The last 3 months

24
2079

Tomorrow my gorgeous Phoebe turns 3 months old. I feel like she has been with us forever. Why does the time fly so fast when they’re little?

Phoebe 3 months

Settling with three girls hasn’t been easy peasy, but it hasn’t been hard either. I can count on one hand the times I’ve cried and usually those times have been when I have been overwhelmed by three girls needing my attention at once and me at my upmost capacity because I’m tired.

I remember when I was pregnant with Phoebe, wrangling Esther and carrying Magdalene at our local Shopping Centre and I had two random women say to me you’re going to have your hands full. I felt like I was told that all the time because of the close age gap that would be between Magdalene and Phoebe. I was scared that I might not cope. I heard having a third child was a game changer.

But coped I have. I love it. The game has changed but for the better. Having three girls has forced me to look at life differently. I used to look at life through dollar signs. How much were kids going to cost me? How much do I need to earn to make ends meet? How can we maintain our lifestyle if we add another child to our even numbered family?

I would have discussions with friends about why 2 children was the perfect number. But falling pregnant with Phoebe made me look at life a different way.

sister cuddles

I stopped thinking about the lack of money and started counting the blessings.

It wasn’t easy. Making ends meet since I stopped work has sometimes been difficult. I may have to share a blogpost or two on how we have survived. How we continue to survive.

It is true though that the moment your baby is put on your chest, all worldly worries disappear. For that first week at least.

And then I arrived home in a daze and fog of exhaustion.

It really helped having Jacob home for the first 7 weeks. I was able to do some blogging while Phoebe slept and Jacob played with Esther and Magdalene. I got to have naps or choose not to if I didn’t feel tired (which was rare). Those 7 weeks flew like a blur. It took Phoebe a month to work out how to sleep at night as opposed to all day.

And then after 1 month, we started getting our first smiles. Esther and Magdalene loved their new baby sister and Jacob and I couldn’t believe how blessed we were with three gorgeous girls.

Phoebe Smiles

Going to the shops was easy when Jacob was home during the week. I would put Phoebe into her new 3 Wheel Stroller gifted by Dorel Australia (a review is soon to come) and the older two would be put in a trolley or our double seat pram.

Now that Jacob is at work, I don’t go to the shops unless I meet with my mum or grandparents because of the mobile transport situation.

I attempted to go to the shops with all three to get a present for Father’s day and it lasted 10 minutes.

I had Phoebe in the Baby Bjorn, and put the older two into the trolley. Phoebe cried the whole time in the Bjorn, Magdalene and Esther decided to fight in the trolley so I took Esther out. Magdalene then tried to open the box of chocolates for Father’s Day and Esther wanted to go look at the toys and wouldn’t stop nagging me until we headed that way. I realized that taking all three by myself without the right pram was a bad idea. So I bought what we needed and headed home.

Once Phoebe is 6 months old and I have Esther in Kindy next year, going to the shops will be a breeze as I will just have the two kids with me. I know it will get easier when they are older.

All three are happy and busy playing at the same time!
All three are happy and busy playing at the same time!

But for now I’ve made peace that for this short season of life, we will bunker home and play and bake and draw and create a mess. I’ve done online shopping and don’t feel like I’m missing out on life at all. We have two trips out a week. One where were meet my mum and my grandparents at a local Shopping Centre and have morning tea. The other is when I go to Sisterhood at my church on Thursday mornings.

Phoebe was eyeing my grandpa at a recent outing to the shops.
Phoebe was eyeing my grandpa at a recent outing to the shops.

I get at least one plumbing call a week. Yesterday I got three in a row and I let them all go straight to message bank and texted a message with details of a plumber who could help them. That feeling of letting clients down has slowly started to disappear now that my purpose is quite evident with our new family scenario.

3 months in, looking after a baby, 20 month old and 4 year old is a blessed responsibility. I wish I could go back to those ladies in the Shopping Centre and tell them that yes, my hands are full, but so is my heart.

Sister pile up on mummy
Sister pile up on mummy

What was the perfect number of children in your mind when you thought about starting a family? How did you cope adding an extra sibling to the mix of your family?

I’m linking up with With Some Grace for Flog yo blog Friday.