Saying that I took the long route to loving motherhood would be an understatement. Matt and I waited 6 years after we were married to have children. We slept in. A lot. We traveled.
A lot more.
We made a list of all the things we wanted to do before we had to share our lives with little people and we did them.
We felt pretty prepared when Kate was born in 2007. We were the last of our friends to start having kids and we had taken notes. Kate’s pregnancy and delivery were not without complications. We were thrilled when she finally arrived (I’ll spare you the 36 hours of labor story) and we were finally a family.
But the beginning of our family story was not an easy one. Kate cried at least 7 hours a day whether I was holding her or not. She was rarely happy and was diagnosed as Failure to Thrive. Nothing about motherhood was very easy.
This was not in the notes!
6 months later I was pregnant. We always knew we wanted siblings close in age. By the time Kate stopped crying as much, I told Matt if we didn’t get pregnant soon, I would never get pregnant again. And that’s how Caroline came to be when Kate was 14 months old.
8 months after Kate was born I was diagnosed with post partum depression, post partum OCD, post partum anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. What could have been the lowest point of motherhood for me, catapulted into the greatest moments. I began treatment and began to heal. It was a long road that unfortunately not everyone finds, but I was happy to get my life back.
I went from barely surviving to thriving in my role as a mother.
I am all about putting my family first and living in the moment. I look for ways to connect with our kids while using shortcuts to manage and organize our home. I like keeping things simple.
In this space I write about our lives – the easy and the hard. Because let’s face it, there will always be hard parts.
I share recipes that are quick and easy and if any of them take more than 30 minutes, I promise they are absolutely worth it.
I share ideas of things to do with kids that are easy, cheap, and fun.
I share products and books that I absolutely love and use. If they’re not helpful to me, I won’t post them.
I share the struggles of marriage and how it’s the hard work that makes all the difference after you’ve had kids.
I share how I try to maintain my own identity and friendships.
I share parenting tips from the classes and workshops that I teach as a certified parent educator.
I share sewing and craft projects that I make.
I hope by reading you’ll find some inspiration from me. Motherhood and parenting aren’t always easy. In fact, they rarely are. Every day brings a new day to begin again.
The joy of motherhood is lurking just around the corner.
xoxo
–k
