little one

There are so many fun things about this stage with Ayla. I guess you can officially call her a toddler and not a baby, although I’m not sure what characteristics qualify to make that transition? She’s definitely “toddling” all over the place, so I guess that makes her a toddler, hehe. She is almost fifteen months old and just gets more fun to be around every day it seems! We are in the middle of some frustrating food battles, which is honestly been the biggest challenge for me so far in raising her. I have probably-too-high-and-somewhat-unrealistic expectations for her when it comes to food and getting her to eat a variety, but these days it seems all she will willingly eat is eggs and toast and fruit. It honestly bugs me that her diet is so non-varied BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE. Any tips, fellow mamas?

But besides the food battles, this stage is an absolute blast and there are so many things I love about my little sweetie girl::

I love the way she opens her mouth wide and says “ooooohhh” over anything new and remotely exciting…or even non-exciting things like turning to a new page of a book or picking up a toy that’s been around forever.
I love how she loves books. The first thing she wants to do when she wakes up from a nap or in the morning is sit and look at a book. She runs to the corner of the crib closest to the small basket of books in her room, points to the chair, and says “boo…” She hasn’t quite gotten the “k” part down of the word book, but it’s close.
I love her sweet chubby cheeks and her deep, dark eyes that are filled with so much life.
I love watching her learn new things…like how to climb the stairs or click her tongue or do “peace out.” (thanks to auntie meg for that last one)
I love how her eyes light up when Ben walks in the room and she immediately looks around for something to “show” him.
I love how she almost always starts dancing and bobbing up and down when music is turned on. She’ll wiggle her little belly in and out if she’s sitting down when she hears a beat, and even the blender or food processor running will often get her trying to dance.
I love how she sits in the stroller on our walks and sing songs to herself as we go along, pointing out the puppies she sees and giving a little wave to passing cars and other people out walking in the neighborhood.
I love how she starts trying to run/toddle as fast as she can when you come stomping at her like you are going to chase her.

What about you:: what are some things you are currently loving about the stage of your child/children?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Hey pretty mama!

Yes, you.

With the messy hair and sweatpants and make up free face.
The baby food stains on your shirt and the breakfast crumbs on your floor.
With the toddler clinging to your legs and the laundry piles in the corner.
The split ends and the unkept nails because you don’t have time to take care of yourself.
With the dreams in your heart and the questions in your soul.

You are lovely.
You are full of purpose.
You are doing an amazing job.

I met a new friend last weekend and in the middle of our conversation, she asked me what I did. Like most times when I get asked this question, I felt myself want to shrivel back in a small measure of almost-like-embarrassment…and I started in to tell her that, “Oh, I’m just a…” And then I caught myself…and changed my words. “I mean, I’m a mom…not JUST a mom.” She was a kind soul and immediately affirmed this sentiment, that being a mom is a high calling and full of the greatest purpose.

I’ve been mulling over this all week now. And I realize that I’ve let our culture and the expectations that it places on women to give me that sense of almost-like-embarrassment when someone asks me what I do and all that I have to say is that I’m a mother. WHAT IS THAT?! That makes me a little ticked off, to be honest here, people.

Where has our world taken us to even ever remotely feel that being a mother isn’t enough? Why do we all fight the feeling that we always need to do more and be more? I mean, I fight that feeling and I’m almost positive that you do too. How did we get to the place where the heart of mothering that GOD HIMSELF has placed within us just isn’t enough for our world? I see woman and friends all around me fighting those expectations, fighting a kind of guilt that their life just isn’t enough. I see our world that has devalued the heart of mothering and taken it outside of our homes and family and made us believe that our true value and contribution to society is out there. How could we come to believe that what we do in the every day as we love and serve and care for our children, homes, and families isn’t of value? That it isn’t enough?

I’m talking to myself here, dears. I mean, I love being a wife and a mother. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do with my life, and here I am, living in the middle of that dream. But yet I feel it. I feel that expectation from the world that I need to “do more” with my life. Like I need to run a business or write a book or start a movement or DO SOMETHING AMAZING.

And my heart breaks that I’ve somehow come to believe that what I do in my home and in the lives of the ones that I love just isn’t enough.

If you are a mom and run a business or work at an office or pull shifts at a hospital or whatever else, that’s amazing and I applaud you! And if you are a mom that stays at home and changes a million diapers and prepares a thousand meals and reads a hundred stories, that is also AMAZING and I applaud you! What you do in those small, mundane, endless moments really do matter…you are creating something amazing right there in your own home, sweet mamas.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:: I am a mother and it is enough.

What about you: do you feel that pull from the world to be more/do more than JUST be a mother?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!