As Mother’s Day approaches, I can’t believe that I’ve been a mom for 8 years now. Almost to the month. One of the most powerful and surreal moments of my life was when the Doctor handed me my baby boy, our son Griffin. The weight of him on me, his unexpected blonde head of hair, tiny wiggly body and helpless scream is a moment I’ll never ever forget, as I’m sure is the same for most mothers.

The moment he was born was such an intense life changing moment, one I had always wished and prayed for. Yet in that moment I was naive to the way our life would soon change, the way I would change. How my heart would grow to love something more than it ever had before. My day to day would no longer be about me, or Ben and I, but about him, his safety, well being, health and happiness. You feel this new energy that you would give your own life for this tiny precious miracle.

As a new mother you aspire to have it all together, you think it will be easy to be home and be your babies caregiver. What no one tells you is that, it can be hard, real hard. No matter how many books you read or how much a baby person you are, you can never prepare for the life altering job of motherhood. As high as the highs can be, the lows can be pretty low too. Finding that balance in the early stages of being a mom was a struggle for me, in a way it was like my old self was no more, my carefree youth, that I didn’t even know I was saying goodbye to was officially gone.

The trade off for saying goodbye to that part of me, was entering into a new place of enlightenment, suddenly I was so super aware of my unconditional love for this child which in turn made me see my mother in a whole new light. Something I had never truly understood before. The love a mother has for their child is so powerful. I had this new appreciation for everything my mom did for me and my siblings. I realized all the life changes she sacrificed to make sure we were taken care of, going back to nursing school at night so she could have a better job to help provide for us. Not easy with two kids at home, then working nights at the hospital so she could be home during the day. From childhood to adulthood she was there for it all, even the moment of my son’s birth. She was literally there, full circle, to watch me become a mother. Something I can only pray for one day experiencing.

When our second was born she was a surprise. We didn’t find out the gender, so for the birth it was just Ben and I in the delivery room. It was so special to experience the birth of our second just the two of us, not knowing what the gender was, it was a totally different experience and I couldn’t even believe it when the doctor announced “it’s a girl”! I thought for sure it was a second boy. Sharing the news with everyone and her name was the most joyful experience! With the second child you kind of already have an idea of what’s to come and know what to expect. At this point Motherhood is much more me and completely a part of my identity.

8 years enjoying my babies turn into big kids has been such a gift! I loved the baby years so much but now, I have the pleasure of watching them develop into these little individuals, too. They’re discovering so much about themselves and the world. It’s so fun to watch! I feel like now, is where I should drop a big words-of-wisdom-moment. The truth is, as we enter each stage I’m still learning how to be the best mother I can be for my kids. I think that you never know what anyone, who might be trying to become a mother or is a new mother or a mother with older kids is or has been through, we all have our own journey’s. We are all just trying to do our best and enjoy our children, let’s be kind to remember that as we walk our paths.

I asked my Mom her favorite part of motherhood (having 4 kids) up until now and she said that it’s

“watching you all grow and becoming happy productive adults.”

I asked my grandmother her favorite part of motherhood (having 5 kids) and she said it was

“having 4 girls in 3 1/2 years, it was crazy but so much fun.”

I come from a long line of amazing mother’s so ultimately my goal is try to just be half as good as they are. My personal goal as a mother is to help my kids grow to be comfortable and confident in themselves and kind to others. Ok so here it is, the wisdom I have for new mom’s that I discovered as motherhood settles in. You will find yourself again, you were never really gone just lost momentarily. You were so busy loving on your new littles that you took a break on you. Once your kids get a little older, you will find yourself again and you’ll be amazed at all that you’ve done and continue to do for those important people in your life. Now it’s time to take a day to put YOU first.

This Mother’s Day I just want to take a moment to thank my mom and my grandmother for all they’ve done for me. Huge props for every mom out there that juggles everything, and I mean EVERYTHING.

To help make your day special below I included some gift ideas that my friends on Instagram shared with me and that I think would be great to give to a Mom in your life. If Mr. Ben is reading, he can always use ideas as well 😉

Thank you all for stopping by and reading my motherhood journey!

Jordan

On Mother’s Day some of my mom friend’s are wishing for:

• Spa Day
• Salon Day
• Hair Appointments
• Special Brunches
• Sleeping In
• Breakfast in Bed
• Mani/Pedi’s
• Plants/ Day Gardening
• Solo Movie Trip
• A house cleaner for a day
• Facial
• Massage
• Shopping Alone Day

More ideas…

Jewelry For Mom:

Gadgets for Mom:

Clothes/Decor for Mom:

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