THAT Question...

You’ve been married a year, or two… or five. Logically, you start talking about when exactly you want to have a baby. That’s exactly what you think of when you say those words. A baby. You are anticipating the sleepless nights and maybe sore nipples, but really? How long does that last? 6 months?

You don't think about the poop-up-the-baby's-back moments when you are trying not to gag as you clean your kid's feces off in a public bathroom after you've just had the best Italian food. Or the food that's going to fly when you stick them in the high chair and introduce those yummy "solids" - really? They're not solids. They're pretty liquid. I'm pretty sure you can drink all of those heavily pureed veggies through a straw. I think that's the definition of a liquid.

You definitely don't anticipate this:

or this

or this

And (if you have a kid anything like mine), you quickly learn that any cut to any part of the face means LOTS of blood, and LOTS of tears. But, nothing a Spiderman Band-Aid can't fix.

But those first thoughts of "Let's have a baby" are incredibly misleading. That soft, warm, gooey baby turns into a mini-human-being faster than you can blink your eyes. You will battle with him to get an extra 5 minutes of sleep, or to hold him still for 2 seconds so you can put his socks on. He will definitely soak you while you're giving him a bath. And you will both have plenty of timeouts in an attempt to retain some level of sanity.

You get maybe 6 months of a cuddly, immobile baby, followed by 18+ years of milestones, tears, bumps & bruises, frustration, and craziness. With every new skill comes frustration as they master it, and frustration that you can't fully understand that Buh, Bah, Bloo, and Bup all mean completely different things.

As Will's second year is coming to a close, I pat myself on the back for all that he has accomplished this year, but it has definitely been rough. Potty training is probably THE hardest thing we've encountered with him so far. Sleep Training was stressful, but nothing compared to the excrement training. We are in week two and he has definitely gotten much better, in fact, he woke up from his nap with dry pants today!, but I have still held and touched more of his poop than I ever cared to.

And as I write this, I am currently trying to convince the Hubby to have another baby.

Do as I say, not as I do...

Maybe now that I (we) know more of what to expect, I can conquer the child-rearing world with #2. Right?

Because moments like this

and this

and this

melt your heart and you quickly forget about the 5 timeouts, the food on the floor, and the poop on your shirt.

Happy Friday!

Now go make a baby!