If you are here, I've contacted you in some way and invited you into an intimate conversation- about motherhood. I have longed for a group of women in my situation-new moms, and those who have a bit more experience- thank God for you- to come together and support one another, learn from one another, and laugh with one another!
What I came to realize is that if I want a community of supportive mothers, I should create it. So, that's why I'm here and why you're here. I created this space as a place for conversation- a place for advice- a place for funny stories, prayer requests, sanity checks, and encouragement.
We don't all have the same aged children, we don't all believe the same things. We come from different backgrounds, different family makeups, and different idealogical belief systems. But, we are moms, mommies, mamas, mothers- we are all embarking on what I believe to be the greatest journey in life; raising another human being. I am not trying to eliminate or minimize the role of a partner/spouse/husband in this journey, but let's face it- the mom takes the brunt of the responsibility for kids, huh?
So, the format is this... I envision asking a question and opening up the comments for us to just answer as we feel led. No judgement, no pressure. I hope that you feel comfortable sharing your experiences, your struggles, your hopes and dreams for your children as well as for yourself. I don't want to travel the road of motherhood alone and let's face it: sometimes ya gotta have girl talk.
Sometimes, the questions will be really deep and serious, and sometimes not. Sometimes, it will be about a common struggle and sometimes about a philosophical take on parenting. I just want to open the lines of communication and see what happens.
This may start out with no comments (and stay that way!- who knows?) or some of us may fade in and out. I hope that this becomes a vibrant place to mend our souls with the balm of shared experience. I hope that you find friendship here.
The nitty gritty...
1. Please post a comment(as long as you'd like)
2. You can be anonymous or leave a name and link to your blog, if you'd like
3. Please be polite (I must say this even though I really don't think I need to)- do not leave mean-spirited, or judgemental comments. I will have to okay all comments before they are published so I'll have some say over what is allowed on. This should also help control spam.
4. Please be honest. None of us are perfect and if you are, please don't tell me that you are... it'll just make me feel bad! :)
5. Please stick around...at least for awhile. Give us a chance to form some community.
First question: Who are you?
I can't wait to talk with all of you.
Sarah
I am 32 (almost 33) and have been married for 5 years. My husband and I met through a mutual friend and dated for 2 years before we got married. We moved from Plymouth MN to Shoreview MN and have been here ever since. In October of 2010, we had a baby girl, Gemma Katherine. She is the greatest baby in the world (no, I'm not biased) and we are overjoyed to have her in our lives. She was born with some feeding issues that have caused some stress from the beginning. Things seem to be easing up a bit, now, thank God. It's been a hard adjustment for us and our two dogs but we continue to see the miracle that Gemma is in our world. I'm a teacher as my "day job" and my husband is in sales and law enforcement. I love to read, sing, and have long talks. I love steak and margaritas. I don't love to clean or organize. Can't wait to hear from all of you!
ReplyDeleteSarah
Hi, my name is Laura. I've been married two and half years, and now I'm a mama of two - I have one in heaven and one in my tummy. I recently had a cerclage to ensure a full-term baby with my second and am now on "light activity" until baby comes. I don't know a whole lot yet about taking care of a kid on this earth, but I am learning a lot about grieving a lost child, taking it easy during pregnancy, and looking for God's love in the middle of all of this. I'm excited to share in this journey of motherhood with you all! :-)
ReplyDeleteLaura
Hi
ReplyDeleteI am Lindsi. I am 32....ah hem, almost 33 years, old and I have four amazing children. Sam is my oldest he is nearly 5, he is my funny and creative guy. He has a growth hormone deficiency and is currently on two medications (one pill and one is a shot daily) to help with this and will remain on these for the rest of his life. Next are my twins, Zach and Maddie just turned 3. Zach is my sensitive, crazy smart and lovable guy. Maddie is my princess and quite a spit-fire. Last is my sweet 6 month old surprise, Jacob. He is the most easy going kid of all of my kids and I look forward to watching him grow. I graduated with a BSN in Nursing from a private Baptist college in MN. I worked as a pediatric critical care nurse for a number of years and eventually became a full time stay-at-home-mom. My husband owns his own business and has been successful even in this sad economy. I run three blogs.
