June 9, 2010

7 years ago...

...I became a mom.


7 of the most breathtaking years of my life.


After my very first c-section, I was in horrible pain. Finn was still in the NICU and I was in my hospital room with my mom. I was complaining miserably, nonstop and my nurse was starting to get worried. She had maxed me out on pain meds and there was nothing more she could give me.

"Would you like to see your baby she asked?"

"Yes", I quickly answered.

She came back with Finn and handed me my little bundle.

All the pain I was feeling seemed to subside as I peered into the face of an angel. He was perfect. I was never so happy.

"This is good", my nurse said, breathing a sigh of relief.


Yes, it was good. So very, very good.

My first few days as a mom were filled with complete apprehension and joy.

There was the gagging episode, in which Finn was gagging on mucous from his tum-tum{c-section babies do not have the stomach gunk properly forced out of them}.

I complained to the nurse that Finn was gagging and she handed me a blue suction bulb and said to suction it out of his mouth.

Seriously???

Did she really think I was going to be able to handle this in my condition? I could barely walk.

A few hours later, I turned to look at Finn and he was choking and turning blue. I started frantically screaming to mom, who rushed him to the nurses' station. By then, mom said he was turning black. The nurse on duty quickly went to work on him, and properly suctioned his stomach.

That was so scary. Thankfully it never happened again.

And then, on day 2 or 3, he had jaundice. Mom and I were pretty neurotic about the whole thing. He had to stay in the hospital for 2 days under lights. One day the nurse told us that Finn was wet. Mom and I were both in hysterics, thinking he was hot and sweaty and had a fever from the lights. "No" the nurse said, looking at us like we were crazy{which we were}.

"His diaper is wet", she said.

Mom and I couldn't stop laughing.

We laughed so deliriously hard, in fact, that I had to tell mom "Stop laughing. We are making a spectacle. They are never going to let us take him home."

But they did let us take him home and it was one of the most joyous days of my life.


All I wanted to do was hold my perfect baby and stare at him all day long.


My days were filled with bliss. I was a mom! This was so much fun! I seriously felt like I was playing house all day long. My friends just scratched their heads at me. {Many of my friends, at the time, had 2 or more kids and were understandably stressed out}


Sure, there were days when I felt stressed too...like when Finn would just scream at me when I tried to nurse him. That kid threatened to quit every month. I felt so very, very melodramatic about the whole thing.

But otherwise, Finn was a super easy baby. He rarely fussed unless he wanted some attention. Life was sweet and simple.

And then along came Calvin...and Ollie...and Twain. Life sure is wild and crazy now.

What have I learned after being a mom for 7 years?

I think the most significant thing I have learned after 7 years is the importance of saying "I'm sorry".

I learned that one from my mom.

Whenever she would make mistakes disciplining us, she would say those 2 simple words "I'm sorry".

And so I learned to do the same. Daily I mess up. And daily I need to apologize to my kids if I have the wrong tone of voice or wrong attitude when disciplining.

And my kids are so forgiving. All of their anger and tension melts away. Love covers a multitude of sins.


Finn, you are quite the mixed package.

You are
serious
silly
reserved
wild
creative
organized
sloppy
loving
quiet
loud



You approach life at full speed and give every project your all. And just when I think you are obsessed with one thing, you turn around and are into something completely different.


You like to dabble in everything.
Drawing
Sports
Computers
Learning
Movies
Drums
Chasing
Tree climbing
You name it.




My relationship with Finn is very sweet. I smothered him as a baby and as a result, he was more interested in daddy.

But as more kids came along, I smothered less, and Finn came around more.

Now, he is the first one to hop into bed and kiss my cheek each morning and say he loves me.




Finn I love you.

Happy birthday dearest 7 year old.

27 comments:

  1. Still as twerpy as ever- "My Little Boy!"

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  2. YEAH!!!!! Sweet post - Happy 7th Birthday Finn!!!

