About two months ago I was at an event with a few of my friends.  I was in the middle of a conversation when another woman joined us.  We continued chatting and eventually the woman asked when I was going to have my baby.

SPOILER ALER: I didn't know.  But I told her my due date and how I hoped he would come before then.  Without a moments hesitation she started telling me horror stories about how hard it was for her with her second baby.  She wasn't talking about the pregnancy or the labor.  She was talking about life in general.  The rant went on for a good 5 minutes while I sat there dumbfounded.

While she was talking I realized that she didn't really care about my pregnancy at all. She came over for the sole purpose of unloading all of her hardship stories on me. At first I was angry that she was telling me all of this.  Here I was, excited to welcome my son into the world, and all she wanted to do was paint this horrific picture about sleepless nights, sibling rivalry, and personal dissatisfaction.

After my anger wave subsided I felt sad for her.   I remembered the joy I had felt when I brought my first son home from the hospital.  I remembered that I too had experienced sleepless nights.  I had become overwhelmed and felt under qualified, but those moments were fleeting. Looking back on my first experience I had many more happy memories than unpleasant ones. I don't know what had happened in her life to make it the reverse, but it made me sad. It was right then that I decided I wouldn't let that happen to me.

Flash forward several weeks and here we are.  New baby and a whole new set of challenges. It's hard for me to believe that it has already been 1 month since we brought Declan home from the hospital. I sometimes think back to the comments the lady made to me.  And I can see how you could let yourself wallow in the hard times.  We have had some rough days, but we have had so many more of the good ones.

Declan loves to eat.  He is waking up 2 times each night (1:30 and 5am have become very good friends of mine). He loves spending time in his swing or in the arms of Mama and Dad.  He is a spit up master, and is not afraid to use his voice. His favorite thing is to be swaddled in anything soft.

Parker is warming up to him nicely.  It was rough the first few weeks, but now he will give him kisses on his forehead, help hold his bottle, give him his binky, and bring me all the burp cloths I could ever need. Today he asked to hold him and seemed to enjoy all 2 seconds of the experience.

 These two boys have my heart.  Through the good and bad I will love them just the same.