My personal blog about my family is at
http://www.ourlilkingdom.com
My church MOPS blog is at
http://www.westwoodMOPS.com
and finally a humorous blog filled with activities, funny stories, snacks and expert interviews will be live September 5,2011
I would absolutely LOVE if you and your readers would follow our new blog
http://www.toysinthedryer.com
Lindsi
I am Tracy. Born and raised in SoDak, college at St Cloud, moved to Cities in 2002. Met my husband on match.com in 2005, got married in 2007. We have 8-month-old twins (born 12/5/10): Ben and Hannah. My heart is literally bursting out with love most of the time. I have to shake my head and say, "I can't believe this is my life and I have these wonderful babies!" I was put on strict bedrest with them at 24 weeks and they were born at 33 weeks. Hannah spent a short 7 days in the NICU and Ben just 12 days. They came home happy, hungry, and healthy. The little 5-pound babies I delivered have disappeared and come back as 20-lb wiggle worms!
ReplyDeleteI used to work at a school (with Sarah Wolfe), but I ain't going back any time soon! I love it!
Pre-B&H, I liked to read, craft, run, go out to eat and to the movies, shop, cook. Now, I like to fold my laundry and puree vegetables from the farmer's market. :)
Our blog and photo albums are here:
http://web.me.com/riekenbergtwins/Riekenberg_Twins/Welcome.html
So excited for this! Glad to meet you all!
ReplyDeleteI'm Liz. Making the rounds to the dirty 30 this November. Nate and I have been married for 4 years and we live in Champlin with our two girls - Olivia will be 3 in September and Avery was born at the end of March.
I work at Optum Health full-time as a marketing project manager, and while I like the idea of being able to stay home, most times that I do with both kids, I want to cry by the time the day is over. Liv is like me - stubborn and smart. She's wonderful, but tests my patience. Avery is a joy, but is teething right now - cutting 4 teeth at once, so you can only imagine how my days and nights go with that
I love to cook and entertain. I love to read, though I don't have much time. I do love TV - especially reality TV. It is mindless and dumb, and after a busy day, it's the perfect way for me to unwind.
I too have my own blog - According to L: http://www.accordingtol1128.blogspot.com/
And even better - in the interest of helping out the busy moms that we all are - I'm opening an Etsy shop in early September with affordable hair accessories for the busy women we are. Life is hard. Look fabulous anyway.
Hello wonderful mamas, my name is Heather. How do I sum up the past 32 years ( or more specifically the past 4 years) in a few sentences? Sometimes I feel like an old lady and other times I wake up in shock that my 20s have passed me by and this is my wonderful, crazy exhausting life.
ReplyDeleteI am a wife. Dirk and I just celebrated 9 years of marriage in July.
I am a mother of 3. Briana was stillborn at 37 weeks due to a cord accident. She would be 4 in September. Beckham is 2 1/2 and Evalyn turned 1 in June. Our family pictures and stories are at our blog www.dirkandheather.blogspot.com
I am a Christ follower. Imperfect and in need of His grace daily.
I am obsessed with baby products, love reading and have gotten into photography lately. Oh yeah, I am also a part-time drug rep.
Ladies, I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you.
Hello Ladies!
ReplyDeleteThank you for inviting me Sarah! What an honor and blessing to be invited into a "mommy" community.
My name is Bobbi. I recently celebrated (yep, I did celebrate) the fact that I am smack-dab in between 30 & 40. God is good! I am the wife of a wonderful man for almost 15 years, and PROUD mother of a beautiful 11 year old daughter, a 9 year old son, and almost officially mommy to my precious 2 year old daughter. She was a beautiful surprise - we have fostered her since she was 6 months old, I have been mommy in my heart from day 1.
All 3 of my kids absolutely floor me. On a regular basis. What a blessing and priviledge it is to me a mother! Our youngest in particular has taught our family so much about God's never-ending love & PATIENCE (did I mention she's 2? =) Another exciting and scary realization we've come to as a couple and family is that we have LOTS of love to share - and we know that God's not done adding to our family. But I DO know that I am done being pregnant.....so we will see what He has in store! =)
Thanks for journeying with me!
Hello! My name is Elisa and I am 32 yrs old and a mother to 2 children here on earth. My husband, Andrew, and I celebrated our 10 yr anniversary this past January. I have a son, Breyden, who turned 5 yrs old in February and will be starting kindergarten this September... scary!! And I have a daughter, Sydney, who turned 2 yrs old in March. I had two back to back miscarriages in between my two children in 2008, which had to be one of the most difficult things my husband and I have ever been through. I am fortunate to be able to work from home for an Electronic Medical Record company as a Quality Assurance Analyst and this allows me to also be a full-time mom to our two children. I have been doing this for almost 3 yrs now and I would not have it any other way.
