On Being a Mom for a Year

First off, where’s my reward?

Juusstt kidding! Its really my hubby who deserves a reward for handeling me with love and grace in those first few months of no sleep!

But really, it is absolutely insane to me that my baby boy is now one. A whole year old. I feel like I blinked and it happened. Wasn’t I just anxiously waiting for his arrival? Waiting to see what he would look like? {Oh yeah, and eating my placenta?}

And now, he’s here..crawling..eating..saying a few words. It’s all just nuts.

I feel like this year has obviously been amazing learning how to be a mother {and getting the privilege to do so} but it has also been amazing in learning about myself more. I feel like so many thoughts of myself and who I am, have changed so much this year.

I used to think I was a fairly selfless and patient person, and then I had a baby.

I used to think I functioned fairly well under any circumstance, and then I had a newborn.

I used to think I would always keep my cool and never have ‘that screaming baby in the grocery store’, and then I had a baby.

Being a mom has stretched me, strengthened me, and most importantly it has blessed me. I tried my absolute hardest to really listen when people told me that ‘time flies’, that he will grow up way too fast. To soak it all in, because they change daily. But I now see that no matter how many people tell you things like that, you have to experience it to believe it. 

If I could give any new mamas-to-be some advice {that they probably won’t grasp until they are going through it as well!} it would be this:

• You will find what works best for you, and for your baby – I promise. People are going to tell you how they ‘got their baby to sleep’, or ‘the right age to start solids’, or even ‘how to lose the baby weight’. But YOU and YOUR baby will figure it out, and whatever you chose will be the right one.
• Be patient with yourself {and others around you 😉 }. Babies don’t come with an instruction manual. You are figuring it out one day at a time, and that, my friend, is never going to change no matter how old your ‘baby’ gets. Its all a learning process.
• Finally, try and enjoy it and soak it in. I know, I know, this is something I was told and didn’t even come close to grasping it till it was almost too late. But still, try. It goes fast. Each stage is over before you know it. Love that current stage.

What would be the main thing you tell a new mama? Words of wisdom? Or to simply have a girls night out? Bottle of wine and paper plates? Do tell!