Beginnings

Our sweet, little Elliott was born on April 22, 2014, at 10:20 pm. He was 6 pounds 10 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. Our son arrived on his due date (He wanted to be on time like his Mommy)! Since his birth, we have been stretched as far as we thought we ever could be and then some. For someone who has always liked her sleep, I have not slept through the night since Elliott was born. For someone who likes schedules and knowing exactly what will come next, I now never know what will take place day to day, hour to hour, or even minute to minute. For someone who likes the quiet, I am either hearing crying, sweet little baby noises, baby pooting sounds, music from a playmat or other baby device, or I am humming said music if it is not playing at the moment. For someone who has always been big on being clean and maintained, I never knew I could have so much poop, pee, and spit up on myself and be ok with all of those things (most days). For someone who has never chosen to touch "gross"things, see previous sentence. Being a Mommy has totally changed my way of doing, seeing, and responding to my experiences!

Being a Mommy has proven to be way more difficult that I thought it would be! Before we were expecting, we were told that it would be challenging to be a parent and to "wait until you are ready to have a baby." I always chuckled knowingly to myself at those words of advice because I knew that I would be graced with a little angel of a baby that would coo and giggle from day one, be content to play on his/her own when Mommy needed to do something, smile and laugh contentedly during playtime, and come out knowing how to breastfeed. Pooping and peeing would be minimal (no blowouts would happen for My baby). Feedings would be right on schedule and would easily end with a contented little burp. Crying would not even be an issue except for a reason that I could easily understand and expertly address. Boy, was I in for something totally different! Don't get me wrong: I love our little Elliott! There are good things about being a Mommy (like seeing him smile at something I say, watching him explore the world with those big blue eyes, or rolling on his side for the first time). It is JUST. SO. STINKING. HARD! I've been more exhausted than I've ever been and more emotional than I ever thought possible these past few weeks. I have also been forced to be stronger and less selfish than I realized I could be.

But, things are looking up! We are getting more used to having another little human to take care of...and also more realistic (Remember those blowouts that wouldn't happen to MY baby? Well, they happen...often...and with a vengeance that no diaper can withstand). I hope to use this blog to keep up with our little guy and what he is up to- the good, the great, and the not so great happenings in our day to day lives. I might only get in a quick sentence between changing diapers, feedings, burping, preparing bottles, pumping (maybe more on that later), and trying to maintain some semblance of a clean house where people do eat adult food not prepared in a bottle and sometimes even throw on something other than a t-shirt and running shorts (what?!). There might even be grammar and punctuation errors (something this English minor would have previously cringed over), but that's the way things are in our lives right now. So, here is a peek of the Peeks...
-N