Siblings

There are a lot of factors to consider when you decide how many children you'd like to have. To be honest, before we had kids at all, Matt and I thought we'd like a bigger family, maybe three or four kids (go ahead and laugh). Being parents to Harper was different from anything we'd imagined in so many ways (I thought I'd be much better at this mom thing!) and some of our thinking started to shift about what a good size for our family might be. So we hemmed and hawed a bit about the right spacing/timing and number of children to have, ultimately deciding on at least one more. Enter Michael.

There is something both exciting and scary about adding another child to the family dynamic and I knew, in my heart of hearts, that part of the reason I wanted another child was to give Harper a sibling. I know they won't always get along perfectly, but I hope Michael and Harper become close as they grow and end up seeing each other as the blessings we know they are.

Just before this photo, Harper asked Michael to make a silly face.

Here Harper is enacting some kind of scene from The Lion King.

We'll have to work on her propping ability.

Harper is playing "This Little Piggy" with Michael's toes; this may be one of the sweetest things I've ever witnessed.

I have been asked a lot whether Harper is enjoying being a big sister. If she's upset about it, she's only taking it out on us, not on Michael. It is difficult for her right now, because adult attention is in short supply, but she really does love her brother.

On the few occasions we've all been in the car Harper will offer reports from the back seat about what Michael is doing. "His face looks like this!" she'll say, and then squish her eyes shut to show us.

When Michael cries, she'll lean over the pack n' play and say, "Shhh, buddy, don't cry, the big sister is here." She also likes to tell him, "It's okay sweetheart."

Before I settled in to pump (for the millionth time) the other day, I asked Harper if she wanted to bring some toys into the room. "That's okay Mom," she said, "I'll just watch Michael."

I still feel the weight of this adjustment and find myself hanging on by a thread at many points during the day, but watching Harper with her brother makes me feel like our family is exactly as it is supposed to be.