New Normal

We have one of those nifty washing machines that has customizable cycles, allowing you to program in whatever your normal cycle is so that you can start a load with the push of a button. Before we had the babies, we washed most of our clothes on cold, so we programmed the "normal" cycle to cold. But now, most of the loads of laundry we do belong to the babies (whose clothes we wash on hot to kill more germs). After repeatedly failing to remember to switch the babies' loads of laundry from the normal cycle to hot, it just made sense to just go ahead and change the "normal" setting from cold to hot. A new normal.

And then I started thinking...having babies changes things. A lot of things. We had a pretty nice little life before we had Charlotte and Jensen...a nice, normal life. We have a nice life now, too...a great life, even. And yes, it's still normal. But it's definitely a new kind of normal. We have settled into something of a routine, the four of us, and I love it. I'm happy. But, as I was realizing this weekend, there are a lot of differences in our old normal vs. our new normal.

First, there's the new normal of getting sick. Being sick is no fun. Being sick when you have a baby is really no fun. Being sick when you have two babies is really really no fun. In the old normal, when I got sick, I would crawl under the covers and mope around until I felt better. In the new normal, when I get sick (as was the case at the end of last week) I can't hide under the covers (literally or figuratively). I managed to tough it out on Wednesday and Thursday, but when my sinus infection morphed into a sinus infection plus migraine on Friday, I had to call in the reinforcements (aka my mom). She basically took over my job for me all day on Friday and I barely managed to even drag myself out of bed to help her with feedings. No fun. At all. But enough with the whining and onto more positive things: I felt much better by Saturday. I am so thankful to have my mom's help. And I don't seem to have had anything contagious, thank God!

Next, there's the new normal of our friendships. I was naive before we had kids, and I really thought that not that much would change for us, socially speaking. I figured that since our parents live nearby, we would always have a babysitter and we'd never miss out on things. But what I wasn't realizing was that in the old normal, we saw our friends a lot. Like, a whole lot. Softball games on Wednesdays, going out someplace on Fridays, maybe lunch and some college football on Saturdays, dinner on Saturday nights, and maybe some pool time or watching the Cowboys game together on Sundays. And I was right about my parents babysitting for us so that we don't miss out on things, but there is no possible way to do everything with our friends that we used to. And that's okay--because we do still get friend time. Sometimes, we even get unexpected friend time...like this extra-special guest who came to my house on Saturday:

CHRISTINA!! At my house all the way from Houston! She was in Plano for a wedding and drove to see me on Saturday afternoon. As you can see, Jensen quite enjoyed the visit. Hey, he knows a pretty girl when he sees one!

We also had some friend time on Saturday night. The Wrens invited us to a special evening...three holes of "Glow Golf"! Although we were on the golf team in high school, Cristi and I were, um, not exactly the most dedicated golfers to ever walk the practice green of Walnut Creek Country Club (at least I think I remember seeing a practice green as I sat inside the lobby drinking hot chocolate and gossiping with Cristi). So I really wish I had taken some pictures of us hacking away at a glow-in-the-dark ball whilst drinking adult beverages. But we had a great time and for some reason, it actually made me want to take up golf again...you know, in all my free time. :)

Anyhow, I thought of a few more new normals over the weekend, but I'll stop now for two reasons: First, this post is getting way too long and picture-less. Second, I am supposed to be packing right now...we leave in just a little while for a few days in Vegas! Another new normal is definitely getting ready to go out of town...the feelings of excitement are mixed with apprehension and sadness. So I will just leave you with one more pic...our new dinnertime normal!