All About Me

Since Harmony has been born, pretty much all of my posts have been about her- pictures, updates, even videos... but what about the mom behind the baby? I know I'm not as interesting, nor as adorable, but you're going to have to deal with a "Rachel Update". How have I been since I've become a mom? Why I'm so glad you asked...

Top 10 list of All Things Rachel

10. Sleep. I have fond memories of it. I'm beginning to get more and more as the weeks go by, but it's purely for necessity, and not for pleasure. I used to love going to bed on Friday nights, knowing that I could sleep in until the afternoon hours and not care one bit. Gone are those days. I now sleep to store up energy for the day, knowing I'll need every minute I can get. I also find that the sleep I do get isn't as sound. I hear Harmony cry in my head, which wakes me up and puts be in alert mode, and when i finally realize that she in fact is still sound asleep, it takes me a half an hour to fall back asleep. It's so completely annoying. Gr.. I really hope this ends soon.

9. Nothing seems to get done around the house. I do 3 loads laundry, only to put those three loads away, and magically, the baskets are filled up again that same day! I honestly don't know how it happens. And I swear to you, a great majority of them are Mike's. He must change his outfit 3 times a day to purely torture me. How can a man go through so much laundry?

8. I am now constantly aware of what I eat. In the first months of Harmony's life, it seemed like EVERYTHING I ate bothered her. She was (and still is) the never ending gas machine. I could not for the life of me figure out what it was that was making her tummy hurt so bad. I tried taking chocolate out of my diet- that didn't work. I tried taking out diary products, and even put her on soy formula for the times she was bottle fed. I took out peanut products, and still no change. I was literally eating chicken and granola. Just in the past month have I been able to introduce all of those things back into my diet and not have it bother her. Don't get me wrong, she still farts, but now she thinks it's funny.... just like her dad.

7. I have a new- found respect for my mom and my mother-in-law since I too have become a mom. I must have called my mom every day with a different question in those first few weeks. I was also calling my mom in law a ton too because she used to be a lactation consultant, and I had a hard time catching on to the whole breast feeding thing. They were both a huge help. My mom got to stay with me for two weeks after Harmony was born, and I cried every day in anticipation of her leaving me. It was awful. I really didn't know how I was going to do it without her. I was SO lucky that on the day she was leaving, I finally was feeling better, and I felt confident enough to take care of Harmony without her. I STILL think that there should be such a thing as maternity leave for grandmas. I totally would have loved for her to stay with me for 6 weeks. I must have told her every day how much I respected her for taking care of TWINS, plus a 2 year old at the same time. What a job! And I also respect my mommy in law, Susan for taking care of Mike.... I actually think my mom had the easier job..... :-)

6. I take every task one day at a time. My good friend, Ashley, recently wrote a blog that talked about how organized she was, and she as motivated me to try to become just that. Oh, and by the way, Ash, I remember like it was yesterday the day Ryan came up to me in the computer lab, wrote your name on my notebook, and said "what do you think of her?". From the look on his face when he talked about you- just even in the way he said your name, I knew that you guys would be married one day.

I digress...

I now make lists everyday of what i want to get done. I give myself three things every day to do. Whether it be laundry, or changing the sheets on my bed, or cleaning out the fridge, I stick to only those tasks so i don't feel overwhelmed about doing EVERYTHING in one day. So far i find it very manageable, and I'm not constantly stressed about housework.

5. I am on a mission to lose all of my baby weight and more, so I am now officially back on weight watchers. I've been doing pretty well (and Mike is actually doing it with me), and I only have 4 more pounds to go until I'm back to my pre-baby weight! But my main goal is to be back at my wedding day weight, so I still have a ways to go....

4. I will admit that I am mourning the "old me" a little bit... i miss going on dates with Mike, or staying up late with friends, or being able to walk aimlessly through target without worrying about Harmony pitching a fit in the middle of the store. And I miss being able to read.... I get hardly any time to myself, and it's been hard. Don't get me wrong, I love who I am becoming, and i cherish every second I have with Harmony, but I've had to give up a part of me, and that's not always easy.

3. I never thought that I would get so excited about little things, like being able to actually blow dry my hair instead of pulling it back wet because Harmony is crying, or sitting and writing this blog without getting up 5 times to put her binkie (or what Mike likes to call "the mute button") back in her mouth.

2. It's amazing what I have learned to do with one hand- such as put my make-up on, or type, or make a sandwich. I'm actually quite talented.

and the number one thing that I have learned or am in the process of learning....

1. PATIENCE! I have realized after many hard nights with Harmony, or arguments with Mike, or crying fits that I may have, that if I just take a deep breath, calm myself, and look at the big picture, life seems to be a little smoother, and Harmony is much happier. If there is any advise that I can give to new, or soon to be new moms is that you can't sweat the small stuff. I remember being so upset one day as I was grocery shopping, and Harmony decided that it would be a good time to just wail her lungs out, and I thought that my life has ended. i was soo upset, and vowed to never take her shopping again- that i would put her to bed at night, and shop at midnight if i had to. But once I calmed myself (and her) down, I realized that it wasn't a huge deal, and since then, I take her with me wherever I go, and 90% of the time, she is an angel. Why get so upset when all she was trying to do is communicate with me.... I just take everything day by day, and I remember to take in every moment, because she will never be this small again.

And before I go, I totally forgot to post a picture of her room when it was all furnished. I meant to do it months ago, but it just kept slipping my mind. I love the way it turned out, and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite room in the whole house!