Motherhood. It’s wonderful and exciting and fulfilling and terrifying and the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Many days, I feel like I’ve failed: when my kids are still in their pjs at noon, when lunch is peanut butter crackers for the third day in a row, when the only energy I can muster is to sit on the couch and watch Sesame Street. But you know what? That’s life. And what feels like a failure to me, my kids are going to remember completely differently: the days Mommy snuggled with us in our pajamas and let us eat in the living room and held us tight. Those small moments are what I remember about my own childhood and the time with my own mother. What I think we forget about in the day of Pinterest-perfection-lives, is that childhood, in itself, is magical…there’s no need for fanfare. My goal is to capture mothers and their children in the every day, and to remind us all that even among the chaos, life is something pretty amazing…
I love how Max’s personality is really starting to shine. His oh so big smile when he sees our dog Noelle is enough to light up the room. His belly laughs are contagious. His rolls are deliciously kissable. I adore how he clings tightly to my hand when I’m nursing him. He’s done this since for a while now and I pray that he never lets go. I hope even when he grows up he holds my hand just as tightly.I always pictured myself as a mother to little girls. Bows, ballet class and dolls seemed so natural. I was shocked when I found out I was having a little boy and then… another! I honestly never pictured myself as a boy mom. I never played sports as a child and my cars, trucks, trains knowledge was non existent. But these boys have taught me so much about myself. They have opened me up to a whole new world of love and light and I can’t picture my life any other way now.
I hope that Grayson and Max are always happy, healthy and ambitious enough to follow their dreams, no matter what they are. I hope that as brothers they are the best of friends and always there for each other. I hope that they always know home is a place where their parents welcome them with open arms and loving hearts, forever and alway. I never want to forget Grayson’s silliness at age three. His case of the giggles gets so intense when he tired that his whole body shakes with laughter. He loses complete and utter control. This can be incredibly frustrating in the moment when we want to get something done but it’s remarkable at the same time. It’s hard to not to smile at how carefree he is right now in life. I can’t help but wonder if we all felt a sliver of that.