A new chapter

I’ve taken a huge step. I’ve made the plunge. I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and am taking a risk.

I am taking my blog to the next level and have purchased my domain.

www.talesfrommummyland.com

If you are one my regular followers you will not notice a change. Your subscription to my blog has carried over to my new site. You will still be able to see my older posts and will continue to receive my new posts.

If you are a new visitor to this blog please come check out my new site and all of the exciting things going on over there.

I am following my passion and am determined to take the pain of Mr. T’s health issues and turn it into something positive. I want to share my experiences dealing with hospitals, NICU’s and surgeons, along with all the other every day parts of motherhood. Most importantly I want to give others the opportunity to let go of their pain. I want other parents who have faced health struggles with their children to share their stories. As the words poured out my soul healed. I hope to help others heal themselves as well.

We are walking this crazy journey called parenthood together. Why try to walk it alone if you don’t have to?

Please visit my new site:

http://www.talesfrommummyland.com

If you have a story to share please contact me and I would be happy to share your experiences.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Celebrating my best friend

10 years ago this year I met my husband. 10 years seems like a lifetime ago when I say it but living it has flown by in the blink of an eye. 10 years filled with road trips, movie nights and dancing in the kitchen. It’s been years filled with laughter as well as tears. Today I celebrate 6 years of marriage. We got married, not on a beautiful beach as we had planned, but under a gazebo protecting us from the rain that passed over right before I walked down the aisle. It was a sign of how our life was going to be. Things don’t always work out exactly as we plan but they always work out, sometimes for the better.

Today, in celebration of  6 years of marriage I let you in on 6 reasons I keep him around 😉

1) He loves to cook: Ok so I know in today’s day many men cook. This isn’t 1950. But he LOVES to cook. He will actually offer to cook more often than not.To watch the him at the stove, his face reflecting the joy of what he’s doing a mix of passion and concentration is a sight to be seen. Cooking is his art. He loves to create and I’m happy to sit back and let him take the reins. More importantly he’s a wonderful cook. He’s concerned with the nutrition of our family yet never fails to put out these wonderful meals.

2) He’s an excellent foot rubber: When I say an excellent foot rubber I mean the best of the best. We spend many an evening sitting on opposite ends of the couch, watching movies, reading,  writing or just chatting and you are sure to find my feet in his lap on the receiving end of a nice little massage. I love it. Obviously. For so many reasons. Not only because it feels ridiculously wonderful, but also because it makes me feel safe, and loved and attached to him alone. There is something so personal about having your feet rubbed and no one does it better! Sorry you’ll never know because he’s my foot rubber not to be shared!

3) He is a man’s man: I am aware that I may sound very old-fashioned in this one and I actually do consider myself somewhat of a feminist. There are, however, times when I want the rugged toughness that is my husband. He doesn’t take longer than me to get ready in the morning. He insists on shoveling the driveway. He will take care of bugs.  When someone broke into our garage he didn’t think twice about racing out of the house to check it out (although in hindsight that probably wasn’t the safest reaction). He stands up to the bullying soccer Dad. He will back me up when needed and isn’t afraid of conflict. I am completely capable of taking care of all of these things on my own and have done so for years and years. I may not NEED him to do those things but it is nice to have someone who is not only willing  but wants to take on these responsibilities. He’s still man enough to know that I am better at fixing the furnace and proudly stands watch while I do. I appreciate and love the fact that he wants to take care of me and our family.

4) He takes me to the ballet: Ballet, musicals, Twilight…he has no qualms about enjoying the arts with me (ok ok Twilight may not be considered an art but he did watch one of them in the theatre with me and that begs a shout out!). Not long after we first started dating he bought me tickets to The National Ballet’s performance of Cinderella. I don’t think it was his cup of tea but he took me nonetheless and was open-minded enough to enjoy it. On the way home he commented on how he had a whole new appreciation for the ballet after learning what it was all about. He has sat holding my hand through plays and musicals, watching me out of the corner of his eye, smiling when a performance brings me to tears. He loves it because I do. He appreciates the artistic talent involved, the passion, the beauty. There’s nothing better than a boxer who enjoys the ballet.

