Thoughts on Motherhood

Now that I have been a mother for almost one year I wanted to reflect a little and share what I have learned and loved about being a mom. First, very quickly I realized that being a mother is very hard. It tests you at your weakest moments. I want to be honest, my first few months with Everly were very hard. To me, she seemed a little fussier than I would expect was normal. It is still tough for me to say this now, but sometimes, I feel guilty because I don’t feel like I enjoyed those first few months enough. I am pretty sure I had some form of PPD that I probably should have seen someone about. Luckily, I have the most amazing husband and family. Just as quickly as I realized how hard being a mother was, I also realized how important having an amazing family is. All you single mother’s out there are angels. I knew you were tough already, but now I can truly respect you. My husband stepped up when I couldn’t. My family always offered to help in any way that they could. I truly know the meaning of the saying, “It takes a village to raise a baby.”

Before I had Everly, I had made the commitment to breastfeed. I had set a goal for 6 months, and I accomplished that goal. It was hard in the beginning but we made it. I think that I will make it longer if I have another child, but with Everly and me, 6 months was right.

We have had a very busy year. As new parents, we made a very conscious effort to expose her to as much as possible. She has been to the zoo several times, the desert botanical gardens, numerous soccer games (including a U.S. Women’s game!), a MLB game, the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, and the Musical Instrument Museum. She has been on an airplane, and been to the beach and even visited the snow (a big deal for us Arizonans). She went to swim classes for about 6 months and after that had lots of pool days. Seeing Everly enjoy new things has been one of my most favorite parts of being a mom. Everly loves new environments and places. She loves going on walks and wagon rides.

It may have been tough in the beginning but she really is a very happy little girl. I can remember my first real “proud” mom feeling very clearly. Everly rolled from her back to her belly while on our ottoman in the living room. I remember seeing her trying to do it and then being successful and I yelled to my husband that she did it because I was so proud. I relived those proud feelings again just last week when she took her first steps and I look forward to so many more proud mom moments. Currently, I am so in love with how sweet Everly is. I just love it when she rests her head on my shoulder or gives me little hugs and kisses. It NEVER gets old. It is super cute to see her hug her little stuffed animals, too. I cannot wait to see how sweet she is with her new little cousin!

Speaking of new littles, we have no plans of adding any to our family any time soon. I am working very hard on getting healthy and we are really enjoying giving Everly all of our attention. We are not ready to share that with anyone else…yet. I am so thankful and feel so blessed to be Everly's mom.