Did you ever ride The Gravitron at your town's carnival or fair? You enter this circular spaceship-like cabin. You stand against its walls. It spins in a circle, and you're pressed tight against the wall. And if you're particularly strong, you can move your body sideways or upsidedown, while gravity prevents you from killing yourself in the process. But the thing is, while you can move every which way against the wall, you can't separate from it. The gravitational force keeping you in place is too strong.
This is how I feel most days. Stuck against the wall, with the hours racing by, and the to-do list I write myself at the beginning of every week neglected without progress. I juggle caring for Isabella, working part-time (soon to return to full-time), trying to scrap layers of dust off my furniture, and keeping up with the myriad tasks that fill daily life. I desperately need a 25th hour. Every day.
But this weekend, I was able to scratch off a big-ticket item from my list. I finished Isabella's photo album, to date. And I cannot tell you what an enormous relief it was for me to accomplish this. I felt like a derelict mother, because prior to Saturday, I had not one photo of her in an album. And not one photo of her in a frame. (Okay, so I still don't have a photo of her in a frame, but the album? It's done!)
And I realized, in looking through the album once I was finished, that my little girl is growing so fast. Somehow, in what seems like a blink of the eye, she's gone from this tiny little thing, who was so fragile, so needy, and so sleepy
to this expressive, chatty, and increasingly mobile three-month old (tomorrow).
We have "conversations" now. She's chats away with me all the time. And sometimes she chats to the cats. And sometimes she chats to nothing at all. She can hold rattles in her hand. She rolls to one side. She loves kicking and batting at her floor gym. She loves kicking her feet in her bath, and she loves kicking them on her changing table even more. She's a smiley girl too. Her ear-to-ear grins melt my heart, even at 3am when I'm bleary-eyed and desperate for my pillow and have to get up to feed her. And she's quickly outgrowing her basinett, which has sat two inches from my side of the bed since the day we brought her home from the hospital. I'm dreading the day when we have to move her to her crib in her nursery. I'm going to miss her being so close by.
I am so blessed to be her mom. I can't imagine my life without her. And every day that I go to bed discouraged about the things I didn't accomplish that day because there simply weren't enough hours, I need to remind myself that I was able to accomplish something I never thought I would. I am a mother. I have a daughter. And sharing her life has made mine richer than I ever thought it could be.
This is how I feel most days. Stuck against the wall, with the hours racing by, and the to-do list I write myself at the beginning of every week neglected without progress. I juggle caring for Isabella, working part-time (soon to return to full-time), trying to scrap layers of dust off my furniture, and keeping up with the myriad tasks that fill daily life. I desperately need a 25th hour. Every day.
But this weekend, I was able to scratch off a big-ticket item from my list. I finished Isabella's photo album, to date. And I cannot tell you what an enormous relief it was for me to accomplish this. I felt like a derelict mother, because prior to Saturday, I had not one photo of her in an album. And not one photo of her in a frame. (Okay, so I still don't have a photo of her in a frame, but the album? It's done!)
And I realized, in looking through the album once I was finished, that my little girl is growing so fast. Somehow, in what seems like a blink of the eye, she's gone from this tiny little thing, who was so fragile, so needy, and so sleepy
to this expressive, chatty, and increasingly mobile three-month old (tomorrow).
We have "conversations" now. She's chats away with me all the time. And sometimes she chats to the cats. And sometimes she chats to nothing at all. She can hold rattles in her hand. She rolls to one side. She loves kicking and batting at her floor gym. She loves kicking her feet in her bath, and she loves kicking them on her changing table even more. She's a smiley girl too. Her ear-to-ear grins melt my heart, even at 3am when I'm bleary-eyed and desperate for my pillow and have to get up to feed her. And she's quickly outgrowing her basinett, which has sat two inches from my side of the bed since the day we brought her home from the hospital. I'm dreading the day when we have to move her to her crib in her nursery. I'm going to miss her being so close by.
I am so blessed to be her mom. I can't imagine my life without her. And every day that I go to bed discouraged about the things I didn't accomplish that day because there simply weren't enough hours, I need to remind myself that I was able to accomplish something I never thought I would. I am a mother. I have a daughter. And sharing her life has made mine richer than I ever thought it could be.
I'm only up to 3 months in Camilles album and she'll be 1 next month!
You'll never really "catch up" to how things were before the baby but you will get to a point where there is more time for that to do list. The more they grow, the more independent they become.
She's beautiful!
Wow. I cannot believe how quickly she has grown. Amazing to think I will have one of my own so soon. I am curious about the working from home thing, too, since I am trying to cut my schedule to 3 days at the office, one from home and one off.
oh she is sooo freaking cute!! but I know how you feel about those lists and trying to get things done... i don't care what anyone says... it isn't any easier as they get older because they get into everything lol...
Okay I am so far behind in my babe's album. I think maybe I am through about 4 weeks and he just turned 1. I have got to get caught up. You are right there are not enough hours in the day. Maybe when he goes off to college I will have time to sit down and concentrate on something!
She is just gorgeous!
Aw, what a great post. And I think my son has the same cute Winnie the Pooh ensemble, hat and all, as your beauty does in the second picture.
:)
Promise me that you will print out this post and make sure she sees it when she can read. She looks so cute; I think 3 months to 18 months-2 yrs. are my favorite times in a baby's life. I love it when they start cooing and "talking" to you.
Ok, seriously. Why is your baby so cute?