Preparing for Elise's Brother

Although this is technically Elise's blog, we couldn't go without mentioning the impending arrival of Elise's little brother in a few days. The last couple of weeks have been a storm of preparation both mental and logistical. The logistical changes are easy compared to the mental preparation of taking care of a newborn while a still very needy toddler is in tow. As for the logistical, we had to do a room switcheroo so that Elise could get the bigger bedroom and a big girl bed. This only led to the opening of a can of worms as we felt the need to clean out all of our closets...then the laundry room...then garage...and finally, the attic. Mom was in nesting overdrive and in one weekend, we managed to do it all. We are slowly letting Elise get use to her new room by hanging out there more often but the big move probably won't happen for a few months.

Now for the mental...we've been told by countless people who have 2 or more kids that yes, going from 1 to 2 kids is not doubly hard, it's exponentially hard. For more than 2 years, it was the two of us and 1 kid. And even with those odds, there are days when it seems the two of us aren't even enough for the one of her. Add on full-time working parents and you'd wonder why we even entertained the idea of having another. Hopefully by preparing for the worst, the reality will never be as bad.

The final preparation was getting Elise use to the idea that she was going to share her castle with a baby brother. For months, we told her about "Baby Boy" and she would lovingly kiss Mom's tummy every time. Seeing how she loves babies anyways, we think she'll adjust far better than her parents.