Flashback Friday...April 2006

I thought I'd join back in on this Flashback Friday wave in an effort to pull out some old photos of me and the boys...it's fun to see them a few months or a year ago and see how much they've changed!  A friend of mine was in my office at work looking at old photos of Nathaniel the other day and was saying how funny it was to see him so little.  She said "the face looks like Nate's but I keep thinking, who is that little baby?"

Flashback Fridays are a popular blogging theme.  Heidi does them over at Starts at Eight (she's my personal inspiration in this, and many other things!)  I've seen them here and there's a whole list of them here and here, too.  I used to do a version of them but have since gotten away from it for whatever reason(s).  It's definitely not a new idea, but it's a fun one.  What better excuse to dig through old photos and relive some old memories before I forget them all!

Nathaniel, Easter 2006

 

So I decided to start this week flashing back to this time (April) in 2006.  I was on maternity leave with a brand new baby at home (Nathaniel, of course!) and my life had very recently changed drastically (for the better!!).  There was something to be said about those early days of Motherhood.  I was exhausted, no doubt.  I remember feeling a little bit like I was in a fog for the first few weeks (months?).  But I was on an adrenaline high of some sort, too.  I trudged through my days feeding and burping, changing diapers and rocking to sleep.  Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.  (Although that gives the illusion that I showered with some regularity but let me tell you...that was a novelty all its own!)

Nathaniel, 4 weeks old (even then with his beloved Boo Bankie)

 

I loved not having to go to work for the first time since I had started working at 16.  I stayed up late staring at this new creature that I had created, watching him sleep, making sure he was breathing.  I spent early mornings and middle of the night feedings watching VH-1 videos (it was music!) and would drift off to sleep snuggling the most precious thing I've ever been blessed with!  I cried a lot.  I stressed out a lot.  It was hectic with visitors and chaotic with trying to figure it all out.  But I loved it!

No one could have ever have prepared me then for how tremendously different life would be with a little one in it.  They could have told me all day long that it's hard work and that it has its rewards, but it is nothing compared to how challenging, difficult, and gratifying this job of Mom has turned out to be!