Thoughts as the 2nd child time draws near

Cadence is teething. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean she'll have a new tooth any time soon. It just means she's fussy, we're going through Orajel and Tylenol like they're... Dr Pepper (I'd say water, but I think Dr Pepper is the humorous alternative answer in our household...). And, it also means she's woken up an hour after going down at bedtime needing me to rock her back to sleep. I don't mind. I'm more than willing to turn off all the lights in the front room, wrap her up in her favorite blanket, and lay on the couch with her. There's something too sweet about how she'll hold on to my shirt or my hair or just have her hand against my cheek to make sure I'm still there as she goes back to sleep.

She's getting so big. Tomorrow, we're replacing her infant carseat carrier with a convertible car seat in the car (James'll bring up the base with him tonight after work). She is officially too long for her infant carrier. I remember when, even with the head rest inserted, the car seat dwarfed her.

I am going through the typical second-time-mom-to-be fears of "how am I going to be a good mom to two of them at once!?!" It really kinda hits me when Cadence shows signs of needing her mommy (like tonight) that I may not be able to so readily respond to her come December. I know she'll be more independent at 1 year old, she already gets more and more independent as time goes by, and I know once she's walking... Still, what about if/when they get sick at the same time? I can already see myself banning James to the couch so that I can cuddle both of my little girls at the same time in our bed.

Cadence is turning into a daddy's girl, at least, so perhaps she'll be more willing to let him do all those small things that currently only I'm allowed to do (like put her to bed). She loves, James, though. When he first wakes up and she sees him for the first time all day, she just lights up and wants to be held by him and nobody else. And now that she's really interacting, James is growing into the daddy role quite well. It's not uncommon to walk by Cadence's room and find James on his belly growling at her and her growling back.

I'm both excited and nervous to welcome Megan into our family. I'm pretty sure it's completely normal. It seems most experienced moms I talk to say the 2nd one can be harder than the 1st at times, but once you get the hang of it, 3rd, 4th, 5th and so on are nothing. I just wonder how I'll handle it. I felt semi-confident in my abilities to handle the changes Cadence would bring, but after having survived Cadence, I am not nearly as confident in my abilities to handle these changes. I must be capable, though, or Heavenly Father wouldn't have told us it was the right thing for our family. Still... Nervous and excited. That's where I'm at right now.

Cadence and I about 20 minutes after she was born
(it seemed appropriate tonight):