Here sits Kacie typing with one hand (holding Nikayda upright as she sleeps with a stuffy/runny nose) and contemplating... Mom stuff.
Things I expected and already knew that came with motherhood:
Things I didn't totally expect with motherhood:
As you can see, there's much more on the unexpected list... But what a fun, exciting, breathtaking, overwhelming, challenging, momentous, rewarding, etc (the adjectives could go on here!) journey it has been thus far!
And as much as I hated it then, I'm glad I had 4 younger siblings to babysit to "practice" on first before having my own little one! ;)
Things I expected and already knew that came with motherhood:
- Lots of love and strong feelings of protection towards baby
- Little sleep
- Lots of smiles and cuddle time
- Some tears, too
- Eat, sleep, play, poop & pee
- Some frustrations of course...
- Way too many pictures taken all the time
- The need to constantly keep an eye on a crawling toddler -- they get into stuff FAST!
- Whatever is on mom's plate is always better than what's on baby's plate!
- An amazing husband will become an amazing dad :)
- And we knew that this baby will be the most precious, beautiful creature we've ever laid eyes on, and she will be a hybrid mix of characteristics from both mom and dad...and probably will have the most striking blue eyes ever! (I was right!) :)
Things I didn't totally expect with motherhood:
- How elusive an actual "schedule" can be for said eat, sleep, play, poop & pee; seems like its always changing!
- Babies are really good at dodging Kleenex and wash cloths for a simple wipe.
- Babies really DO grow as fast as everyone says
- And how soon you forget what it was like when they were "little"
- The excitement that comes with each new skill baby learns (no matter how simple)
- Hormones...frustrations often taken out on the husband ... Sorry Justin!
- And little things that never used to irritate me so much will randomly irritate me A LOT, but that's getting better :)
- Losing weight with breastfeeding...totally didn't expect that... Have had to buy smaller jeans than I had before... But a good problem to have I guess!
- And my body actually hasn't changed as much as I thought it would have after pregnancy, luckily... not so far that I can tell anyway! :P
- All the fussiness and crying during the first few months...ugh.
- How heartbreaking my baby's cries can be...
- Didn't think it was possible to learn how to do so many things -- make a meal, type, do laundry, clean, etc -- with only one hand.
- How much this baby hates sleeping in her crib...
- How much a baby can fight sleep... Stubborn little turkey... LoL
- How little free time a mom has.
- How good a hot shower feels (and usually only one every other day... or two! Don't judge me! LoL)
- How much baby gear and toys one accumulates...
- And how much of that you think you need beforehand, but actually don't use much.
- How hard it was to dress a newborn...and how easy it quickly becomes after much practice.
- How easy cloth diapering is -- once we got a good system going.
- How easy it was to wean this baby from a bottle (hasn't had one since around 7 months old, just sippy cups now!), but how hard it is/will be to wean from the breast...uffda. (Actually didn't expect to still be breastfeeding at 10 months old...but don't regret it!)
- Didn't expect myself to want to be a stay-at-home-mom.
- And didn't expect the decision to change from working-mom to stay-at-home mom to be so hard.
- How stressful a simple 2 hr car ride would be for this baby...
- How different all babies (and moms!) can be from one another.
As you can see, there's much more on the unexpected list... But what a fun, exciting, breathtaking, overwhelming, challenging, momentous, rewarding, etc (the adjectives could go on here!) journey it has been thus far!
And as much as I hated it then, I'm glad I had 4 younger siblings to babysit to "practice" on first before having my own little one! ;)
