Twelve Months of Take-A-Ways

Now that Nolan and Judah's first birthday is here, I can't help but reflect a lot on how incredible and life-changing these last twelve months have been for me (and for Josh).  While I know there will be enough gushiness in other blogs I will write, I decided to give a nod to the not-so-glamorous take-a-ways I've had throughout this last year.  I have leaned A LOT A LOT A LOT

Here are the twelve most practical things I learned during Nolan and Judah's first year (one for each month):

MONTH ONE: Breast feeding is NO joke... it is difficult and time consuming and not without it's struggles and set backs.  We were not naturals at breastfeeding and had to work at it a LOT before we got it right.  With that being said, I am SO grateful I stuck with it!

MONTH TWO: Smiles from babies can cure just about anything, including, but not limited to: sleep deprivation, witching hour, having awake babies in the middle of the night when they should be sleeping, etc. 

MONTH THREE: My kids are more flexible than I am.

MONTH FOUR: Being a part-time teacher was absolutely, without a doubt, the right decision at this time in my life.

MONTH FIVE:  I never knew how much I would talk, think, and worry about the sleeping routines of my kids... it consumes my thoughts during the day, consumes my dreams at night, and consumes Josh and my daily conversations.  Nolan and Judah getting the right amount of sleep is EV.ER.Y.THING.

MONTH SIX:  Teething is also NO joke.  Having your kids be in pain, for any reason, is difficult especially when you can't really do anything to take it away.  Teething can disrupt routines and sleep and can make for very unhappy children and mamas when they get bit while nursing. 

MONTH SEVEN: Trying to child-proof the house is no laughing matter either. No matter how hard I try/tried, my house was/is not baby proof; crawling changes everything.  I also want to throw away every single thing I own so my boys can run wild and free in an empty house with nothing to break, run into, or eat.

MONTH EIGHT:  Christmas is amazing to celebrate when you have kids.  And also, power outages, snow storms, and ice storms are TERRIBLE when you have kids.  No matter how much time goes on and how much of better sleepers Nolan and Judah are, I live in constant fear that I will not sleep.

MONTH NINE:  Things you buy to baby proof may not work; you must be quick on your feet and think outside the box.  If you have to use extra strength rubber bands to keep drawers shut, you do it.  If you have to use Pack N' Plays to close off areas because the gate you bought sucks, you do it.  Tasks like cooking dinner now take FOREVER when you are constantly having to go chase after someone so you may as well order pizza! (just kidding....kinda).

MONTH TEN: You can make time to take care of yourself and your body and your babies will love watching you fall over, cry out in pain, and sweat profusely while working out.  There is hope to be in shape even after carrying out 65 extra pounds!

MONTH ELEVEN: Traveling with young children is SO much more difficult than traveling alone as a couple, but planning for a family vacation, looking forward to a family vacation, and even packing for a family vacation is SO very fun :)

MONTH TWELVE: Wise parents aren't kidding when they say 'the days are long, but the years are short.'  This has been BY FAR the fastest year of my entire life.  Time really does fly when you're having fun.

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