Welcome to Mommyhood

I have been a mom for over two weeks now! In a lot of ways I don't feel like it has really hit me yet, but maybe it is mostly that I have been planning for this phase of my life for years and preparing for it for the last nine months. 

Motherhood has been a completely new experience and there are so many little things that have happened, so I apologize if this is a little scatterbrained. Hopefully I will be able to blog more often and not have to try to put too many things in one post!

I absolutely love spending time with Vander, especially in the mornings in bed after I feed him. He is so happy and contented. That is where most of my pictures come from. :)  Other times when he goes back to sleep, he is so unbelievably adorable all curled up asleep after being full. 

He has been a great eater and sleeper, which makes my job a lot easier. It is a big change to have my entire schedule revolve around someone else, but it has been a very rewarding experience. 

I feel like I have adjusted pretty well to being at home. Vander sleeps really pretty well, but I am still getting to be a pretty good nap person. The naps are necessary too! Carrying a baby around, feeding him every couple hours, feeding myself every couple hours, probably still recovering a little from having a baby and getting some stuff done around the house really takes it out of you. 

Facetiming with Auntie Goose

The two main challenges with being home are managing my expectations about my productivity and have enough interaction. I feel much better when I get stuff done during the day.  I try to get at least one thing done, like having the kitchen clean at the end of the day, getting some laundry done, writing a blog post or getting out of the house for a little bit. I have to make sure I don't push myself too much or I end up being too tired at the end of the day. I just remind myself the reason I am home is to take care of and spend time with Vander and that is the number one priority. 

Getting interaction is important since Vander really does sleep most of the time and obviously doesn't talk much (or you know, at all). Interacting with other people also helps Dylan out so I don't overwhelm him with my need for attention when he is home.

Ares and Vander saying hi

I met another new mom in our neighborhood, which will hopefully help with the interaction. I met her about a week and a half ago while Dylan and I were walking the baby. Her and her husband are a little older than Dylan and I think, but not by too much. They have a little boy who is 20 days older than Vander. We went for a walk this morning and got to know each other a little bit and set up a walk for Wednesday. Hopefully it is a friendship that works out, since at the very least our little boys will go to school together. 

This first couple weeks post partum were not without their down moments. The hormones were not very fun to deal with the first week and a half. I didn't really have too many emotional outbursts while I was pregnant, but I had at least four instances in the week and a half post partum. They were mostly random bouts of crying that were sparked by stupid little things, but due to my hormones they were totally blown out of proportion. The whole time I would be upset I would get more upset that I only had until two weeks from delivery to stop having random crying fits or I would be considered depressed. Fortunately it has been over a week since the last time and I haven't felt out of emotional control at all.

He is an official person!

 Most of my hormonal issues ended up being directed at Dylan and in general our relationship has been one of the biggest changes since having a child. While I totally love Vander unconditionally, I am still learning about him and who he is, and I am still learning to understand what it means to be his mom. On the other hand I know Dylan, I know how our relationship worked, so it is important for me to make sure that relationship grows in a positive way since I rely on him a lot. Fortunately Dylan has been completely understanding and he listened to my random outbursts regardless of how ridiculous they were. 

This last week has gone much smoother and I feel like I don't know where the time has gone! We have been getting out of the house a lot. We go for a walk most days, either in our neighborhood or the dog park. I have visited Dylan's office and my mom's office to show of Vander. We have gone over to my parents house a couple times. We even did our first grocery shopping trip this last weekend. I am not generally very good at staying at home, so I am glad Vander has generally been a good traveler.

It has definitely been a great first couple of weeks and I am so blessed to have our little Vander in my life and to get to spend such quality time with him.