My Blogging Goal **

I'm a "new" mom.

My daughter is nearly 8 months old. I have still not mastered diapering or bathing. I work. I have been criticized for working. It took me 3 hours to get my daughter to sleep tonight. She has a cold and I do not have the answers to make her feel better. She is sleeping in my bed, even though I will get 15 comments on this blog post about how I should not let her sleep in my bed.

All this to say, I am not a perfect mother, but I love my daughter more than life. This blog is not a place to come if you are seeking parenting advice or tricks to get your kiddo to not sneeze at the exact moment you get a spoonful of carrots up to her mouth. But I still hope that you find value in the words that I type each night.

My goal is that this blog will serve two main purposes: 1. To keep the Grandmas updated with stories and pictures of their grandbaby, and 2. To be a lighthouse to other new mommies - to share stories of my triumphs and failures and share my journey through motherhood, and to help you rest assured that you are not alone when you are up at 2 in the morning and everyone else in your house is asleep (including the cats!).

One of my good friends wrote on an advice card at my baby shower that motherhood can sometimes feel very lonely. I thought, in my giant pregnant state, that she must have lost her mind - my mother was never alone! How can you be lonely when you are surrounded by people all the time? In the next few months, I came to know and understand what she meant, and also repeated her words of advice many times - you are never really alone. There are so many other mommies out there doing the same thing you are doing! I hope that if you stumble across my blog at 2 in the morning when you are up for the 5th time and can barely see straight that you will find comfort in knowing another mom feels your pain (and it does get immensely better! I promise!).

And if you are a mommy who has already been through that state, I hope you can sympathize with my stories of my daughter falling off the bed, or letting her chew on a big pickle. I also hope that you will comment and share your stories and tricks and tips as well!

Now, on a lighter note: Baby toys. Anyone else cringe at the idea that play kitchens are marketed at little girls? Must we start shoving our children into stereotypes before they can even walk? I guess when weighed against the cuteness factor, the social implications aren't as important, haha. ;) So, here is a picture of my daughter playing with her kitchen... in a dress, HA!

** hopefully you did not notice and this p.s. is not necessary, but I took Nyquil about 10 minutes before writing this post. So, if it seems very... Nyquilly, now you know why.