A (Fairly Lame) Ode to Mothers

I found this poem in a book and it is pretty awesome. Made me chuckle. I think it is good to remind yourself every once in a while not to judge other mom's but embrace the motherhood and help one another out

A (Fairly Lame) Ode to Mothers

An ode to the marvelous woman called "Mother"
Though not one of us is exactly like another.
From the second we're born to the minute we die
Our preferences are as limitless as stars in the sky.

We might have been perfectly gracious before
But childbirth entered us in the Mommy War.
Rather than letting everyone else be
We criticize parenting that isn't exactly like...me.

So once and for all let me put this to rest
None of us owns the title of  "best."
Natural childbirth does not make you a hippy
Epidurals are not just for women who want to feel trippy.
In a bathtub with a doula or in a hospital bed
We all got a baby with limbs and a head.

Nursing is great if nothing foes wrong
But some nipples turn inward and refuse to play along.
This is a choice for each mom-it's her route
So it's just A + B and everyone else can C their way out.

Schedules and timers do not make you cruel
Feeding on demand does not make you a fool.
In the nursery with a monitor or in the family bed
Every chick gets to pick where her baby lays his head.

If I see more mom roll her eyes at "organic..."
"Partially hydrogenated" throws some of us into panic.
But neither judge Sonic burgers and fries
Some of us just want to enjoy food before we die.

Preschool, homeschool, public, or Montessori
Listen, my friends, and I'll tell you a story;
Two moms differed on favorite school trends
Their kids turned out pretty much the same. The end.

If a girl gets the title of "mom" accidentally
The worst thing we can do is treat her judgmentally.
How about some love, some help, some advice?
She needs our love and we shouldn't think twice.

Discipline through various methods will prevail
Look, we're all just trying to keep our kids out of jail.
These things are just preferences, not right or wrong
What matters more is teaching our kids to get along-
To love and to share, to speak gently and kind,
To obey so that mom won't go out of her mind.

Showing them Jesus is our common ground
Teaching them how he can always be found.
He's present in public school and Waldorf(so trendy)
He's over at Whole Foods but also at Wendy's.
Jesus never cared about these sorts of things
It's our hearts that he wants and the worship we bring.

It's time for us moms to declare a truce
Regardless if we buy Capri Sun or 100 percent juice.
My way is not your way, and your way isn't mine
But both of our kids will turn out just fine.

Rather than judging and looking down our noses
Let's enjoy the common ground motherhood poses.
As believers, we all love the same good Lord
We all have children who tell us "I'm bored."

We all need more sleep than these tiny five hours
Most of us struggle to find time for a shower.
We haven't been to the bathroom alone in an age
Our mothers have all told us, "Relax, this is just a stage."

We all love our babies so much we could die
We'd take a bullet for each one without batting an eye.
Though we are different, we're in the same tribe
Motherhood requires a similar vibe-
Love and affection, sacrifice and grace
Laughter, which keeps the whole mechanism in place.

Though different, by the grace of God, I suspect;
ALL our children will rise up and call us...collect.

~Jen Hatmaker- Out of the spin cycle~

An insight from awhile ago...

As I sit here listening to my 3 week old son cry I am reminded by how much we need God.
Without me, Caleb is helpless. He cannot eat, or move. He would be sitting in a pile of poop, starving. Without his mom, Caleb would die. Well if we live without God we will surely die.
Just as Caleb needs help cleaning up his poop(sin) so do we need help. We need to ask God to help, take away our sins, repent and turn away from our sins. Whatever it might be: lying, stealing, hatred, adultery, murder, jealousy, homosexuality, drunkenness, anything that is sin. God can help us, all we need to do is have a willing heart and come before God.
Just as Caleb needs food to survive we need our 'spiritual food.' To grow we must be reading the bible, and praying (not just with our lips but listening with our ears to what God has to hear).
Sometimes its hard to find 'time' to read our bible, or pray. You just need to start some where. Marathon runners don't just start with the marathons, they start with training weeks and weeks before. So that they can finish the race.
I encourage you that if your bible is on the shelf collecting dust, pick it up and dust it off. Start by reading a proverb a day or even just a few verses a day. Praying while you fold laundry or while you're stuck in traffic. Start small and you can run marathons. When the storms come you will with stand the trials.  

Caleb's birth story

Just realized I have majorly been slacking on the blogging. Since Caleb is now 4 months old I thought I should get into a more regular routine.  So first post from being back Caleb's birth...
So Caleb's due date was May 19th. May 17th we came home from an afternoon of walking and shopping and something just didn't feel quiet right. I had my doctors appointment/check up the next morning at 9:40am so I figured it will be fine, I'll just go in then. So my husband and I left to go to the doctors office. I left Hailey with my mom and dad, whom (my dad) was flying out that day. This being my 40 week appointment my doctor told me we would talk induction. (which scared me and I totally did not want) I got a call 20 min before I was suppose to leave letting me know I would not see my regular OB because she was in a C-section. I got there and saw a different doctor. Something didn't feel right so I told him that. The doctor decided to check things out. First he checked and told me I was 6 cm dilated, that's probably why I was feeling weird. ( I had been 1 cm the week before) My doctor was still finishing up with the other C-section patient, so the doctor I was seeing gave me a stress test to see how Caleb was doing and to wait and hear from my doctor. Once that was done I walked over to the hospital because the hospital and doctors office were attached.
My husband and I walked over, while he made phone calls to his work letting them know he would be taking the next 2 weeks off.  It was now about 10:30am. I got all checked into the hospital.  Around 11am my doctor came in, check on me and broke my water. Oh my!!! Worst thing ever. They had the monitor going showing contractions, and when she broke my water you can see where it spiked higher than the contractions at that point. So uncomfortable. My doctor had been at the hospital all night with a different delivery and then a C-section. So she asked if I could try to hold off till 1pm so she could try and get a lunch.    
So contractions started to pick up from there. They asked if I wanted something for the pain, I told them sure. Though in all honesty it didn't get a chance to kick in because by the time Caleb came (at 1:32pm) I had not gone through the IV that they put it in. This delivery was a little harder than Hailey's because, well Caleb was 8lbs 6oz, and Hailey was 6lbs 8oz. With Hailey they just had me push, but with Caleb they told me to stop to help me not tear. Which I am thankful for, but not at the time. I just wanted to meet him. When he was delivered I didn't even care that he was all bloody I actually held him before they cleaned him off. With Hailey I had them clean her off first.
I was so excited to finally hold him in my arms. Due to my miscarriage a few months before finding out I was pregnant with Caleb, I was super nervous my whole pregnancy.
But Caleb made it. On May 18th Caleb Ray was born. There was no unwanted/stressful visitors this time around. There was only our friends Jimmy & Candace and my mom & Hailey. We only stayed 27 hours at the hospital because we were excited to get home and have Hailey get used to her new baby brother.  As well as get adjusted to being a family of 4. What a blessing it has been. My mom was able to stay and help for a week after Caleb was born and Ryan was around for two weeks after. It was a nice time to get adjusted and I am thankful for all the help I got.