Mommy's Hopes

Even when we are little girls, we have an idea of what we want our children's lives to look like, what we want them to be...

I remember thiking about all the things in my life as a child..or challenges I would face and I would dream that someday I would have little one of my own and things would be different...The problem is that I am who I am.  I still posess some of the same faults, quirks and ingrained values that existed in my own childhood and throughout my life.  My biggest question as a mommy with a child who has not yet been tainted by the world is how do I raise my son to be everything I've always wanted him to be?...

Darn, I don't thnk I have as much control as I thought I would.  I suppose I should just give him the freedom to be himself and pray that God will direct him.  I've realized though, another thing I can do....I can only control myself.  This isn't the easy route.  If I want my child to follow through and complete things in life, I too must follow through.  If I want him to work hard for the things he wants in life, I too must work hard for the things I want.  If I want him to be a man of prayer, I too must pray.  I've been thinking a lot about this lately.  God, please give me the grace and the strength to let go and the bravery to do the things I have not yet done so that my son can see the right way to live, not just hear it from his nagging mommy.

Victories today:  We joined a local mommy grouop!  Hoping to make some strong frienships and make connections for play dates.  We had lunch with daddy on lunch hour.  We had lots of smiles.

Funny moments: Green beans and apple sauce do not make pleasant poopy diapers. :)

Lessons in Mommyhood ~ Were growing into it

Now that I have made my first blog post, let me formally introduce myself.  My name is Crystal and I am married to an awesome and supportive guy named Jonathan.  We have one lab Shepard mix (our first child) and one 5 1/2 month old son named Mason.  He's pretty adorable.  I'm partial, I know, but the kid really did come out of the womb handsome.  I always say that God knew I needed a beautiful baby...

I certainly didn't start this mommy journey feeling equipped.  Even though I had always dreamed of having kids, I had never considered myself someone who loved babies in general. Growing up, I was the youngest of two and our family was fairly small.  We had a few cousins who had babies when I was old enough to perhaps hold one, but they lived far enough from us that I didn't see them that often.  I didn't have many opportunities to hold babies and when I was around them I was too timid and afraid that I would do something wrong that I would never offer to hold a friends baby, let alone change their diaper.  In college, I had a part time job babysitting in the toddler room for a M.O.P.S group nearby.  That's when I learned that I loved toddlers.  What a fun stage!  I often thought it was too bad  that babies didn't just come out at that stage.  Unfortunately, my timidness with other people's babies carried on into adulthood and even as close as a few years ago when our friends started having babies.  The good thing is that watching our friends care for their newborns and now toddlers did begin to build my confidence and taught my husband and I a lot about what we wanted as parents once we were blessed with a bundle of our very own.  Our parenting style will most certainly be a mix of our own style, what we have learned from our friends, from reading, and the values that have been instilled in us from our families.  If you put it all together with the child that God has given us and we have a perfect recipe for anybodies guess.  Huh?  Well, we don't know either.  I guess we will figure it out!

So far in my short 5 1/2 months of being a mommy, I have learned:

1. Just when you think you have it down, everything changes!
2. Nursing a baby was not as easy as I thought it would be
3. Postpartum depression at some point is almost a given
4. The quality of my day is dependent upon whether or not my son takes good naps
5. The harder the baby fights the nap, the more tired they are
6. True rest is reserved for those without small children
7. Cloth diapers are easy and worth the extra work (not to mention how much they save)
8. Nothing I had read prior to this journey could have prepared me for this
9. A supportive husband is an essential
10. Baths really do help babies sleep better
11. Starting solid foods is less fun than you think
12. Sound machines and monitors on all the time don't phase you one bit.

We're still learning and growing right along with him.

New Beginnings

As a little girl I dreamed of having a complete and beautiful family.  I used to browse through the Sunday paper, picking out things to buy for my two boys and two girls.  I thought two older and younger, a boy and girl each would be perfect.  It made my imaginary shopping that much more entertaining.  I sat and dreamed for hours.  Of coarse I would be the cool mom, the one who never had to tell her children no...or the mom who never had to worry about money.  Never in any of those dreams had I imagined  what a challenge parenting would be, nor could I fathom how much of a blessing it would be to my life.  Fast forward 20 years and I have a loving husband and beautiful son.  It's a little more complicated than picking out toys and clothes, but much more fulfilling than anything you could find in a catalog.  Every day is a new adventure and holds a new lesson for me.  I'm only beginning to scratch the surface here.