Lessons Learned.

I have officially been a mommy for 3 years 4 months and 5 days.

I have learned a few tidbits that would have been nice to know BEFORE becoming a mommy--little helpful hints that may could have made my life oh, so much easier--little words of wisdom that would have saved me countless hours of worry. Little life lessons that, had I known before, would have made me a wiser and calmer little mama over these last three years.

So....through the journey of mommy-hood, I thought why not share some of these unexpected experiences.

1. Don't let anyone tell you that you won't need an SUV until you have atleast three kids. I have one 30 pound 3 year old and I feel like a U-haul would be the most appropriate method of transportation to house all of my necessary "gear" we need JUST to go to the grocery store thats not even a mile away. Extra pair of clothes, snacks, toys, carseat, germ-x, more toys, and yes more germ-x. Although when Jeremy takes him out--he manages with nothing but a carseat. {Love you honey.}

2. Your house will never ever be in "perfect order". The sooner you accept that the more sane you will feel. If you stepped into our apartment right now you would think I was like Octomom or something. But this is reality--and it doesn't bother me.

3. How I look when I leave the house is no longer a top priority--in fact, not really a priority at all. Instead, dressing Parker extra cute is a priority. Meanwhile, I have greasy hair, tiny chocolate finger smears on my jeans, and wearing the same outfit I wore the day before.

4. When Parker was a baby, strangers ALWAYS would want to touch him. Strangers WILL touch your baby. Before I had Parker I was always one of those touchy strangers--I just couldn't resist. I didn't realize at the time that my potential stranger germs were giving the moms of the babies I just so happen to get a hold of, a panic attack. And I definitely received payback everyday when Parker was a baby as these strangers would come and let him hold their finger and even sometimes let him pull it into his slobbery teething mouth.

5. Speaking of strangers, as soon as you have a new baby, you will be insulted by strangers. COMPLETE strangers. I remember the first time I took Parker to Walmart, just to get out, I was desperate for a taste of the real world. But I was so worried about taking him out in public so I loaded my purse down with 20 containers of germ-x, germ-x wipes, my mini lysol spray, and covered his carseat up with a blanket as I took him inside and placed him in a buggy. Once inside the store I was approached by a lady and she glanced at Parker, and then glanced back at me and asked me how old he was. {I dont remember how old he was at the time. Apparantly too young for walmart} and she then gave me a mini lecture about how "she can't beleive I brought him to walmart at such a young age, she would have never done that with her kids". My jaw hit the floor and my eyes filled up with tears and I felt like the worst mom ever. Lesson learned that day: Let it go. People have their own opinions.

6. It NEVER mattered if Parker wore a BLUE shirt that said "Thank Heaven for Little Boys" on it and wouldn't have mattered if i wrote "BOY" with a Sharpie on his forehead. Every stranger thought he was a girl. "Awww. She's so pretty, whats her name?" It was the eye lashes he was blessed with.

7. When there is a brand new baby, fresh out of the womb, in the hospital room, bundled up in a cute little fluffy blanket, your PAIN means NOTHING to absolute NOBODY. Except for the nurses that are getting paid to care about your pain. All of the attention they lavished on me while I was pregnant, done. over. nada. Some advice: dont even try to gather sympathy from people. Trust me I tried everything from pouting to dramatically clutching my vajay and the most I ever got out of anybody was "Oh, you'll be alright."

8. As for one who always has and still to this day stares, and could stare at Parker in awe for hours on end--I can confirm that Parenthood is the most amazing blessing.

this is not even HALF of the experiences. I'm sure there will be more added later.

until next time. mwuahs. :)