Empty

Our house seems a little empty these days. Our living room is no longer littered with a bouncy seat, swing, activity mat, diapers, etc. My arms are a little empty too.

Overall the past 10 days have been a great experience. Not many people get the opportunity to have such an extended period of time to see what it's like to have a newborn without actually having a child themselves. Here are a couple lessons I learned the past few days:
1. Boys are not girls (seems pretty obvious, I know) and all that entails (i.e. They will pee on you)
2. Newborns are really never on a schedule (as soon as you think they are, they will prove you wrong)
3. Even though they are small, but they have big smells
4. They will choose to barf at the most inopportune times (at 4am, at church, right after a bath)
5. Even with all these "negatives", it is entirely possible to fall in love with a child after only 10 days even if they can't express that same love in return.

Most importantly, I learned that I could not have made it without Bryan. He really stepped up to the plate in ways that I didn't expect. I assumed he would hold the baby and help feed the baby, but I wasn't sure what else he would be up for. Turns out he's quite the multi-tasker. He could hold the baby while

eating


checking email

sleeping

and flying an airplane

He didn't just take the "cushy" jobs like holding him while sleeping. He also helped feed him, burp him (which is quite dangerous with this little guy and his barfing), change him (even poopy diapers!), and take the early morning feed so I could sleep in a little bit. I even termed him the baby whisperer because there were several times when the baby was screaming and as soon as Bryan took him he would calm down.

(you can't tell me that isn't a precious picture of them!)

We really had an amazing experience over the past 10 days. We feel blessed to be able to help out and will always remember our first adventure together as "parents." We still have a couple more years before we will have kids of our own, but it is good to know we were able to survive for at least 10 days!