During the last three months of my pregnancy the Peanut wanted me all the time. I had to put him to bed, I had to do nap time, I had to feed him, I had to read, etc., etc. Everything was “Mama do” and it drove the Chop nuts. It drove me a little nuts too, particularly as sitting on the floor and picking him up became impossibly hard.

The day we came home with the Bean, it was “D-da do” and it hasn’t stopped since. D-da has to put him to bed. He has to read to him. He has to feed him. I’ve suddenly become persona non grata and it’s half sad/half annoying. According to books (and everyone), he thinks I’m the Bean’s property now – and he’s mad at me for it. I’m not sure if that’s the case or not, but it’s made life very interesting.

August, 2012: We had the monster of all trips planned: 15 days, three states, three plane rides and a wedding. It went better and worse than expected. The first part was a family vacation at a cabin with the Chop’s family. It was tough – the Peanut slept in our room, there wasn’t a lot for him to do and none of us got much sleep. The second part was to visit my family, but it was short and led into the third part – a wedding another state away, where the Chop came down sick and I found out the bride wanted me to photograph the whole thing the day of. It was the longest trip of our life – we came home exhausted and the Peanut’s sleep schedule was screwed for weeks.

September, 2012: My parents did the final move up north. I picked up my Mom and sister at the airport at 8PM and headed up to her new place, reaching our hotel by midnight. The next day we visited the new place and cleaned like crazy (the previous owners had not cleaned as they left – oy veh) late into the night. The movers arrived the next day. Then my parents’ good friends arrived to help for a couple of days. The whole ordeal was, quite frankly, a shitshow and I was so happy to head home. The Peanut had missed me.

October, 2012: We went to Mexico with my family. It was awesome, the Peanut loved it, but the day we came home he got sick. And proceeded to hurl on me in the plane – after he demanded I carry him through the airport in Dallas and through customs (while six months pregnant). The flight from Dallas was a nightmare, but then he got sick in the car on the ride home… and I got stopped for speeding (of course I did), with my mother, father, husband and sick child in the car. The state trooper chastised me (I was crying on the way home, hello hormones) for being a bad mother (essentially), but nicely gave me just a warning. The Peanut’s birthday (which was supposed to be the day after we got back) was postponed, and then canceled. Poor guy was sick for almost two weeks.

November, 2012: I turned 30. Wow. And got to celebrate by being pregnant, lol. The pregnancy was really kicking my ass – itchy and exhausted were the two main issues.

December, 2012: My Mom came down for the weekend and watched the Peanut while the Chop and I spent two nights away for our anniversary. The first night we slept from midnight until 3PM the next afternoon – yeah, sleep deprivation is a killer. We spent Christmas up north with my parents and sister and her boyfriend – it was fun, but terribly exhausting and stressful. My Mom is not loving living up north and the Peanut didn’t sleep well… and neither did I. Ugh, pregnancy.

January, 2013: My due date came and went, but three days later we induced when my blood pressure rose slightly. January 29 brought the Bean into our lives and as with the Peanut, the months of pregnancy were completely, utterly worth it.

February, 2013: The first month of being the parents of two was monumental for us. My Mom and sister came out to help us (thankfully) and had a wonderful time with the Peanut, playing with him, taking him out and introducing him to children’s CDs in the car. They cooked, cleaned and held the Bean, and when they left we were bereft. My Mom came back (she was supposed to be here the full month, but went home after two weeks to see my Dad and got sick – she ended up staying up there for a week instead of two days), but then left again to go back west for two weeks. She’ll be back mid-March for a few days, which we’ll love for the extra sleep, but then she’s heading back home indefinitely. Oy.

What’s really shocking about my plan to blog every day of 2012 was that I managed to do it through July 10th. I wrote for every day, but didn’t post several until today, when I remembered that I had left all posts about the Bean in draft mode.

I managed to keep my second pregnancy under wraps for almost six months, with only our family and closest friends knowing about it. It proved wise and stupid, as most things are.

I delivered Bean on January 29, 2013, and she is a most perfect bundle of joy. I had forgotten a lot about the first few months after the Peanut was born and reliving it again makes me so glad we decided to have another. We’re sleep deprived, but somehow less so than when we first had the Peanut – perhaps it’s because we’re used to it? I’m not sure, but it’s better. The hormones, while still crazy, didn’t affect me nearly as bad as they did the first time and it’s so much less stressful to have a second, once you’ve had the first. We aren’t as terrified and we’re enjoying this baby stage more. It’s fleeting – the Peanut is almost two and a half and he seems huge compared to her.

It’s been seven and a half months since I’ve blogged, a lifetime in blog years, but the blink of an eye for me.