Month: May 2018

A Letter to My Daughter on her 1st Birthday

/ TheMomWore / 4 Comments

Little N,

Today you turned one. One year ago at 4:44 pm we welcomed you into the world. It was a little rough. You see, you were a big baby; 9 pounds and 14 ounces to be specific. You got stuck at the shoulders, but with the help of nurses pushing on my stomach we got you out. You were a healthy and beautiful little girl. We kept you swaddled because your right shoulder hurt a little, but by the time we left the hospital you were feeling better. Once we got home, your two older sisters couldn’t wait to hold you and give you love. It was love at first sight for them. Over the coming months you tolerated their kisses, forced hugs, and holding with varying degrees of patience. Sometimes you screamed to let them know you were not happy.

You are a happy girl and smart. You started walking before you were one. Now you are playing in the playroom like a big girl. You don’t sleep through the night though you were a decent sleeper when you were younger, but around six or seven months you started waking up two to three times a night. It was hard. Thankfully you are only waking up once during the night. It’s much easier. You’re harder that way than your sisters. LB slept through the night at around 10 weeks, and C Bear woke up only occasionally and always went back to sleep after nursing. I can’t get mad at you though. You give me the biggest smile when I come to get you in the middle of the night. It melts my heart and helps me forget how tired I really am.

You are quick to smile, but also quick to make sure that your sisters don’t run all over you. You complete our family. You love to play outside, and just today you got mad that we let the dog outside and not you.

I’m writing you this letter to let you know that I love you. I don’t have as much time to document your first year as I did with your two sisters, but I want you to know that I love you just as much. With LB I pumped exclusively and during those lonely sessions I worked on her photo book. She has the most complete documentation of her first year. But she was our first, and so it was a lot of trial and error with her. C Bear had the benefit of being second. We knew what to do. Nursing was easy, and we weren’t afraid of taking her home from the hospital. Her photo book doesn’t have as many descriptions and wasn’t completed until after she was one. I wasn’t too tired with C Bear and I stopped working full-time when she was born. I have maybe one page of your photo book done, but I promise it will be done. I’m tired and your sisters demand a lot of my time. But you have the benefit of being last. I savored your baby months. Your sisters adore you. Your daddy adores you. Each child is different I’ve learned and I hope that I’ve given you all that you’ve needed in your first year.

Love,

Mamma

 

 

 

P.S. I filled out your first year calendar just like your sisters, and took all your monthly photos. 🙂

Passage of Time

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As the saying goes “Time flies.” It’s been a little while since my last post, and during that time, I’ve been thinking about time.  Mostly how time continues marching on even though I wish it would stop so I could take a breath every now and again. My girls are getting bigger before my eyes, and although I feel like I just posted, it’s been two months. I’ve also told myself that I have time to lose the baby weight, but in reality my baby is almost one. At times I can be so impatient and I wish for things to hurry up, but I always end up realizing that time just goes by too fast.

Facebook recently showed me some vacation photos from a trip two years ago. C Bear looks like a baby, and in fact she wasn’t even two then. It seems like just yesterday, but also at the same time so long ago. I feel as if time is playing tricks on me;  alternately going slow until I realize that it’s too late or time has really gone by. LB has a month left of kindergarten, C Bear acts like a teenager, and Little N is almost one. How is it time for my oldest to graduate kindergarten and my youngest to be one?

 

 

Maybe I need to slow down and savor this time, but how do I slow down when we have swim lessons, birthday parties, family events, work, school, and church. I’ve thought about simplifying my life, but I haven’t figured out how or what to cut back on. I think it stems from the fact that I like to do it all, be apart of it all, and master it all. The truth is with three kids I can’t do it all or master it all, so I’m slowly paring down on hobbies, and committing to healthy lifestyle and fun times with my kids. The rest will have to wait until it’s the time to pick it back up. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.” At this time, these verses speak to my heart.