And then there were three

A lot has happened in the past month, but I will begin with the most important update. On March 18th, we welcomed into the world our beautiful new baby boy, Andrew Christopher. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 1 oz, and captured all four of our hearts immediately.

Chris was the first to fall head over heels for the little guy, since he got to hold him uninterrupted for the two hours I was in the recovery room post-delivery. And then it was Benjy's turn. "My Andy," he proudly declared, and no one has been able to tell him differently ever since. I finally got to hold my sweet baby after several hours, and I, too, was spellbound. I am still amazed at how tiny and perfect he is. Jacob was the last to meet Andrew, but he beamed with pride and admiration as he sported his new "I am a big brother" T-shirt. And that's right about the time that he and Benjy began fighting over who got to hold Andrew and to whom exactly Andrew belonged.

So needless to say, the past 4 weeks have been a whirlwind of family visitations, diaper changes, round the clock feedings, emotional outbursts, and growing pains as we are all adjusting to accommodate life with a newborn. So far, everyone's attitudes have been relatively in check, even the insistent Benjy's, although he does tend to get a little uptight when his juice cup runs dry and is not refilled promptly on demand. He, too, is learning patience.

For the first week and a half home from the hospital, Jacob stayed with Grandmama and Papa in North Carolina, enjoying life as an "only" child. He went four-wheeling, played in the hot tub, went hiking, made and ate sweets and fun treats, delighted in the unrivaled attention of his grandparents, and no one stepped on his artwork or demanded that he share his markers. And then he came home. And then reality of life with not one, but two little brothers, set in. Jacob is thankful for school.

For me, the first real test of life with three children came in the form of the first doctor's visit. Jacob came home from N.C. with a nasty sinus infection, and Andrew was due for his two week check-up, so I combined the two appointments and took all three boys to the doctor. Benjy went along just for added excitement. "I can do this. No big deal," I told myself as I bravely entered the brand new facility. But before I could even check them in with the receptionist at the counter, the mayhem began. The beautiful new pediatric office failed to have any toys or books, and the DVD had already played itself out. But these inconveniences weren't going to ruin Jacob and Benjy's fun. They're inventive, and together, one way or another, they will find some amusement. I turned around to find Benjy running on top of the chairs, which ran the length of the room on three sides, with Jacob quick on his heels. Luckily, no one else was in the waiting room--yet.

I put a stop to their game and tried to focus on the mountain of forms to fill out for Jacob which required exactly the same information that I'd already filled out on Andrew at his previous check up. How many different times can these people actually need my insurance information and my assurance of payment? I'd like to advocate for one form that says I agree to pay for all services rendered to all of my children, and yes, they do all have the same insurance. If that is not the case, then let those parents fill out 15 million forms.

Anyway, I was trying to fill out the necessary forms and rock the infant carrier with my foot to keep Andrew from crying, when Benjy and Jacob once again start chasing each other around the waiting room, this time on the ground, on all fours, underneath the chairs. And that's when it really hit me that all three of these kids were actually mine. It had all been sort of surreal until then. Like I was in a cloud of Percocet, and everything sort of had a hazy glow around it. Reality check. The other women in the room really were glaring at me as my boys squealed with delight at their new game and Andrew whimpered in his seat. I could feel their looks of disdain as they sat there with their one or two children. I had broken the norm. I had dared to have three! And worse yet, I had dared to bring them all with me at once! What was I thinking?

I grabbed Jacob first and planted his butt in the seat to my right. His question of course, "Why do I have to sit here and Benjy doesn't?" I momentarily ignored his precocious insight, tucked Benjy under my arm, tossed the forms on the counter, and plopped back down with Benjy in my lap just as Andrew's tentative cry turned into a full on wail. I was just launching into my well-rehearsed speech to Jacob about the differences between a 6-year-old and a 2-year-old and was resuming my foot-rocking of Andrew, when the nurse appeared, eagerly calling "Poliyo," of course.

We quickly made our escape into the inner office, and I heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that this doctor's visit was now half over. Now we just had to make it through the actual appointment. The rest of the visit can best be described as a Whack-A-Mole game of little boys. As soon as I had one sitting in the chair, the other one would pop back up, and so on. Luckily, we like our new pediatrician who seems to be fairly fond of children and understands their inability to be still for more than five seconds at a time.

Finally armed with Jacob's prescription and a good report on Andrew, who weighed in at 8 lbs, 6 oz, we fled the doctor's office. All in all, they were well-behaved for a bored 6 and 2-year-old, but boy am I in trouble when Andrew gets mobile.