Lilly Pulitzer Taryn Maxi (wearing a size 4) | Brayden’s outfit (on sale) Beaufort Bonnet Barr Clay Jon Jon
Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all of you moms, aunts, grandmothers, sisters, I could go on and on! I am a firm believer that you don’t have to actually ‘birth’ a child to be a mother figure in a child’s life! After having Brayden (almost a year ago) I realized ‘it takes a village!’
Mother’s Day was always so special to me, but I truly did not understand the sacrifice that my Mom made for me and my 3 siblings until I had Brayden. Mothers are ROCKSTARS in every sense of the word! This job never ends, there are no ‘sick days,’ no ‘mental health day’s (as I like to call them) and you don’t get the love and appreciation you often deserve. Today, however, I want to take a second to tell ALL of you that you are doing a fantastic job, you are amazing and you are a part of something so much greater than yourself when you become a mother! Brayden has truly taught me unconditional love!
This year has been such a learning experience for my husband and I and seriously the best year of my life! I realized how strong I was this year by having a baby, that I was more patient than I knew (being up every two hours for months attached to a pump just so I could provide breastmilk to Brayden for 9 months) and I learned the true meaning of LOVE watching my husband become a Dad! I read the other day that as a mother you get the opportunity to aide God in the biggest miracle in the world birthing a child and it was such a cool way of looking at motherhood! Also, can I just give a HUGE shoutout to both working and stay at home moms! Women have so many roles to juggle between their work and home life and kuddos to you all for finding that balance! My mom was a stay-at-home mom to 4 of us and I remember watching her as a little girl when some people would almost minimize what she did during the day because she didn’t go to a ‘public facility’ to work and it always made me so angry because she NEVER STOPPED working and taking care of all of us! I only have one child and I stay at home and work with him and I can say that staying home also has its challenges because you are first and foremost a caregiver and THEN you have to literally juggle time to get things done for work and creating boundaries with it all is SOOO TOUGH! So whether you stay at home or leave and go to a job to help provide for your family, you are an amazing MOM!
My main take aways from this first year as a mother is GIVE YOURSELF GRACE and there is NO PERFECT FAMILY OR WAY OF PARENTING! I realized very early that I was going to make mistakes and it was OK! I am one of those people who gives 110% in what I do and this was no different when I became a mother! I felt that I had to put up a ‘put together’ front in the beginning when I was PLUM EXHAUSTED and I put pressure on myself to always have the answers. I put even more pressure on my career that I had worked so hard on for years to continue at the same pace as I had pre-baby (how crazy was that thought!) After trying to live this way for months I realized I am HUMAN, I am not perfect and God does not require that of me! I have learned to rest when I am weary and give myself a break! Don’t compare your journey as a mother with someone else’s we are ALL different and have different circumstances in our life!
Being a Mom is the biggest blessing in the world! God allows us to see a little peak of his love for us when we look at our children! Thank you God for allowing me to be a mother! Happy Mother’s Day to you all! Have a wonderful weekend! XOXO!
