The Hatz Family: Adjusting to being a Family of Five!

Things have been going really well (crossing fingers that it continues). Being an 'experienced' mom has made things easier. I know what to expect and am not as stressed out about things. Brea is doing great! She is still in the sleepy newborn stage so I am enjoying that right now knowing that some crabby times may be ahead. I am very aware that she is my last baby so I am trying to enjoy her as much as possible. The other day it was rainy and I think I held her all day. With Carter and Isla, that would have stressed me out a little because I would have wanted to put them down to do something else. But I loved it! She is so adorable! She loves to still be curled up like she is still in the womb. She frequently sits with her feet touching and I can just see how she probably sat while inside of me.

The kids have been adjusting pretty well. Isla is doing great and loves her baby sister! She loves to kiss her on the head and always wants to know what she is doing. Isla has had a little trouble remembering Brea's name and calls her 'that girl' a lot. When we first brought her home I would ask Isla her name and she would always say Nora :). She has been a little bit more needy as far as wanting my help. She has been potty trained for several months and before Brea wanted to do everything 'by herself.' However, now she wants my help and had a couple of accidents in the bathroom waiting for me to help her. She also panics every time we leave the house because she thinks we are going to leave her. My mom said that the three days she stayed with her while we were at the hospital got a little long for her towards the end. But for the most part, she has done amazing.

Isla and 'that girl' aka Brea :)

Carter is adjusting well. He had a little bit of a hard time when we first got home but part of that was the 3 nights he stayed at my mom's and then stayed the night at the River Bandits game so I think he was so very tired. He hasn't been bad per se just a little talking back, not listening or following directions, and picking on Isla. I hate to say that he isn't adjusting well because that is certainly not the case. The other issue is that I think I have really high expectations of him because I know how well he can behave. He really loves his baby sisters and has even asked to hold Brea. The first time he held her she fell asleep in his arms so now he thinks he is the master at getting her to sleep :). Isla and Brea are lucky girls to have him as their big brother!

Matt is doing a great job adjusting as a dad of three. He is has just been crazy busy at work but still will come home and help around the house and cook dinner for us. It is really nice when he takes care of these things so I can focus on the baby. He has even changed a couple of poopy diapers and noted that he completely forgot how wiggly newborns can be - ha!

Our Hayden is adjusting beautifully as she is a pro at the big sister gig. She pretty much ignores Brea and has calmed down when it comes to her crying. With Carter and Isla, Hayden was always so stressed when they would cry and whine at me so I knew that they were upset (as if I couldn't hear them). Now she just goes with the flow and the crying doesn't seem to bother her as much. :)