5) He is a wonderful father: Watching Mr. C with our kids opens my heart to him in a way that I never thought possible. He is kind and he is patient. He is firm yet he is gentle. He has never shied away from any parenting duty. He has changed the dirtiest of diapers and has caught vomit in his hands. He has rocked a feverish baby all night long and has tickled backs during movie night. When I hear him giggling with the kids during one of their many wrestling matches my heart swells. You can read some more about their playtime here: http://wp.me/p1oMIA-33

There are aspects of parenting that he’s just better at than me. I sit back sometimes and watch him in awe of the impact he is having as a father on my children. I know, in my heart, that I couldn’t have dreamed up a better daddy for my kids.

6) He is my best friend: Sounds corny right? He is literally my best friend. We have fun together. We laugh until we can’t breathe. We joke. We play. Sometimes we are like two kids. I would not want anything other. I can not be with someone who doesn’t have a sense of humour or who takes life too seriously. I want someone who can giggle with me about anything and everything, who can dance in the kitchen and laugh at themselves and I have found that. Road trips, parties or quiet evenings in playing scrabble we have the best time together regardless of what we are doing. We share secrets and he comes first (well ok maybe that’s a tie between two little people in our lives) We are learning about life together. We have endured some very painful moments together and I don’t think I would have gotten through them without him. Life isn’t always a bed of roses. The key to how successful you are is how you handle those tough times. The easy times are well easy. WE have met our share of adversity and we get through it together. I would not want to face life with anyone else. He was made for me.

I can’t possibly sum up why I am so thankful to have Mr. C. in my life in 6 short comments, but these 6 are just some of the things about him and us and our life together that I love. These are 6 things I am celebrating today, 6 years after I promised him my life. We are tied together he and I. Our hearts are tied together by joy and by pain. We have learned to hold each other up when the other needs someone to lean on. We have learned to back each other up and always have each other’s back. We have learned how to be a team. I know, in my heart, that as long as we keep working together like a team it’s going to be us against the world and no one can stop us.

Happy Anniversary my Mr. C. We have a lifetime of memories to create and lessons to learn together and I look forward to each and every moment shared with you.

 

Ending the cycle of judgment

One of the aspects of parenting that I have struggled with the most is the judgments. Sitting in a room full of people who you know think you should be doing something different with your child is not an easy thing to do. Everyone has their opinions and their beliefs when it comes to taking care of babies and raising children. I know I was warned, that other parents face the same harsh criticism and that I alone have been guilty of passing judgment however that didn’t make it any easier for me to swallow.

There has never been anything as important to me or where I have taken more pride than motherhood yet at the same time I felt insecure especially with my first. At times I feel unsure of myself and facing the judgment of others has always made me anxious.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about why we judge others. Especially as mothers. Why as mothers, do we ever allow ourselves to cause another mother to question herself in such a way when we know how horribly isolating that can make you feel? Don’t we realize how dangerous it is to judge? How quickly that could be you? You never know what the future holds for you or your children be careful of your judgments because it could come back to bite you.

I’ve come to the realization that most of our scrutiny stems from our own feelings of inadequacy. If you are a parent you know that crippling feeling that you are messing up, that you aren’t being the parent you should be. We have all been there. Agonizing over your choice to formula feed rather than breastfeed could have caused inner turmoil. Maybe you raised your voice at your child because he was dilly dallying when you were already late for work or perhaps you rushed through bedtime stories because you just needed some time by yourself. You aren’t alone. We all do things that cause us to feel shame, guilt and like we are failing, even when some of those decisions are right for your family. These feelings wage a war in our hearts, in our souls and when we can’t own our uncertainties we lose the battle and the war spills outward. Our judgment of other mothers become our weapons to defend ourselves, to ease our own tensions.

Once you stop beating yourself up over your decisions it’s much easier to be accepting of other’s differences. I’ve recently been referring often to the conference I attended, Blissdom Canada, where I heard a lot about kindness. Judging someone else for walking their own path is not being kind and it will not ease my mind over the mistakes that I make myself. I have made a promise to myself that I will be as kind as I can possibly be. I will not allow anyone else’s actions impact mine. I will strive every day to be the best person that I can be.

