Those Things Can Wait

Today has been a particularly busy day with work, Lily has been much more wild than usual if that’s possible, and I’m still trying to put the finishing touches on our house we moved into about 6 weeks ago.  It’s just been a crazy, non-stop day.  At one point, I walked 20 feet away to go use the bathroom, and when I came back not a minute later, this is what I found. 

  She had dumped all of her dirty clothes out, climbed onto the bottom shelf of her changing table, pulled the bottom drawer out sideways, and fished out her favorite toy – her comb.  It’s been that kind of day.

As it came time for her 12:00 bottle, I had a lull in my work day and a million things to catch up on.  Lily is quite capable of holding her own bottle and feeding it to herself, so this seemed like a golden opportunity to confine her in her highchair, let her feed herself, and get as much done as I possibly could in the 10 minutes it would take her to finish.  But then it occurred to me – I have been working and busy all morning, while she has been entertaining herself (albeit wildly) and playing alone.  Really?  Do I really need to “make use of my time” by doing chores?  Those things can wait.  What better use of my time than to enjoy my baby and love on her while I can?

The laundry will be there later.  The dishes will be there later.  My hair can dry itself.  Lily honestly doesn’t care one way or another, bless her heart, if I am dressed with makeup on or look like a scary monster in my pajamas.  The vacuum isn’t going to magically get up and run out of the house, the mop isn’t going anywhere, and the mail will still be in the mailbox this evening.

But my little girl is only going to be little for so long.  She is only going to be 8 months old for 2 more weeks.  Those chores can wait, because she won’t.  I can’t tell her, “Hold on a second and stop growing while Mommy gets caught up on what I need to do, then I will be ready!”  She’s growing and changing whether I like it or not, and regardless of how much time I have.  She is on warp speed right now, and I can either have a perfect house or enjoy each moment of this amazing time.  Personally, I’d rather live in total disarray than say I was too busy to enjoy my baby.

I’m not naïve enough to think she will be so sweet and squishy and lovey forever, or even that she will always want to spend time with me.  As I was rocking her and feeding her, she just looked up at me with those beautiful, big brown eyes that look at me as if I’m the second coming.  That isn’t going to last forever.  There is going to come a day when she doesn’t want me to hold her, or rock her, or feed her.  But right now, I’m so thankful that day isn’t today.  Today, she loves it.  I think she looks forward to those calm, peaceful moments just as much as I do.  That melts my heart and warms my soul in ways that I can’t explain. 

I mentioned today on Facebook that I realized earlier this morning that I hadn’t even looked at my planner in 6 weeks.  If you know me, you know this is nearly impossible to believe.  That sucker is color coded, time slotted, and absolutely compulsive and ridiculous.  I don’t go anywhere without it, and it has always been an extension of myself.  Today, that realization was odd.  I felt like I don’t even know who I am.  A great friend replied saying, “You’ve been living life!  Enjoy it.”  Oh.my.gosh.  How true.  I’ve been so busy LIVING that I haven’t felt the need to try and plan and control and manipulate every moment of my day.  I haven’t felt the need to fill my days with meaningless tasks, just to check them off a list.  No.  Those things can wait.  My baby girl isn’t waiting, though.  She’s living her life, and I’m not going to miss out on a moment of it.

What am I Thinking?!

The more I think about it, it really seems pretty ridiculous to be starting a blog at this stage in the game.  What makes me think I have all kinds of free time to kill?  I am a part-time employee and a full-time Mommy.  I work from home, so by default that also makes me a full-time maid, dog-sitter, chef, errand-runner, dish-washer, laundry-extraordinaire.  Let’s throw an 8-month-old spitfire into the mix, too!  Our days are busy, MESSY!, and totally chaotic.  And I wouldn’t trade a single moment of this humbling, awe-inspiring experience for anything in the entire world.

So, why a blog?  Why now?  In short, a little outlet wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.  Let’s face it – for 13 hours a day, my conversations are entirely one-sided.  I talk to Lily constantly, but she’s not the best listener.  She has too much to say herself.  But the only contribution Chatty Cathy ever makes that is even relatively comprehensible is “Da da da,” to which I have no choice but to reply, “No!  Ma ma ma!”  All in good time.   Not to mention, all of these new experiences and milestones are all so new and fun and exciting (and, okay, ADORABLE!) that I just want to share them with everyone we know!  I guess I’m not unlike any other first-time-parent in that!

Meet the star of the show:  Lily Reese.

 

She was born on July 13, 2012 at 1:37pm.  7.13 at 1:37 on Friday the 13^th?  That’s gotta be lucky!  That moment will remain etched in the very forefront of my mind for the rest of all time, and beyond.  Every parent knows what it feels like when the whole world stops, and nothing else even exists except for that wonderful man beaming next to you, and that absolutely perfect little miracle finally in your arms.  Everything about life as I knew it (and I mean EVERYTHING!) changed in that moment.  I can’t even think of a day before she was here, or how or why I ever bothered.  
  

 

 

Now fast forward 8 months ... 

... and every moment of life with Lily is still every bit as breath-taking as that first one.  I live for those big, sloppy kisses she gives freely every morning when I get her out of bed, and every time I get her up from her naps.  Her cheesy smile, sincere belly-laughs, and high-pitched squeals of joy melt my heart every.single.time.  She is the best!  She is the busiest, most high-energy little thing I’ve ever known!  She is into everything, crawling around everywhere like a bat out of hell, pulling up on anything she can reach.  She only slows down to eat or sleep, which are such odd moments of calm these days.  She keeps us on our toes for sure!  As busy and high-energy she is, she is the absolute EASIEST baby in the world.  People don’t love to hear that your baby is sleeping through the night at 4 or 5 weeks old, but Lily definitely was.  She is energetic, but so laid back.  She goes with the flow and adapts to whatever craziness we throw at her.  Her routines are very consistent, but not to any credit of her Daddy or me.  I let go of my need for rigid routines and consistency the minute that pink ball of love was placed into my arms, but I guess she inherited those things from me.  She’s always kept herself on very predictable schedules, which has made our lives SO easy the past 8 months.  I give her pep talks about “letting go” and “loosening up” and “living a little” but she doesn’t seem to hear me.  Oh well, it took me a heck of a long time, so I guess there’s hope for her, too :)

 
The idea for this is to showcase our day-to-day happenings, process some of these first-time milestones and Mommy-moments that all seem to be happening WAY too quickly and often, and maybe even some other fun things along the way.  I promise to never ever talk about the consistency of my child’s poop, the color of her runny noses, or the texture of her spit-up.  Nothing gross; just the fun stuff!  I’d love for our friends and family who we don’t get to see nearly as much as we wish we could to follow us along and watch us learn and grow with our beautiful baby girl!  Anything else from there is just icing on the cake.  I won’t always write about Lily, but sometimes it’s hard not to.  I am Livin’ la Vida Lily!!