Thank you so much to everyone for all of messages and emails and support! We have felt so loved and supported these past few days and I’m sure that that is part of why we are feeling so good. I thought it was time for an update and (would you believe it?) everyone in the house is sleeping but me right now. Joseph is snoring away, Anne is napping and Brian is even down for the count. So a whole 30 minutes (I hope!) to share some pictures and fun….
I’m so glad that everyone loves his name! We love it too. 
As you know, the boy names had us stumped. We actually were still debating after he arrived. We named him about 6 hours after his birth. And all of a sudden, it just “fit”. I couldn’t imagine him as anything other than Joseph now. Why was that so hard??? I am calling him Joseph but almost everyone else, including Brian, just calls him Joe which is totally fine. Anne calls him either “Baby” or “Joe Baby”.
Joseph is a family name on my side and Arthur is a family name on Brian’s side. Arthur was his Grandpa Bessey’s name – this is the grandpa that Brian worshipped and had a very special relationship with until his death when Brian was 14. Plus it’s also his Dad’s middle name as well.
Joseph means “supported by Jehovah” and “asset”. We love the characters of Joseph in the Bible as they were strong men of integrity. Plus we like “boy names” – as Adam says, you can totally picture a “Joe Bessey” in the Hockey Hall of Fame. LOL
Arthur means “bold and distinguished leader”.
A lot to live up to but I don’t have any doubts – he’s got so many great male role models in his life. 
He’s a very chilled out baby so far. As long as he’s fed, he’s just hanging out, watching the action or sleeping.
He’s very different than Anne in looks. They have the same lips but that’s about it from what we can tell. His skin is quite darker, almost like Brian’s olive tone (can’t really tell from the pics). His eyes are super dark and I don’t think they’ll stay blue but will likely be hazel like Brian’s. Basically, just like Anne has my colouring (I was a white baby too with blonde hair and blue eyes), Joseph looks like he has Brian’s colouring. He has a different shaped head (more like mine). So it looks like they might be opposites. You can tell they’re siblings as there are enough similarities but really, he’s his own man at this point.
Breastfeeding is going fabulously so far. He’s a hungry little guy and my milk came in after just two days. He’s nursing like crazy right now but as a result, is very happy and content and a good sleeper.
Last night, he marathon nursed for about 4 hours but then he konked out and slept for three hours. I am an absolute milk machine these days. No soreness, no issues.
Anne is quite infatuated with how Baby eats. Anytime he makes a peep, she hollers “BABY EAT!” She lifts her top and shows people her little body and says “This baby EAT!” and once even tried to clamour up for her share. I figure I’m raising a third generation lactivist already! LOL
This is what affectionately refer to as “Milk Face.” ROFL After a feed, they’re like little sacks of potatoes, totally loose and relaxed and sleepy.
Physically, I feel pretty good. I am sore at the sight of stitches but honestly couldn’t feel better otherwise. This was such an easy labour and delivery compared to Anne – no achiness or soreness anywhere else.
I had a big hormonal day yesterday when my milk came in. I actually stood in the Safeway and cried over the fact that I couldn’t find something. I also cried off and on all day long, culminating in a gigantic howl at bedtime over how overwhelmed I felt. After which, I went to bed and woke up feeling much better. LOL
Gotta love hormones.
We took Joseph for his first outing two days ago. We went out for lunch to the Tim Horton’s, of course. He just snored in the sling the whole time. I also went for a walk yesterday but that was overdoing it. I need to remember to slow down a bit better.
When we were out, we looked in the backseat at these two car seats and two babies and then at each other.
“That’s one backseat full of babies,” Brian commented. I didn’t know at that point whether to laugh about it. 
Anne has done really, really well. I am still getting the hang of two with demands. Anne seems to be doing better today again. Every day gets a bit easier. The first couple, she seemed a bit upset with me but hasn’t been anything but loving towards Joseph. She just needs her time as well and a lot of grace and consistency, I’m sure. I think my new rule with two-year-olds came from my Mum: “Never let’em see you sweat.” ROFL
She just loves him so much. She wants to “helper” all the time and with everything. I’ve found that if I include her in everything, she’s pretty stable. She helps with what she calls “Change Baby” and even helped with his bath this morning.
Yesterday, he was sleeping on the floor and she pulled out her little piano called “Tunes the Tiger”. She proceeded to bang away on it to entertain Joseph and kept trying to get him to take a turn, putting the sticks in his hands. It was quite the racket but he just snored through it all and Anne finally gave up.
We have been so blessed by my family these past few days. They have brought over meals every day and cooked them. Mum even came over with a big pot roast and made it here in the kitchen with mashed potatoes last night!!! Mandy and Adam brought over lunches and baked it. They even clean up the kitchen (much cleaner than I keep it these days…) afterwards. Brian’s been doing laundry and vacuuming, keeping everything rolling. Mum has taken Annie out for errands or drives to keep her from climbing the walls. They let me cry and howl. They send me to bed to take a nap while they hold Joseph and play “doctor Anne” with Annie. In short, we are so blessed that I can hardly stand it. Love, love, love….
Brian heads back to work tomorrow but my parents will come in for the day. Then they’re going to take Annie home with them for a sleepover and a special day. So my first “home alone” day will be on Wednesday but it’ll be just Joseph so to ease me in. Then on Thursday, the real show begins!
Two tinies is a lot of responsibility….but I’ve never felt so blessed.
