Baby Anticipation (Or I'm Going to be an Auntie Again Soon!)

In a few short weeks, I’m going to be an auntie again!  My sister and her husband are expecting a little girl and my entire family is beyond excited to welcome her into the world.

Joe and I were out and about on Saturday doing some Christmas shopping and we stopped into Gap Kids to check out the baby section. Joe couldn’t believe how tiny the clothes were – and I could hardly believe Joe had once been small enough to wear baby clothes. (Although truth be told, I don’t think Joe was in the newborn size for long – and by the time he was 8 months old, he had skyrocketed into 18-24 months clothes.) Without giving too much away (my sister is one of the most faithful blog readers I have!), Joe and I had quite a lot of fun doing some baby shopping!

All this baby anticipation always gets me thinking about the first few months after Teacher Man and I had Joe.

Whirlwind. Exhausting. Exhilarating. Heart-melting.

Joe wasn’t more than a few days old in this picture – and we spent many hours sitting in this chair with Earl the pug at our feet.

I remember when my sister would visit and I would be so grateful to have someone who could just hold Joe while I did some laundry or took a shower. Until you have a newborn at home, it’s hard to imagine how you don’t have time for anything except a revolving cycle of diaper changes, feedings and naps. Showers – optional. Even the dog had to be more patient about going outside.

This is Joe with his Auntie Jodi – I remember this particular day, even after all these years. Jodi came to spend the afternoon and Joe spent a good couple of hours napping while she held him the entire time. 

And yet, it all went so fast – as in the proverbial blink-of-an-eye. And now Joe, our little bundle of joy, is nearly 10, just about as tall as I am, and he keeps wondering when we will leave him at home for a while by himself with no babysitter.

I just saw this infographic from Shutterfly over the weekend about the baby’s first year in pictures, and the company (which provides photo keepsakes) was kind enough to let me share it here. In some ways, this so different than even when Joe was born nearly 10 years ago. I wasn’t on Facebook and I didn’t have a smartphone or an iPad to keep me so connected to everyone. I hand-made Joe’s birth announcements instead of ordering an adorable announcement online. And none of my hundreds of photos (okay, probably thousands) from those first few months were stored in the cloud.

This infographic is provided to you by Shutterfly, a leader provider of photo books, cards & stationery, custom baby gifts & more!

Fast forward to 2013. There are so many wonderful options for new parents these days, while they are also trying to navigate social media safely and appropriately. I love the fact that I can create cards or photo books online, as I was never really a scrapbooking kind of girl. I did a little of that when I was younger and apparently had more time, but I much prefer doing digital designs over laying out each scrapbook page by hand.

And I, of course, love social media sites like Facebook and Instagram for keeping in touch with friends and family near and far.

So much fun is ahead. Life will never be the same for my baby sister and her husband – and Joe and I can’t wait to babysit the new little peanut!

If I can share one piece of advice with my sister and brother-in-law, the soon-to-be new parents, it would be that they should be prepared to throw out any “plan” they may have in their head about what life will be like with the new baby. You can plan and plan and plan, but in the end, life with baby is never quite like how you think it will be.

For instance:

I imagined long naps for baby Joe, which would allow me time to get caught up on housework or get a start on cooking dinner. Reality: he slept about 40 minute at a time, which was never enough time to get much of anything done.

I envisioned a toddler who would adventurously try all kinds of foods and I would never have to fight with a picky eater. Reality: I’m still fighting with a picky eater.

I figured my kid would live in jeans as he got older. Reality: He can’t stand the feel of jeans, for some reason, and we haven’t bought him a pair of jeans in years.

These are just three funny examples of how life can be quite different from the organized, very-planned-out vision in my head. Will having a baby turn your world upside down? Definitely!  But I’m not complaining – or at least, not most days. (All parents have their moments, am I right?)

And here’s Joe now, at nearly age 10, goofing with his partner in crime, Earl the pug. 

I can guarantee that it will all be more than you can ever imagine. But it will probably never go according to plan – and that’s completely okay!

If you’re a parent, what’s one piece of advice you would give to a new mom and dad?