40 weeks, 3 days

Wyatt had baked for 40 weeks, 3 days. My Facebook album for my pregnancy with him was appropriately titled“Even mixtures of mommy and daddy, and bake for 9 months.”

I was very thrilled that I carried him full-term and then (though not at the time) for an additional 24 days. I can remember being utterly scared for what was going to happen after he was here, but at the same time excruciatingly anxious to finally meet the little boy that I had hoped for and prayed for even before he was conceived.

I was so lucky to have such an easy pregnancy. It actually FLEW by and before I knew it Ryan and I were loading up the car early one morning never to return as just a couple.

Now, here we are 40 weeks, 3 days after that sweet little boy took his first look at the world on the outside.

I cannot believe that Wyatt has now been here IN my arms for as long as he was IN my belly. That’s absolutely shocking to me because it means that his 1st birthday is just around the corner. Do you read that right? His first birthday is AROUND THE CORNER.

I’ve learned so much and have truly grown up since having a child.

What I have learned…

He loves bubbles.

…Patience. But Sarah, patience is a virtue…Mer, mer, mer. Of course it is. Once Wyatt was born I quickly realized that all his needs came before mine. Obviously, right? I knew that they would and that I wouldn’t have a problem with it. The type of patience I am referring to is the one where you have a baby who is fighting with everything that he has in him to NOT go to sleep for fear of missing the party that his parents are having once he does finally go to sleep. (Little does he know said party consists of showers, reading, laundry, and watching TV.) Wyatt is over 23 lbs. He is a big, strong boy that seriously makes me WORK. I am more successful at rocking him to sleep than his daddy,and I’m not 100% sure why that is but I think that Daddy is secretly pinching his booty so that I will have to rock him. May or may not be true…who knows. Nonetheless, we eventually get that baby to sleep though it’s not without a fight. I have to remind myself on occasion to have patience with Wyatt, to take a few extra deep breathes, to understand that he can’t fully vocalize what he needs or what he wants. I will admit that one thing I pray for every night is more patience than I had the day before. I will admit that sometimes I do lose my patience (not in a crazy lunatic mother who doesn’t deserve to care for her children type of way). But, sometimes I have to step away from a crying baby for 10 seconds to regain composure and then return to him ready to figure it out. I never want to approach Wyatt in a manner where you can sense agitation or annoyance. This works for me and I have zero shame in admitting that. Babies are peculiar little creatures. They can make you laugh until you cry and cry until you laugh.

…Love. I love my husband and likewise he loves me. I don’t dare question that love that he has for me, but I can tell you that love that you have as a parent it a million times different than any love that you have for a spouse. Love for a spouse is no way inferior to that of your child, it’s just totally different and you won’t realize or probably believe it until you actually are a parent. My heart serious hurts when Wyatt does certain things. When he is looking at me, being very serious, and then all of sudden raises his eyebrows and then smiles my heart wants to burst. Burst. When he figures something out, like walking with his push walker and he is so proud of himself and he smiles the entire time I can’t help but love him so much more. I will admit that sometimes I want to squeeze the crap out of him because he is just so special and precious to me and I just can’t get enough of him.

-Responsibility. I pride myself on being very responsible growing up. I was in my teen years, into my late teen years, and into my early 20’s. But now, at 26, I have an entirely different responsibility sitting on my shoulders. I have to properly care for a child, raise him to be a loving man, and see that each day he knows that he is more loved than he can even fathom. That is a huge responsibility. One that you know you will have once you have a baby, but how extreme and important it is is kind of unimaginable. I love this responsibility. It’s a challenge. I like challenges.

Those are probably the biggest…I mean, there are small things like learning how to change mega stinkies with no more than 3 wipes, how to get a gassy baby’s legs working, how to multitask like a pro, and how to keep at least one fingernail a little longer in order to pick boogers.

Pancakes with mommy!

Every day is so precious with Wyatt. He is becoming less and less of a baby and more and more of a little boy by each second that is ticking away. I know that he will always be MY baby, but I know that the past 40 weeks and 3 days flew by before I even knew it was happening. I remember once having a not-so-tiny newborn in my arms at every second, to having a baby rolling over, to having him sit up unassisted, to then crawling, and now cruising around on furniture and trying to walk on his own. It saddens me to see how fast he has grown up, but I am so proud of him for meeting all the milestones that he should be. If the next 40+ weeks go by anything like these then I’ve seriously got to get my A game on and enjoy every moment a hundred times more than I already am.