Wesley Is One! What I Did Not Realize About Parenting Before I Became A Mom...
My cutie pie turned one a couple days ago!
Phew... what a year it has been.
Being a mom to Wesley is purely the best role I have ever stood in. I love it and I.... I .... well, it forces me to compartmentalize my time/work/energy/personal life more than ever before. Would I do it all over again? Absolutely... and that is why we are thinking of adding another one to our family- sometime. I even said to Mike the other day that I'd like a little Kraus Tribe (who would have thought?!).
I knew starting a family was going to be the hardest yet most rewarding job ever (because that's what everyone said) and I knew I was going to be tired (because that's what everyone said) and I knew that I was not going to be the same Julie anymore (because that's what everyone said)... but what I did not realize was....
-Strangers stop in their tracks to help you because they remember wishing they had an extra set of hands during their young parenting days.
-Exactly how much joy a baby brings everyone (until they cry- kidding).
-Family and friends rally around you more than ever and help out as much as they can.
-Your clients/work understand there are a lot of moving pieces and are willing to work with your crazy schedule.
-I would encounter so many daycare germs and be sick more than I have ever been in my whole entire life. Wesley and I were literally sick or had the sniffles for 6 months straight.
-That you have a barnacle stuck to your side for life (or what feels like it sometimes!).
-That even though I am so tired at the end of the night, I just want to cuddle my baby a little longer before I put him in his crib.
-How incredibly lucky I am to have a partner that shows up every day and says, " What can I do to make your day better?"
-How much more you would have to balance.
-How much more I smile throughout the day.
-How you really have to dig up your imagination to play with a kid- well at least for me! Mike is great with play time (or maybe he is a boy and knows how to play with boys toys....)
-I'm not the mom who will make my kids all homemade unprocessed food. Sometimes popping a gf waffle in the toaster and slapping peanut butter on it with a banana is what my kid gets in the mornings and I am beyond okay with that.
-How much of a superhero every parent truly is. I mean it. I give every single person who is a parent so much credit. I tip my hat to you.
It truly takes a village to raise a child and I thank my village. Every person who has helped big and big (because small doesn't exist here- even if you have held the freezer door open for me in the supermarket while he is slung on my hip so I can get my son gluten free waffles), I am so so grateful.
Wesley is one! I just want to take a second to tell everyone what he is up to these days!
-He is walking very well now, but being selective to when he does.
-He has eight teeth and four coming through his little gums.
-He eats everything we give him except for cauliflower.
-Is obsessed with trucks, balloons, and building blocks.
-He loves Dave and Ava on YouTube and Sesame Street.
-The Little Blue Truck is his favorite book- which was the theme of his birthday cake.
-He loves giving kisses with his mouth wide open.
-His jibberish sounds Chinese and German mixed together.
-He is just such a happy little boy and we are so blessed he is in our lives!
