9 months in, 9 months out.

9 months it took for her to grow in my belly. And now, 9 months out in the real world. A whole year and a half have gone by since I haven’t owned my own body because it has belonged to this beautiful baby girl of mine. 

It’s been 18 months since I found out I was pregnant and I’m not quite sure where the time has gone. I feel like I just saw the two lines appear on my pregnancy test. And now, I have this live doll who is crawling around like a maniac and getting into things!

A little throwback for today! Back when I was 36 weeks pregnant!

A sweet 9 month old Aria just playing in the backyard.

Aria is getting more and more fun daily. This age is clearly one of the fun stages. Her energy is changing and she’s wanting to absorb everything! I love how her mind is a complete sponge right now, and she wants to soak in everything with such glee. She’s slowly starting to point at things and her favorite thing to show me in any room is where the light is, as in where the light fixture is. I then ask her, “where is the light?” in our language, and she smiles with such content and point towards it. IT. IS. ADORABLE. 

Nothing about her daily routine has changed much. Still the same from this last post. Still not a great napper, but sleeps through the night. A huge fan of playing outside, especially on her push buggy. Loves to eat and is wanting to try new things all the time. I’ve really only found one thing she’s not a fan of…apricots. I know. Completely random but she definitely made a face. A cute face but nonetheless a face of disapproval. 

I always talk about Aria but here is a little about me after these eighteen months… My body has changed so much over the last year and a half. My belly swelled, my arms and legs got bigger, my feet and hands blew up to a different size so that I couldn’t even wear my wedding ring the last month of my pregnancy. Certain shoes didn’t fit my swollen feet.  Now, my weight has gone back to the what it was before I had a baby but that doesn’t mean I look the same. Sometimes, I don’t even recognize this body. A few battle scars on my hips. A chest that is only meant to feed. Residual sciatica. Achy back from carrying a nine month old all day long. Legs that are tired from running around all day. Bags under my eyes from exhaustion. And brain that can be very forgetful because I’m thinking about a million things every minute. There are times that I wonder, who am I? There are rough days that I want to fall apart (which has happened) and I have amazing momma friends who pull me through, and let me know that all will be well and its NORMAL! And then the other 95% of the time, my days are absolutely wonderful. I’m truly lucky to call myself a mother. I love being one and wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

These last eighteen months have been very different from the rest of my life. I’ve learned more about myself and who I truly am. I’ve gotten to know my personality even better. I now know who is important in my life because of who has stuck around. Having a child teaches you many things…things you wouldn’t normally know about yourself or the people around you. If there is anything I’m sure of, it’s that I’m a better person today because of the last year and a half, and what all it has brought to my life!

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Bloglovin