Motherhood.

***This was intended to be posted on Mother's Day***

Motherhood.

The one thing I have always dreamed of experiencing and the one thing I never knew could be so challenging.  It's so crazy,in a good way, being a mom.  Crazy meaning no one can prepare you for what you are literally thrown into in .5 seconds.  Once that baby enters the world, BOOM..you're a
mom.  Yes, some say you are a mom beforehand, but the real fun starts after birth.

I never knew the sacrifice or the blessing being a mom is.  I've not had a full nights sleep since Winslow was born, I've only gone to Target by myself twice, and I've mastered the art of stuffing food in my mouth one handed while holding a screaming flailing baby.  I've had to turn down a couple "Wine Nights" with friends, after 7pm I'm home for the night, and I've been pooed and peed on too many times to count. 

 I've also never felt so much love for anything in my entire life.  Yes, I love my husband and I love Jesus with all my heart, but this little boy..it's a completely different kind of love.  I lay in bed at night missing him while he's upstairs snoozing away with his little bum in the air.  I love running up the stairs at 7am and seeing his adorable little grin.  He makes me a much more patient person, I've learned how to say no to things and he's also had to teach me how to communicate better with my husband.  He's taught me to slow down and enjoy the little moments. Like the time he pulls up on the
coffee table and then looks at me and whispers "babababa".  Or when we are swinging on the front porch and he will turn around, look at me, and just smile. Those moments are what motherhood is all about.

My mom deserves a million dollars for raising us. It's HARD.  and I don't thank her enough for what she did for us.  THANK YOU mom for all you have done and still do for us!

Thank you.


Thank you for growing our imagination and new discoveries.


Thank you for enduring our un-thankfulness and lack of gratitude .


Thank you for letting me go to prom with a senior because I was the coolest
freshman ever.


Thank you for seeing to it that we ate dinner as a family.  No TV, no
couch.


Thank you for taking me to get highlights and a makeover when I was in 8th
grade.  I felt like a million bucks.


Thank you for encouraging us to think. To express our ideas and thoughts
even if they were crazy and didn't make sense.


Thank you for making sure that we had lunches at school and little debbie
snacks for dessert.


Thank you for teaching us about Jesus. About his love for us even when our
heart is ugly.


Thank you for forgiving us when we said mean things.  When I used to write
down bad words on paper, wad it up, and throw it at you.


Thank you for locking me out of the house until dark.  Because of that, I
will never forget the importance of nature and sunshine.


Thank you for spanking us when we did wrong.  For teaching us the right
things.


Thank you for letting me pick out my own glasses when I was in fourth
grade. I was terrified I would be the butt of the joke when I walked into
class with "four eyes".

Thank you for encouraging me to chase my dreams.


Thank you for meeting me at school and bringing me Wendy's for lunch.


Thank you for paying WAY too much for gymnastics when I was too scared to
do a back handspring.


Thank you for laying in bed with me while I cried my eyes out because my
boyfriend broke up with me.  I could have sworn my world was ending right
then and there.


Thank you for letting me hang up spice girls posters and kitty cat
figurines all over my room.


Thank you for that surprise sweet 16 birthday party.  I could have sworn
that was the best day of my life.

Thank you for the letters of encouragement when I was at college feeling lonely.


Thank you for letting me go over to friend's houses to spend the night.


Thank you for making my boyfriends come to my house instead of me going to
theirs.  (NEVER thought you'd hear me say that, huh?)


Thank you for not giving in when I said "MOM, EVERYONE IS DOING IT!"


Thank you for not letting me shave my legs until the 8th grade (If only I
knew then how much of a pain in the BUTT it is.)


Thank you for listening to all my excuses.


Thank you for prayers at the dinner table.


Thank you for dragging me out of bed for church on Sunday.


Thank you for being my #1 fan and my supporter in everything I do.


Thank you for your courage.


Thank you for teaching us responsibility when we were running late..you
would leave our butt at home!


Thank you for making us do chores.


Thank you for the hard conversations about puberty and boys.


Thank you for driving me to college and reassuring me it's going to be
okay.


Thank you for getting my butt in gear when I almost flunked out of college
my first semester of college.


Thank you for pulling me aside when Seth flew down to see me that first
time in 2006 and saying "I like him.  He's a great guy."


Thank you for never making fun of me when I talked to you about my
future..my dreams..my crazy ramblings.


Thank you for those first two weeks when I was a new mother.


Thank you for waking up in the middle of the night and listening to me cry
my eyes out when I thought " I can't do this".


Thank you for helping me learn to nurse even if I was anal and cried because
"Winslow only ate for 8 minutes instead of 10!"


Thank you for listening to 5 phone calls a day about Winslow's poop.  "Is
it too runny? Too thick? Too green?  Too brown?"


Thank you for driving 9 hours to come see us numerous times.

Thank you for cleaning my house, cooking for us, and letting Seth and I go
for a date.

Thank you for letting me make hard choices and even harder sacrifices.

I love you, mom!