On Mother's Day

As I sit in our office, where I've been threatened not to come out until I'm told, I am feeling so overwhelmed with different emotions. I feel so lucky, grateful, and honored for so many different reasons. 

This is my first Mother's Day (with a baby outside of my belly). I've always tried to do something special for my mom on this day, but this year I feel like I couldn't possibly do enough to thank her for everything she has done for me. My mom always told me that I would never truly understand the love she has for me until I have my own children, and I believed her, but I didn't really grasp how much she really loved me and the sacrifices that she has made for me and my sister over the last 28 years. We have had very different experiences during this early stage of motherhood, and I am in a very different situation than she was when she had me, but the amount of love and the number of sacrifices is comparable. 

Becoming a mother has been the absolute hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It has challenged my body, my mentality, my patience, and my relationships, and it has only been 8 months. I know that the challenges will continue and change, especially as my family grows, but every time I see my baby smile or feel his little fingers rub my cheek, I know that it is all worth it. 

I want to thank all of the great mothers in my life today for all of the hard work that you are doing to ensure that your babies have everything they need to be happy and successful in this life. It isn't easy, but it is so worth it. God chose each one of us to mother our children for a reason, and even though we doubt that we are doing a good enough job on many days, I assure you that if you are worried that you aren't good enough, then you most definitely are. Our babies are the reasons we wake each morning to fight through every day of this life, and one day, when they are parents, they will appreciate every bit of that fight. So, keep on, mama! You are doing a great job. 

Happy Mother's Day. 

In Response to the viral "Dad Bod" Article

If you haven't seen the article, here's the link. 

Read Dad Bod Article 

First of all, this article must have been written by a dude who is completely insecure about his not-so-sculpted abs. Secondly, I am not writing this post to in any way cast judgement on any specific body type. If you rock the "dad bod" that is just dandy with me, but I don't feel the need to glorify it. 

Now, to make my point. 

Moms around the world go through each day sporting push up bras, spanks, girdles, and other bodily torture devices in order to camouflage the "damage" caused by physically growing a human being inside of their bodies and giving birth to that beautiful miracle. Never are our stretch marks, our extra 10 lbs, or our dark under eye circles complimented, much less glorified virally on the internet. We fight hard to live up to today's commercial standards of "beauty," yet never quite make the cut. We are up against movie stars who appear on screen merely days after giving birth as if nothing had happened, royals who make their post postpartum debuts only hours later (once their glam squads have had time to work their magic), and magazine covers who use Photoshop to perfect Kourtney Kardashian's waistline post third pregnancy (even though I do love me some Kourtney K). 

The truth is, that most of us moms are just happy with ourselves when our hair air dried straight enough to only have to fix the front, our concealer actually hides our sleepless eye circles, and we find a pair of pants that fit, and a shirt that doesn't have a spit up stain on it. We are happy when we find a swim suit that our body parts don't fall out of so that we can play with our children at the beach, and we love when one of those accidentally healthy eating days happens (bonus if you got a little sleep the night before). We don't walk around boasting about our "mom bods," and there have never been any articles go viral (that I am aware of) about how men just love the postpartum body. We moms earn these bodies, but those "dad bods," which, by the way, belong to many men who aren't dads at all, are just regular old bodies. They aren't earned or even desired. If a woman happens to go for that type, then fine. I, personally, love my husband's muscular build. He works hard for that. It shows how much pride he has for himself, and how he wants to keep his body strong and healthy so that he can be with us for years to come. This "dad bod" trend is just an excuse for laziness. And, in all reality, when reading this article I noticed that the author is really referring to college aged men. They should call this the "frat boy bod" and take away the indication that all dads are lazy, or that you completely lose your vanity once you become a parent. 

There are so many things wrong with the "dad bod" article, so, funny as it may be, it is completely untrue. 

Let's glorify men who work hard, support their families, and love and care for their wives, regardless of belly size. 

Terry would KILL ME if he knew I posted this, but I'm pretty proud of his "Dad Bod!"

What it felt like to sleep last night.

I'm sure you other moms know this feeling all too well, but I like to think that I'm suffering a worse case of lack-of-sleep than you because it makes me feel better about myself and the poor manner in which I'm handling this no sleep situation. 

I haven't slept more than three or four hours consecutively since September 14th, 2014. Yep, the day Price was born. He's not a sleeper, never has been. At 7.5 months old, one would think that we would be rounding the corner of a full night's sleep, but nope. We see no end in sight. I'm not asking for advice about how to get him to sleep, just sympathy. 

As you know, my husband is a fireman who works over night every couple of nights, therefore I'm left alone to do the night duty. On the nights he's home, he is a HUGE help, but I'm still the one who puts Price to sleep. Price likes it that way. I love the snuggles, and I am grateful for that quiet time with him, however, the serious, serious lack of sleep has really been affecting my mood, my attitude, my enthusiasm, and everything about me. 

Well, yesterday my husband gave me the kindest gift; he took ALL of the night duty himself! He slept in the spare bedroom, across from Price's room, left me to our king size bed with a closed door, and my favorite bedtime television show, and didn't wake me until my alarm went off! Today, after one night of decent sleep, I feel like a brand new person. I wore a dress to work, I was nice to my students, and I was productive. It's AMAZING how one single night can change so much. 

Also, my husband has sworn to make this a weekly routine (I'm sure he has his own motives for doing so), but he knows for sure that a happy wife makes for a happy life, and a tired wife is pure torture! 

We should have tried this sooner.