Strep and Stress

Our adjustment to life with Sasha has been really, really good, but there is a huge difference between "really good" and "really easy." Hitting the ground running with a two-year-old who is trying with all her might to catch up physically, emotionally, and developmentally is challenging, especially for two parents who had adjusted to the cushy lifestyle of five- and eight-year-old, independent boys! Sasha needs lots of love and care (and supervision), which is awesome but also pretty tiring.

This weekend was a freaking nightmare – Steve was battling his second case of strep in as many months, Rainy was having engine problems and needed to be put back together after her recent paint job (that blog post is coming), the garage door broke (the direct result of the Rainy work), and our computer decided that it was thoroughly disinterested in an OS upgrade and would rather be completely reformatted. And then I got sick Sunday night (I curse the strep fairy!) and spent most of yesterday shivering uncontrollably and wishing for death to come swiftly. All while I'm supposed to be prepping for a big meeting with my CEO bright and early Monday morning. I'm feeling a lot better now that I've been on antibiotics for 24 hours, incidentally.

And we still haven't finished our Mother's Day presents for our amazing moms, Sasha hasn't had her birthday portrait taken, and I haven't even written my birthday entry for her in her journal. Don't even think about looking at our overgrown yard or unkempt gardens or unpruned trees or untrimmed bushes. And how is it possible that every time we empty the dishwasher there's already another full load of dishes piled up in the sink?

Our new life as a party of five is amazing, but it's also a whole lot of hard work. Have I mentioned lately how incredible my stay-at-home hubby is? Truly, he is an amazing man. His job is far more challenging than mine and he doesn't even get sick days (trust me, he could have used some over the past month)!

If you have newly adoptive parents in your life, take extra special good care of them. It is so easy to get completely overwhelmed. For us, it's like all of the adjustments of a three-month-old baby and then piling on the fact that she can walk, talk, empty every drawer she can get her paws on, and throw a heck of a fit when we won't let her eat the dog food. No wonder we collapse into bed, exhausted, at 9:30!