ReplyDeleteI have two blogs of my own:
one for our family to share our story:
www.kaedingfamily.blogspot.com
the other for my creative side (taking pictures, editting them in photshop, and making bows) that I have recently discovered with the help of my best friend:
www.hopeandfaithcreative.blogspot.com
I have learned that life does not always give you what you want, but there will always be a lesson to learn from it.
Hi Everyone! I'm Rachel. I will be 30 on my next birthday in January. My husband Graham and I have been married for 3 1/2 years. I am a mama to Schyler (pronounced Shy-ler) who is 10 1/2 months old, and our two dogs Penny and Starr. I also am a first grade teacher, so I have around 24 six and seven year-olds every year.
ReplyDeleteBeing a mom has completely changed my life and I am thankful for so many wonderful moms in my life that I can learn from and with. Excited to get to know all of you.
Oh, I do have another blog but I am terrible at updating it. As I write this I can't even remember the last time I posted an update. But there are a few pictures of the family.
http://schylerjacksonengle.blogspot.com/
Hello Everyone. My name is Brooke and I am a mom to two amazing children. Anna is 4 and Gabriel is 7. I also am married to my college sweetheart. We have been married 9 1/2 years. I work as a toddler teacher in a preschool/daycare. I have been a toddler teacher for 6 years and have learned so much about patience in the development of young children. I have anywhere from 10-14 little ones in my room at one time.
ReplyDeleteI was a mother at the young age of 24 and our lives were shaken with the surprise of a baby so soon in our marriage. Looking back at the circumstances I would not have changed a single event, but my husband and I have had challenges because of the path we were lead on. I am grateful to connect with all of you and hope to gain some insight through the discussions.
I am very new to the blogging world, so please be patient with me!
Hello! I’m Becky and perhaps the eldest lady so far...I’ll be, gulp, 40 in a few days. I met my husband Sonny on match.com (yay, go Match!) in 2/07. We were married in 6/09 and had our first baby, Nolan in 10/10. AND..I found out I’m pregnant with #2!!! This is the first time I’ve written that - no one other than the gals reading this know. :) I’m only 5-1/2 weeks and want to keep it quiet for awhile longer. (I miscarried my first pregnancy at 5 weeks) So yes, I’ll have an 18 month old and a newborn. Advice???!!! Due to my age, baby’s at an increased risk for lots of stuff so prayers are greatly appreciated. On the positive side, my husband and I don’t seem to have an issue with fertility! I got pregnant the first month of trying!!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in northern MN, moved to the cities after college and have been here ever since. I’ve lived and worked all over the northern metro. Currently I live in Hudson, WI and work in White Bear Lake in sales.
This is the first time I’ve blogged and I’m very excited to be a part of this group! I have classmates who are already grandparents, but most friends/family have teenagers and are WAY out of the “baby-stage”. It’ll be great to have some voices going through similar ages.
Looking forward to getting to know all of you mama’s!
Hello everyone!
ReplyDeleteI'm Nedra. I am mother to Ethan, 13; Hannah, 11; and Sarah, 9. My husband, Dana, and I have been married for 15 years. He is a math teacher. I do not work outside the home other than a couple of cleaning jobs for a little extra income. I like to say that God has called me to a ministry of availability. We've been foster parents to 11 different children in the last 2 years. We currently have a 5-year-old boy and 3-year-old girl with us.
Mothering is the single most humbling experience of my life. The only thing I know with any certainty about mothering is that I need Jesus to help me do it. I have been (and continue to be) overjoyed, full of love, and completely smitten with my children. I've also experienced (and at times continue to feel) great frustration, anger, and resentment toward my children. Mothering has made me exhausted, depressed, desperate, broken, saddened, impatient, challenged, humbled, stressed, and irritated. I've also been surrendered, patient, grateful, tender, compassionate, gentle, adoring, joyful, humorous, peaceful, loyal, protective, and even downright giddy.
What an extreme privilege and responsibility it is to be given these lives for a time here on earth to train them up in the way that they should go...may it all bring glory to You God!
I'm extremely excited and humbled to be asked to be a part of this group. Thank you Sarah! I look forward to connecting with other mothers and sharing our hearts with one another.
