Loopy Mama » Navigating the alien world of parenthood, one loopy day at a time

I would like to reflect back on 2011.

But…um…I’m just not that philosophical.

And, I’m too freakin’ tired to pretend to be.

So…I’ll just say,

“Happy New Year!
May good things come your way in 2012, like…um..sleep!”

I remember in my last few weeks of pregnancy, all my friends with kids kept telling me…

“Erin – CHILL OUT!  Relax.  Read books.  Sleep in late, and go to bed early.  Kick your feet up.”

Instead…I spent my last few weeks painting the house, ‘finishing’ renovating the kitchen – which, consequently, is STILL not finished, and in general, keeping myself busy doing anything BUT relaxing.

If I could go back in time and stand before that Erin, I would take her by the shoulders, look her in the eye, then slap her upside the head (gently of course).

Actually…would I?

Because, now my friends with TWO (or more) children are telling me, “Erin, sleep when Rya naps.  When you have two children, you won’t have this luxury….take advantage of it now”

And, so far, I have NOT taken their advice.  Even though I know it would be a smart thing to do (especially on the days she wakes up at 4AM…which lately, has been EVERY DAY!)

Naps just seem so…I don’t know what the right word is…self-indulgent?  That’s not right.

But I feel guilty.

On the days I actually DO decide, “Yes…i’m going to have a nap” – the moment I lay down, I start thinking of all the things I *should* be doing.

Anyone else feel the same way?   And if so, any strategies to ditch the guilt and catch the Zzzz’s?

Because…mama needs ALL the energy she can get to keep up with this zippy child!

I am at a loss for words as to where this year went.

When I first started this blog, I was certain I would be updating it every other night, detailing all the great things we got up to and the milestones Rya was hitting.

That didn’t happen.  But, I DID capture lots of iPhone images!

Now, the idea of going thousands of iPhone photos to pull out my favourites was far too daunting…so I just randomly scooped some…blurry or not! (but hey…life goes by in a blur – so why not the montages too!)

Maybe next year I’ll sit down and make a better montage – right around the time I start working on Rya’s newborn album. haha

Enjoy mom

I recently went over for a photo “play-date” with my friend Lisa of Milk & Honey Photography.

They say a photo is worth a thousand words…so, let’s just start with this…

Words cannot describe how much I love this photo…so I’m not even going to try…seriously.  Every time I start to write, I’m reduced to tears.  She has captured a piece of my family history forever and I am so very grateful.

What you can’t see in this photo is the locket I am wearing that has captured Rya’s attention.  It is my grandma’s locket.  And inside, a photo of a young, handsome man – my grandpa.  My daughter never had the chance to meet her great grandparents, but with the help of photographs, hopefully she’ll feel like she gets to know them a little…and with it, some of her family history.  Because our photographs truly do act as visual reminders of our family’s history.

So many of my own ‘childhood memories’ happen to have photos to go along with them.  Why?  Because my mom and dad were snap happy and had the camera out at all times?  Heck no!  It’s because when we would pull out the family photo albums once a year, the pictures would remind my parents of the stories, and they would tell my sister and me.   And so, those were the ‘memories’ that stuck.

I would leave it at that, but I’m compelled to say this…

As moms, we tend to be the ones toting the cameras around, and forget to (or purposely choose not to) put ourselves in front of the lens.

When we do, we can usually be found saying things like, “I hate getting my photo taken.  I’m totally not photogenic.  Can you photoshop me thinner, taller, shorter, blonder, less grey, less wrinkly….etc etc”

I admit, I am guilty of this too.

But what message am I giving to my daughter?  What message am I giving myself?

So, from now on…I’m going to like being behind AND in front of the lens – how about you?

Because I guarantee you this…Rya is NOT thinking, “does this outfit make me look fat?”

On Mother’s Day, I thought I would share a few things I’ve learned in my very short time as a mama…

* My heart is capable of holding more love than I ever thought humanly possible

* My entire mood can be lifted by the tiniest grin

* Baby teeth are sharp…like, crazy razor sharp!

* I have become one of those mothers that uses spit to clean my baby’s face

* Sleep isn’t as necessary as I once thought it was

* No matter what you do, there’s a book saying you are doing it wrong.  There’s also a book saying you are doing it right.  To hell with the books!

* Watching my baby’s face light up when I walk into the room melts my heart.  Every. single. time.

* If you need to be somewhere at a certain time, without fail, seconds before walking out the door, you’ll have to deal with a blowout.

This Mother’s Day, I hope to have a relaxing, snuggle kind of day (as I haven’t been able to fall back asleep since our 3AM feed) – however, now that Rya has figured out crawling, she’s got places to go and things to see!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the loopy mamas out there!

It’s only 11AM, and I already get a big fat “F” for the day.

It starts off with dragging poor Rya to mommy bootcamp, when all she really wanted to do was nap.

She was a sport though, and humoured me by watching me jump around like a mad woman from her car seat.

She got a bit fussy 15 minutes in – which is when I realized she really needed a diaper change.  Oh. Understatement.

She needed a diaper change AND a new outfit.

Blowout.

Second “F” for mommy – I forgot to pack her another outfit. 

Well…the jumper was multi-coloured, and I figured no one would notice the yellow stain on the side, so we stayed….just 45 more minutes  to go baby – hang in there.

I resume the circuit, placing her back in the car seat on top of the buckles.

Next thing I know, I see my baby launching towards me ‘a la superman…’

Miraculously, she managed to keep her body in perfect flying form, holding her head up looking at me with an expression of, “You are SO getting bad-mommy-of-the-year-award for this!”

SPLAT

Her little belly and chunky monkey legs take the impact – her hands slap down in front of her….her eyes are still fixed on me, “BAD, BAD Mommy”

She let me have it.  And rightly so.

She’s fine.  I’m not. I keep thinking how bad it could have been if she didn’t have her hands out, and smashed her face into the hard gym floor.

F…F….F

(um…now this is the part where you reply with a story how you did something bad once too (or know someone who has)…and I’m not the most rotten mommy in the world).