When the whole world fits inside of your arms...

We did it! Hudson and I made it through our first week with Dan back to work. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous on Sunday. Mostly, I was nervous that I'd so something dumb and Nikki-ish. (Which pretty much just means I didn't want to have any blonde moments with him. Leaving the dogs outside in the snow is one thing, but a baby?!) Although we've had some adventures, and some moments that will forever remain between just Hudson and Mama, we both made it just fine and have had a lot of fun together along the way.

And in true Nikki fashion (I've always been one to love stories where there's a "lesson involved") here's a few things that have really surprised me and lessons learned so far since Hudson has arrived.

1) Dan and I are a lot stronger than even I gave us credit for. I'm very lucky. Dan and I have an excellent marriage and most importantly an incredible friendship. I've never doubted that, but I was a little trepidatious as to how we would adapt to our new roles as Mom and Dad. I pretty much anticipated we'd have our fair share of arguments the first few weeks and it would be a little rocky, but we'd make it through. And although I can't deny I have had my fair share of "you're not doing it right" moments with Dan, I've been trying very hard to let him do it his way and sometimes realizing, his ways might be good too. (Dan has a superior method of putting on gowns to minimize Hudson's anger as his hands go through the sleeves, and his burping ability is to the level of baby guru). We've really stepped up as a team these past 2 weeks and while I'm not naive to the fact that we will have disagreements and hard times, I'm proud of how well we have tackled this together. I fall more in love with Dan every day and can't believe how lucky I am to have found such an incredible husband and father. (Ok, I'll stop with the shameless bragging about how awesome we are. :)

2) We were ready for this. Yes, I said it. I've doubted it for probably every day of our pregnancy and for years leading up to it, but I honestly believe it. We were ready. So many people told me that "you're never really ready" etc, and I took comfort in that, but now, I can honestly say we were ready. We were ready for Hudson to be in our lives and ready to love a little person more than we ever imagined possible. While I know we probably aren't ready for all of the twists and turns God may throw our way, we are ready for the ride and excited for the adventure. Seeing how incredible it is to be a mom now, I wonder if we could have been ready earlier. No, I don't think so. This truly was God's perfect timing.

3) We can sleep with the house at 75 degrees. For those who know us, our house is a bit like a refrigerator. We like it COLD! Our house is year-round about 65 degrees. Somehow with the arrival of Hudson, our internal temperature gauges have transformed and we suddenly are "normal" people, continually turning up the thermostat to a higher temperature. This isn't just the fact that we're worried about Hudson being cold. Somehow, I'm colder too?! How this has happened is beyond me, but the people that used to sleep in 65 degrees and complete darkness now sleep with lights on everywhere and the temp cranked up. (That probably has to do with some sleep deprivation too :)

4) You have to be quick with boys (to change their diapers that is!) Although it's been about a week since it's happened, Dan and I have had our fair share of showers from the Hud-Man. I thought I was good, but not good enough for Hudson. He's quick on the draw so watch out!

5) I smell like milk. Yep. It's a harsh reality. I walked around for days trying to figure out what that funny smell was. I changed Hudson's clothes many times. Then, I figured out, it's me. The cow. Yes, I feel like a cow. Yes, I've showered numerous times. Yes, I've tried everything I can. Yes, I still smell like milk. Yes, I'm deliriously in love with my son to continue to smell like milk. So please, don't point out the obvious when I'm with you. I know I smell like milk, and if you have any ideas on how to get rid of the smell, I'm happy to listen. But if you don't have any ideas on how to fix it, let's just ignore the elephant in the room.




6) The rest of the world can wait. Several years ago Dan and I took a week vacation to the lake house armed with a Jack Johnson CD Ryan and Zoe had given us. It was our first vacation together and we took an immediate liking to the song "Banana Pancakes." We were out on the boat fishing when the rain started coming down. Me, the hyper one, started getting nervous that we needed to get back to the dock, but the words of the song spoke to me and is now fondly one of "our songs." It is a wonderful reminder to Dan and I to enjoy each other and the moments of our lives and to let the rest of the world wait. This track was one of many I played for Hudson while he was in my tummy. His amazing Mr. Giraffe swing has MP3 player capabilities so I set up my iPhone on it and we were listening to Jack Johnson together (and so I could do some cleaning) for the first time the other day when I was once again reminded of this important lesson. "When the whole world fits inside of your arms, do you really need to pay attention to the alarm?" With that, my cleaning for the day was finished and I enjoyed some extra special time with one of my favorite boys. :)

So there it is, some preliminary mama lessons from my first weeks. I'm sure there are many more to come! Now, off to enjoy a fabulous weekend with my boys :) (I love being able to finally say that!)