Since becoming a parent I have become much more accepting. We are all walking our own path. What works for me may not work for you and that’s ok. I may even vehemently disagree with you on something yet I still can recognize that does not make me a better parent. I make my decisions based on what is best for my children, what is best for my family. I assume you do the same thing. We are all just trying our best to be the best parent we can be and owning our shortcomings and mistakes actually make us better parents in the end. This is a daunting task we are facing and it is much easier to succeed if we have support. Don’t make that job tougher for someone by kicking them when they are already down. Let’s make a promise to ourselves to try every day to be a kind and supportive person and I bet our journey through motherhood will become even sweeter than it already is.

Evening baths to morning showers

I stood there staring at my face in the mirror wondering what just happened here. A moment ago I stood in the shower preparing for a day at work. Without any notice at all I found myself standing on the other side of the shower curtain while my little man happily took my place under the warm flow of the water. As I listened to him behind the curtain, chatting to himself, singing, my heart swelled with both pain and pride. Is that possible? To feel such an overwhelming feeling of sadness right along side a beaming sense of pride?

He peeked out the side of the curtain and smiled at me, scrubber in hand. I smiled back, my bottom lip quivering slightly. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to wrap his little wet body into my arms and beg him to stay small. Just for a little bit. I wanted to plead with him to still need me.

As I overcame the shock, I continued to dry my hair and realized that this is in fact a good thing. My little man is becoming independent just as I want him to be. My heart may want him to need me forever and ever but my head wants him to be confident in his abilities on his own. This is how it begins. Every step into independence he’s taken so far has made me unbelievably proud, but every time my heartstrings are pulled along with the pride.

It feels like it was just yesterday that I sat beside his little incubator vowing to fight with him every step of the way. Yet somehow I blinked my eyes and he’s gone from bedtime baths with his batman to morning showers on his own. His determination makes me so very proud. This is how I know he’s going to be successful. He is never going to rely on someone else for anything and my job now is to encourage him to become more and more self reliant.

While every day I shed a tear for the baby that I’m losing, my heart also grows in pride watching him become a wonderful little boy.

I’m keeping the promise I made him just days into our journey together, I will continue to fight with him every step of the way. It’s just that now I need to start doing that from the sidelines.

Every single day he takes a tiny step away from me but then, in a moment of tenderness, he will lay his head on my shoulder during bed time stories and remind me that he will always be my little man. For the rest of our lives he will always be my little man.

 

 

My post Blissdom Bliss

I’m sitting here 2 days post-bliss with thoughts, ideas and inspiration running through my mind at warp speed. I’m exhausted. Suffering from a blissdom hangover. Both physically and mentally wiped. I have lists of notes that I want to pour over ignoring the outside world focusing only on this creative fire that’s burning within me. Unfortunately my family will not go for me locking myself away for any long periods of time and as wonderful as my experience was I missed them like crazy, so I’m trying to bask in my kids kisses for now.

I don’t think I could begin to tell you what the best part was for me. The info sessions were beyond anything I ever expected. I was a little iffy going in because I wondered just how much I could actually learn in such a short time. Can I just say that I think what I learned is life changing?

I walked in apprehensive and feeling like maybe I was in over my head. I walked out feeling confident that my dream is absolutely something tangible for me.

More importantly I was inspired. The speakers made me feel things I hadn’t felt in a while. They made me feel passion for what I do. They pushed me to take a risk and recognize that I am capable. While listening to them speak I wondered if I am always being the best person that I can be and I don’t think that I am.

There were moments in each talk that sat with me for many reasons.

One of the biggest eye openers for me was during the talk about social media etiquette and kindness. I realized there are many ways to bully people. They aren’t all obvious and I think without even realizing it I have allowed myself to be bullied. One of my big takeaways is that “Only those who are hurting hurt people”.  I have spent so much time and energy fighting meanness with anger. Let me make it clear that I will no longer do that. I’m putting down the tug of war rope.  I will try my best to fight negativity with kindness. If Glen Canning can do it then I sure as hell can. His story made me weep and opened up my heart. Those who don’t think much of me will longer be my inner voice. Not everyone has to like me or like what I do. What matters is that I’m happy with who I am and what I do.

