If you had told me that being a mom of two would fall into place naturally for me, I would have laughed right in your face. But its true – I can no longer remember when I was only a mama to one, and now that the pregnancy exhaustion has passed (& I’m allowed obnoxious amounts of caffeine again) I am beginning to feel like myself again. Mom life isn’t always easy – but honestly this transition has not been anything what I expected and as a family we have all adjusted quite easily. That being said – I’d be lying if I said one of my favorite parts of the day weren’t my morning energy drink, but I also know that the busy crazy season of life right now will be fleeting, and in a few months, I’ll be driving River back and forth to preschool, which will turn into kindergarten, & before I know it, I’ll be running the roads with both boys to sports practices & games & what ever else they may be interested in later in life.

I cannot believe a month has come and gone so fast.  This sweet boy is growing & changing daily, and while I love watching him grow, it scares me how fast time is flying! I am trying to make it a point to document more of our day to day life (although I’m not exactly succeeding at it yet). While every aspect of the newborn life isn’t great (this boy poops ALOT & I’m really excited to get a full nights sleep again one day!) I have to remind myself just how much I will miss this down the road.  Dawson looks like a mini twin version of River as a newborn, & is a relatively easy baby – not colicky or super fussy – definitely has his moments though! River absolutely adores his “brudder” which fills my heart with so much joy but also terrifies me when he randomly tries to pick him up, or climbs in his crib with him.  River is working on learning not to forcefully mash the pacifier back into Dawson’s mouth & be gentler.  Dawson is very alert when he’s awake & extremely nosey (he gets that from me!) and just loves looking around at everything.  He does not enjoy tummy time unless he happens to be laying on me, but we’re working on it! He is a GREAT sleeper, and sleeps through anything from the vacuum to River’s loud little self! He loves snuggles but also does well sleeping on his own! He gets bottles like clockwork & hardly ever cries unless he’s hungry. It is super weird for me to refer to my KIDS as plural now & I’m still not sure it has hit me that we are really a family of four, but I am so so thankful and blessed to be Mama to this sweet baby boy!

With all that being said, here’s a few memories of Dawson’s first month earthside!

• He has enjoyed meeting so many family members, but slept through most of it! River on the other hand gets extremely excited any time anyone comes to our house to visit – and spends most of the visit running and screaming.
• His fingernails grow like crazy. Like I have had to cut them 2-3 times a WEEK
• He poops like ALOT. Almost every diaper change since we brought him home from the hospital – to include his first diaper change home being a blow out.
• He loves to pee during diaper changes & I’m pretty sure his changing pad cover has spent more time in the washing machine than on the actually changing pad!
• He does NOT like the carseat unless he’s in the car moving – so don’t even think about putting him in it until you are about to walk out the door.
• He is finally coming around to liking baths, I think. It seems to be a hit or miss – but I am officially obsessed with Dove brand baby wash & lotion and I will never go back to using anything else.
• He isn’t officially smiling yet but he does occasionally grin & it is the cutest!
• Austin had to leave at 3 weeks for his national guard annual training for about 3 weeks & it really forced me out of my comfort zone. Prior to that he had been home every day on paternity leave – so I never had to go in public with both boys. Since he has left, we have survived our first chickfila trip (although I had help from my mother in law!) as well as trips to Target, Walmart, Aldi for groceries, a friend’s birthday party & a few gas stations when mama had to run in for some more caffeine. I had a lot of anxiety about outings with 2 but I’ve found that while it’s definitely challenging, it’s not as bad as I made it out to be in my head, and baby wearing during grocery trips is an absolute must.
• I haven’t been taking as many photos as I would like to – but I’m hoping to step my game up for next month!