My first Vacation

Being a new baby on this earth brings with it lots of "Firsts". This weekend I went on my very first vacation to St. George. Daddy decided to take mommy for her birthday and Mother's Day gift this year. It was well deserved with all the hard work I do...Me and Daddy at the Bear Paw Cafe for my first time, yummy french toast, or so Daddy told me.
My very first time in the swimming pool.
I liked it better out of the water with Mommy holding me.
My very first bike ride in my new bike trailer.The first time I saw a house with all sorts of man made animals. My first time to a yummy Thai Restaurant, Benja. Atleast I think it's yummy by the time it gets to me. We watched some individuals finish the IronMan, maybe someday I will be an IronMan.
Or maybe I'll just take a snoozer.

A Mother's Work

Today is indeed a special day, a day I have longed for, a day I have prayed for, and a day I have patiently awaited. Today for the very first time ON this Mother's Day, I AM A MOTHER. Not mother of a pet duck, not a mother in spirit only, and not a mother of a zygote, no, I am a mother of a 4 month old beautiful, healthy, human baby boy. At times of my prolonged singlehood I often wondered how or when this would happen. And then one day..... this Mother's DAY...... it is really here, I am a mother.

Not only am I a new mother this Mother's Day but I am one of the privileged few that is fortunate enough to dedicate my work fully to being at home and raising my little one.
As I contemplate the work of a mother, I reminisce about the previous work I have done prior to mammahood. I have worked full or part time in some capacity since I was 11 years old. Starting with babysitting, cleaning, then working up to retail, food service, customer service, and eventually a career in banking. After working to graduate college debt free, I worked as a banker for 7 years at Zions Bank and UBS. Even now I still work as a yoga instructor and own a small cookie business. I am grateful for what I have learned and the skills I have developed by working. But now as I look at my 4 month old I realize none of the work I have ever done compares to the work I do as a mother.

From what I can tell, there are some key differences between the work of a banker vs the work of a mother, spare me to share just a few...

The work schedule of a banker requires 40-50 hours a week, the work of a mother requires 168 hours a week (24 hours a day, 7 days a week.)
The work day of a banker ends at 5 or 6pm, the work day of a mother ends well, never.
The compensation of a banker includes a generous annual salary paid predictably biweekly, the compensation of a mother: kisses, smiles, and coos that come spontaneously day or night.
The dress code of a banker: business casual slacks and a pressed shirt, the dress code of a mother: a shirt with no spit up and not too tight pants.
The tasks of a banker: decisioning loans based on credit worthiness, ability to repay, and collateral; the tasks of a mother, well in a word endless (feed the baby, change diapers, bathe the baby, playtime, read, clean, do dishes, do laundry, cook)
The conversations of a banker: discussing plans for the weekend with coworkers, the conversations of mother, moo moo, baah baah, laa laa to baby.
A prized skill of a banker typing 55 wpm, a prized skill of a mother, changing diaper a diaper in under a minute.
The extra overtime work of a banker resulting in bonuses and extra pay, the overtime of a mother sleepless nights to avoid a screaming baby.
The benefits of a banker, 3 weeks paid vacation, health insurance, and retirement plans,

the benefits of a mother...


priceless.
Being a new mother is at times challenging beyond what I experienced as a banker, and beyond what I could have fathomed, but I wouldn't trade any of it, the highs or the lows because it is all part of the experience, the one we call motherhood.

Sacred, revered, motherhood.

This Mother's Day I look at my sweet baby, and I realize with a greater conviction than I have ever felt before in my life that indeed, truly, most definitely,


I am a mother....


and I am blessed.

I am 32 flavors and then some...

Ani DiFranco said it first "I am 32 flavors and then some...". There aren't any words more accurate at describing my present state of being, on the crux of 33 years on this earth, I truly am 32 flavors and then some. On the 3rd day of may 2011 I will have been on this earth 33 years. Since my 30th birthday, 3 years ago, I have gone from just me to a family of 3. Today I have a 3 month old, Micah, and me! Truly, I am blessed.