Here it comes...ready or not. Baby number three! From what I've heard, we're about to have our world rocked.
I've noticed the things people say to me when they hear we're expecting our third child so close to the first two can sometimes be less than encouraging. It's usually something along the lines of "You'll never leave the house again!," "Three kids takes parenting to a whole different level," "Three was really hard for us," "Get ready to be outnumbered!," "You've definitely got your hands full!," or "Oh wow, good luck." I understand why anyone might think like that, because I'm pretty sure I think those things every day all on my own. But wow, hearing it said out loud has a way of making it worse!
One thing I keep hearing that I cling to is people mentioning their third baby being their best baby, or if they were a third child (which I was), remembering that they were their mom's best baby. Crossing. My. Fingers. Let this baby be an angel!!
But something even better has stood out to me above everything else. Shortly after we first announced the pregnancy to everyone, I received an email from one of Jon's sweet aunts, congratulating us and saying exactly what I needed to hear. Here is my favorite part:
"May I just say, I fell in love with motherhood at baby number 3. All of a sudden, I was no longer trying to fit two little people into my life—they WERE my life! And I loved it! Babies number 1 and 2 had each other, and I got to love and enjoy baby number 3 like I had not been able to before."
When I read her kind words of excitement and encouragement, I felt like my fears and worries let out a big internal sigh of relief, and I was reminded what a wonderful thing this is. A growing family, another little life, another beautiful blessing...our third child.
I don't doubt what everyone else says. We are about to have our world rocked. This is probably taking parenting to whole new level. It will be really hard sometimes. Our hands will be completely full. It may take us a LONG TIME to leave the house again. And we will need all the luck we can get. But at the same time, we are being blessed with the opportunity for these little people—all three of them—to BE our life (not just be squeezed into it). And to love it.
Before we welcome this new little life into our family, Jon was awesome enough to know I would want a photoshoot to document our little family now, and that's exactly what he gave me for our anniversary/Mother's Day (which, by the way, were one day apart this year). Turns out a photoshoot of two kids plus a maternity session is no easy feat, and we spent most of the time chasing our wild children around (and let me tell you, they are FAST. And fearless. And they think it's funny.). But you'd never know, because Jon caught everything on camera perfectly! I love how they turned out!! And you can probably tell, because there are a lot...
Here are the end results. A 3.5 year old, a 22-month old, a babe in utero, and a mother of 2.5. (These were taken less than 2 weeks ago, when I was 37 weeks pregnant).
Babes 1 and 2. Van has been obsessed with his Superman costume lately, and we pretty much love it. If he wants to wear it, we are happy to oblige every time! Even if it's on the way to our photoshoot. :)
Fly Super-van!
1. 2. 3.
Watching airplanes in the sky.
Our kids have dance moves that you should probably be jealous of. Just sayin'.
Love that face of hers!
This lasted 2 seconds, but Jon snagged it!
Baby bump lovin'.
What most of the photo session really looked like.
This kid can't get enough of jumping and flying.
I love how this captures a hint of the wildness in their eyes. :) This is SO our kids.
Love these two crazy kids!!
9 comments:
I like what your aunt said. And though I have never put it into those words, I feel the same way. Baby number 3 has brought me so much happiness. Whenever people say "you've got your hands full," I always think "you should see my heart." I don't say it, cuz it's a little cheesy, but it is so true!
I second Jon's Aunt, so much so in fact that I loved having baby #3 so much that we added a baby #4! It will be great! I get a LOT of comments about my 4 and I'm to the point where they don't freak me out even a little, they just make me sad for that person to not understand how wonderful having a family SHOULD and CAN be.
You and your sweet family will be in our prayers these upcoming days!!!!
Loved your post and your pictures. I am anticipating that change too. I am not ready for a third yet, but it is coming soon. Thank you for sharing. You have a beautiful family.
You and your belly both amaze me. You look fabulous! Good luck with the move and new baby!
Melissa, you are a great mom now and that won't change with your third. I think you'll be even better then. I don't know why people feel like they should "warn" pregnant women. No matter if you get a "hard" baby or an " easy" one, you will always have the just enough to make it through because you are doing your best and Heavenly Father loves you, and I'm sure you already knew that. It is hard to have kids and it's hard to have them close in age in a way that you can't know unless you've done it. I really admire you for being willing to do it. If you ever need to talk to someone about it, give me a call. I'm sure we have a few things in common:) I'm excited to hear about your baby. He or she is certain to be beautiful with a fabulous name.
Your photos seriously take my breath away. What talent! and what a beautiful family! Congrats!!
Love your post & photos! Your kids are so cute & you are the most adorable pregnant person I think I've ever seen. I really wish we lived near you guys still so you could capture our family again. I still cherish all the photos you and Jon took 2 years ago. You will do great with three. You guys are awesome parents.
These are so cute!! And I loved that comment about loving baby number 3. You look so good!!!
Love this and all the pictures and I totally agree with your Aunt. We got lucky with the whole 3rd being the angel baby, so I am hoping that for you as well! I think you will rock this baby's world instead of the other way around :) You guys are amazing parents and this little one gets to partake in that. Plus, I don't know if Van was this way with Lila, but for a while (when Jayne was born) Max was pretty indifferent with her. But with Lucy, he absolutely and whole-heartedly adores her. Bar none his favorite person in this world. So you will probably see that with Van now that he's a little older and it is the best thing in the world. Plus, you will be amazed at how much he will be your little helper. Just take it a day at a time :) Pretty soon you can't imagine it any other way. And yes, it is awesome.
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