A hypocrite, I am

Of all the things that surprise me the most about motherhood, it’s how many times I’ve had my ideas about parenting change once I actually experience a certain phase with our kids.
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First, I said I’d never have our kids sleep with us. Not because I thought there was anything wrong with it, but because I’m a pretty light sleeper and I knew a baby in bed with me would prevent me from ever resting more than 10 seconds at a time. BUT, as Logan became the normal newborn at about 6 weeks of age, I cried from the sleep deprivation. Why could he nurse himself to sleep and then those eyelids flew open as soon as I put him in the crib? What could he possibly need at 2:00 a.m??? So the first time I laid down on the futon with him next to me (only because I thought I would seriously fall asleep standing up and drop him…), he slept soundly for 7 hours. Now I might be slow to catch on at times, but I’m not completely stupid…and thus, the child came to bed with us for about 2 months.
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Then, along came Carter. And, because I already had one child, I was pretty sure I had figured out all of the errors in judgment from the first child. I just planned on this kid coming to bed with us from the start because I had learned my lesson. Oh, no. Carter would have nothing to do with it. He HATED cuddling, nursing, or just plain being close to another human being (ever try to nurse a baby that doesn’t want to be close??? It has its challenges.).
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And of course there’s the other issues…spanking or no spanking, when to reward behavior and when not to, when to give in and when to stand my ground, stay up late or sleep in late, nap or no nap, candy or no candy, intervene or let them fight, video games or not, television as a babysitter, nag them to do something for 20 minutes or just do it myself…I’ll stop there. Every time I think I have a plan…those boys of ours change the game. Someday, I shall learn to be truly flexible…
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That being said, I stand humbled by my own ability to change my mind once again. As I posted earlier, I had begun to have second thoughts on not finding out whether we were having a boy or girl. Not sure why. I truly wasn’t even tempted to know the first two times. But, I also didn’t want to be too impulsive and find out on a whim and regret it later. I really have been hormonal and mentally unstable with this pregnancy (more than normal, that is). But, after two weeks of wondering, I called the doctor today and found out. My intuition was right. We are very excited to know that the Yankees décor in the nursery will serve its purpose yet one more time. We are having a boy. I almost giggle out loud when I type that. Three Magee boys in our house…what adventures! We have once again been spared the drama of a little girl (which is probably for the best; Ryan and I could NOT agree on a girl name!!!). I can’t speak for Ryan, but I am not disappointed. I admit I always thought I’d have at least one of each...maybe that will still happen or maybe that’s not what God has planned for us. This might be our last baby. It might not. But for now, we’ve got three boys and that suits me just fine. We don’t have most of our tiny baby clothes anymore, but we’re good for 9 months and older, so that works for me as well. I think Ryan was scared his wife would take out another mortage on the house buying girl things...
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On other thoughts, kudos to Carter for earning his toy on Sunday. He did well for 7 days (actually, 9 now but we’re not keeping track on the fridge anymore). It felt like Christmas at our kitchen table. He was very pleased with himself, as he should be.
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We’ve also nearly completed moving the boys downstairs. I have most of their clothes in the closet now and the bathroom downstairs has officially become theirs (translation: you might want to stick to using the bathroom upstairs when you visit…Carter’s aim is a little off). Still waiting on the closet rod and I need to make a curtain or two yet, but then it’ll be finished.
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I couldn’t remember what we had for baby toys anymore (I tend to thin out our toy situation once or twice a year), so I dug those out of the crawlspace. As you can see, the boys have regressed to babyhood…