Celebrating Isaac's First Birthday!

My baby boy is one year old!
 
I have officially survived one whole year as a mom of two.
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I feel like I deserve an award, a pat on the back, a new MK purse, a getaway to Cabo, a fancy dinner out, a massage, a fresh set of nails, a plaque, a girl’s night  – anything to commemorate this achievement.

Every mom deserves to be congratulated on her child’s first birthday because this is such a huge milestone. Baby’s first year of life can be the most challenging year in many ways. From the moment your baby enters the world, you deal with nursing or not nursing, postpartum recovery from labor and delivery, a body that has changed dramatically, body image issues, postpartum mental health issues, feeding schedule, diapers with poop explosions, sleepless nights, maternity leave and returning to work, and the list goes on. And it evolves into sleep training, childcare struggles, introducing solids, child proofing, and more. The first year of motherhood is no joke.
 
If you’ve been following my postpartum journey, then you know that this hasn’t been an easy year at all for me. This is a large part of why I haven’t consistently posted on my blog over the past year. I’ve been trying to keep this human alive! And while I have truly enjoyed watching my baby boy grow over this past year, this has also been the hardest year of my life mentally. I dealt with and overcame postpartum depression, but while I was still in the throes of it, I felt like I had experienced my darkest moments in life. Through God’s help and therapy, I’ve healed and created a new lifestyle for myself where I can cope with my emotional instability.

​As I reflect on this past year, it truly is such a happy occasion watching Isaac turn one. His smile and happy, exuberant personality have filled all our lives with so much joy over this past year. He’s taught me more about love and sacrifice than I knew before him. He’s given his sister so much happiness as she now has a built-in playmate and best friend for life. In my immediate family of all girls, void of my dad who passed away years ago, Isaac has become the man of the house when my husband isn’t around. Isaac is a true testament to and symbol of God’s faithfulness.
 
“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.”
- Genesis 21: 1-3
 
As we celebrate one year of Isaac’s life, we celebrate all that God has done to prove himself as faithful over this past year.
 
He sustained me throughout my pregnancy, even while moving across the country months before Isaac was born.
He brought Isaac into the world happy and healthy.
He helped me to navigate the postpartum period and heal.
He gave me the strength to balance raising these two kids with everything else going on in my life.
He allowed Isaac to meet every developmental milestone and to exceed all expectations of him.
He gave my daughter so much love in her heart for her little brother and a desire to enjoy time with him.
He taught me just how strong that I am and that I can overcome anything.
 
God is so, so, so faithful and He will prove this to you if you if you allow him.
Let Isaac’s life be a reminder that God is good and God is faithful.
 
<3 Beryl

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