Hi! My name is Lindsey and I have two sons, 3-year-old Riley and 1-year-old Casey. I have been married for 7 years to an awesome and funny man, Josh. During the summer, I am a stay-at-home mom and absolutely love exploring life with my boys. Come fall I am a kindergarten teacher and I absolutely love that aspect of my life as well (although I wish I were home a few more months out of the year!)
ReplyDeleteThis is my first blog and I can't wait!
hey everyone...i am cassie. i am also typing this on my Kindle ..so I apologize in advance for any imperfections! I met Sarah at Camp when we were both camp counselors. it was a summer of growth and heartbreaks and strong friendships. i didnt talk to sarah for aout 7 years after em was born. i had basically fallen off th face of the earth. thanks to good ol facebook we reconnected and picked up right where we left off. after not seeing eachothr for so long and that night we shared a dressing room..trying on dresses for her upsoming trip to Mexico!t was like no time hd passed no years had come and gone.
ReplyDeleteI am mrried. Chris and I have been married for almost TEN yearstogether for 13!!It is kind of crazy for me to think that. Emily is nine and the love of my life. Chris als has three other kids... so I have bonus kids. Two of them ar married with their own kids... yes I am a 33 year old grandma!!!
I am an art teacher by accident but would not chang this job. I love it.
Motherhood is hard. Stepmotherhood is hard..dang those disney movies for making us the bad guys all the time ;)
Hi everyone! My name is Tara. I'm 31 and feeling young (well some days). I am married to my high school sweetheart. We've just celebrated our 10th anniversary, even though it feels much longer than that (16 yrs since together - yikes). We have two beautiful princesses, Annika 5 and Nakari 4 (yep, 18 1/2 months apart!). Annika starts Kindergarten this fall and Nakari will start her 3rd year of Montessori. We also have a 9 yr old female chihuahua, so my husband is surrounded with adoring women.
ReplyDeleteI work full time for UnitedHealthcare as a PM, but I have the blessing of working full time from my home office. This allows me to cut the commute time out of my day and get just a little more time with my ladies. My husband teaches and coaches at a local University. His biggest passion is his football season, so I'm a Football Coach's Widow half the year.
I grew up in "the-middle-of-nowhere-MN". Moved to the Twin Cities for college and never left. We currently live in the Stillwater/WBL area.
I recently started coaching for a running group geared at moms getting back in shape. www.momsontherun.com It's a blast inspiring other moms to give themselves a little time so they have more to give back to their families.
I'm not the most consistent blogger out there due to all my crazy commitments but I do love doing it when I have time. I look forward to experiencing this adventure with each one of you!~
Hi everyone! My name is Jessica and I went to high school with Sarah and a lot of you ladies at good ol Moundsview High. I am 32. I have a wonderful little boy who is 3.5 named Aidan.
ReplyDeleteProbably the biggest thing that makes my family unique is that we are a military family. My husband Chris is in the Air Force and we have lived all over the country. We have lived in Colorado, Oklahoma, South Carolina and now Washington State.
Being a mom in these circumstances brings with it a whole new set of challenges. I would say more than half the time I am a single mom. I dont live near family to help out and each new place we move I need to make a whole new set of friends, find new pediatricians, preschools, playgrounds, etc. Sounds super fun right?
The funny thing is I would not change my life for anything. I have met the most amazing people and become way more independent than I thought I could be. I dont think I have ever met any stronger than an Airforce wife/mom. I can only hope to be half as amazing as some of the women I have come to know.
I try not to let being a military wife define me. As much as its part of my life it doesnt run my life. I have been consistently working on my own career and recently started my own freelance graphic design business and work as a creative director for a local ad agency.
Above all being a mom is my biggest priority and biggest accomplishment. I look forward to reading your insights on this trip called motherhood!
Jessica, Are you in Spokane? My best friend's husband was stationed there for two years. Great place. Just wondering if that's where you were located!
ReplyDeleteSarah we are actually in Tacoma! McChord AF Base
ReplyDeleteMy name is Julia and I am the mother of two amazing girls here on earth. Maria was born April 2, 2009 and Katherine recently joined us March 10, 2011. I have been a stay a home mom since I found out I was pregnant with Maria.
ReplyDeleteI am a wife to an amazing man, Andy. We will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year in October. We have had quite the journey together, many wonderful time and other times have been trying.
