Welcome to Stevensville!

I thought Mother's Day would be an appropriate time to start documenting the new adventure in my journey of Motherhood. We all have our own unique experiences that mold us into the Mothers we are, starting from the moment we see that little pink + on the E.P.T.  Feelings of joy, fear, delight, relief, and yes, sometimes even disappointment have filled the hearts of every Mother in those few nervous seconds when our eyes are focusing on the little stick that is telling us that our life has changed. Forever.

So begins the journey of Motherhood. If there were emotions you had never felt before, you'll feel them throughout the next 8 months or so with an endless series of firsts. The first time you hear the heartbeat, like a racehorse on the track. The first little flutter of a kick - did you really feel that? The first time your "favorite" food makes you want to vomit. The first somersault that you can see from outside your belly - yep, definitely felt that! The first picture of baby waving or blowing bubbles or sucking her thumb in there. And on and on and on.

With this overload of emotions comes the loss of brain cells. Why did I walk into the bedroom? Where are my keys? Why am I wearing two different shoes (and for that matter, how in the heck did I even get these shoes on?!?)? I have lost a lot of brain cells. I believe they diminish exponentially with each bundle of joy that arrives. It's like a swap with Mother Nature - a baby for your thoughts. This is what makes for an interesting journey. But I digress. We will discuss loss of brain cells in future posts, you can be sure of that.

Back to the point: every Mother's journey is special and no two are the same. This blog is a little taste of my journey. I have four little kidlets - three girls aged 8, 7, and 4 (aka #1, #2, and #3); one boy age 2 (aka "The Boy"); and one Husband for Keeps. Up until now, with the exception of the first 10 months of #1's life, I have been outsourced to the career world (known more commonly as "working-outside-the-home"). My kids have been very well taken care of by their grandmother, a daycare, a nanny, and another daycare over the years. Now it's time for a change. Housewife, Domestic Engineer, Stay-at-Home-Mom, Homemaker, Full-Time Mom (what Mom isn't a full-timer, you tell me), Lady of the House - whatever you call it, that's me.

I'm excited about this new chapter in my journey and I look forward to discovering what it will bring to me and my family. I have everything planned out in my head, but I also have enough Mom experience under my belt to know that none of it will go by the book. We'll take it day by day. I'm certainly not going to say that I have perfect children or that I am the perfect mom (if there is even such a thing). But I will give the cold hard truth. I will do anything (well, almost) for these kids, even though they drive me crazy sometimes. I hope that our joys, woes, triumphs, and defeats will all make their way to this blog and that people will share their thoughts and their own experiences with Motherhood.

Finally, I want to give a shout-out to my Mom. I aspire to do half as good a job as a Mom as she has done, and if I succeed my kids will be the better for it. I love you, Mom.

Happy Mother's Day!