aisle and couldn't even pick one. I remember walking away and telling Jake to just grab something. I didn't give McKinley his first couple of bottles. I just couldn't. He fought them for the first couple of days, but then he got adjusted and so did I. Within a week, we saw a HUGE difference. He was happy, sleeping well, and he was full! Even though I was going through some "mom" things with switching, it all worked out. In the end, he was a happier baby and I was a happier mom; and that made everything else a heck of a lot easier.



We closed on our very first  house at the end of February, and thanks to Michigan weather, we moved in the middle of a huge snow storm. That part wasn't fun but thankfully with the help of family and friends, we got it done. Ever since then, we've been adjusting. Just when you think you've unpacked everything, you come across more boxes that were shoved in closets. You just get done organizing a room and the next day you're moving everything around. We've done quite a few projects already; including painting the boys room, redoing their bathroom cabinets, gutting out our front flower beds, having new concrete poured on our back patio, and much more. Now, we've moved on to redoing our main floor half bath. Man, is it hard to get things done with two little ones. Nap time seems so long but once you start doing something, the time goes by so fast and it just takes forever to get things done.

Easton is a happy-go-lucky two year old with a very curious, adventurous side and he just loves to test me and see how much he can get away with. We've come across a bump in the road with speech, but he is taking speech classes once a week and we are working on things. Aside from that, he is one smart little boy. It amazes me to see how quickly he picks up on things. McKinley just got his first two teeth, on the bottom, and he's army crawling all over the place. I think within the next week he will be an official crawler because he gets up on his hands and knees and he almost has the hang of it. He LOVES following his brother around everywhere and he is constantly laughing at all the silly things Easton does. They play great together, although we're still working on the whole "sharing" thing with Easton. Mick loves his pureed food pouches and we're starting to introduce some big boy foods. They love to watch Mickey Mouse together and they share a room. I can truly see how much they love each other and it melts my heart as a mom.



Things are no where near slowing down for our family anytime soon. Summer is Jake's busiest season at work, on top of all the summer holidays and family parties. We have five weddings between now and November. Jakes cousin, Dana, who also happens to be one of my best friends, is getting married in July. I'm her Matron of Honor, Jake is a Groomsman, and Easton is the Ring Bearer. That wedding is in Mackinaw so we will be traveling for it and it will be the first time we all go on a vacation as a family of four. I've been planning a destination Bachelorette party in July as well as a Wedding shower at the end of this month so be sure to look for all the upcoming DIY project posts - because I've been doing a ton and still have a ton left to do. With that wedding and all that it entails, as well as the other weddings, bridal showers, bachelorette parties, birthday parties, family BBQs, holidays, and so much more - we are busy, busy bees!

Life is crazy and it will only get crazier but I wouldn't trade this wild ride for anything!! So that's the update from my last post up until now. Thanks for catching up and be sure to tune in for more! For now, I have to go help Jake's little sister get ready for prom. I met her when she was starting 6th grade. Where has the time gone!?????

Stay Tuned!
- Christine