One of the most intense parts of having a baby and then having a baby again the very next year is that you do everything twice with little to no break. Although this seems like a no-brainer, it has quite the effect on mom and dad.
None of my kiddos were very good sleepers as babies. They tricked us in the early weeks and slept as well or a little better than they same-aged counterparts, but by six months old, they were still waking up a few times a night and at the year mark, once per night a few times per week. I believe I would have handled this fine if at one, Sydney remained an only child and Mommy got to catch up on some much needed rest. But, no! She started sleeping all night and her beautiful, chubby baby brother was born at the exact time. And repeat! Another year of precious sleep missed precious quality time with my snuggly babies.
I also spent almost two consecutive years nursing between my dynamic duo with a teeney tiny break in between. Because Sydney was still a tiny infant when we found out we were expecting again , I ignored my doctor’s advice (Yall, I don’t recommend this), and continued to nurse her until I was six months pregnant (and she was 9 months old). I had a few months break and started again for another 9 months of nursing a few months later. I will just pause here to say I pumped in some crazy places over these few years (Sanford Stadium, Turner Field, Six Flags, among countless other bathrooms!!).
Shall we even talk about diapers?? We had seven consecutive years that we had one (or two!) kiddos in diapers. Sydney was so tiny and Eli so chubby that they almost always wore the same size diaper! Now that we are a diaper free household, I can honestly say this is one part of having many littles that I do not miss! You know, who wants to walk up to a stranger in a restaurant or at a park and ask “I forgot an extra diaper/wipes– may I please pay you for one of yours?” Yes, I did that. Waaay more than once. Prepared moms are my best friends. However, I’m usually not one of them, despite my best intentions.
Of course, diapers leads to the next logical subject– my least favorite part of parenting: potty training. I thought delaying Sydney’s potty training and rushing Eli’s sounded like a great plan, but of course, I was not that lucky. Sydney was super verbal and between her potty words and interest, we started her potty going way too soon at 18 months. 8 months later, she had it down!! Eli, on the other hand, had zero, none, zilch, interest in getting rid of his diapers and was so stinking (pun intended) stubborn! So, after two or more full years of potty training, I was so over it and am so blessed that the third time was the charm, and I think it’s possible Liam just woke up potty trained one day!!
I was the most terrified of having my kids simultaneously in the testing two/terrible threes at the same time. I guess it wasn’t too bad, because it was during that year, we decided to try for baby #3. But again, we were in these phases for what seemed like forever. The good news is that they seemed to alternate being terrors, so we never had them both being horrible at the same time. I will give God credit for that!
The most fun part about this same concept is that this #doubletrouble pair make Christmas morning, Disney trips and daily things double the magical. The two of them are definitely more than 1+1=2— and sometimes that is fantastic and sometimes it is oh.so.tiring! 
The Brooks Family 