My Little Girl

Isn't she sweet? I love her sooooo much!!

On Being a Mommy

Moms are special people, and if I do say so myself, I believe that mine is one of the most incredible. My mom is so fantastic at being a mother; I think that it is what God intended for her to do.

As my time of becoming a mom draws closer, I cannot help but reflect on how my mom parented me, and still continues to do so.

When we (my sis, brother, and I) were little, mom took time to spend with us, even though I'm sure she had a billion other things to do.

She read with us, sang with us, took us on walks, rocked us, watched Sesame Street & Mr. Rogers with us, taught us how to share, laughed with us (or at us, most of the time!) and soothed our tears and fears when we were hurt or sad.

As we grew, mom continued to love and nurture us, just in different ways. Looking back, it seems like it was very natural for her to parent at the different stages in our lives. She instilled morals and values in us, taught us how to be good examples to our friends, how to listen first, then speak (which I'll be working on for a LONG time) how to be patient with others, how to be individuals, to be independent, and how to be in relationship with others.

I have found, as I'm sure my sister and brother have too, that as I've matured into an adult, mom has become a friend of mine, who I go to for advice and to share my life with. And although she is now my friend, she is and will always remain my "mommy"--a title that she will never outgrow.

I pray that as God continues to mold and shape me into a mother, that He will grant me patience, endurance, and a gentle spirit in which to parent Anaiah; and if I can be half the mom to her as my mom was/is to me, then I will consider my job well done.

Okay, I'm done

So, I'm finished with my momentary freak-out about being a parent...but I'm sure it will come back again sometime soon!

Thanks for all the advice/comments that everyone left for me.

I'm so excited to meet my little girl--only 6 more weeks until my due date! (Hopefully she is not late, but let's assume she will be so that I don't get disappointed!)

I have a baby shower today in Keizer, so I'll post about that soon.

A Little Bit Freaked Out!!

Please tell me that it is normal to be experiencing these feelings!!

We have been taking Childbirth Preparation Classes at Salem Hospital, and they have been really, really great! I understand that the knowledge that we are receiving about labor, delivery, postpartum, and taking care of the baby is going to prove helpful; knowledge is power.

But, on the other hand, I feel like in this day and age, there are so many conflicting opinions on how to handle labor & delivery, how to feed your baby, how often to feed your baby, when to feed your baby, how much to feed your baby, how long your baby should sleep, where your baby should sleep, how to soothe your baby, how to teach your baby to soothe him/herself, and on and on and on....

I feel overwhelmed by all this information and am honestly scared to death to be a parent--I mean, what if I really screw up our baby girl for life?? I already take my role as a parent very seriously; I also know that I tend to take myself too seriously sometimes, so I probably run the risk of doing that with my child(ren).

Any advice for a soon mom-to-be??