Is this real life?

I often say to Eric, that our life feels so ridiculous sometimes, it's unreal. Just the other day, we were all in the car on the way to Benson's soccer game, nearly 45 minutes away and all of a sudden Amelia starts crying. Obviously alarming, because we make those car rides before games full of energy and have ourselves a little dance party. So I turned to ask what was wrong and with her hand over her mouth, she's screaming to go to the bathroom. And ever so slowly (or quickly) she threw up all her breakfast. Definitely one of those moments when you're seeing it happen and you are so shocked you don't move a muscle, not that there was anything I could do except offer Starbucks napkins. One thing about Amelia is you CANNOT laugh at her. Do not have a good time at her expense. And what does Benson do? He bursts into sheer hysteria. So the next 30 minutes were spent in silent agony as we made our way to the field, engulfed in what smelled like a combination of bad cheerios, bananas, and peanut butter. The lesson here is to always make sure you're near a Target. I wasn't sure how to explain to my husband how I walked into Target only to get a change of clothes and walked out $60 poorer. But their towels were on sale! Target, you get me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Now that we're well over a month into the three kids games, a few things I've learned:

1. All babies are different. This may not be my first rodeo, but it might as well be. What worked for one baby does not work for another. At Lincoln's two week appointment, I found myself almost embarrassed and hesitated to ask our pediatrician some of the questions I had noted on my phone because I wasn't a new mom! Ha, but in all seriousness, I AM! Why are his lips white? Why does he breathe so hard? Why does he spit up so much? Is it ok if he sneezes a lot? You know what answer I got from her? As long as he's pink (and not blue) and he's gaining weight, he's fine. Eric and I have done a lot of growing in the last month since having Lincoln. We are the biggest germ freaks. It's really hard to let go of that kind of obsession. It's hard not to think about the millions of bacteria lingering around you! The other night I had dinner with some girlfriends and I get a text from Eric. It was a long, elaborate story that basically boiled down to his beard touching dog pee and Lincoln touching his beard - I'll spare the details; enter laughing with tears emoji- and him asking "Is he going to be ok?" As if I have all the answers to the universe. But I simply replied, "he's fine." I'm happy to report, he's still here.

They say your third kid, goes with the flow. "You won't even notice he's there." Oh boy do we know he's here. Maybe it's because we hold him all day and he's spoiled. Maybe. But you know what, babies grow so freaking fast. Next thing I know, he'll be in 3rd grade trying to figure out what experiment he wants to do for the science fair and embarrassed when I hug him. (mmhmm, BENSON!) So if he wants to be held all day long, so be it. These long, hard days will be distant memories one day. So for now, I'll just be pissed that my baby doesn't sleep, asking myself what I'm doing wrong!

2. They may be big kids, but they're still my babies. There was a definite shift in the dynamics in our house. Overall, Benson and Amelia did well with the transition of having a new baby. They may not come out and say it, but they needed one on one time with us to feel special and loved. Being a working mom, it's hard to take time off for school events because I'm saving my time to take off for doctors appointments. Now that I'm on maternity leave, I surprised both kids and spent time with them at their schools. They absolutely loved it! BUTTTT, I may rethink visiting them because I can't erase the sight of seeing so many coughing kids. No wonder they're sick all the time!

3. Tomorrow's a new day. There have been so many days where I wished there was a pause button I could push. Eric is so good about getting me out of my own head and telling me that we just need to "get through it." I easily forget that tomorrow is coming. I can only hope tomorrow will be better. And in many cases, it is. And children are so forgiving. They'll forgive me for screaming at them. They'll forgive me for feeding them cereal for dinner. They'll forgive me for breaking my promise on going to the park because today just isn't a good day. But lucky for them, tomorrow is a new day.

As the days pass, I'm learning more and more about how to wrangle my crazy circus. Let's be real, as crazy as life gets, I love it. Sometimes I contemplate how we're all still alive. I can't help but laugh when these ridiculously crazy things happen. (obviously after the anger subsides). This is real life, people!