What I've Learned in 5 Months

Yesterday was Weston's 5 month birthday. Five months?! How did that even happen?

I have to warn you now that this is major baby overload... If you aren't a fan of babies... I would stop reading here... :) 

 Seriously it felt like a blink of an eye. One minute I was big huge pregnant and sleeping an average of an hour a night... and BAM! The nurse is handing me a baby boy. So much has happened in five months. I have learned more than I ever thought possible to learn in just a few short months.

First of all, I learned the importance of SLEEP. Sleeping pretty much stopped the second that I got pregnant. After many, many months of no sleep, I can tell you that sleeping well can change your life! In fact, I got more sleep with a newborn than I did when I was pregnant. At least I was prepared for the little guy to come, right? I learned that it's nearly impossible to "sleep when your baby sleeps" as everyone tells you to do. When the baby sleeps is when I get laundry done, dinner prepared, vacuuming finished. On the weekends Steven is there to help, but during the week it's me. Sleeping when the baby sleeps sounds great, but let me tell you... It really just wasn't possible. I also learned all the things that you can still do on no sleep. Feeding a baby 10 times a night? Sounds impossible until you have a newborn. I don't know how, but suddenly your body just snaps into motion.

That leads to my next lesson... It's incredible all the times where nature takes over and somehow your body just knows what to do. There were so many times, especially when Weston was a newborn, that Steven would say, "How did you know to do that?" And honestly I didn't. But if you listen to your body and listen to the baby, freaky things happen. You were made this way for a reason. 

One of my favorite lessons I have learned is that life in the slow lane can be so enjoyable. I have always been a busy body. Even ask my mom. She will tell you stories of me being teeny tiny and not just sitting and watching a movie. I always had to be doing two things at once. I have often had more than one job and often school as well. I think that I felt like if I wasn't making the most of every minute of every day, I was going to miss out on something. I didn't want to waste one second. Work hard, play hard, right? 

I have been lucky enough to be at home with my baby. Several people have said that I was going to get so bored, and I could see why they would think that. But let me tell you, there is not one bit of boredom in my house. It's so nice to be able to sleep in until 8 and be able to casually eat breakfast with my little side kick. It was always rush, rush, rush before and now I get to lay on the blanket with him and just hang out. I am still not the type to just sit and watch tv, but with a baby that's not really an option anyway. Just because I am not rushing around doesn't mean I am missing out. I have loved my long, easy days. In fact, sometimes I wish they were even slower. There's nothing more exciting or worth my time than watching a baby grow and smile. 

I have learned that it's crazy to see your traits in someone else. When Weston was born, he was a spitting image of Steven. Over time he has grown and changed, and now he looks like me. And not only does he physically resemble myself, but he also is a lot like me emotionally. He gets nervous in crowds, just like me. He is so much a homebody, just like me. And boy is he shy, just like me. He has "his people". With his people he is the smiliest, happiest boy. And when he is with people that he doesn't see a lot, he gets visible nervous and upset. I have also learned that people take this personally, as if the baby is choosing not to like you. He's 5 months people.. he can't decide whether he likes you. All he knows is that you aren't a face that he sees often. He loves his grandparents and aunts and a handful of others, otherwise.. STRANGER DANGER ALERT. Hopefully he grows out of it faster than I did! :)

I have learned that buying baby clothes is WAY more fun than buying me clothes! How can you deny a bear sweater? Seriously people!

I have learned how amazing it is to see someone you love hold your baby. It's like two of your favorite worlds colliding into one. It's so exciting to see your parents become grandparents and see your sisters become aunts. There is nothing more attractive in the world than your husband holding your baby. Heart melting every single time. 

I have learned the meaning of fear. Weston has tubes put in his ears in January. Ear tubes are really no big deal. It's seriously a 5 minute deal. But when you are in Primary Children's and your baby has to go under anesthesia, suddenly it feels like a big deal. In the waiting room with us was a family who had a one year old going into surgery at the same time. The surgeon came in and handed them a phone and said that he would be calling them once an hour to tell them how it was going. Primary Children's helps you realize how scary it can be to love someone so much and it puts everything into perspective. 

I have learned that you have to bring 10,000 things wherever you go, just in case. Car seat, stroller, diapers, wipes, change of clothes for baby, change of clothes for mom, bottles, formula, binkies, blankies, burp cloths, another change of clothes... it never ends! But I also learned that EVERYTHING is more fun with a baby. We went to see the ice castles for my birthday. And yes, we had to load so many things and we couldn't stay as long, but it was so exciting being there with him. He was only 3 1/2 months old, but his eyes were wide open staring up at all the ice and watching him deal with being in the giant coat outfit was hysterical. And don't even get me started on how magical Christmas was!

I also learned a lot about friends. Everyone always says that you learn who your real friends are in life changing circumstances; marriage, babies, sicknesses, moving, etc. Boy, is this true. We had some friends who really showed us who they really are. They were there at the hospital, they brought dinner to us the next couple weeks, they helped me clean and give the baby baths. And more than that, they knew when we were too exhausted to hang out and they called the night over before we even had to ask them. One night, I told my friend that I was just too tired and all I wanted to do was lay in bed. So you know what we did? We laid in bed and watched Netflix with the baby while the boys were out fishing. I never had to entertain them and they knew what we needed before we did. We have some great friends. 

I have learned that all babies are so different, and everyone has an opinion on how you should be raising your baby. It's great that everyone is willing to give advice because you can try all different things to see what works for you. I did learn that when I stopped listening to everyone's advice and just focused on what works for us, life got SO much easier. I tried so hard to do the schedule thing, but it just doesn't work for us. Life got so much easier when I just let him sleep when he is tired and I feed him when he is hungry. Suddenly when I stopped reading all those books and trying all the "secrets" he started sleeping through the nights. It's great that they have books out there, but they just don't fit who we are. 

I have learned that babies really do take all of your money. And there's nothing that is more worth it. 

 I learned that it is not fun to try new foods, but it is absolutely hysterical watching someone else try new foods!

I learned that baby smiles and giggles can heal almost any type of hurt going on. 

                                   One Month                                                                         Two Months

Three Months

                                  Four Months                                                                       Five Months

And last but not least, I learned that just when you think that there's no way you have room in your heart to love anymore than you already do, something happens and boom! Somehow your heart suddenly grows 10 fold.