Mamas Makin’ It Work – #14

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Hi there, my name is Jess and I blog at Notes of Life & Love! I’m a stay-at-home mom, and my day basically consists of navigating through the crazy world of toddlerhood and newborn muck! I have two gorgeous little boys, Nolan – who is two and a half, and Archer, who is just over two months old.

I’ve had to make a lot of things work in the past 3 years. I unexpectedly got pregnant with my firstborn, Nolan, early on into my relationship with Matt. Neither of us had jobs or any sense of direction at all. We went from being careless kids to struggling to get on our feet before our kid arrived. It was a trying time, but somehow we did it. Nolan came earlier than expected with minor complications {he had fluid on his lungs and had to spend the first two weeks in NICU}, and I suddenly had to deal with all the emotions of being a new mom with a tiny newborn in NICU that I couldn’t really hold or do much for and constantly worried about, even though it was just fluid on the lungs. The NICU is a scary place for a 19 year old girl with no clue. 

After Nolan was born, Matt and I struggled a lot with money. Neither of us had had much responsibility before becoming parents. Suddenly we had rent and bills and a baby to take care of, and it was a lot. And it didn’t help that Matt was the only one working and his job didn’t pay a whole lot. Before we knew it, we were drowning in bills and barely staying afloat. We decided the best thing for our tiny family would be to move 4.5 hours away to live with Matt’s dad and step-mom while Matt went to school. Eventually, we moved out into a tiny two bedroom main floor apartment. It was super difficult for us while Matt was in school, but again, we made it work. It was the best thing for our family. I took on a babysitting gig to bring in some extra cash, and Matt started working part-time at a welding shop. 

In January, we decided to start trying for our second. Even though things were tight, I knew I wanted to get my butt in gear for school, but I wanted to be done having babies by then so I could go straight from school to work. I figured it would take a while of trying, but it didn’t… after not even a few days of trying {literally}, I got pregnant. We moved again in May, Matt graduated his program in August, and Archer was born October 5th. Now? I’m trying to adjust to this new life of two.

I’m still super new at everything, but so far we’ve figured a few things out. I wear Archer in a sling when he’s fussy so I can still play games, colour, etc with Nolan. The four of us all cuddle up in Nolan’s room for story-time each night, and I let Nolan participate with as much Archer related care as he wants. He helps me with diaper changes, brushes his brother’s hair, and shakes rattles for him. 

All the other tricks, I’m still learning. But I’m loving being a mama of two, even if it’s harder than being a mama of one. It’s crazy chaotic most days, always messy and I do sometimes feel like I’m being pulled in two directions at the same time and it’s hard to be in two places at once. I’m trying to adjust to the chaos, and accept that my house will never be Martha Stewart clean. I’m trying to roll with the punches, take a deep breath and enjoy these stages both kids are in, because before you know it…they’re in college.

Thanks for reading my little piece on how I make it work ;)

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