Liam: Just Mommy and Baby

I was so excited to become a mom. I found out I was pregnant the same day that I was offered a teaching position. I have to say that the pregnancy definitely overshadowed my time of teaching even though the school and students were amazing.

I had a "Your Pregnancy Week by Week" book which I read religiously. I made sure that I read the new week's installment each Wednesday (my weekly anniversary) and tried my hardest not to peek ahead! Each week I'd see how much the baby had grown and what changes were going on in my body. I remember feeling like it was taking forever to start showing! I really didn't pop until about six months - but I wore maternity clothes before then anyways because I was pregnant darnit!

I definitely had the nesting instinct! Even though I was teaching full time, my house was always clean! I also started looking at houses to see if we could afford to move because the one bedroom suite we were in would quickly be too small for the three of us. I remember feeling like we didn't have enough time to get everything done...even though the due date was months away...so the cupboards got a thorough cleaning when I was 4, 6 and 8 months pregnant!

Feeling the baby kick everyday was a perfect assurance of his growth and health. I remember lying in the tub just watching my belly hop all over the place as my circus performer did his somersaults inside. I loved it! Liam was so protected inside me...no worries...no chance for boo boos...I could carry him around all safe and warm.

When Liam came along it felt both natural and unnatural to be a mom. I admit I had to get used to the new lifestyle. It felt weird to be the mom now...I mean the word "mom" had meant my mom for so long! And moms were these older ladies who seemed to have all the answers - I was young and had no idea what I was doing!

See? I just made him cry all the time!

Breastfeeding was wonderful! I relished the chance to be close to Liam. I'd run my hands all over his little body while he quietly nursed - he was so soft and silky. Mmmm...and he smelled like his Lavender body lotion then. I'd often fall asleep propped up in bed while he nursed. We'd stay that way the whole night and when I woke up he'd still be there, usually nursing away on his next feeding.


I worried a lot about everything. I'd often pop into Liam's room while he was sleeping just to make sure he was still breathing. I panicked the first time he slept through the night because I thought something had gone wrong. Silly me.



There have been days when I didn't think I could handle being a mother anymore. Many of those days have been in the past few months as Liam gains more independence and "spunk". I remember watching a movie in our prenatal class which talked about how there would be days when you'd just want to hand the baby over to the father as soon as he walked in from work and then you'd want to say, "Here, you take the baby. I'm taking the night off!" When I watched that movie I thought to myself, "Oh, that will never happen to us!" HAH!

A few weeks ago, after a particularly hard day, I told Nialle that I'd had it and that I'd do the grocery shopping and errand running by myself that Saturday and I'd take my time doing it too! Nialle could stay home and babysit for once. So I marched off that Saturday morning determined to have some ME time. Well, wouldn't you know that I rushed through the groceries and decided the errands could wait until the next week because I missed Liam and wanted to get home to him.


Being a new sister of two much younger brothers was also quite the experience. I hang out with my mom quite a bit and most people confuse the twins as being my kids.

The Three Musketeers

I love you, Liam! Promise me you'll never get married or move away and that you'll always be my little boy!

Kiss Kiss, Smooch Smooch and a Squeeze on your bum!