It’s difficult to pinpoint one singular moment that impacted me in a life altering way because there were just so damned many of them. However, I will single one moment out right now. A line in @schmutzie’s power talk.

 “It is not a failure to be in the middle of your story”

The path I took has led me down many roads. Some were unexpected, some dead ends forcing me to turn around, some were long winding uphill treks, but they have all landed me right here where I am today. I have many more roads to take, many more forks to come to. Those who have made my journey more difficult by trying to dim my star know who they are just as those who have helped light my way do. I’m incredibly grateful for both because they each play their role in my travels and in giving me the motivation to continue on my path.

 I’m simply in the middle of my story and only I have the power to write the end.

How my path to Blissdom began with my children

I’m full of a nervous anticipation. I’ve been on a journey and thanks to my two beautiful children I’ve ended up right here. Anxiously awaiting my first Blissdom conference.

A couple of years ago my love of writing was reawakened. Shortly after Ms. J was born I realized that I was not over what happened with Mr. T. I hadn’t let go of my guilt, my anger or my fear that we would face another health scare. I did not own my feelings when it came to our experience and instead felt like I didn’t have the right to feel the way I did because it could have been worse. I knew deep down that I had to do something or else I was going to get lost in this abyss of post traumatic stress. Out of my agony a blog was born.

My blog was my own personal therapy:
http://wp.me/s1oMIA-11
http://wp.me/p1oMIA-y

It was magical. All of a sudden the pain that I carried around began to loosen its grip on my heart. The memories remained and will always be a part of who I am, but I was able to move on. Writing about it saved me. It made me a better mother and a better wife. I stopped living every moment in fear. I realized that I would never be the woman I was before my children came into my life and that was ok. I don’t know if I had forgotten about my love of writing or if life had just swept it under the rug but it was back baby and I felt great! Writing was the only thing that had the power to calm my racing mind.

It was last year that I first heard of Blissdom and to be honest it never occurred to me this might be an event that I could and should attend. I didn’t place myself on the same level as the bloggers who were attending. Who I am to go to a blogging conference? I had convinced myself that I wasn’t really a blogger/writer and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

My own feelings of inadequacy have often held me back. I’m not a risk taker and I fear rejection. I’ve always done what I thought was the “right” thing, choosing the path that I thought would make others happy but I didn’t really take the time to determine what it was that I wanted. It just never occurred to me that I could make something with my words.

I started to see the Bliss buzz again this year and I allowed myself to entertain the idea of going. My blog actually has readers, and it’s more than just my mum! I’ve had mothers of babies with health issues reach out to me and thank me for putting to words their pain. That means I’m touching someone out there. That is more than I ever expected when I started this venture. My goal was to let go of my hurt which I did but along the way I seemed to have helped others deal with their own pains.

I began to analyze my reasons for not attending Blissdom and I realized that it all boiled down to one thing: fear. Once I realized that fear was holding me back I knew this was something I had to do.

My biggest wish for my children is that they follow their passion. That they end up doing something with their lives that they love and that brings them happiness. I don’t want them to avoid any path because they are afraid. How am I ever going to teach them this if I am too scared to walk my own bliss?

Last night my 5 year old exclaimed “I’m the best artist!” as he finished his masterpiece. When did I lose that confidence? It feels much better to trust myself rather than rely on others to determine my own worth. So I’m trusting myself. I know deep inside that Blissdom is a wonderful opportunity for me and I am beyond excited to be a part of it! My children have inspired me to take a step out of my comfort zone. I hope that by taking my own risks I can teach my children to push their doubts aside and follow their desires. If they always listen to their heart and give it their all I know they will be successful.

