On my 21st birthday, my mom handed me a large stack of papers in a pretty box, all neatly stapled together. She said, “This is something that I have wanted to give you for a long time.” As I started looking at the pages, my mom explained to me that every year on my birthday she would sit down and write a letter to my birth mom… (I was adopted, and I’ll share more on this in a different post). She made a copy of every single letter and kept it; waiting for the right time to give them to me.
Our story began at App State where I was a cheerleader and he played football. When we first met, I thought he was cute but hated his outfit. I never thought twice about meeting him but boy did God have a plan.
Long distance is a familiar term to the Marren family.
Brad and I lived in separate cities for approximately 3 of our 7 married years. Frankly, it was frustrating and painful at times – but surprisingly, there were huge benefits too.
For those families facing geographic separation, today I wanted to share 1.) the surprising perks to a LDR, as well as 2.) tips on how to manage.
Did you know it has been estimated that the average human being has around 50,000 thoughts per day? (That’s insane!)
You may not have realized the scale of that number, but have you ever considered the kinds of thoughts you allow into your mind? How many of the 50,000 are positive? How many are negative?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started and stopped writing this post.
On this attempt, Lilly sits on the couch watching a movie (she’s feeling a little under the weather) and I start jotting down my thoughts laying on the floor next to her. She looks so perfect in that moment, that I kiss her little foot—which has lost all of the extra delicious baby chunk it once contained. It’s long, skinny, and it has Barbie pink toenails. It’s not the foot of a baby; it’s the foot of a little girl.
As I write this, Maddie is officially 38 weeks old—exactly how long she was in utero. “38 weeks in, 38 weeks out.” I’ve been fortunate enough to have an amazing breastfeeding journey with her these past 8.5 months, and while I never envisioned going beyond a year, this weird part of me isn’t ready for it to end in a couple of months.
Is it because she’s my last baby? Is it because it’s actually kind of easy this go-round? Is it because breastfeeding is literally the only thing allowing me to skip the gym AND burn calories? I guess it will remain a mystery… 😉
It can be difficult to have complete peace and not worry while you are pregnant. I found myself constantly worrying about everything relating to my unborn child. I would wonder if she was okay in there. Was she getting all that she needed? Was she moving around enough?, etc. I realized how important it was to fully turn my worry and anxiety over to God and allow myself to completely TRUST Him.
Dads don’t get it done like moms.
You know what I mean, right? As moms, we usually have a lot to juggle. We carry babies in our arms while leaping through the toy filled terrain, dodging feet debilitating metal tractors and plastic baby bottles to answer the phone, fill up a sippy cup or diffuse an attitude bomb of a threenager; all while making sure your roast isn’t lighting up the oven like the 4th of July.
To start, I’m grateful for my friends and their (judgment-free) blog. I am proud of their accomplishments, especially as mothers, professionals, and all-around-badass women. But for those ladies facing internal conflict over the transition from Miss Independent to Baby Momma, my article is for you. To all who have yet to take the leap into motherhood, this is my contribution:
