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The holidays

I honestly cannot remember a time when the holidays were more fun before becoming a mom. From helping Hollings decorate Valentines for her friends, to taking William on his first 4th of July boat ride, making Halloween costumes for the family and going trick or treating, and don’t even get me started on Christmas! Seeing the holidays through their eyes has been more fun than I ever could have imagined.

2. Putting them to bed

And no I don’t mean after they are asleep when I’m alone (although I would be lying if I didn’t say I enjoyed that time too lol). I mean putting them in their pjs, reading them books, saying prayers, singing them lullabies, tucking them in, and giving them one more hug and kiss for the night. During the day, it’s so easy to be distracted by external things. Bedtime almost feels sacred. It’s such a sweet one on one time I get to have with each of my kids separately.

3. Being their safe space

While I don’t ever want my kids to get hurt or feel sad, there’s something so sweet about when there is some sort of bump in the road, they come running to you with arms open. I hope for the rest of my life that my kids think of me as a loving, never judging, safe space. Somewhere they can go and someone they can turn to when life seems unbearable, knowing “hey, at least I can turn to my mom.” My mom used to say to me, “Life will never be so bad that we can’t fix it. Even if it means packing up and moving away, or going on a cruise somewhere far away for a while, or pulling you out of school, or whatever. We will fix it.” I want my kids to have that same security in me.

4. Being pregnant, labor, nursing, late nights, and even diaper changes

Yes, all of the things that we hear horror stories about. I loved them. I will say, I was lucky to have relatively “easy” pregnancies and deliveries, but I truly enjoyed it all. I looked at Jay both times after delivering my kids and said “we are DEFINITELY doing that again.” While nursing was tough for me with Hollings in the beginning, I loved it once I got the hang of it, and with William I was even sad when I finally stopped after 13 months. All of the stuff you think you’re going to dread, you might end up loving like I did!

5. Life is just more fulfilling

My life has never ever had more importance or purpose. Everything that I do now has a reason behind it. There’s just something different about living for your children instead of living for yourself. While my life might not be quite as glamorous as that of others my age, it feels a lot fuller than it did before I had children. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.