A lot changes in a year

I found this post from a few weeks ago that didn't get published. Usually I just delete forgotten drafts, but I kind of like this one, so even those it is a couple weeks old, written on New Brunswick Day, here's a little glimpse into my life.

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Little C. is just over 9 months now. Looking back over the last year, I can't believe how much my life has changed. I'm sitting here at 8:30am on a holiday Monday. He's fallen asleep after getting me up at 5:30am. This time last year, I probably would have still been in bed. (Oh, how I loved a good sleep-in day.) We probably would have had a lazy, carefree day. Maybe we would have checked out the happenings around town for New Brunswick Day, maybe not. We never had to worry about the time, and meals were casual - when we got hungry, we'd eat; if we weren't, we wouldn't.

That seems like an entirely different life. It's hard to even imagine now. I know, I know, people always told me that life after kids was a lot different than life before kids, and I believed them, but I think about the impression he's made on our lives and realize how big it really is.

For such small people, babies certainly know how to take over a house! Between toys, chairs, strollers, books, diaper bags, burp cloth and bib piles, walkers, playpens, blankets, bottles, sippy cups, and so on and so on, they really leave their mark. There isn't a single room in our house that doesn't show signs that a baby lives here.

Our living room is the most obvious, with all the toys, but also our kitchen, with a cupboard full of bottles, sippy cups, and little dishes, and a freezer full of baby food. Go down to the basement, and you'll find outgrown toys, swings, and piles of laundry in various stages of done-ness. Pop into the bathroom and you'll find bath toys and baby shampoo and bubble bath. There's a big old Tonka Truck in the corner of the stairs that he can play with when he's older, baby gates dividing up the house, a disgarded soother peeking out from under the couch, and a teeny tiny hoody hanging from the coat hook by the door.

When I think about it, it makes sense though. He's the focus of our life, so that should show in our house, shouldn't it?

I say good riddance to that old life. I wouldn't trade a single 5am wake up, when he's standing in his crib, peeking over the rail, watching for me to come get him, with a huge smile on his face, for a month of sleep-in mornings. I'll happily replace lazy rainy days with busy afternoons full of play time giggles, messy piles of toys, and naps with my little buddy. I'd rather listen to the Absolutely Mindy show on Kids Place Live in the truck than any of my music, and board books with fuzzy animals in them are way better than some of the books I was reading before he was born.

He's completely taken over every aspect of my life... and has made it so much better. I love that and wouldn't change a single thing.