Check out Kaelyn's 1st year of life video montage!!
How is it that we have gone from THIS:
to THIS:
Such a drastic change in one short year!!!
After sleeping through the night for quite a few months, she awoke crying last night around 3am because she had accidently knocked all her pacifiers onto the floor. I have to say... after many nights of getting a full night sleep, I relished it. I pulled her into bed with me and snuggled her tight. I stroked her sweet soft face and nursed her until she had had her fill. I squeezed her chubby little thigh and pulled her little form close. She nestled up to me and I realized how much I have missed those moments. Those moments of her needing me. Those moments where I was sustaining her on my milk alone. Those moments where she needed me every second of every day.
And now she's turning into a little girl. She is looking less and less babyish and more and more toddlerish. She is developing more of her fiesty little personality and is exploring the world around her nonstop. Yep, it's true... she's growing up. Her first year of life is gone.
There was a time I thought I would be pregnant forever. There was a time I thought that she would NEVER sleep through the night. There was a time that I thought she would NEVER crawl. And here we are. We did it. We survived our first year of parenthood!!!
There have been days where I have felt so tired... so clueless... so helpless... There have been days where I thought my child is the fussiest, clingiest, neediest baby.... and then now I'm wondering if most moms don't wonder that about their child or children from time to time. Like somehow I'm the only one who has tough days or something. Nope, pretty sure it's just called being a parent.
And now with a little perspective I'm seeing things in a different light today. Seeing how I blinked and a year flashed by. I can honestly say that I have loved and appreciated each and every moment. Even the tough ones. Choosing to stay home with her full time this year was the best decision EVER. I relished each snuggle, each kiss, each milestone with wonder and awe. I appreciate who she is... her personality... her zest for life. Even on the hardest days, motherhood has brought me a joy that I have never known before. It has challenged me in a way that I never knew possible and has transformed me into a better person. God is molding and teaching me through this process. Teaching me patience, grace, and unconditional love. I'm learning priorities and appreciation. Control and discipline. Selflessness and sacrifice. Thankfulness in abundance.
I'd like to share a poem with you and today seems like the perfect day it! I don't know the author or the title, but it's one that my mom had hanging on our wall growing up.
Mother, O' Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek - peekaboo.
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.
The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,
But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
Snuggle your little ones today!!!!!!! Time goes so fast doesn't it!? Thanks for putting up with my sentimental gush today. :-)
