So I tend to be a worst case scenario-type person. In all honesty, I think it’s my way of being prepared and working through my emotions ahead of time rather than me being down right pessimism.  Anyhow, as we approached the arrival of Owen I ran into a million well-meaning people that warned me about life with 2 kids. So, in my mind I began to prepare myself for the worst case scenario. Even with horrible reflux, behavioral outbursts from Jackson and many sleepless nights it has been really quite good so far.

Here are some of my recent random mommy thoughts….

Someone is going to be crying at some point throughout the day…may be Owen, may be Jackson, and if it isn’t one of them it might just be me! I had to let go of making everyone happy every moment. With 2 there are bound to be times when someone is waiting for attention. And that’s okay!

It is a blessing that God gave us 2 boys first because he must have anticipated that I would not be good at doing girls hair. He gave me a 2 yr grace period with Jackson and then boom…wild, wavy hair to manage. Owen’s hair has been receding and is now growing back…I better get ready!

With 2 kids we have double the possibility of someone waking up at any point in the night.  that translates to a lot less sleep..It applies in the same way to double sickness, etc.

Owen is starting to smile….having a second has reminded me of those wonderful milestones we enjoyed with Jackson. This time around I feel like I can anticipate and savor it more!

It is so apparent to me that God made Owen for us! He fits right in to our family and it feels a little like he has always been around. Yesterday Jackson went up with me to get him out of his bed and Jackson said “come downstairs Owen, and be part of our family”. We love having him around!

I cannot imagine being a single mom. In that same thought I am so thankful for Seth, a daddy who is a great daddy! These days he is smothered constantly by Jackson who thinks he hung the moon. Jackson is currently referring to Seth as “my own daddy”….so this morning it was “mommy, I want my own daddy to hold me”. We have had to start setting our timer throughout the evening when Seth is home so that Jackson will leave him alone for 10 mins here and there so Seth can at least check email or news.

There is plenty of love to go around. I know lots of people worry that when you have more kids it will be hard to love them as much as your first child. We love our boys and Jackson knows that we love Owen just as much as him…probably a healthy place for him to start understanding that he isn’t the first and favorite ( I think he still has confusion in this area)! It’s fun to hear Jackson talk to Owen about how much he loves him.

Teaching one little boy about God, the world, life, love and other mysteries feels daunting…adding another child doesn’t lessen the weight of that task. As Jackson asks about his world around him and seeks to learn I am humbled that God thought we could handle this….the great thing is he doesn’t want us to do it without his help. Last week on my birthday Seth and I saw a beautiful, full rainbow on our way to dinner. We took a picture because we knew Jackson would have loved to see it. After seeing the picture he rushed to get his bible to read the story of Noah.

A lifestyle that would include grandparents close by would be highly beneficial. I would love for the boys to get to have more time to learn from their grandparents and have quality times with them in ways they can’t with our constant moving.

I saw a 6 month old the other day, bouncing around on his moms lap trying with all of his might to get free and take off…..that leads me to our next worst case scenario in the Kolb house….moving again, this time with a 6 months old and an almost 3 yr old!!!! The house hunt has begun and the calendar is narrowing in on our takeoff dates.  For today I am going to enjoy the fact that life with 2 is better than expected!!