We had read that it would take about six weeks for a big brother to adjust to a little brother.  They were right.  Although, we decided that it was less about them adjusting and more about them forgetting that there was ever just one kid.

Nevertheless, at six weeks, we turned a corner.  Rhett now lets Abel be within arms-length and will talk to him and give him kisses.  We’ve attempted (nearly daily) to let Rhett hold Abel, but he’s not interested in being that close.

Here are a few of my favorite recent pictures of my boys.

Bath buddies

Two very tired boys after a rough trip to the doctor.  Rhett diagnosed with bronchitis and Abel got his 2 month shots.  Brutal.

This one says “Moommmaaa, get that big bad baby off me!!”

Don’t judge.  Rhett rarely gets his hair brushed these days. 

Abel turned two months old yesterday.  It seems impossible to believe.  The past two months have been…man, what is the word?  It’s been challenging, for sure.  But more than that I feel like it’s been covered with so much grace.  Having two little kids is hard, but just not nearly as hard as I had imagined.  Why do I not feel as tired as I did with just one kid?  Why do I feel a little more in control than I did this time two years ago?  I’m no supermom, and I certainly don’t have it all together, but I think God has just been so gracious to us during this season of transition.  He’s given us another very easy baby, and a big brother that’s starting to love Abel in the most precious ways.  We feel exhausted, I am often emotional, temper tantrums are a somewhat regular occurrence for Rhett now and I haven’t braved the grocery store with two kids yet (which means dinners have been interesting at times).  But, more than any of those things, we feel like we’re living a dream.  This is a good place to be.

Here is the latest on Baby Abel and a few photos at two months:

• Weighs 11 lbs, 3 oz (25th percentile) and is 23.5 inches long (75th percentile).
• Still sleeps a lot – 4ish naps a day.  Usually wakes up just once in the middle of the night around 3:30 AM.
• Started smiling right at 6 weeks old.
• Loves to be held tight.
• Prefers to be swaddled.
• Usually needs a pacifier to fall asleep, but pretty quickly spits it out after falling asleep.
• Might be a Momma’s boy.

We welcomed our newest love on November 29, 2011. Abel Bradley Brown was born at 11:58 AM weighing in at 7 lbs, 9 oz and measuring 21.25 inches long. Our hearts are so full.

Because I can barely remember if I ate breakfast, much less what happened last year, I need to record the birth story.  This is mostly for me, but since this is the world wide web, you’re welcome to read on.

I woke up at 6:02 AM.  I immediately told Doug that I was having contractions (plural), which makes me think that maybe I had been having them for a while, but had been sleeping through them and somehow subconsciously knew I was having them.  Right away, we started to time them.  They were about 7-8 minutes apart to start.  We laid in bed for about 1.5 hours timing pretty regular contractions.  I took a bath, thinking that if this wasn’t labor that maybe the hot water would help with the back pain.  The contractions continued.  I already had my weekly doctor’s appointment scheduled for 10 AM, so we just decided we’d wait till then to see if it was go-time.  Doug took Rhett to preschool (thank you God, for your perfect timing!) and we headed to the doctor.  Naturally, we stopped at Chick-fil-a on the way for breakfast.  I ate a chicken biscuit while trying to breath through contractions, and somehow enjoyed every bite of it.  We got to the doctor’s office around 9:45 AM.  I checked in and told them I thought I might be in labor. They very quickly got me in a room and my doctor came in and said “So, you’re having contractions?  What do you think?  Maybe 4 cm?”  I had had a false alarm two weeks prior, so I was a little gun-shy.  He checked and said, “The reason you’re feeling so crummy is because you’re at 8 cm.  We need to get you to the hospital.”  My doctor’s office is right across the street from the hospital, so they wheeled me across the street in a wheelchair (very dramatic).  Before I left, he told me that if I wanted the epidural that I would need to tell them right away because I didn’t have much time.  So, in the wheelchair on the way across the street, I decided that I wanted to go without the epidural (we’ve made a note to ourselves for next time – decide ahead of time, and take a class on how in the world to give birth).  We checked into the hospital at 10:30 AM.  For about an hour I had really intense contractions 2-5 minutes apart and then all the sudden my doctor’s crew arrived and it was time to start pushing.  I pushed 5 times and the newest Brown arrived at 11:58 AM.  Abel Bradley was here…and a BOY!  We were so surprised, but so thrilled.

Here are a few pictures from the big day.

Daddy and Rhett on Abel’s birthday

This picture was immediately after checking in at the hospital.  The last picture of my second pregnancy.

And here is what we came for…

Our first picture as a family of four (excuse Daddy’s sleepy eyes)

And finally, we were amazed at how much Rhett and Abel looked alike as newborns.  Brothers!  Rhett is on the left, Abel on the right.

Welcome, Baby Abel.  We are so glad you came.