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  3. beautiful beautiful, BEAUTIFUL!!! =)

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  4. I can't believe he is already SEVEN! I remember him as a tiny little thing in nursery. Love your little Finny boy! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FINN!

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  5. such a precious post..loved it!

    happy birthday to your finn!

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  6. Such a sweet post. Your Finn is precious. He seems like the perfect oldest child--taking the others under his wing. What you wrote brought back so many feelings from when I first became a mom. Such a wild ride!

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  7. Happy Birthday! This post is beautiful and made me cry cry cry.
    Side Note: You two look like models!

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  8. Awesome! Happy Birthday to your 7-year-old!

    I loved being 7!

    I like your hair, dearie. Gorgeous.

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  9. goodness, Davi, make me cry, why don't you. this sweet post had me all teary!

    the pictures are AMAZING. Finn is such a handsome boy, already with a style of his own. And the ones of you together are just PERFECTION. perfection.

    happy birthday to your wonderful 7-year-old! And happy 7th anniversary of motherhood to you, my dear! :)

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  10. Happy birthday dear Finny Finn Finn! Davi his shirt is so great, I love it! Precious post =)

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  11. you are such a sweet momma. your children are SO blessed to call you mom.


    Proverbs 31: 28 & 29
    "Her children arise and call her blessed;her husband also, and he praises her:"Many women do noble things,but you surpass them all."

    This is something to be PROUD of!!!!!!!

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  12. Happy Birthday Handsome Finn :0) Amazingly Perfectly said :0) i Loved it...

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  13. oh man, i love love love this post. i kept coming to a picture and said to myself, "thats my favorite" and then i would scroll down more and say the same thing over...and over...and over. he is soooo handsome! happy seventh birthday finn!

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  14. why do i always cry when i read your posts? stop that! i just loved this. all of it. the pictures are magical. YOU are stunning. your BOY is ah-dorable. happy 7, finn. & many more!!!

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  15. oh, the unknown of the 1st child! so happy that only happens once!

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  16. Happy Birthday little Finn! Davi, I love this! He looks so grown up! Quite the handsome boy! And you as always are gorgeous dear! Love you!

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  17. Happy Birthday Finn!!! You are one sweet boy with a very special mamma!

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  18. Happy Birthday, Finn!! Love the pics! Esp the last one of you and Finn.

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  19. Love this post! And happy birthday to dearest Finn-- I was sad to be away on his B-Day :( He is so grown up...I can't believe he is 7!

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  20. Your pictures are so precious. These memories will last forever. Today is my son's 38th birthday and I was just reminiscing with him about his birth but I told him "he was worth all the pain". I wish I would have thought to take such beautiful pictures with him. Finn is so cute and I too can't believe he is 7 years old. Happy Birthday Finn!

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  21. Happy Birthday to a very special boy! You captured him perfectly!

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  22. What a wonderful post for your oldest boy! He is such a cutie! Happy Birthday Finn!

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  23. This post was so sweet and so precious it honestly made me tear up <3 The photos you took of your boy are just fantastic and capture him and the both of you so beautifully. Happy Birthday Handsome Finn!

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  24. OMG. What a tear jerker.

    while reading this i thought:

    what a beautiful mama, what amazing pictures, your boys have such awesome names, YES love does cover a multitude of sins, and omg, he's going to break a lot of hearts with those eyes.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  25. love the comment about saying I am sorry...I dont have kids yet but I have journaled out thoughts on what I want to do when I am a mom and on the top is to be humble and say I am sorry...I feel for some reason ppl mix up one of the ten commandments- the respect your parents-and it seems often that parents interpret that as never needing to apologize...well thats just my theory. ;) great photos..also nice meeting you a few weeks back! ;)

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  26. Happy birthday to Finn! Your love for each of your boys shines through. So sweet! I love reading your blog. You could post about what kind of shampoo you use and I'd read it captivated! You have a beautiful way with words. Love it. :)

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