Confessions of a new Mom

For the first six or so months after Chris and I got married people asked us all the time "How's married life?" Now that we are on to the new baby phase we are always asked some variation of "What has surprised you most" or "What didn't you expect" about being parents. It's funny how if I look back on the past 4.5 months I feel like I could have answered that question differently each week. Since each week is so different with a newborn the same question could be answered differently at each tiny stage. However, in all 4.5 months of parenthood, I'm finally seeing some trends. So, for those who have asked, would like to ask, ask more than once, and even for those who wouldn't have asked.....


What I didn't expect about being a Mom:
1. That I would fall in love with my husband all over again. Watching him with Chloe is AHHH-MAZING.
2. How much more I could respect, admire, love, and treasure my Mom in the weight of the realization of how much she loves me and all that she did for me in this same stage years ago.
3. That I would want to re-read the bible. I thought I understood scripture one way but I've only read it from the perspective of a daughter and as a PARENT it's like a new side of God's character has been revealed to me in a flash.
4. That I would LOVE breast feeding. All you hear is that it's so hard, it's such a sacrifice, you're a slave to your child and so on. I don't feel any of that. I LOVE it.
5. That I would leave the house with my hair looking worse than it did during my akward pre-teen years and I wouldn't even care.
6. That I never get sick of Chloe's smiles...especially the ones where her tounge sticks out at me a tad.
7. That spit-up, runny poop, and boogers really aren't so bad when they're your own child's.
8. That when I hold precious Chloe in my arms and rock her to sleep while listening to soft lullabies, I feel a depth of contentedness that is indescribable.
9. I've realized that I spent most of my life wanting for what's next...to grow up, to get my ears pierced, to get contact lenses, to get my license, to go to college, to be done with college, to travel to Europe, to fall in love, to get engaged, to get married, to have babies...and suddenly it's different! I want time to freeze...it's slipping by so fast and each precious moment with my family is so dear I just want it all to slow down!
10. That cloth diapering, baby wearing, yoga practicing, and baby food making isn't for granola's, it's my life.

In Chloe news, today was a big one! She's rolling over! It's so precious and she is so proud of herself. I'll get a video soon enough. She's also doing great with sleeping in her crib after a few grueling nights of making her cry it out she really does pretty well these days with going to sleep. During the sleep training I did learn that we have a pretty strong willed child on our hands. She would REFUSE to sleep for hours on end until she was exhausted. She wasn't napping either. During all of that Chris put her in the bumbo seat one day to hang a blind in her room, moments later he took this shot....little stinker! She also had a visit last week from her new friend Julliana (congrats Jen and Jonathon!) For the first time, Chloe was around a baby smaller than her! We're used to being a peanut but in this shot, Chloe is HUGE! Finally, my Mom came to spend sometime with us a few weeks ago and I snapped this sweet shot of her reading to Chloe. Chloe LOVES her Gigi's fun voices just like some other kids I know :).