Being thankful.....

I can't believe my little baby Iris Joyce is almost 6 months old.
Adjusting to life as a mom of two girls has been a smooth transition so far.
Ugh did I really say that out loud?
Knock on wood!
I hope I didn't curse it.
It has been hard to say it out loud for fear of something going wrong.

Iris is literally the happiest baby in the world.
Elodie is still such an amazing big sister.
She loves her baby sister so much.
Every morning she wakes up and comes in and talks to her and holds her hand.
It is funny how you hear your own voice come out in your toddler.
She says a lot of "hi honey, how are you"....."ohhhh she's so cute mom....it's ok, I'm here".....
She sings to her and Iris is just enthralled with her.
She watches her every move.

Iris has been sleeping through the night since we brought her home.
We got her into a great routine the first week she was born.
She was going to bed around 8 or 9 and usually sleeps until 7 or 8.
When we got to Minnesota she started going to bed at 7 or before that and sleeping in just the same.
She is definitely teething.
Any day now those teeth will be popping out.
It has been so nice to not be sleep deprived while adjusting to life with two kids.
We just transitioned her to the crib this week.
I put Elodie in the crib right at 3 months old.
I was so sad to put Iris in her crib.
She still seems so little and she still loves being swaddled.

Iris is rolling all over the place and giggles non stop.
Her signals are easy for me to read.
I guess since she gave me such a hard time at birth she is easy on me now.

Elodie has turned into the most inquisitive toddler ever.
Most of the time she is so sweet.
But the toddler whine takes over some days.
Mom mom mom mom mom
She hasn't stopped talking for the last three months.
What is that, who is that, who lives there, why why why???
So many questions.
All. day. long.
Most days it is hard to focus on anything deeper than cooking, cleaning and changing diapers.
I know she is learning.
I love her sooooo much.
Sometimes just having silence at the end of the day is so nice.

I've really been struggling to find a way to make extra money for some of the debt we have accrued.
I thought I could just take up a second job on the side no problem.
But it is a lot harder to find time than I imagined.
I found myself feeling very stressed.
When I get stressed I break out in hives.
It seems like I have a lot more free time in one day than I actually do.

Instead of stressing over money I choose to be grateful.
I'm thankful for what we do have.
After seeing our Peepaw so sad over Thanksgiving it reminded me how precious life can be.
We lost our dear Meemaw over Christmas last year.
Peepaw is still so heartbroken.
He loves to play with Elodie and rock Iris.

It seems like just yesterday I told Meemaw at Thanksgiving that we were pregnant with baby Iris.
She was so happy for us.
I remember how her eyes lit up and the smile on her face like it was yesterday.
Meemaw always had a smile on her face.
Iris Joyce carries on this legacy.
She smiles at everyone.
Everyone loves a smiling baby.
You can't help but smile back.