Before I jump right into the fantastic day called Father's Day I want to lay a little thick Motherly wisdom/knowledge/love on you. So get ready.
My son, Jonathan, was born at the end of October 2013... 9 days past my "due date". From the very beginning we faced challenges (beyond the initial transition to motherhood). He cried almost nonstop the entire first week due to hunger from a tongue and lip tie that had to be layered off on day 7 of his life. He had colic. He had eczema. He had reflux. My husband and I... we had no help. Sure our mothers and families live close... but for some reason we didn't have many people coming over to assist in this MOTHER OF ALL LIFE CHANGES.... It was rough. We were up every hour each night. One night, Jonathan cried for
literally 7 hours straight. We didn't know about swaddling (if you're expecting...
learn how).
And lately, as I rock my sweet angel baby to sleep at night, I cry. Tears of joy. Tears of longing... He is
the most amazing thing to happen to me.
In my whole life. There is
nothing that can surpass the love a mom has for a child. But until you have one of your own... you truly will not understand. But I pray that you know of this love in your life. It is absolutely bitter sweet and I wish
so much that I could freeze time. That I could even go back. Although we have so much more to look forward to, I simply wish to savor moments like these more often.
I wish I had ignored my phone. Ignored that ridiculous urge to workout incessantly, to log off of my computer and care less about being busy with what I used to do. Throw who you used to be out the window. There's a whole new, better, stronger, more patient you waiting to come to life when you have a child. To you new moms I have some advice (and feel free to throw it out the window... because we all have to learn our own way).
- Ask for help; tell your mom or mother in law to stay a week or two.
- Tell your baby's father he is taking 2+ weeks off of work.
- Ignore what you may find dirty in your house.
- Snuggle that newborn.
- Be ok with sitting.
- Trust in your new calling there is no calling more important than being a mother.
- If you feel depressed (many do) don't be ashamed. Get help ASAP.
- Those long nights disappear, be patient.
- Shower that baby with love, but get breaks when you need them (and you will).
Ok, that's that. Lets move on to the actual reason for this post.
I made a little something for my sweet husband. He's a great father and since our son is basically his twin, I wanted to do something that would touch the big heart of my big man. Please, do enjoy this lovely fun Jonathan and I had.
I can't wait to see the look on my husband's face when he opens these up :)
