motherhood is hard.

Around this time last year I was still lying on the hospital gurney, in pain and unsure whether I’d brave the epidural.

I can’t believe it… Bebe will be 1 year old today (at 4:40p.m. pacific standard time, to be exact). We made it, and I’m still sane!

My mom will be arriving this Friday, and staying with us for 7 months. I’m really looking forward to it. Now, this is a woman with whom I have rarely gotten along with since I was little. But she was good with him when she visited earlier this year, she offered to help, and I need the help.

If I’ve learned anything from my first year as a mother, it is an absolute requirement to ask for help. I’m more of a “loner” type, very introverted with an ability to be a temporary extrovert when business calls, but even I couldn’t take the amount of isolation I experienced over the past year. It’s dangerous to stay inside my head for too long, especially when subject to continual and consistent stress on a daily basis!

We’ll be having a small get together this Sunday, with 8-10 friends at a restaurant to celebrate. My mom has bought him a traditional chinese outfit to wear, complete with a hat. I think it will be fun, and bebe will look very cute in ancient garb.