laundry

mamas love to tell their babies the story of how they were born on their birthdays. a year later, although i still very well remember the details of that day (or days, rather), the sentiment is foggy. honestly i don't remember much of our time in the hospital except for what i've written and how uncomfortable hospital beds are for a woman who has just pushed a tiny human out of her body. and i remember the steak dinner we got on our last night.

but, when my daughter turned a year old, and i kept hearing "the time will fly!" and "you'll blink and she'll be moving out!" over and over in my head, there is one single night that makes me the most sentimental.

about two weeks before june was born, i was pretty heavy in nesting mode and had been doing baby laundry all day on a cold january sunday (cold for pensacola anyway). after dinner i carried her hamper net from the laundry, across the creaky wood floors of our home, and parked my pregnant self on the sofa to fold all the laundry.

it should be noted here that i HATE laundry. i avoid in plague-like fashion any household activity that involves putting assorted items away (be it laundry, dishes, packed suitcase items, etc).

but i've never enjoyed folding a single load of laundry more than that one. i distinctly remember the tiny little onesies, socks, and pajamas. newborn socks are an item of wonderment. just trying to fold them lets you know how insanely small an infant's feet are. i remember the crispness of her burp cloths, and the smell of the baby detergent (i would wash all my laundry in baby detergent if i could--it smells like heaven). i remember hoping the cold would stick around for when i went into labor, not only because what laboring woman wouldn't want cold weather, but also because i wanted as many excuses as possible to snuggle our new baby. i remember feeling the relief of finishing the last baby preparations, but the anxious excitement knowing i could go into labor any day. i remember the exact amount of light that filled the space. i had one lamp on to my left, and the kitchen light shone through the doorway. the tv was on in the background and i had piles of neatly folded and stacked baby items all around me. and to this day they've never been as organized as they were then.

and when i was done, i wished there was more! i wanted more laundry to fold! what a crazy pregnant woman i was.

reality had not set in until that night. i don't know why folding laundry was what did it. i had already set up an entire nursery in our guest room. a bassinet lay in our bedroom ready for a baby. i was showered with mounds of baby gifts on two separate occasions. but laundry is what did it.

that was probably the last night that i ever did anything slowly, calmly, in an organized fashion, and without interruption. now, when i actually do fold laundry, my baby pulls it off the coffee table or bed probably 3 times before i actually re-fold it and put it away.

i had plans for a first birthday blog as a cliche "things i've learned" kind of thing, but that's not how it came out. at all. documenting what i've learned doesn't really help much. i've stored away what will help me the next time around, and i move forward, knowing that i'll have much more to learn. after all, i've only made it a year into this gig! learning is part of the process. ideas exist, opinions exist, internet articles exist, but that's all relative...and just a small fraction of the big picture.

what matters most is i have a little girl whom God has granted me 365 (369 now) days with. 368 days and counting of answered prayers. here's to another round!

june marie, on the night i brought her home (also the night we discovered her double crown, which contributes to the unruly hair she has)