Hi Everyone,
Happy Monday! We don’t have many Mondays left this year which I am sure most of us are glad about; the Christmas holidays will soon be here and we can enjoy Mondays a little bit more with the festive spirit in the air.
My thoughts for this Monday are all about how much life has changed from a year ago! Josh is one in two weeks, and this time last year I was an enormous bundle of anticipation and excitement. I had no idea who this little person was in my belly, I had no idea how much he’d shape me, and I had no idea of how much life would change once he arrived.
I remember by this stage last year I was so keen to know who my little person was, a boy or a girl and now I can’t imagine life without him. Becoming a mother has been the making of me. I feel it’s totally changed me, for the better. One thing I will say for myself is that even in those tough first few weeks when I was still finding my feet, becoming a Mum seemed to come very naturally to me. I was really lucky that despite a tricky start with breastfeeding, things settled down and I fed really well (albeit only from one boob after three months) and we’re still going strong now. I was so determined; I had the other options there and I could have given myself a break and bottle fed but I made a personal decision to stick at it and power through and I am so glad I did. It made me remind myself that in all the haze of learning how to look after a baby and buzzing crazy bitching hormones, I was doing a good job and that I was still me; a determined little madam. But I was now an even better version of me.
A year ago I was just Fi. I was a wife, a friend, a daughter, a sister. Today I am still all those things but more importantly I am Mummy! And I love that – especially as Josh has started saying Mama and Mum. It makes it even more special. It’s without a doubt the thing I am most proud of in my life.
There are so many things that I’ve learnt in this first year, here’s just a few!
- It is possible to survive 10 hours a day alone with a newborn baby, and two useless unconscious cats. This is dependant upon a steady stream of tea, cake and wonderful Mummy friends until Daddy gets home.
- The first bit of food you have after giving birth tastes like it was prepared by angels and floated down on a cloud just for you. The best tea and toast of my life.
- It gets easier. Then it gets tough again. Then easier. Then tough again. Things are constantly changing.
- After a month you don’t care about feeding in public anymore. If anyone did even remotely try to intimidate me with disapproving stares they got a classic Fi glare thrown their way.
- You do eventually stop crying at dog food adverts; the hormones will settle I promise.
- You will do a vast amount of impulse online shopping in the middle of the night. You will then forget you’ve ordered things and it will feel like Christmas all over again when all the parcels arrive in the post. Husbands are equally as bad for this; mine ordered a bike one night when he was up doing the feed before bed!
- I’ve learnt I can cook. I’ve also managed to do it without poisoning my child. Winning.
- I’ve been peed on more than once, shat on, and had Josh vomit directly into my mouth whilst playing aeroplane with him. It’s amazing how strong a stomach you develop once babies are on the scene.
- After about seven attempts of trying to work out how to use the baby Bjorn, I gave up. Josh was so enormous even as a newborn I’d probably have done myself an injury anyway!
- My son hasn’t eaten cat food, cat poo or cat litter!!
- The cats haven’t moved out in protest of a new baby arriving, taking all the attention and who now crawls around chasing them everywhere until he literally has their tail in his mouth
- My husband and I didn’t get divorced!
- If there is danger in the room; sharp corners, a plug socket, my son is like a magnet to it!
- I smiled and acted like it was adorable when Josh was the only baby who kicked off, shrieked, laughed and blew raspberries throughout our “relaxing” and quiet Baby Yoga class even though I was mortified.
- I only Googled on average three times a day in the first six months of Joshs life!! And I have googled things I never thought I’d google!
- I have started to borderline resent Sainsburys for the amount of money I spend there, yet continue to go shopping.
- I didn’t smother my husband in his sleep as he slept through Josh screaming at 3am.
- I didn’t hit my husband round the head with a saucepan when he asked the next morning “was the baby up last night – I didn’t hear him”
- I have never felt so happy, so proud, so vulnerable, so in love, and so tired.
It’s a constant learning curve being a parent. I don’t know everything by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m doing well. I’ve done a good job in this first year and I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.
