"I love..."

I love the way Selah rubs her eyes when she’s tired and how she smooshes her face in her blanket when I put her to bed.

I love her smile when I wake her up in the morning and the way she’ll cuddle on my shoulder because she’s still partially asleep.

I love when she gets me soaked because she likes to splash in the tub during bath time and her excited laugh when she kicks her legs in the water.

I love her lopsided smile and how her hair sticks up in the front.

I love when wind hits her face and it takes her breath away leading to a big grin.

I love when I pick her up after work and her eyes get big and she beams.

I love her little “tootsies” and how she curls her toes when something rubs up against her feet.

I love how she screams and squeals at her stuffed animals and pretends to laugh.

I love when I catch her staring at me and I smile and she chuckles.

I love the smell of the powdered diapers she wears and how the smell of Johnson & Johnson’s stays on her skin after a bath.

I love how she breaks out in a random yelp and gets proud of the noise she’s made.

I love how she stretches and toots in the morning.

I love how she gets a kick out of shaking her rattle and how she finds the tag on every stuffed animal or toy and sucks it.

I love the red spot on her ear and her three little teeth.

I love her giggle when I tickle her chin.

I love motherhood.

"Just Wait..."

When I picked my daughter up from the church nursery today, this was the conversation:

Nursery worker #1: “She is such a sweetheart. She didn’t make a peep. Is this your first?”
Me: “Yes! She is a very good girl.”

Nursery worker #1: “Well, our first was good too, and then we had our second. Be prepared.”

Nursery worker #2:  “Oh yes. Our daughter was wonderful until she reached 14 months. Then she stopped sleeping and cried all the time.”

Nursery worker #3: “Did you say this was your first? Oh yes. We experienced the same thing with our first. We used to think it was us until we had our 2^nd.”

Are they serious??? What is it about people who want to give you the “just wait” advice. I walked away saying to my husband, “Why do people say stuff like that?”

What do people expect you to respond with when they give you the doom and gloom advice? If you have siblings, particularly older siblings, you know what I mean!! Siblings always seem to want to be the ones who know best!! (I’m the #4 of 5) For example, when my husband and I were looking at buying our first house, we were given so much “advice” we wanted to scream. If we heard one more time, “Just wait until you have to pay a mortgage” we were going to explode. Was the expected response, “Wait, what’s a mortgage?” Seriously!?! Did they think we hadn’t planned or prepared for buying a house??

If it’s not the “just wait”, it’s the “that’s what we thought” statement when asked a question about what you’ll do about this or that!!

However, it’s not only siblings that give the “just wait” or “that’s what we thought” advice, but anybody who wants you to know that they’ve been there and your expectations are misplaced! When I was pregnant, people wanted to consistently give the horror stories of parenthood.

Some example conversations of what we experienced:

Random person: “How far along are you?”

Me: “_________weeks.”

Random person: “Oh, just wait. Get your sleep now. You won’t sleep for the next few years.”

Random person: “How far along are you?”

Me: “_________weeks.”

Random person: “Just wait. You’re life is going to change. Gone are the days of being alone. Babies make life more difficult.”

Random person: “How far along are you?”

Me: “________weeks.”

Random person: “Have you purchased_____________yet?”

Me: “Yes. It’s wonderful.”

Random person: “Oh, well that’s what we thought. It’s horrible. I used it with our son/daughter and it wasn’t worth it.”

While pregnant, my husband and I attended a marriage seminar at our church. During the seminar they showed a graph depicting marital satisfaction before and after children….there was a huge dip! At the bottom of the graph in small letters the disclaimer “applies to two-thirds of marriages” was written. WHAT?

In all honesty, my husband and I would say, “Do people expect us to be joyful about becoming parents with all the negative information they want to give us?” We began saying that the next time somebody informed us of the “dark side” of parenthood, we would respond, “WHAT? Oh crap. Do you want our baby then? If only we had known!”

Whether it’s the “just wait” or “that’s what we thought” advice, it is annoying! We are eight months in and we have had ups and downs, adjustments to make, and lot’s of tears; however, we know that our daughter was born at God’s appointed time. We never expected our lives wouldn’t change. In fact, prior to having children we knew how drastically our lives would change and contemplated not having children!! Boy, are we glad God had different plans! The joy of parenthood is beyond words…the first tooth, the first time they eat solid foods, the first time you see your spouse as a parent….wow! What an amazing journey. If you’re a parent, talk more to those expecting a child about the delight of parenthood. My husband and I make it a point to use the “just wait” for explaining the moments that are true bliss!! Parents will experience and adjust to the not so blissful times without your advice!!