John and I were 2 1/2 years into our marriage before we welcomed our precious little Jettie Ruth into the world. Until that point in my life, I had never even changed a diaper or babysat a small child other than Julia. Fortunately I was able to miss out on the diaper stage with her!

I was amazed at how easy it was to enter the hospital ultimately only being responsible for myself and to leave the hospital with the responsibility of another human life. No instruction book, no crazy assessments to pass, nothing at all. I was scared to death to walk out of that door, but with the help of my incredible husband I was able step into my role almost seamlessly.

I loved everything about being a mom. The snuggles, the giggles, the late night nursing, and the unspoken bond that occurred moment I held her for the first time. Everything was going great, and then something crazy happened.

Not even 7 months after stepping into my role as mom, John and I found out we were expecting again. Only this time it was twins. We welcomed a sweet little girl and a strong little boy into our family the following March. After their month stay in the NICU, we were finally able to bring them home. Again their was no instruction book, no crazy assessments to pass, nothing at all. They handed me two, tiny, 4 pound humans and sent me on my way.

Let me just tell you, twins are totally different than singletons, and we had to come up with an entire new game plan. Schedules were are friend and enemy. I mean trying to get 2 newborns to sleep at the same time with a 1 year old in the house, especially when that 1 year old was Jettie, was next to impossible.

So what should you expect when you have a child under 1 and are expecting again?

Diapers! Lots and lots of diapers. We went through about 25-30 diapers a day.

No sleep. When it was just Jettie, I could sleep when she slept. It was a entirely different ballgame once the twins arrived. Someone was always awake, and if that someone happened to be Jettie and you fell asleep, there is no telling what you might wake up to. Sharpie on the wall, rolls of toilet paper in the toilet, an entire bag of chips crumbled into tiny pieces and scattered across the floor, could all be a very real possibility.

No more going out to eat. Eating out with Jettie and the twins is more work than it is worth. Someone is always trying to climb out of their highchair. More food always ends up on the floor than in their tummies, and someone almost always has some sort of melt down before we are finished eating.

It becomes ridiculously hard to find a babysitter. Finding someone that can watch all three of our kids without wanting to walk out after the first 30 minutes is next to impossible. My mom is our life saver on this one. She watches all 3 of them 4 days a week while John and I work, and she watches them about one night a month to give us a date night. She is the best! My Aunt Gwen is the only other solo person to take on the task of watching all 3 of them at once.

Now, I totally understand that our situation is pretty unique. Not many people ever experience life with 3 kids 1 and under, much less 4 kids 2 and under. It is crazy to think this is something we will be experiencing in the next few months. I literally laugh out loud when I think about it. I never would have thought that I would have this many kids. Let alone this many kids this close together! Our life is pure chaos most of the time. My house is a mess, there is always laundry to be done, and spilt milk on the floor. But it is also filled with laughter and lots of love!

THE END…

#loveyoulikepeaches