C's Blog

As of today, I've officially been a mom for three weeks. I realize that I am still vastly inexperienced, but here are my thoughts on parenthood at three weeks:

• Before Isaac was born, countless people said, "sleep now!" We took their advice, sleeping in on every possible weekend and napping like crazy, but I never really understood that statement. I mean, it's not like I have a bank of sleep that I've stored up that I can cash in now that I'm exhausted. I think what all of these people meant is to not take sleep for granted. Now, I'm happy that Bryan and I napped at every chance and slept in on every day that we could before Isaac was born. It was worth it. : ) Do I miss it? Sure, but this is way more fun. (Even though we are very tired... it's still more fun.)

• It sucks that Isaac only likes to eat from a bottle. I'm pumping all of the time. At least he gets the good stuff (breast milk), but I hope our next kid doesn't refuse to breastfeed the way that Isaac has. Feedings take twice as long because we have to feed him and then I have to go pump and then clean all of the pumping stuff to do it all over again in 2-4 hours. I have learned the true meaning of multitasking, though, and have become an expert at doing many things while pumping. : )

• I am always going to be worried. It will never go away. I have to accept that I will always worry for the rest of my life. (Meanwhile, Bryan is more of a worry-wart than me, so that makes me feel more sane.)

• New moms cry. We cry because we're happy. We cry because we're sad. We cry because we dropped something and don't have an extra hand to pick it up. Our emotions are just as fragile, if not more, as when we were pregnant. Patience has a new meaning.

I have more thoughts, but I hear Isaac crying. Gotta go. : )

At one month, Isaac has started smiling in reaction to the funny sounds and faces that Bryan and I make.

I was lucky enough to catch a few in photos and on video this morning:

Our Christmases are crazy. This year is no exception... especially with the addition of Isaac.

We celebrated Christmas with my family yesterday, we're celebrating wtih Bryan's family tonight, and tomorrow includes a visit to Bryan's uncle's house, my parents' house, and Bryan's grandma's house. Whew!

It's hard to believe, but Bryan and I have had this Christmas schedule for eight Christmases. I wonder what our schedule will be like next year when Isaac is a little more aware of what's going on. I'd like to have our own family celebration with Bryan, Isaac, Harley, and I, but as of now, it doesn't fit into the schedule.

This brings up a big debate between Bryan and I... Bryan's family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. Because their last name came first in the alphabet, Santa visited their house first. My family always celebrated Christmas on Christmas morning. I think that Christmas morning was (and proabably still is) the most traditional way of celebrating.

We can't agree when to celebrate our family Christmas. We both have great memories from our childhoods and both think that our family's way of celebrating should resemble the way that each of ours were growing up.

Every time we discuss this topic, it ends by one of us saying, "well, we won't have to worry about that for another couple of years."

Meanwhile, neither one of us are budging. : )

I guess what's more important is that we're together no matter when we celebrate.

Well, anyway, I hope that this Christmas finds you happy and healthy. (And I also hope that there's a shiny present with your name on it under a Christmas tree somewhere.) Merry Christmas! : )

p.s. My Secret Santa RULES! Thanks, Dad! : )

UPDATE: Christmas Morning will be our celebration time. Yay for that! : )