I am hear to share my experience, strength and hope with you all.
Hi Ladies! I'm Emily S.(Sarah's cousin) - I have 3 daughters (ages 10, 8 and 3 1/2). I am a former elementary school teacher who recently returned to teaching in a preschool! I have been married for 15 years and we live in Ohio (our 3rd location in our marriage). I am also involved at our church and in our MOPS (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) program - check out your local MOPS group if you'd like to connect with other moms of preschoolers:)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to getting to know all of you and sharing this roller coaster of a ride called motherhood!
Hi guys... better late than never, right?! I've kept up reading everything on my phone but needed a computer to type all this out. I'm Jen... or most of you probably know me as Jenny since that's pretty much what I went by until college. I'm 32 years old and I've known Sarah (and many of you) since early school days. Let's see... I left MN for college in Philly. Then I moved south to Atlanta for a few years where I met my husband, TR (he's from Winston-Salem, NC). We'll be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary next weekend! His job brought us to Nashville for 4 years and a year ago brought us to Virginia Beach. Hopefully we'll be here for awhile! I've loved all places I've lived but it would be nice to be somewhere long-term.
ReplyDeleteWe have 2 boys... Everett who is just about 2.5 years old and Grant who is 16 days old! We also have 2 dogs... 16 year old McKinley is a siberian husky and lived with TR all over the place and almost 4 year old Piper is a black lab. It's a fun and busy house! I had plans to go back to work part-time as a pension actuarial analyst (number cruncher) after Everett was born but it didn't end up happening with our moves and everything. I love being at home with the boys and I had a lot of trouble balancing work/home life so I think this is best for our family right now. With TR and I both having busy corporate lives with little to no flexibility and no family close by to help out it just wouldn't work. Luckily he likes his job and I don't miss mine.
I've enjoyed being a mom even more than I thought I would. I guess you could say I'm not really a baby person. I don't rush to hold other people's babies, I don't always know what to talk about with little kids and I really don't have a creative bone in my body! I knew I always wanted a family though and I guess I've just been pleasantly surprised with how natural the transition happened to go from career-obsessed to mom. I think it's perfect that I ended up with 2 boys... our family is complete and I wouldn't change it for anything!
Anyway, I tend to ramble on and on so I apologize in advance for my posts! I look forward to this great sharing of our motherhood experiences.
Well hello... sorry I'm a little late to the game!
ReplyDeleteI'm Kelly, 32 years old, grew up in MN and moved to Boulder, Colorado for college... and basically never left. I met my husband here, and we stayed. He works up in Boulder, I work in Denver at Children's Hospital... and we live between the two, in suburbia.
We have two awesome kids... our son, Sam was 4 in May... and our daughter, Elin will be 2 next month! Sam is all boy, busy busy. He is very sweet and currently obsessed with Lightning McQueen (not a new obsession, it's really been about 2 years). Elin is a very sweet little girl, she loves to sing and dance, and demands to wear pink and have a "pony" put in her hair each morning. They both are very strong little personalities and I think one of the best things about being their mommy is to see them just LOVE each other. Of course, they have their moments (usually fighting over toys) but overall, it is evident they are each others' favorite person in the world.
I work as a nurse at Children's Hospital Colorado, in the Cardiac ICU (babies, kids and a few adults with congenital heart defects). It can be a pretty intense place to work. The babies especially are sometimes very sick, and about a half of the heart defects are undiagnosed before birth... so the families have quite a bit of adjustment and coping (and stress). I love caring for the kids, but my favorite parts are caring for the families... Everything from teaching new moms how to breastfeed (you'll all learn I am a big fan of breastfeeding - Boulder is La Leche land!!!) to talking with families about what to expect during their hospital stay(s) to working through difficult times and situations. I absolutely love my job (and it's flexibility)... right now I work 2 12 hour shifts per week. It's a great balance of work and days home with the kids... we love the pool, parks, BSF (Bible Study Fellowship), and playdates.
In my "spare time" (ha ha), I am studying for my family nurse practitioner boards. I completed my masters degree and all the rotations before I had Sam, but just never got around to the certification exam. I love learning and studying, but I am starting to get ready to read "fun books" again. (I love to read). Goal for boards is before the holidays.
Sarah, thanks for putting all this together. I think it's awesome so far. I'll work through the posts slowly (sorry for my delay).
Great to "meet" all you mamas!