“You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So…get on your way!” Dr. Seuss

An unseen beauty in the ordinary

There are times in our lives when something that seems so very ordinary contains an unseen beauty. A beauty that may not be seen by the naked eye but that beats in someone’s heart, that is felt deep within a mother’s soul.

Recently I had such a moment. From the outside it may have seemed like nothing special but if you looked closely you would have noticed the twinkle in my eye, you would have felt the pride emanating from my heart and known the smile that spread across my face was expressing an unknown delight.

It wasn’t a huge event. We were sitting at story time during our family birthday trip to Great Wolf Lodge. The wonderful animated story-teller was engaging all the kids sitting on the floor in front of her and asked everyone to scream out their names. She counted down 1…2…3 and pointed to the kids. A loud, enthusiastic burst of names echoed through the lodge. You could barely make out syllables through the deafening noise of these wired children. I clearly heard Mr. T. scream out his name, because he was sitting right beside me or so I thought. The story-teller congratulated all the little ones on a job well done and said “I heard a ‘aaaahhhhrrrrrrr’ from one side of the room and a great big ‘Mr T!!!’ from the other side of the room.” All the parents in the room giggled and looked at Mr. T. smiling and agreeing with each other. A mother sitting right near him patted him on the back while she confirmed “it’s true all I heard was a thundering MRRRR TTTTTTT”. Mr. T looked at me with a shy smile, slightly embarrassed for being singled out but just that little bit proud as well. His eyes searched mine wondering “am I going to get in trouble for screaming” Most likely cause at home I’m constantly telling him to please lower his voice, stop screaming, use your indoor voice.

Chastising him for doing exactly as he was asked was the last thing on my mind. I beamed with pride as my mind replayed a scene from shortly after he was born. As clear as day I could put myself back in that NICU exactly 5 years before. Standing beside his little incubator listening to Mr. T’s surgeon explain what she was going to do the following day. My mind was fuzzy, I was exhausted, my eyes burned from what seemed like an endless flow of tears. I tried to concentrate as she explained the procedure and recovery. It was hard to focus I must say but I know she was confident that she would be able to fix this. She explained what this would mean for Mr.T’s future, the complications he may face in the years to come and somewhere near the end of the list she told us that Mr.T was probably going to be very quiet. She explained his voice may be raspy. She assured us he would be able to speak but that his voice just may not get very loud. I remember Mr. C. saying “I guess he’s never going to be an Opera singer” and she chuckled “No I doubt that will happen”

In those first weeks I didn’t think much of it. We were just so focused on Mr. T. making it through his surgery and then healing, learning to eat, gaining weight and finally coming home. Him being quiet was the last on our list on things to worry about. We did notice he was a bit on the quiet side from the very beginning. It was actually the first thing I noticed when he was born. His cry sounded muffled. It wasn’t loud and angry at all as I had imagined it would be. It was soft and quiet and sounded pained.

Here we are 5 years later and his beautiful voice echoed through the lobby of the Great Wolf Lodge singing loudly above the cacophony of giggling children all screaming their names. My heart swelled with pride as our eyes met and it was like we were silently, secretly giving each other a high five. I was trying somehow to convey to him that not only was it ok for him to be loud in that moment but that he has made me ridiculously proud. 

No one around us knew our journey. No one understood the significance of his little voice being heard above all others. No one knew just how far he has come. To everyone around us he was a perfectly healthy rambunctious little boy. No one but me saw the tiny little baby laying helpless in his incubator bruised and tubed fighting the strong fight.

The beauty of the moment was felt deep within my heart, right down where I store all of the memories of our emotional start. I pulled Mr T close to me, gave him a great big hug and kiss, tears filling my eyes. Mr. T looked at me a little confused and concerned, why was I crying he wondered. I pulled Ms. J into our little family hug (Mr. C. was icing his sprained ankle..another story in itself!) To the outside world this was just a regular everyday moment. A normal child being loud. To us this was a beautiful moment shared as a family. A wonderful reminder of how far we’ve come and of how strong we are as a family.

5 years my beautiful loud little boy and you have already come so far.

Birthdays to party or not to party?

We have made a decision. A decision that we feel is best for our family in this moment. I know deep down inside that this is the right decision for us so why, I wonder, am I feeling so guilty about it?

