No, we aren't getting ready for anything new. When I say "getting ready," I mean that this blog post is going to be about actually getting ready in the morning (or in the afternoon, haha!). Let me start off by saying that I love being a mom and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world...
However, motherhood has its challenges, and getting ready has to be by far one of the most difficult to adapt to. In the beginning, I was just glad to get a shower and I wasn't striving for anything great in the looks department. Yoga pants and a tank top were my uniform of choice. In fact when I actually did put on clothes or the slightest bit of makeup, people (knowing how young my baby was) would comment on how great I looked. I don't really think I ever looked that great, but people said it for probably two reasons: 1) when you finally put on makeup or an outfit that isn't pajama-ish, a little bit of makeup can make you look 10x better than you did look, so people (surprised that you're looking the tiniest bit of your former self) tend to think (or at least say) that you look better than you really do AND/OR 2) people that know how difficult the first few months can be are so surprised that you don't look like death want to be sweet to you and make you feel good. I'm just sayin', you can't hear it enough when you have a young kid, so everyone tell all the mothers you know that they look great (whether they really do or not doesn't matter). It will make their day!
So some mornings I really do want to earn these compliments and not just receive them out of pity...plus my baby is almost 4 months old now, so I really should be able to get ready and look decent without an issue, right? You'd think....unless you're already a mom and then you know better. Actually, I'm being a bit dramatic...John Mark is a very good baby and he will happily lie in his crib watching his mobile (tacky thing, but he loves it) while I take a shower. This is a pretty peaceful stage of getting ready (even though the whole time, I'm opening the shower door to peek at the monitor that is sitting on the tub making sure he isn't crying). This is an improvement from when he was younger and the crying started way sooner into the process (I call this the "prioritize what you wash" stage of the mommy shower evolution). So, I get out of the shower and he's still being good. I think to myself, "Wow! I may be able to get all the way ready today." I usually start with hair or makeup because, in order to look great, at least one of these has to be done properly. Whichever one I start with first will usually look pretty good, but by the time I start the second step he is getting fussy in the crib. This is why you will see me with great hair or great makeup, but rarely both. Either I have my hair in a ponytail, but I have managed eyeliner and maybe even some tweezed eyebrows OR I have fabulous looking locks, but smudged mascara and no eyeliner. I just can't seem to manage it all at one time. I don't really care as long as hair or makeup looks good. Here he is in phase one of me getting ready:
At this point John Mark is pretty fussy and putting his paci in every few minutes is getting old. No one likes to hear their baby cry, but hearing him fuss is even more annoying than all out crying. Here's why: when they cry, you throw in the towel and go ahead and pick them up, but when they're just fussy, you think it might stop and not last long so you keep going back to the makeup drawer hoping that the pacifier will do it's job and pacify him. However, this is rarely the case (even though every day I lie to myself and say maybe the pacifier is all he really wants. Yeah right). So, at this point when I can't take it anymore, I pick him up and move him to his next spot (see below). I turn on the bouncy seat and its music (which is a whole different set of tunes than his tacky ocean one as pictured above). This seems to lull him into a coma, drooly like stage where he sucks his thumb and sits patiently. I finish my hair or makeup and start the "what to wear process."
I'm not saying all of this to be negative because really when a face that cute wants you to pick him up, who really cares about looking good yourself? It's just that I want people to know that if you see me and I have the same thing on as I did last time you saw me, it means that the outfit was clean and it probably provides me with good access to his food source. Also, if you see me and my hair looks good, no I didn't get a haircut, it just means that hair is what I started with that day. I also just want to remember what this age is like....I know that as he gets older some things will get easier and some things will get harder and that's just all part of it :)
*In the top picture, I actually have pretty decent hair, makeup, and I'm satisfied with my outfit. This rare accomplishment was only possible because I actually dried and washed my hair the afternoon before (which followed the process as listed above) and I pushed him to his limit of crib/bouncy seat time (that's why his face says, "What took you so long to pick me up, mommy?").
I also want to explain one more thing especially to the non-parents out there who must be thinking, "I bet she really enjoys the weekends so she can get ready when Brandon watches the baby." Yes, Brandon is great and once I told him about how frustrating it is to get ready with a baby a few feet away, he makes sure I can get ready on the weekends without John Mark. However, when you hear the baby cry, you just want to run out and help and you find yourself rushing even though you swore you'd take your time today and really indulge in a baby-free getting ready process. Having a baby really does change everything and even though I look forward to weekends when I can get ready alone, its not like you can just shut your mommy brain off so it's more difficult than you'd think. Again, wouldn't change it for the world it's just an adjustment!
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