Road tripping with 2 ... oh my

This last thursday we packed up the car and headed out for a long weekend to Arizona. We usually try to spend a good 10 days there each summer, to get a lot of family time in, but since the baby was born just a couple of months ago, Jeremey is out of vacation time. But nonetheless we braved the 6 hour drive (turned 8 hour drive), even if it was for just a couple days.

The days of sweet little Tatum quickly falling asleep in the backseat while Jeremey and I spend hours talking about life and catching up, have come to their end. We are now a family with a car full of children who feed off each others crankiness, and try to outdo the other with thier screams. Haha, no but really, it was hard, but the difficulty didn't last long. We had about an hour and a half of claustrophobic ear peircing madness, where we had to force ourselfs to take deep breaths, ask the Lord for patience, and choose which battles to fight with the toddler. But soon enough both kids settled down and settled into a grove. Considering how many hours we were on the road, it really wasn't that bad and definitely could have been worse.

Our time in Arizona was wonderful though. We got to introduce River to the rest of the family that hadn't met him yet, spend three days soaking in the sun in the pool, and got to have lots of cousin time (for Tatum). She loves it in Arizona, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't even notice if we left her there and headed back to California. Things are definitely different with 2 kids instead of one though, "vacation" doesn't quite mean the same thing anymore like it use to, but we are totally fine with that. In fact, even during lunch today Jeremey and I were discussing road trips in the future and how we will soon be needing to upgrade to a bigger vehical as our family continues to grow. We are excited for the chaotic adventures that we have ahead as we look towards the future. Our marriage, since day one, has been nothing short of chaotic, mostly due to my illness, and now that I am feeling much better, why stop the madness now, we have never known anything different, haha. This wild ride has just begun!

Praise reports as we near the 2 month mark!

With each pregnancy I fear what will happen to my already neurologically challenged body, I fear that I will come out on the other side, more sick, and less capable than I was when I began. But I'll tell you what, pregnancy, though a thorn in my flesh for 10 months, has proved to have some sort of healing component to it. Just 7 weeks post pardom, I feel nearly as good as I did just before I became pregnant a year ago, and for those that follow my blog, you will know that that is a miracle. I feel fantastic, I am not 100%, I doubt I ever will be, but geez I have 2 kids now and am surviving, not only surving, but enjoying it, and cherishing it, when just 3 years ago I could hardly get out of bed and used a wheel chair more often than not! We could say the bettering of my health has to do with the balancing of hormones after pregnancy, or we could just face the fact that the Lord saw fit for me to feel better in this season, and that it was nothing outside of Him that could make me feel this good. What a praise report that is right? I am also sleeping better than I ever have .... go figure ... maybe my 14 year run at insomnia is coming to a close?

We feel like we are finally getting into the swing of things. Some days though I feel like I am still drowning in the chaos, juggling a crying baby and a needy potty training toddler, who is in the "whats this momma? why momma?I want to tell you everything I've ever seen or done with you looking directly at me every second momma" stage. Oh but I love them more than anything. My patience definitely runs out quicker now, and I have for sure had my share of freak outs and dramatic moments, but really, every bit of chaos is worth it, and it is truly forcing me to cling to the Lord even tighter.

Milestones ...
- River only wakes up once a night to eat!!! Yay!
- Tatum has taken off verbally. It's like I can have normal adult conversations with her. You know, the type of conversations about Mickey and Minnie, and potties and pooping. I'll have to post a video of her telling a story soon, this stage she is in is too funny to let slip by.
- River is cooing and smiling a ton now. Oh he's so sweet, such a gentle boy.
- We are out of the, how do we go out in public with two kids without our worlds falling apart, stage. Now we just go, and deal with whatever comes our way. I'll say we have been doing pretty well at it. Most of the time ;)

Till next time, there's your update.