A Year of Motherhood

Well, It's official! I am now the mother of a great big 1 year old. The tiny, squirmy, bundle that we brought home from the hospital has turned into a toddling, talking, little person with a great big personality and the sweetest smile I have ever seen.

How is this possible? I still don't even feel like a real grown-up yet and now I have a little person that calls me Mama. My heart nearly explodes every time that word comes out of his mouth.

Being that little boy's mama is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. It's humbling, and messy, and beautiful, and exciting, and so many more things. I know my role as a mother will look different as he gets older but for now I have compiled a list of what it means to be a mother of a one year old.

It means...

1. Getting great big (mouth wide open) slobbery kisses
2. Finding Cheerios in your hair, purse, car... and my favorite crushed in 1 million pieces right after you step on them.
3. Reading the same book 500 times a day 
4. Wiping snot with your bare hands
5. Listening to the most annoying children's CD in the car on every fussy ride
6. Applauding every time he performs and amazing trick (i.e. announcing how old he is)
7. Hiding remotes and phones to avoid the ridiculous tantrum that ensues if he is denied them
8. Watching the same episode of Baby Einstein for the 909807783278978th time
9. Family dance parties (we all have some pretty sweet moves)
10. Having to say things like "Noah, please do not eat my hair."
11. Cleaning up mashed vegetables off of my face after he spits them at me
12. Enjoying every second that he sits still in my lap 

I could go on and on. This year of motherhood was made up of so many little moments. Precious, silly, disgusting, fun, exhausting moments. 

A lot of people told me in the first few months of Noah's life to "enjoy every minute of it". At the time "enjoying every minute" of projectile poop, all-night crying fests, and breast-feeding horrors was laughable to me. Honestly I would probably feel the same way if I were doing it all over again right now but looking back it went by a lot faster than I thought it was going to.

The lesson that I feel like God is trying to teach me right now is that our lives are made up of these little moments. The good and the bad. I am learning to appreciate all of it. 

Whether I enjoyed it or not I am thankful for every minute that God has allowed me to spend with that little boy and I don't want to take any of them for granted.

Will I ever tell a new mom to "enjoy every minute of it"? Definitely not but I will say that it only takes a year to learn that you have be intentional about appreciating those minutes because before you know it they are over.