Signs you're a mom of two little ones...

...you look in the mirror for the first time of the day at 1:43 pm and actually scare yourself. What the?? Your hair looks like you attempted the "sexy messy look" but grossly missed the mark, and the already cavernous dark circles under your eyes are caked with yesterday's eyeliner. The best part is that after the initial shock, you simply shrug your shoulders and go on with your day. After all, what can be done at this point?

...while standing in the kitchen with a baby perched on your shoulder, you don't think twice about gnawing on the cold, spongy crust of your daughter's pizza from yesterday's lunch. And yes, you actually saved a pizza box with only crust in it.

...yesterday after finishing grocery shopping and getting everyone buckled in the car, your little one starts screaming. Baby girl is hungry and can't wait another minute. You unbuckle her and bring her into the front seat to nurse her before you head home, and almost immediately your 3-year-old announces that she suddenly has to go potty right now. Poo-poo. You beg your big girl to hold it until you finish nursing the baby, then get everyone out of the car and carry your 13-pound 2-month-old in one arm while you hold your older daughter's hand to rush her to the bathroom. You then perform a feat of mythic proportions as you help your daughter get on and off the potty, wipe her bottom, and pull her jeans back on and button them, all with one hand.

...you're sure you just put a massive, jumbo-sized package of wipes in your diaper bag and that's why it feels like you're carrying around a boulder all the time. Still, every time there's a blowout diaper or carsickness episode, the wipes mysteriously seem to be down to the last three measly ones in the package.

...you actually feel like you "got a lot of sleep last night" if you slept more than 3 hours at a time, and you feel a little less like you just got punched in the face.

...you meet two kind moms at the park, and as they're introducing their children to you, you suddenly panic because you can't find your oldest daughter on the playground. You interrupt the mom who's talking and start calling for your daughter very loudly with a crazy voice. When your daughter quietly replies, "I'm right here, Mommy," you realize she is literally standing three feet away from you - in front of you - playing in the sandbox. The other two moms stare back at you with a mixture of sympathy, understanding, and amusement.

...you suddenly notice that the tank top you've been wearing for the last two days is so old and threadbare that it's become see-through at the precise spot of your cleavage. And there are spit-up stains on the shoulder. And you're leaking milk. Consider the park moms quite impressed.

~ ~ ~

Many people told me "the transition from 1 to 2 kids is the hardest..." and now I see why. I keep reminding myself that I used to be able to have a coherent conversation and stay on top of tasks to be done at all my former jobs. Really, I did. Now, I hardly ever have clean clothes, can barely plan what's for dinner much less what we're doing next week, and seem to be frazzled every time I attempt to run a simple errand. As another blogger so aptly put it, I'm "having a baby year." Ohhhh, so that's what you call this.

Being a mother of little ones drives me to Christ daily, both in feelings of overwhelming gratitude and staggering inadequacy. I couldn't possibly be more thankful for my two daughters, for these two precious lives entrusted to me. I'm also human, and it's hard work...so hard that it sucks every ounce of patience and energy from my bones sometimes. But I also think that's how it's supposed to be. A new human has entered the world, and that requires an adjustment to make room for another invaluable life.

So let's be kind and graceful to each other, mamas. We're fighting noble battles out here.