Cousins

  The boys got to meet their very first first cousin this week.  And I got to meet my very first nephew!!  Now I really feel like an aunt.  : )

  Cousins are such an important part of growing up.  I mean family gatherings are a given every year.  For kids those can mean great, fun learning experiences…..or they can be a real snooze- fest when there are no other kids around.  In the absence of cousins, kids typically end up in the house, under foot, watching trashy t.v. I personally learned a lot watching Days of Our Lives at Granny’s house when the cousins failed to show up.

   (Our kids are just lucky that both of their sets of grands have a Wii!!)

   Thankfully, the boys have already had a few 2nd cousins to play with, and they just adore them.  I have a fun little memory of 2-year-old Joshua chasing Cassie around their great-grands’ yard with one of those giant grasshoppers.  And I’ll never forget Joshua and Garrett, walking around the zoo with their arms around each other.

  Nonna sent matching outfits for Wesley and JD to wear together.  Amy and I upheld our part of the bargain and took lots of photos:

This is how babies relax in style.

 My first picture with my first nephew!  I am finally Aunt April.

 Wesley looks a bit surprised, but I think it’s a beautiful Amy picture.

 We were taking all these photos, and I suddenly looked over and realized that Daniel was busy emptying out my wallet.  Life has changed, but Dan…. not so much.

  Oh!  John David has been SMILING at me, a few times/day, the last few days.  It’s so exciting!  I think that must be what ushers in the recovery from postpartum blues.  You can’t look at a chubby, smiling baby face and not feel so much happier.  Thank you, “Bobby”!  Mommy needed those smiles.

  I have been running the house again the last couple of days, and it feels good to be in charge again.  It’s really not vastly different that it has been for the past 6 years.  I’ve been juggling babies and toddlers off and on for a while now, so I feel right at home doing this.

  In a couple more weeks I think it will be a lot easier.  The baby should be sleeping better at night, so I will too.  I will be clear to work hard, exercise, swim, and everything.  The occasional sting I still feel from the stitches will gradually go away completely.

  I’m really doing quite well.  I have not felt overwhelmed the way I did when we had Daniel or even when we had Caleb.   Transitioning to 4 has not been as hard for me as transitioning to 1, 2, or 3 was.  Emotionally, I’m good, just a little tired still.

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier–not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson