Grow | 10 Things I Learned in April

As part of my aim to take the word GROW and see how it fits into my life this year, I'm ending each month with some reflections on things I've learned and different ways I've grown (or not).

Here are the 10 things I learned in April...

1. Sometimes, if you step back, have a little faith and let your kids do the work instead of stepping in and doing it for them, they will amaze you with what they can accomplish on their own.
2. Gold Class is awesome. Relaxing in those armchairs with my feet up was probably the best thing I did for myself during my third trimester. Having food delivered to our seats during the movie was pretty cool too. 
3. Watching a soccer game live is a thousand times more exciting than watching it on TV.
4. Nathan came about 24 hours after my water broke. Caleb came about 12 hours after my water broke. I totally expected my water to break and Baby #3 to come 6 hours after that but that's totally not how it happened. At all. People well tell you that things go faster the second and third time around but people are not always right.
5. Mia and I went out for the first time, two days after coming home from the hospital. We went to church in the morning, then I brought the 3 kids to the mall by myself to pick up a birthday present on the way to a birthday party Caleb was invited to. Fellow moms told me it was "incredible" that I was out and about already but in reality, I knew that if I didn't get out of the house that day, I would have just stayed cooped up inside for the rest of the week.
6. Two weeks later, I would spend an entire morning curled up in a ball on Nathan's bed (the only bed that gets the warm sunlight in the winter), shivering uncontrollably. That was my body's way of telling me to slow down. It turns out you really do need time to let your body recover after giving birth and getting right back into packing and running errands around the city is not part of the recovery plan.
7. I know I should spend more time purging and packing since Mia sleeps so well during the day, but I just want to stare at her beautiful face and play with her tiny fingers!
8. Being a mom of 3 requires a lot of energy.
9. The Café Grande ice cream by Connoisseur is basically everything a breastfeeding mom shouldn't be having, but it tastes so, so good. And it gives you a quick hit of "energy".
10. Ever so often, you'll make friends who really get you. I am lucky enough to have a bunch of those in my life.