A year in Reflections

When we were in the first 4 weeks of Elise's life, I thought it was the hardest. I felt like one day during the second month of her life, I finally "woke up" and felt a tiny bit like a human again. Once we reached the 6 month mark, I thought we had cleared another big hurdle. We had gone through our first winter chock full of day-care colds. I was still breastfeeding but I could see the light at the end. Now that One year has come and gone, I feel like we have survived the hardest year of our life. All the consecutive nights of sleeplessness are behind us, my child can be mobile on her own, she can eat everything we eat, and is starting to communicate with us.(Mom's who have gone through the terrible two's and teenage years will probably laugh at me because they know better.) HOWEVER since I only have the experiences that I have been through, I can only surmise we have accomplished something great. Allow me to be bold and boast that we have survived the first year of parenthood!!!

I'll pause for your applause.

Although I 1000% realize that I will one day look back on this and laugh at how much I.did.NOT.Know, I kind of feel confident right now. (Which is a huge new breakthrough.) But before I go and get a big head, let's talk about some exciting things I learned over the last year:

1. You cannot spoil an infant. Hold the baby 24/7 for the first 2 months of it's life and it will still want to wiggle out of your arms as soon as it becomes mobile.
2. It is extremely hard to change a baby's bed with baby bumpers on. Do you take the bumpers off everytime you wash sheets? No, you just jam your fingers trying to wedge that stupid crib mattress down. I count it as a 15 minute workout everytime I do it.
3. Baby wipes are multi-purpose. They can clean a bottom, take makeup off without a problem and even wipe down bathroom counters in a pinch.
4. A full baby is a happy baby. Just feed the baby first and if that doesn't work - work down the list of other qualms.
5. Your hormones rage for much longer than just during pregnancy. I'm going to venture out and say mine are still not the same as pre-pregnancy. I think it has something to do with the massive amount of love that pours out of your heart and the expansive amount of responsibility you are thrown into. Bad combo.
6. Being a mother has given me a LOT more grace towards society as a whole. ESPECIALLY other mom's. I will never judge another mother again. As long as she is trying, she's allright by me. None of us know what the hell we're doing and to judge another mother based on how much of a mess her child is, how loud they are or what brand of diapers they wear is ridiculous. Being a mother is an excellent tool that God uses to humble women. I trully believe that.
"Oh, you're a hot woman in your twenties with a fantastic job and walk around extremely self-centered???BOOM! Here's a kid. Lessons learned."
7. Becoming a mother made me a little bit of a road-rager. Never before did I get angry when driving, but if I'm on my way to pick up my child and there is a traffic jam? Move over buddy! You've got one hot momma on your hands!
8. Having children at approximately the same time as your friends is a must. We would not have survived the first year with any dose of sanity had we not had fellow 'trainees' to swap stories with and cry with.