It is so hard to believe that we had our sweet baby girl more than a year ago. I only have sweet and precious memories from the whole birth experience. I do remember that it was incredibly painful, and by the end I was so exhausted from being in labor for 36 hours straight that I was truly delirious. But I remember the moment she was placed on my chest like it was yesterday. I was all of a sudden completely aware and felt so present and rested. I am sure that was just the adrenaline, and I did crash a few hours later, but it was such an amazing moment.
Now, a little over a year later we have the most energetic, fun, and crazy 1 year old. Just a little update on Amalie's personality. Amalie loves action! She loves running around outside, loves going to the swimming pool, bike rides, being chased, chasing others, you name it. She is extremely social and thrives around people. She will pretty much go to anyone and is so interested in little kids. She loves reading and will pretty much only sit still if there are books involved. She has always been a great eater, but will not eat unless she also has a spoon or fork so that she can "feed" herself, which means food everywhere. If we take something from her she will cry like she just got slapped in the face or something. She will only snuggle a few people, and there are only certain times a day that snuggling is appropriate in her mind. She loves to laugh and giggle and has the sweetest voice I have ever heard. She says Mamma (only when she is mad or sad), Dadda (all the time), and she points at everything and says the Norwegian word for "look". She has always liked the color green, which we noticed when we realized she favored the green toys at home, at her grandparents house, and her great grandparents.
I love everything about this little girl and just love being with her. There really aren't words that will do my feelings about being a mom justice. The past year has been filled with so much pure joy and love. At the same time, I have never been as tired and busy. Well, for the first months I was exhausted because this sweet little girl woke up every 2-3 hours to nurse. Then we had a moment of hope and thought that we had made it through the worst at around 2 or 3 months. But then she went through a sleep regression starting at 5 months and lasting until 8 months old! Thankfully she has been sleeping through the night since then. These days I am tired because life is just so busy!!
I went back to work in August and Amalie started in preschool. Although I really am loving my job right now, our everyday life has been so busy. Basically we get up at 6am, get ready, feed the sweet girl, pack her lunch and leave the house between 7:30-7:45. Keith drops her off normally, then I leave work at the latest 3:45 to pick her up. I pick her up around 4:15, get home around 4:45 or 5pm. We play, eat dinner, she gets a bath, then we read, sing and she goes to bed between 6:30-7pm. Since the project that I am on is in a pretty hectic phase, I normally turn on my computer and work at least another hour or two. Then I go to sleep by 10pm because I am dependent on at least 8 hours of sleep. Then we do it all over again!!!
I know that there are so many people who are busier than us, have more kids, more hectic jobs, etc, but I really am not a fan of such busy days, and such little time with Amalie. Keith and I pretty much do everything we can to have family time during the week and weekends, which means we are less social which is also a bummer.
Despite the feeling that life is just too busy these days, I do feel so thankful for so many things. I definitely have my moments, but there are few days where I am not reminded of all of the beauty in our lives and in the world. We have been blessed with having a relationship with the Lord, which gives us such peace and joy in our hearts. This is not something that should be taken lightly. I cannot imagine living this life without fully being able to experience the beauty and joy. We have been blessed with each other (Keith and I), and such a sweet and precious relationship. We have been blessed to be able to be parents. We live in a place where we can have jobs and take care of our family. We have our health. We have caring and loving people around us. We have families to love us and our sweet girl. We live in such a beautiful place and are able to enjoy the beauty of Gods creation every day.
I pray that no matter what is going on in our lives, we are able to be thankful for and appreciate every moment of each day. I pray that this is what we are able to show Amalie.
Now, a little over a year later we have the most energetic, fun, and crazy 1 year old. Just a little update on Amalie's personality. Amalie loves action! She loves running around outside, loves going to the swimming pool, bike rides, being chased, chasing others, you name it. She is extremely social and thrives around people. She will pretty much go to anyone and is so interested in little kids. She loves reading and will pretty much only sit still if there are books involved. She has always been a great eater, but will not eat unless she also has a spoon or fork so that she can "feed" herself, which means food everywhere. If we take something from her she will cry like she just got slapped in the face or something. She will only snuggle a few people, and there are only certain times a day that snuggling is appropriate in her mind. She loves to laugh and giggle and has the sweetest voice I have ever heard. She says Mamma (only when she is mad or sad), Dadda (all the time), and she points at everything and says the Norwegian word for "look". She has always liked the color green, which we noticed when we realized she favored the green toys at home, at her grandparents house, and her great grandparents.
I love everything about this little girl and just love being with her. There really aren't words that will do my feelings about being a mom justice. The past year has been filled with so much pure joy and love. At the same time, I have never been as tired and busy. Well, for the first months I was exhausted because this sweet little girl woke up every 2-3 hours to nurse. Then we had a moment of hope and thought that we had made it through the worst at around 2 or 3 months. But then she went through a sleep regression starting at 5 months and lasting until 8 months old! Thankfully she has been sleeping through the night since then. These days I am tired because life is just so busy!!
I went back to work in August and Amalie started in preschool. Although I really am loving my job right now, our everyday life has been so busy. Basically we get up at 6am, get ready, feed the sweet girl, pack her lunch and leave the house between 7:30-7:45. Keith drops her off normally, then I leave work at the latest 3:45 to pick her up. I pick her up around 4:15, get home around 4:45 or 5pm. We play, eat dinner, she gets a bath, then we read, sing and she goes to bed between 6:30-7pm. Since the project that I am on is in a pretty hectic phase, I normally turn on my computer and work at least another hour or two. Then I go to sleep by 10pm because I am dependent on at least 8 hours of sleep. Then we do it all over again!!!
I know that there are so many people who are busier than us, have more kids, more hectic jobs, etc, but I really am not a fan of such busy days, and such little time with Amalie. Keith and I pretty much do everything we can to have family time during the week and weekends, which means we are less social which is also a bummer.
Despite the feeling that life is just too busy these days, I do feel so thankful for so many things. I definitely have my moments, but there are few days where I am not reminded of all of the beauty in our lives and in the world. We have been blessed with having a relationship with the Lord, which gives us such peace and joy in our hearts. This is not something that should be taken lightly. I cannot imagine living this life without fully being able to experience the beauty and joy. We have been blessed with each other (Keith and I), and such a sweet and precious relationship. We have been blessed to be able to be parents. We live in a place where we can have jobs and take care of our family. We have our health. We have caring and loving people around us. We have families to love us and our sweet girl. We live in such a beautiful place and are able to enjoy the beauty of Gods creation every day.
I pray that no matter what is going on in our lives, we are able to be thankful for and appreciate every moment of each day. I pray that this is what we are able to show Amalie.
