Sunday marks my first official Mother’s Day. I still can’t believe I’m a mom! Annie is almost four months old and while everyday life with her is my new normal, I continue to be in awe of the fact that she’s real, she’s mine and we’re going to be together forever!
To celebrate Mother’s Day, I had the exciting opportunity to be featured on the Draper James blog this week where I’m chatting all about my first Mother’s Day as a mom. It was so much fun to be a part of, so be sure to check out the feature! 🙂 Since I’m covering Mother’s Day and details on this look elsewhere, I’m sharing my thoughts on how motherhood has changed me these past four months here on Lone Star Looking Glass today.
I’m typing this post on my third cup of coffee after Annie spent her first night down the hall in her “big girl” crib in the nursery. I’m not going to lie, I cried just a little bit as I went to bed and my baby wasn’t snoozing beside me like she’d been since day 1. As each day & week go by, I notice the tiniest developments that only a mother would notice as she grows. Her hair is getting thicker, she can now grab things with BOTH hands, she’s starting to repeat sounds she hears (although she doesn’t have a clue what they mean) and she is trying SO hard to roll over. She’s halfway there! 😉
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As Annie continues to grow and develop I’m reminded how fleeting each stage of her life will be. The newborn stage came and went. My baby is four-months-old fitting into six-months sized clothing. I already have a big storage box filled with little onesies and dresses that don’t even fit her anymore. How can this be!?! Soon she’ll be crawling, walking and talking. (Three things that I can’t even imagine right now!) So I’m trying to soak in every second of each stage, knowing that they’ll make wonderful memories to hold onto throughout the years as she continues to change and grow.
Speaking of changing and growing, that’s something that I’ve done quite a bit of these past four months. To celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend, I’m sharing five ways that motherhood has changed me (for the better) since becoming a mommy.
I celebrate the small things.
Never had I ever thought that seeing a child grab a rattle would make me so happy that I’d start crying. Patrick and I celebrate each and every milestone that Annie checks off as she continues to grow. Of course, there are so many surprises in between! Last night, for example, she graduated from her “flower bath” to her big bath. We were still using the little hammock insert until just yesterday when we decided she was big enough to be somewhat submerged in water. Well, little girl just LOVED this new version of bathtime. She smiled, cooed, kicked & splashed the entire time! Patrick & I couldn’t get over how much fun we were having and the two of us were smiling from ear to ear.
My needs & desires have taken a back seat.
This is one every parent can relate too. Say goodbye to a good night’s sleep, eating your meals while they’re still warm & having the time to shower AND groom yourself (without help or a very entertaining toy to distract.) I’m totally okay with all of this though. It was far easier to take a back seat on myself than I thought it would be before baby. My world now revolves around a 16-pound little girl and whatever her needs may be (as hard as they are to figure out sometimes) always come before mine.
I’m now a master at multi-tasking.
Whether it’s checking my email in one arm and holding Annie and her rattle in the other or picking up the house with a baby on my hip, I’ve mastered the art of doing two things at once. But really it’s not the doing two things at ONCE that has been the biggest change. It’s the doing something … and stopping … and then jumping right back in that’s proved most difficult.
Take blogging for example. I’ve probably stopped in the middle of writing this post at least 30 times. From feeding Annie, playing with her, taking her on a walk and even getting distracted and finding myself organizing her closet, blogging takes a whole lot longer to do than it used to. You could say the same thing about making a sandwich too. 😉 The past three + months have taught me to just roll with it. I’ve discovered it’s not the end of the world if things don’t get done in a timely fashion once you’ve become a mom.
I think before I eat.
Gone are the days when I would eat 99 cent chicken nuggets and flamin’ hot cheetos for lunch. Yes, that was an actual lunch I would eat just over a year ago! I started trying to eat (a lot) healthier when I was pregnant, for obvious reasons. But now that Annie is here and she continues to rely on me for all of her nutrients, I’m trying harder & harder to eat better for her. It’s an amazing thing to see with your eyes just what your body can provide for someone else! Patrick and I have been eating healthy meals at home since Annie was born. (We used to go out to eat ALL the time so this has been a pretty big adjustment.) Let me just say, thank you Pinterest for all of your wonderful sheet pan recipes! They’ve been a lifesaver.
I’m now a stay at home mom (sort of).
Other than having a baby, I would say this has been the biggest change of all this year. I’m now at home full time. Technically I am a “stay at home mom” because I stay home, with Annie. But that’s not even close to what all I do! I’m still working my tail off all day long. During Annie’s naps I work on my blog (which is a full-time job in itself) & various projects for Cheeky Vintage, where I used to work M-F before Annie was born. I’d say I’m a part time marketer, full-time blogger and even fuller-time mama! It’s a lot. No wonder the laundry and the dishes tend to pile up here and there. 😉  But I have to say, without this blog, staying at home with Annie might not have been an option. Who knew that when I started Lone Star Looking Glass all those years ago (just for fun) that one day it would turn into an actual business.  So really, I have to thank YOU GUYS for sticking around, reading & being a part of this experience. I’m now able to love on my little girl ALL day long and I couldn’t feel more blessed.
I’m so excited to be spending my first Mother’s Day with Patrick and Annie this Sunday. I’ll be celebrating my own mom the following weekend in Memphis too. I definitely have a whole new appreciation for all that she does now that I’ve joined the motherhood club. Wishing you all a wonderful Mother’s Day! And as always, thanks for stopping by the blog.
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xo, alice
