5 Things The First Year of Motherhood Taught Me

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The first year of life, babies absorb and grow more than they do their entire lives. So do their mamas.

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This is one of the only photos I was in from Branden’s first year of life, and my eyes weren’t even open. It was from his first birthday party (hence the wine in my plastic cup) and I remember feeling so thankful that we got everyone together to celebrate him, but also how freaking exhausted I was. My mother-in-law stayed with us that weekend and watched Branden while Chris and I ran around to get decorations, cake, snacks, alcohol and then I made all the food for dinner for all our friends and family. I wonder looking back how the eff I pulled that party off. I was also a full time student, alone a lot because Chris was active duty military at that time and fully engrossed in the role of being both mom and wife.

I was probably hanging on by a thread. But the things is that I learn more and more each day that motherhood is always a little but of that. We never know what the day will bring us.

5 Things The First Year of Motherhood Taught Me

Since we all know that during the first year of life, babies grow so much and learn more than they do during any other year span in their lives, I thought it would be fun to recall all the things that I learned about myself during that first year.

I learned that I can survive on very little sleep….and actually be productive.

The first year of motherhood, as I mentioned earlier, was a lot of alone time with baby Branden because of Chris’s grueling work and training schedule. We were lucky to live close to post so that some days he could stop home for coffee after morning PT and in the afternoon for lunch…but that was only if I was lucky. Late nights. Early mornings. No nap days. Those were all mine for the taking and really hard on this mama who loves her sleep.

I was still learning to navigate it all, take care of our home, learning how to cook, and then at 6 months old – I added full time student to it all. So to say that I was exhausted most days was a total understatement. But I got through it. I would even say that I was very productive. It’s amazing what a mom can do when she puts her mind to it.

I learned how fast time really goes.

I heard people say to soak it all in because “it” all goes so fast, so many times. But I never really understood it until I became a mom. Before kids, I felt like time could stand still. After having a baby, I was so consume with everything happening on a daily basis (and still am), that time flies. It flies too fast.

I learned how much Target really means to me.

We all know that Target and mom just go hand in hand, but that relationship doesn’t truly blossom until you actually become a mom. Waking up. Pulling into Target and getting your favorite Starbucks beverage and just strolling is wonderful.

I learned that I needed to take better photos…and get into them.

Scrolling through the pictures from Branden’s childhood and the ones from Blake’s first year show a huge difference. I’m not sure if the picture thing comes from working in social media and blogging and learning to look for the best angle and lighting (now), but my photos from his first year needed some work – and I wish I took SO many more!

I learned how difficult mommin’ really is.

There are so many hard parts of motherhood that have been pushed below the surface for so long, leaving so many new moms to be blindsided by how hard some days can be. These things are only now being shed light on (thank God) so that moms have some idea what they’re getting themselves into. But man. That first year. It was hella hard. And you know what else? It doesn’t get much easier.