Just The Three of Us

One of the biggest challenges we’ve faced as parents welcoming the fifth child into our family is making sure to carve out time for each individual person in our home. Jack is 10, Zoe is 8, Beau is 5, Evangeline is 2 and Demi is now three months old and each of them have their own specific needs and ways that they feel the most loved and appreciated. We knew going into this that spreading our love this many ways would be a challenge, but we didn’t know that making time for each other would be nearly impossible.

In the past ten years, I can say that I’ve gone from being a complete newbie parent to a rather seasoned one. I’ve tried nearly every diaper, every brand of bottle, every quick, last minute recipe that kids and adults will both enjoy. As parents, my husband and I try to be as deliberate as possible about making even the most mundane moments special for everyone involved. At night, after we’ve gotten every other child down, we bathe Demi together and absorb her smallness & sweetness and enjoy this sweet newborn as a couple just like we did with each of our other children. It’s a special time for us as new parents once again, and it’s a special time with her too.  This is a daily routine, and a big part of our sleep regimen that we’ve used since Jack was born. Given the baths tend to be dehydrating, we started using Baby Dove Rich Moisture Baby Lotion on her skin afterwards. It’s the only lotion that goes beyond mildness to replenish lost moisture during bathtime. We are careful about our new baby’s delicate skin, and Baby Dove is pH neutral, hypoallergenic and tear-free and is now our go-to for all of our kids.

With summer around the corner, the kids will be out of school and in the pool as often as they possibly can. We’ll have less time with them on an individual basis, but more free time to play as a family. No matter what our days of adventures bring, little Demi will always get her nighttime bath before she shuts her eyes. It’s a time that Justin and I truly look forward to, because it’s true joy. She loves bath time, and I’m pretty sure she loves both of us fawning over her for 15 straight minutes. We might not be perfect parents, but we know what routines and rituals work best for our babies, children and family as a whole. New Baby Dove is available for a range of skin types, so we’re able to use it on all of our kids, even the ones with sensitive skin like Demi.

I don’t have a perfect formula for making sure each child’s love tank is filled, and I certainly don’t know how to do all of this and make sure my husband gets what he needs, too. I know that by making even the most mundane moments in live as special as possible, I’ve deliberately met the very basics of my own expectations, from practices and routines to basic products like Baby Dove that make our lives easier. That feels like victory, and we can see it in our happy, healthy children, too.