It is crazy to me how different raising the fifth kid is compared to the first few. I mean this with all honesty, that I LOVE each of my kids equally as much and have treated them all with the same amount of love and attention. (I'm not just saying that because I know Jessalyn reads this blog either....Hi Jessalyn:) I think all parents of more than one child can understand what I'm saying. I suppose I will just explain the difference between the first and the fifth as far as my perspective.
Jessalyn was the one that taught me this love...the kind of love that only a mother has for her children. This is something that can not be explained but is completely understood the second (well..maybe not right that second) you have a baby. My love for her was new to me and I was 'in her face' as much as I am with Truett and am equally in love with her as I am with Truett.
With your firstborn you tend to look forward to milestones more. I remember always wondering what it will be like to have a baby that can sit up, or crawl, or eat breakfast by herself, or pull up on stuff...or walk, talk, learn to read, lose teeth, go to school, play sports...etc etc. That list could go on and on. It seems that as they get older you start to dread the future milestones...like...Junior High, High School, driving, and most of all college!! There comes a point when you realize that you want life to slooooow down, and that point for me is right now.
Besides Jessalyn, every other "baby" that I had, had a two year old sibling. That in and of itself is a life that can't be explained until you experience it. Fun? Yes. Crazy? Yes! Does it take away from how much you love the youngest? No. Like I said, I have loved each of my babies the same. But you learn to love the youngest in the midst of a certain sense of chaos. For me this meant, while potty training an older sibling or eventually, while potty training one sibling and dragging another to and from school and sports. I wouldn't change a single thing about the spacing between my kids.
I guess I've just realized that "how" I am able to love Truett does seem a little different from the rest. Being that there is four years between Truett and Owen it's almost like having my first again, but without the anticipation of what life will be like when they hit all the major milestones. And honestly, it's awesome. I do feel like I spent much of the day's with Jessalyn anticipating and looking forward to a new stage of life...both for her excitement and my own. It IS fun to watch your kids learn new things and fun to be proud to watch them as THEY are proud of their own new accomplishments. And with that said, I am just as proud and practice certain "tricks" with Truett just the same way I have with all the other kids. It's not that I want to slow it down....but I have learned that with Truett I am able to just live in the moment a bit better.
He's learning to sit now..which is fun. It's fun for him, its fun for all the bigger siblings..and it's a new way to entertain him for me. I enjoy it...and will help him master this, but only because that is where he is now. I am able to just enjoy this stage as it comes...and really, we've lived through many of the milestones that a child can have and it's kind of less of a big deal (to me) as they reach them. And this concept alone is what allows me to "love" Truett a little differently. Not MORE...but just different.
Why am I sharing this? I'm not really sure. I guess it's just something that I've been thinking about and trying to wrap my brain around lately. I guess I can't say enough how much I am enjoying Truett. Just plain enjoying him. There are lots of people who have had a few kids and then taken a break and thought "well...I'd love to have another but the thought of 'starting over'.....". I personally highly recommend it. I remember thinking this of other families...thinking "wow, I can't imagine having such an age gap between my kids" (only because what I 'knew' was an approximately 2 year space). Now that I've experienced it I know that there is nothing like it! Especially if you've experienced family life and parenting as I have...having the first few (or four:) kids just about every two years. The dynamic of our family has changed for sure. It is difficult at times as we experience "baby life" along side of "elementary school life". I just know there are some out there who think they might want another but hesitate because it's "too late" and the older kids are too old....for me, there has been nothing better! Having my fifth baby is just the opposite of "been there, done that"...in reality it's a whole new experience, one very different from the last four.
Jessalyn was the one that taught me this love...the kind of love that only a mother has for her children. This is something that can not be explained but is completely understood the second (well..maybe not right that second) you have a baby. My love for her was new to me and I was 'in her face' as much as I am with Truett and am equally in love with her as I am with Truett.
With your firstborn you tend to look forward to milestones more. I remember always wondering what it will be like to have a baby that can sit up, or crawl, or eat breakfast by herself, or pull up on stuff...or walk, talk, learn to read, lose teeth, go to school, play sports...etc etc. That list could go on and on. It seems that as they get older you start to dread the future milestones...like...Junior High, High School, driving, and most of all college!! There comes a point when you realize that you want life to slooooow down, and that point for me is right now.
Besides Jessalyn, every other "baby" that I had, had a two year old sibling. That in and of itself is a life that can't be explained until you experience it. Fun? Yes. Crazy? Yes! Does it take away from how much you love the youngest? No. Like I said, I have loved each of my babies the same. But you learn to love the youngest in the midst of a certain sense of chaos. For me this meant, while potty training an older sibling or eventually, while potty training one sibling and dragging another to and from school and sports. I wouldn't change a single thing about the spacing between my kids.
I guess I've just realized that "how" I am able to love Truett does seem a little different from the rest. Being that there is four years between Truett and Owen it's almost like having my first again, but without the anticipation of what life will be like when they hit all the major milestones. And honestly, it's awesome. I do feel like I spent much of the day's with Jessalyn anticipating and looking forward to a new stage of life...both for her excitement and my own. It IS fun to watch your kids learn new things and fun to be proud to watch them as THEY are proud of their own new accomplishments. And with that said, I am just as proud and practice certain "tricks" with Truett just the same way I have with all the other kids. It's not that I want to slow it down....but I have learned that with Truett I am able to just live in the moment a bit better.
He's learning to sit now..which is fun. It's fun for him, its fun for all the bigger siblings..and it's a new way to entertain him for me. I enjoy it...and will help him master this, but only because that is where he is now. I am able to just enjoy this stage as it comes...and really, we've lived through many of the milestones that a child can have and it's kind of less of a big deal (to me) as they reach them. And this concept alone is what allows me to "love" Truett a little differently. Not MORE...but just different.
Why am I sharing this? I'm not really sure. I guess it's just something that I've been thinking about and trying to wrap my brain around lately. I guess I can't say enough how much I am enjoying Truett. Just plain enjoying him. There are lots of people who have had a few kids and then taken a break and thought "well...I'd love to have another but the thought of 'starting over'.....". I personally highly recommend it. I remember thinking this of other families...thinking "wow, I can't imagine having such an age gap between my kids" (only because what I 'knew' was an approximately 2 year space). Now that I've experienced it I know that there is nothing like it! Especially if you've experienced family life and parenting as I have...having the first few (or four:) kids just about every two years. The dynamic of our family has changed for sure. It is difficult at times as we experience "baby life" along side of "elementary school life". I just know there are some out there who think they might want another but hesitate because it's "too late" and the older kids are too old....for me, there has been nothing better! Having my fifth baby is just the opposite of "been there, done that"...in reality it's a whole new experience, one very different from the last four.
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You need a new headed for your blog...
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