This little sweetie… (pictured below) made me a mommy on January 27th. I read parenting books and blogs. I made schedules and followed them to a ‘T.’ I asked my mom, sisters, and in-laws for all of their best parenting advice. Everything was going well into my first few months of motherhood.
Did you know it has been estimated that the average human being has around 50,000 thoughts per day? (That’s insane!)
You may not have realized the scale of that number, but have you ever considered the kinds of thoughts you allow into your mind? How many of the 50,000 are positive? How many are negative?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started and stopped writing this post.
On this attempt, Lilly sits on the couch watching a movie (she’s feeling a little under the weather) and I start jotting down my thoughts laying on the floor next to her. She looks so perfect in that moment, that I kiss her little foot—which has lost all of the extra delicious baby chunk it once contained. It’s long, skinny, and it has Barbie pink toenails. It’s not the foot of a baby; it’s the foot of a little girl.
It can be difficult to have complete peace and not worry while you are pregnant. I found myself constantly worrying about everything relating to my unborn child. I would wonder if she was okay in there. Was she getting all that she needed? Was she moving around enough?, etc. I realized how important it was to fully turn my worry and anxiety over to God and allow myself to completely TRUST Him.
Dads don’t get it done like moms.
You know what I mean, right? As moms, we usually have a lot to juggle. We carry babies in our arms while leaping through the toy filled terrain, dodging feet debilitating metal tractors and plastic baby bottles to answer the phone, fill up a sippy cup or diffuse an attitude bomb of a threenager; all while making sure your roast isn’t lighting up the oven like the 4th of July.
To start, I’m grateful for my friends and their (judgment-free) blog. I am proud of their accomplishments, especially as mothers, professionals, and all-around-badass women. But for those ladies facing internal conflict over the transition from Miss Independent to Baby Momma, my article is for you. To all who have yet to take the leap into motherhood, this is my contribution:
You know the feeling…The one where your heart is going to explode because you love your children so much. There really aren’t any words to fully express how much love and joy you feel for your kids. It’s truly unfathomable. Such great love for our babies also brings about great protection for them too. Enter: MAMA BEAR.
I remember welcoming our first baby girl into the world and all of the excitement we shared with our friends and families. Along with the excitement, it brought a ton of advice on how to be a parent and people wanting to share their personal experiences. The thing we heard the most, even from strangers, was to enjoy your child it because they grow up so fast. Man were they right!