Newborn

When you visit Toronto as a tourist, it is a whole different feeling than when you hustle and work in the city as I do. In July, I did what every new mama would think to do, and spent a day in Toronto with our newborn Blake. Can you sense my sarcasm? Ha!

A crazy idea as a new mom, I know or at least, I thought. But I wanted to take advantage of Blake being a newborn, manageable baby and introduce him to colleagues and friends while taking in a city that has become a staple in my daily routine the past 3 years.

Doing a day trip too by myself with our newborn was also a way to get out of the house and feel independent again. Why not take advantage of public transportation and the sunny summer weather and enjoy a day in the city to surround myself with my old habitat and take in sights that would be new for the babe.

As I wade into the waters of this whole motherhood thing, I’m realizing there are so many small details in our everyday that we do so easily and take for granted. Things that as a new mom, you quickly learn to have a new appreciation for.

Drinking coffee – while holding a newborn in your arms. Getting ready quicker than before – with a newborn (impatiently) waiting. Realizing that not forgetting diapers and wipes is as important now as not forgetting your purse/keys when you leave home.

A day trip to Toronto also quickly reminds you to be grateful for these small details.

My recent trip to Toronto restored my faith in humanity.

It reminded me of the kind gestures that can mean so much to someone, including this new mom. The ladies on the train who offered to help me. The man who helped get our stroller off the train. People on the sidewalk who helped to make it easier to navigate a stroller in the city. Complete strangers smiling when they saw me with the baby. Striking up conversations in checkout lines with people I didn’t know, but who were inquisitive and interested in Blake.

The day trip to the city reminded me of so many little things to be grateful for.

How much I love Toronto. How kind the people are. How revisiting places like the CN Towner, Hockey Hall of Fame and St. Lawrence Market to introduce them to your baby can feel like your experiencing them all over again for the first time. How smiling is such a strong form of communication. How good it feels when a complete stranger smiles at you and you know why. The feeling you get as a new mama when you realize that you CAN and in fact DID navigate the ‘big smoke.’

And does it ever feel good to know that even while navigating the new world of motherhood, a day trip to Toronto can make you feel independent again and remind you that you CAN do anything if you set your mind to it.

Thanks for the time Toronto, we’ll be back again soon.

[Top Photo Source]

“A new is baby is like the beginning of all things – wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities.”

– Edna J LaShan

I intentionally decided to step back from the Passionate Voice over the past month and take a break from my own personal #Blog452 goal for 2017 since experiencing the greatest life gift a month ago.

Only a few short hours after sharing my last blog post, on May 27, 2017, one month ago today, we were blessed by welcoming Blake Andrew Arklie into the world.

Taking the time to step back from blogging, use social media with more intention and purpose since then and relish in the arrival of our new baby has been a gift. Getting to know this new, tiny human being while at the same time, adjusting to the new roles of motherhood and parenthood, has been a gratifying and humbling ~~tiring~~ experience.

It has taken me several attempts to write this post as the words didn’t seem to embody all I’ve been thinking and feeling. Every time I began to write this post, I was overcome with emotion, of course positive ones. To try and find words to accurately reflect how life changed a month ago is next to impossible.

And then I realized, after trying to start this post many a time, this post is a reflection of what I am learning (in a short time of course) about motherhood, “Its progress, not perfection.”

You’ll never find the perfect words to sum up something as magical as this so here it goes, my first blog post being wrote, while breastfeeding, balancing a baby and typing with one finger (I feel like I’m in grade 3 computer class all over again learning to type, but again, progress not perfection).

No book, manual or course can prepare you for what I am realizing is the single most unique experience that anyone can go through. Every person is different, every baby is different, therefore making every person’s version of parenthood so unique.

It has been an incredible (and daunting) feeling, knowing I am now not only responsible for myself, but another human being…. and that the values and perspectives I share will ultimately help to shape who he becomes.

I am proud to have been raised into who I am by my parents and my upbringing; proud of the choices I’ve made and the paths I’ve pursued in my personal life, my career and my hobbies… but being Blake’s mom is now the cherry on top.

Watching Andrew take on his new role of being a father has also been the most heart-bursting thing to watch. So many of the cliche things they say about parenthood ring so true now – you never truly feel a love like this until you watch your partner you love, love the baby you created together #HeartExplosion

Learning Blake’s small, subtle cues of what his different cries are for and what he needs; watching him grow each day (seriously can’t believe how much they change so quickly!); experiencing all of his ‘firsts’ with him; taking him out to do the most mundane tasks, only to be admired by men and women of all ages (people really do love babies!); and enjoying long walks with Blake in the stroller, Starbucks coffee in hand while the warm summer sun beats down, are just a few of the small day-to-day experiences I am continually in awe of and thankful for.

Of course there are late nights, long days, cries and poopy diapers – the detailed stuff the books don’t (really) prepare you for, but I’m just thankful that my job and my upbringing on the dairy farm helped prepare me for late nights, early mornings and operating on only a few hours of sleep on any given day. As I keep joking to find the positive, you can sleep when your dead right?! #IWish #StillNeedSleep

Navigating this new phase of life and my new role as mom has been ‘interesting’ on some days but having the best husband and partner to share in this with makes this the greatest adventure we’ve embarked on together. If I thought it was liberating not knowing what was ahead as we prepared for Blake’s impending arrival, not knowing what is in store each day with a newborn baby and learning something new each day as a new mom is even more liberating.

I’ve relinquished full control to a small tiny being and for the first time in my life, it feels amazing to not have expectations because as I shared on instagram last week, when you don’t have expectations, you don’t have disappointments. Another new lesson for this mom.

I was passionate about everything I did in life before Blake arrived (hence why this is called ‘The Passionate Voice’) but now I wake up, yes a little more tired, but with an added sense of purpose. If I wanted to do things before Blake, I only want to do them THAT much bigger and better now. The purpose, passion and perspective I have for life and seeing it through the eyes of our newborn, has added a whole new vigour to which I want to do this thing called ‘life.’

If any time in life, I’m realizing this is the best time to let the dishes pile, the laundry heap and the dust collect, there will be enough time for all of that. For now, I’m trying to soak this all up.

I’m hoping to continue kicking butt with my 2017 goals and it looks like I can check off the biggest one of them all not only for 2017 but in life.. becoming a mom to a healthy baby! I do plan to share more and do more here on The Passionate Voice to make even more of a difference because if I wanted to leave the planet a better place before Blake, I only want that a million times more now.

Here’s to our journey ahead as a family of 3.. its going to be one hell of a beautiful, bumpy ride 🙂