I’m walking into my third week as a mother of two, and I must say this is hard.

I’m pretty good at multi-tasking, so I thought I’d be able to handle two kids pretty well. Little did I know I’d be feeling like a chicken with my head cut off most of the time.

Being a mother is the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me. Every single time I feel stressed out and sad, I look at my kids and get an overwhelming feeling of joy. I am so blessed to have two healthy kids, and I feel stupid even complaining. But I always like to be honest, and two kids is twice as hard as one.

Here are some things I’ve learned during the last three weeks that I want to share with anyone who is expecting their second child or who just had a baby:

1. Forget about sleep.
Sleep is a luxury when you have two children. Even if you have help, it’s a difficult juggling act. One thing I’ve learned is that when one baby cries, there’s a chain reaction that sets off a symphony of tears. When I put my kids to sleep every night, the Sleepy Tears Symphony starts playing.

2. Know that sibling jealousy is real.
Whether it’s stealing pacifiers or just demanding more attention, one thing I’m learning is to include my oldest child in all our activities with the newborn to avoid these acting-out behaviors. That means feeding, changing diapers and other daily baby tasks. I even have Collette help pick out Christian’s clothing.

3. Teamwork.
When it comes to raising kids, teamwork is necessary for families. From parents juggling the children between each other to having anyone in the family come over to help out. I have been very fortunate to have an army of people offering help. But no matter how much help you get, at the end of the day children always want their mother. It’s hard balancing how much attention I give my two kids, the dog and, yes, even my husband.

4. Take all the help you can get.
No matter how much I feel like I have everything under control, I never say no to help. When my mother calls to ask if I need help, I always say yes. Even if it feels like you have handled, you just don’t know what can happen in a matter of minutes. I also try to take 30 minutes to an hour for some quiet time.

5. Enjoy these moments.
My mother tells me to enjoy all these moments, meaning the good, the stressful and the bad times. She reminds me that kids grow up so fast, and I’ll miss these days. To be honest, I can’t believe Christian is already 3 weeks old. As I’ve stepped away from him to write this, I realize how much I miss him already. And it’s only been 15 minutes. Oh, to be a mother!

Finally, I wanted to share these fun new photos of Christian that my good friend Oxana Alex took the other day: