2018 As A New Mom

A brand new Mom! That's me! I'm a mom!! 

Sweet Olivia 

I shouldn't be surprised really. I did nurture our little girl for 9+ months until she sprouted 3 weeks and 2 days ago! 

On this frigid New Year morning, I find myself wanting to reflect, plan, art journal and pick a word for the year as I normally would. It is one of my favorite traditions each year to sit down and spread magazine images, inspiring messages, quotes and clippings I've gathered and begin to create my vision for the next year. I love being SMART and setting specific goals to achieve around the most important things; relationships, career, fitness, self-care and creativity. There is a part of me that is very much longing to sit down and begin this tradition with a cup of tea & sweet jazzy music....

And then...there is this new version of me, this 'mom' version of me, that at 10:30 am just rolled out of bed after nursing our little one who fell asleep in my arms...and that is the only place I wanted to be and the only thing I wanted to do. Cuddle her and watch her cute morning faces and stretching moments! 

So I find myself at this strange place of being a mom and not yet fully feeling like a mom. Yes, I am completely in love with our daughter and fully embracing her sweetness, but at just 3 weeks I haven't yet felt like a 'parent'. I haven't had to make tough 'mom' decisions yet (or at least it hasn't felt that way). It seems there is a transition phase where I can still feel the pre-mom me and in our daughter's long stretches of sleep (at this stage), I have the mental space to roam the pre-mom goals, desires, etc.  for moments...and then I return to our new reality of being parents and all of the amazing experiences we will live through our daughters eyes and explorations. 

On this new year morning, exploring what this new year literally means for us as a new family of 3 humans + dog + cat....I found myself googling what other mother bloggers have posted as their new year goals as a mom. Wondering about all of the things I don't know I should be thinking about for this new adventure. Sometimes googling is a trap, a suction down a rabbit hole....but today it was helpful to read that many of us are similar with our concerns, our dreams and ambitions, our guilt and perfectionism countered by our desire to be the best parent we can be in the present moment with compassion and patience. 

I felt this strange & strong urge to start journaling my thoughts this morning...which brought me back to this blog. It's been years since I've written! But for some crazy reason typing while Olivia sleeps seemed much easier than pulling my journal, magazines and washi tape out. I'm not ready to commit to blogging full time again - but I am excited to explore motherhood, Olivia's first moments in 2018 as there will be many - pretty much everything will be a first for her - and at this moment I'm excited to journal about it in this blog format to share with friends, family and anyone else out there interested in this new mom's perspective.

The themes that continue to resonate with me, especially over the last 3 weeks since Olivia made her debut, and what I want to cultivate in 2018 are:

Onward to a year of embracing motherhood! A year of learning my voice and soothing techniques as a mom and a wife, a corporate career women who is breastfeeding, pumping, dropping our daughter off at daycare (hopefully with minimal tears from both of us), infusing moments of creativity, snapping WAY too many photos of our sweet girl & making time to cultivate friendships, maintain a self-care and maybe get on my bike a few times this year. + some definitely needed yoga and shoulder stretches (from swaying, rocking, cradling, breastfeeding our little one...my shoulders and upper back is in need of some stretchy love!)

Are you in need of some new year inspiration? Here is that rabbit hole I went down that produced some very sweet inspiration for this new mom new year intention setting: 

• New Year New Mom - Love that there is more reading, less TV, more cooking on the list
• New Year New Mom - 3 motivational tips
• Why NOT to Set New Year Goals - Love the idea of Detoxing! 
• New Year, Same Me - Stay the Same Resolutions - Great idea, keep doing what's working!
• Setting Goals for the New Year
• New Year: New Mom Goals
• 20 Realistic New Year Intentions for New Moms
• 10 Things Every Mom Should Do