We have decided to *gasp* skip a big birthday party for our kids this year!! What do I mean no party???? No invitations, no loot bags, no party games or crafts? As I’m typing I’m feeling like a bad mum. I’m a person of routine. We’ve had a party for them every single year since Mr. T turned 1. Changing our routine shakes my world a little. I’ve always loved party planning for them. I’ve enjoyed coming up with a theme, planning out the games, designing and baking the cake, and sending out the invites. This year started out no different. I started to plan. I wanted to do a super hero party with girl and boy super heroes. I researched and was very disappointed to find that I could arrange for superman, spider-man or batman to come to the house to entertain the children but there was no girl superhero available. This in itself is a whole post on it’s own!

During an evening chat with Mr. C. we remarked at how fast the kids were growing, how quickly this whole thing was flying by. We worried how much longer they’d want to play with us, cuddle with us, be our friends. We decided that we needed to make more time for just the four of us. This chat in turn led to us deciding that instead of throwing a big party we were going to use that money to go away together. Just the four of us. We very quickly settled on a couple of days at Great Wolf Lodge.

So there we have it. No party. Will our kids miss it? I don’t think so. I think they are going to have a blast. They have never mentioned a party. They did ,however, find a brochure for GWL and beg us to take them there. Wink, wink.

I do feel a bit guilty. There is a small part of me that wonders if they are going to feel like they missed out. Then I wake up, shake my head and realize who says they must have a party every year? There will never be a year that we don’t mark their birthdays with pomp and circumstance. Birthdays are huge. The only one day of the year that can be dedicated to you. A day to make you feel special. I want to make my children feel how special they are to me. They will feel special. I can’t wait to see their little faces when they open their presents. I will shower them with balloons and cupcakes, love and cuddles and most importantly fun! 

When they are old enough and want to have birthday parties with all their friends I will happily plan, bake and decorate to make their day as delightful as they imagined. For now, while we can get away with it, we are keeping this special day a small family affair. I think the fun that is going to be had will be well worth it and the memories made will last well after the party buzz would have worn off.

 

 

 

Wear your baby body with pride

I was recently reading a copy of People Magazine and was frustrated and disappointed to come across an article called “Body after Baby”. The article spoke about how Hollywood Mama’s got their sexy bodies back. Beside each celeb pic, none of which by the way resemble any new mother I ever came across, was a big circle showing how long it took each mum to lose the weight. The longest timeline featured was 5 months.

Really? 5 MONTHS? Really?

Should I now feel bad because at 5 months post partum I looked nothing like what I did before my life revolved around diaper changes and breastfeeding.

I am so tired of reading article after article and seeing picture after picture of women, or specifically celebs, getting praise for looking sexy again the minute they walk out of the hospital. Why is this even a story at all let alone something that is taking up 4 entire pages of a magazine??? Why am I not reading articles about their wonderful journey into motherhood? How their lives have changed? Their ups and downs. Why are these magazines not praising these women for the ways they are striving to ensure they can be positive role models for their children? Ways in which they are embracing their new role of mother? I guess it’s more important for us to know how long it took for them to get back into their skinny jeans.

Let me point out that every single mother in the article is in their 30’s. Not young 20 something’s whose bodies bounce back a whole heck of a lot easier. But women who are in their 30’s when things just begin to get a little more difficult.

 I call bullshit! Who wants to join me??? I don’t buy that it was THAT easy for each and every one of them to lose the weight. Even if it was, what is the point of this article? To give a pat on the back for working out 3 hours a day and paying ridiculous amounts of money for diet food to be delivered to you daily? Yay!! Good for you Jenna Dewan-Tatum you lost it all in 2 months!  Do you feel better now that you and your little celeb friends have made the real women out there reading this article feel just a little bit worse about themselves? Women who have to work 9-5’s, clean houses, cook dinners, take care of their families. Women who don’t have stylists, makeup artists, professional hair dressers or meal delivery services? Women who are looking at these pictures of you, which may or may not have been taken post partum, and are wondering why they don’t look like they did before they had kids?

