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Friday, December 4, 2015

Advent, Almost Two, and Pregnancy


Advent is in full swing around here, which means that the tree is up and lit but not decorated, there are nativities all around the house, and every evening we gather for a moment of prayer and reflection around our (not yet made Advent wreath) and candles.  The thing I love about Advent is that it gives us permission to be not quite ready yet,  because man do I find myself needing a few extra days to get anything done around here!

The twins, if you can believe it, are right around the corner from turning TWO, and can I just take this opportunity to sing an ode to being two?  Having two one year olds in the house has been (picture me biting my tongue), quite an adventure?  Ay yi yi!  The messes!  The quarrels!  The opinions (without ability to express them)!  However, the past few weeks, on many occasions, we have sat back and watched while Clara and Dorothy happily, cooperatively, enthusiastically play together, and this has been amazingly wonderful.  They love both imaginarily and really feeding one another, washing one another in the bath, and (this is so cute) massaging one another before bed.  They have fully embraced the world of spoken speech and are adorably assertive and direct in their language choices.  "Sit!  Here!  Mama! (complete with finger pointing to exactly where I should sit)" is Clara's favorite, which is perfectly fitting for the daughter of a women who is perpetually flitting about from one thing to the next.  Oh my goodness, this age is among my favorites.

I am entering that stage of pregnancy when I am both ramping up, inexplicably getting a surge of energy that causes me to want to rearrange the whole house, and sloooowing down, royally crashing and then spending the day in my slippers and pajamas.  We have only now started assembling baby things and I am once again comforted by the fact that a newborn baby needs surprisingly little in the first months.  A sling?  A few outfits and diapers?  A baby swing?  California weather is a dream, and I am relieved that I won't have to mess with too much bundling this time around.  And my mind continues to be blown by the fact that we will just have one baby!  We are so excited, you guys.  Having a new baby is magic.

4 comments:

Julianne said...

This fills me with so much hope for the months to come! We're at 20 months and the biting, the screeching, the destroying EVERYTHING has me feeling like this is all it will ever be. But now I'm eager for the day when they can play together like your girls - what fun!

I'm in awe that you're managing twin toddlers and the rest of your crew AND pregnancy, I hope it continues to go well and there is space for much rest and refreshment in the weeks ahead! If ever there was a time for hopeful expectant resting, it is advent!

Adele said...

Have hope! I think that one year old twins are much harder than newborn twins, but there is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel (although still plenty of screeching ;-). I'm a huge proponent of calling in all the help and support available-- three of our kids are in school for at least part of the day, and we have regular help with the twins. Having twins has made me want to give a high five to every single mom of twins in the world, because this is hard work! You go girl!

What's Cookin? said...

Hey Adele- each stage has such hidden joys that I always forget (and challenges no doubt)- so fun that the twins are beginning to play intentionally with each other! Thank you for the well wishes on pregnancy- still hanging in there, and looking forward to that boost of energy you mention in your post :) Happy Advent!

Adele said...

Cara- Yes, it's so fun to see all the benchmarks through the perspective of new child (or two), isn't it? We're so excited for you guys!!