Kate's Kaleidoscope: February 2014

There are a lot of new moms in my life right now. In honor of that I am going to give you all a little bit of mommy advice from what I have learned over the last 4 years:

1. You are going to learn a lot about your own mom. You are going to appreciate everything she ever did for you so much more now that you have somebody to do it all for on your own. And you are going to see things in a whole new light. I don't know about you, but I have always firmly believed that my mom knows the answer to any question that I might have. And I'm sure my mom knows a lot, but I'm also sure she just wings it a lot of the time, and I'm ok with that! I still call her before I make decisions and I still take whatever she tells me into major consideration. You are going to look at anything your mom ever did that frustrated you or that you didn't understand WHY she would do that... and now it will all just kind of make sense. And your mom is going to become a peer on top of your mom and on top of your child's grandma. You and your mom now get to relate to things concerning being a mom... its fun!

2. You are going to fall madly in love - with your HUSBAND. Yes, you will love the baby too and yes I am sure you already love your husband, that is why you married him. But after you have your baby and you watch your husband take care of the baby and take care of you.... You will fall harder for him than you ever thought possible. And it doesn't end after the initial shock wears off. Its going to surprise you when you least expect it later on. When you see certain moments between your husband and your child, moments that will seem so ordinary to anyone else, they will make you weak at the knees. Enjoy it, its one of the best perks of being a mom. A lot of the time you are the only one who will get to witness those amazing moments.

3. You are going to worry - a lot. And I'm pretty convinced it isn't ever going to stop. You start worrying about your baby when you are pregnant and then you just keep worrying. I think the worries make us better people, also crazy people... but its all good. Just know you aren't alone, we all feel the same way about our kids.

4. You are going to need your friends. I know in the beginning its overwhelming. Babies take up a lot of time and all the other time is spent catching up on chores and sleep. But do your best to keep those friendships a priority. You will need your friends that have kids to remind you that you aren't crazy and to help you out when you have random questions. But you are also still going to need your friends without kids. The ones that still go to the bars, the ones that still get to sleep in on the weekends. Because they are the ones that remind you of who you once were. And its ok that you have moved into a new phase of your life. But every once in a while you are going to need a break from being mom and want to go out and have some fun and you need friends to do that with. Its also really fun to live vicariously through their stories of what they have been up to!

5. Your life is going to change... drastically. I know it seems obvious, but you really have no idea. Until you are a couple years in and you look back and think - wow, I can't believe that my life used to be like that. I can't believe that I used to sleep/shop/relax/drink/______ all sorts of random things. I have hopes... high hopes that someday Lyla will be all grown up and I will get back to doing all those things. But who knows, by then I might not even miss them anymore.