What happened to the whole it took 9 months to put it on theory? Why is it considered a great success to not look like you ever had a baby just days after giving birth? Or worse yet, while your pregnant? Is it really a compliment when someone says “You don’t even look like you just had a baby” or “I wouldn’t know you were pregnant from behind”. That shouldn’t be compliment. The praise I’d rather hear is how I’m doing a great job as a mother, not thumbs up for looking hot again!

How have we turned pregnancy and child birth into another way to judge ourselves on the way we look? I challenge us all to fight back against this. I do not want to read another article about how wonderful a celebrity is just because she’s lost all her baby weight within hours of giving birth. Please aren’t we better than this? We are more than just a number on the scale. Motherhood is about more than just pounds gained and pounds lost.  When are we going to stop putting such high importance on our outward appearance?

If it took you two months, two years or if you’ve accepted the fact that your body will never be the same, wear your baby body with pride. You will never get back the time you spend stressing about your body. Own in, accept it, love it. It’s a part of your journey into the wonderful world of motherhood.

The scent of a baby

I held a baby today. A week old baby. All sleepy and warm and cozy in my arms. On the drive over all I thought to myself was “this is going to make me want another baby so badly”. Mr C. and I have not been able to come to a final decision in regards to adding to our family. We flip-flop and go back and forth, usually ending up on opposite sides. Just when I think I’ve made up my mind that I’m over my baby days, Mr. C. decides he wants to go for number 3. When my heart makes the switch and I’ve warmed myself to the idea of a new little one Mr. C. huffs that he’s too old to do this again and declares he’s done!

I thought the moment I laid eyes on this new precious little bundle my uterus was going to skip a beat. She is beautiful and peaceful and pure perfection. She felt so warm and angelic in my arms. It’s been a while since I’ve held a baby that new and it felt so natural. She smelled heavenly! Without a doubt my favourite thing about babies is their smell. I used to sniff my babies like a wild dog. Their little heads, their faces, their toes, they just smell magnificent. I took in her powdery scent and my heart swelled a little.

Yet despite all of this, it seems as though meeting this new precious addition to our family may have actually had a completely different effect on me and solidified in my mind that my family is complete.

It reminded me that life with a new baby can be difficult. Sleepless nights and constant breastfeeding make your life revolve around this new addition. Breastfeeding did not come easy to me and did cause me a lot of stress and confusion. You can read about my experience here http://wp.me/p1oMIA-7f.

Planning your day around nap times and nursing schedules limits when you can do things and where you can go.

I realized that I will never again have the magic of a first baby. Our lives are different now, adding a new baby to our family would change the dynamics of our day-to-day life. Realistically it would probably be more chaotic than peaceful.

While looking in this new baby’s eyes I realized that I am happy with my family just as it is. My children are perfect and healthy, my husband is wonderful. I don’t know if I want to change what we have right now. Adding a new baby to our lives would definitely take my focus away from Mr.T. and Ms. J for at least the first little bit.

Saying goodbye to my kids babyhood has been very difficult for me but I’m almost out of it. Ms. J is going to be 3!! I blinked my eyes and my kids grew up. We are in a place that doesn’t include diapers, naps are no longer an absolute necessity, nursing is long gone. We are able to go on day trips and longer trips without huge amounts of fuss. We can play together. WE go on bike rides to the park and play soccer. We paint and bake together. Movie nights are great now that the kids are old enough to stay still. Watching the wonder in my little one’s eyes has given Christmas its magic back. There is so much joy to be found in my children that I think I can let their baby selves go.

I’m still not ready to close the door on the possibility of more babies for good. You never know what life has in store for you. If I’m meant to have another baby my love will multiply and grow. Ms. J. and Mr. T. will love having a baby around. If that’s the path I’m meant to take.

Meeting the addition to our family made me think it might just be time for me to pass on the baby making torch. I may have to get my baby fix through friends and family. My days may be over but I think I’m ready to move on to the next stage of our lives. I look forward to building our wonderful family memories and spending as many moments as I can with my two little blessings.