Welcome to Parenthood

In the one whole month I’ve been a mommy (I know I’m so experienced, Ha!) I have found myself saying one of two phrases, “Mama said there’d be days like this…” and “welcome to parenthood, Kelly”. In the past month I have been learning a LOT about my sweet baby and even more about myself. Some lessons are difficult and trying and others humorous and silly but all are lessons worth learning.

Here are just a few of my “welcome to parenthood” moments.

1. Babies need a sleep schedule the minute they pop out or else you spend four weeks with a baby that loves to sleep all day and be up screaming all night, literally. I love Aubrey but when she only sleeps for one hour at night, and that hour isn’t even a consecutive hour, you tend to think she must really hate her parents. Why else would she treat us this badly? Needless to say, we are working on sleep training to get this problem and it is a problem in check. Ahhh, welcome to parenthood, Kelly.

2. Moms and Dads beware, girls can pee and poop on you too! Trust me, it’s not just for little boys. Aubrey has successfully “anointed” Rob, Grandma and me more than once, for each of us! Seriously I think she gets joy out of it, especially from the poop incident of 2011, as we will always refer to it. One afternoon while I was changing Aubrey’s diaper, suddenly in an instant I scream and jump back as there is poop flying four feet through the air and landing on our living room carpet. Yes my friends, projectile poop. Good thing we have a great carpet cleaner that cleaned it right up. Rob and I couldn’t get upset; it was just too funny! So, I’ve learned to change her diaper in record time. A very messy welcome to parenthood, Kelly and Rob.

3. When planning to go somewhere decide how long you need to get ready and get your baby ready and then add at least 30 more minutes. Seriously I feel like we are late for everything! Simply because it takes FOREVER to get Aubrey and myself ready to leave. The reason being, that right before we walk out the door Aubrey will spit up on herself or me and a wardrobe change is in effect. So I’ve learned to wait till you are literally about to walk out the front door to dress the two of us. Which brings me to my next point, stock up on laundry detergent because I do a load of laundry just about every day! – “Tide”ings and welcome to parenthood, Kelly

4. Rob and I love taking pictures of sweet Aubrey. So much in fact that we are those parents who bring the camera everywhere! I never thought I would be this type of parent, but I totally am. Seriously folks we are going to embarrass Aubrey so much when she’s older because we are like the paparazzi. Totally out of control with the picture taking and I LOVE it! We will never have this time again, and she is growing so fast we just want to have as many documented memories as possible, even if we are completely obnoxious and obsessed with it. So thank you Hubs for my totally awesome Canon EOS Rebel XS, a serious camera for serious picture takers – again, Welcome to parenthood, Kelly

5. I never thought I could forget to eat. I mean I love food and I’ve always been very sensitive to my hunger pangs. Once my body says I’m hungry I need food and PRONTO. Well, not so much anymore. I guess being a new mommy = so busy you can totally forget to eat. I’m really trying hard to remember to sit down and eat something; anything and I give myself bonus points for eating something healthy. Seriously Kelly, remember to eat, it’s good for you and it will keep you from dying from starvation. Oh and once again, welcome to parenthood.