wow. as of tomorrow, a year will have flown by faster than i ever could have imagined. anna jae will be one year old at 8:20 in the morning tomorrow. she was 6lbs, 13oz. when she was born, and 19.5" long. now she is 22lbs. (we think), and i have no idea how tall because she just went through a big growth spurt. she's crawling everywhere, *this close* to walking, babbling a mile a minute, telling people she's one year old with her finger. she is funny, opinionated, strong-willed, adorable, loving, independent... hmmmm... sounds like someone else i know very well. =)
my birthday was last week. and to be honest, the thing i thought of most was that my birthday marked almost a year of the best and most challenging year of my life. i'm so proud of this year. i'm proud of the job we've both done as parents, and i'm very proud of the job i've done as anna jae's mommy. i breastfed for the year! i keep her on a steady and successful schedule! i've made it through with very few emotional breakdowns (relatively speaking), with my marriage in tact, with my career still going, and most importantly with a smart, happy, healthy, giggly, ridiculously wonderful child. ::patting myself on the back::
every mom should give herself a pat on the back for a job well done. this is, by far, the HARDEST job in the entire world. we sacrifice our sleep, our privacy, our alone time, our whole body if we are breastfeeding, even our mental and physical health. we sacrifice the ability to take a walk by ourselves, holding just a purse and a bottle of water, to go to the store or do window shopping (shout out to my fellow mommies!). we sacrifice our social lives. but you know, we do it knowing not only that we must, but we should, and that we and our children will be better off for it. in the end, we do it willingly and, sometimes, happily.
i'm happier in most ways than i've ever been in my entire life. i'm fulfilled in ways that i could not have been before. it may not be glamorous, it may not be easy. but it's so incredibly worth it.
tomorrow i'll celebrate anna jae's first year of life on this earth. today, i'm going to celebrate my first year of life as a mommy. a good mommy. go me. go mommies everywhere (and that most especially includes my mom).