Happy Monday Everyone
Love
Fx
I definitely agree that cake is needed to get though those newborn days! And I’ve spent far more online in the middle of the night than I had thought was possible #marvmondays
OddHogg recently posted…Menu Plan Monday – 21st November 2016
Love this. Its funny how much Motherhood changes you without you even realising it. I was 26 when Ella was born and I remember going back to work and everyone saying how different i was.. in a good way i hope! Thanks gor sharing for #marvmondays
Fran Back With a Bump recently posted…Marvellous Prize Winning Mondays
Ah this is lovely, I learnt that I can cook too and I even enjoy it!
#marvmondays
The Tale of Mummyhood recently posted…Arty Apple Personalised Gifts Review
It’s amazing how much you learn and grow as a person in the first year of your baby’s life – I’m a completely different person now to who I was before I had Alfie. Those photos are gorgeous! #MarvMondays
Something About Baby recently posted…Getting Festive: A Christmas Cake Recipe and Arty Apple Review
Such a lovely post!! Middle of the night shopping is awesome and awful at the same time – I have the exact same forgetfulness and surprise when things turn up, sometimes I think I’ve dreamt them! Happy Birthday to Josh for a couple weeks time #marvmondays
Devon Mama recently posted…The Lust List: November Edit
I love your post! There is nothing I’m more proud of then being a mother to my two little ones! Even if that means that on some days (most days…) you only function on caffeine and sugar. Thanks for sharing this post, and reminding me why I’m so deliriously happy about being a mom. #CandidCuddles
Leri recently posted…My biggest parenting failure
Ah thank you for your gorgeous comment xx
Oh Wow what a year you’ve had! I think being a mum has helped me for the better, it’s certainly made me more self aware and helped with my confidence because I may not be good at a lot of things, but I am a good mum, and hearing Evie tell me how much she loves me and that I’m the best person ever is just wonderful. She has her moments though! Like all kids, it’s certainly a rollercoaster! #MarvMondays x
I agree honey! I can’t wait till Josh is able to say he loves me! xx
What a lovely relatable post. I certainly remember the online shopping in the middle of the night 😆
It’s love how our children’s birthdays make us reflect – it’s just as big an anniversary for us.
Oops forgot to say I found you through #marvmondayd
S
catherine recently posted…Christmas Gifts for Mamas
Oops forgot to say I found you through #marvmondays
Aww what a lovely post. I’ve been ‘mummy’ for about 15 months with my two adopted kidlets and can’t quite believe how much I have learnt so far – I think the fact that I appear to have almost boundless patience is something I didn’t expect to possess! #marvmondays
Thank you lovely xx
Aw what a cutie 🙂 I’ve learned I have a surprising amount of patience but I can really lose my s*** over the smallest of things with no sleep. I just hope but the time max is one he will actually let me have one night of sleep and be a great sleeper like his big sister! #MarvMondays
That first year is a real rollercoaster isn’t it! It’s amazing how everything can change to dramatically in such a short time. x #CandidCuddles
Madeline (This Glorious Life) recently posted…9 years
Oh you made me laugh. Two useless unconscious cats and if you like shopping that much, please go buy me something sparkly. The thing I can’t get over is that you became a mum and launched a blog. I was unable to function beyond keeping a baby alive when I had my first child! Bravo that girl. Thanks for joining us on #candidcuddles lovely I love how it’s not always about talking purely about the mantra/quote but about spinning it into a wider blog post. Keeps it interesting!
PS I notice there’s an error message when your commentluv tries to pull my latest blog post. I’ve finally figured out that it’s because I changed web hosts two weeks ago and your site is still pulling from the old host. Long story short, you may want to clear your web browser history for the last month so that your commentluv can pull my latest post via the new host. Wow that was painful. Sorry!
Ha ha no worries lovely I’ll do it now xx
What a happy post – lots to be proud of #marvmondays
#marvmondays I have a josh and at 3mnth he was a one boob dude! I love how you are cherishing motherhood in this post, always we do…you are more than a Fi now Mumma x
Fridgesays recently posted…Why be moody, when you can shake your booty.