coffee, Jesus, & mothering...

I have some posts in my head on being Carleigh's mama, breastfeeding, pregnancy, & other jumbled up thoughts that I want to share, but it seems I never sit down and get them out. This post has been sitting for several days because I keep wanting to come back & add a few thoughts/updates or photos of Bug, but I decided I should go ahead & share it while she is napping & I have a minute or two.

I start each day with prayer & a cup of coffee...

This sounds way more beautiful & calm than it actually is. It is not me sitting by a window, Bible open, cup of coffee in hand, enjoying a quiet moment with the Lord. It is usually me waking up to baby babble, getting up to get Carleigh changed & dressed/teeth brushed/ready for the day, hoping Rob hit the button on the coffee pot before he left for work as I head downstairs with baby on my hip, feeding & cleaning up after the dogs, praying for my Sunday school kids as I sit down with my cup of coffee in front of the high chair to try to convince my little love to eat oatmeal & drink water/juice instead of throwing things at the dogs, cleaning the house & playing with Carleigh for the next hour, then praying more as I nurse/rock her to sleep in her room for her morning nap. That is my wonderfully crazy version of 'prayer & a cup of coffee.' Mamas with several little ones would probably read this & laugh because I think I am busy & only have one sweet baby! I can only imagine how things will change as our family grows!

mornings with Carleigh

still sleepy

yawning

being lovely

coughing

I have shared this link somewhere before. It is a post with 2 videos by Christy Nockels. I found it very encouraging. If I was super blog savvy, I would put the videos right here. But I'm sure you won't mind clicking on the link if you are a mama in need of encouragement. The take away: "Invite the glorious into the mundane."
Post: Thoughts on Being a Mom

I have learned so many things in the last 8 months. The most important ones:

If you are a mama having a hard time with your newborn/little one.. you are NORMAL. Your baby is NORMAL (probably :)) And this is TEMPORARY.

If you are a mama enjoying a sweet & wonderful moment with your little one... there will be many many more of those!

After lots of stress, reading, & learning to take care of my little bug, I finally realized-
Mama knows best (Daddy too, of course). From the time you find out you are expecting, through the first several months of your baby's life, and well, probably forever... others will give you their opinions on the "right" thing to do with your child (whether you ask them or not). I have learned a lot from other moms & I am so thankful for their help. I ask for help often & try using ideas that I get from family & friends. But there are times when others may make you feel discouraged or that you are not doing it "right". I think every parent should read, research, & ask for help.. but every family is different & every baby is different so there is no "right" way to do some things. There are obvious wrong things to do while parenting but when it comes to how baby sleeps, how baby eats, your response to crying, when & where you do things, etc... it is up to Mom & Dad and no one else. What works well for one family may not work for another, but that doesn't mean either of them are doing it wrong. I felt such relief when I truly started to believe this for myself.

One thing I enjoy about living here is the love that the Sicilians have for Carleigh. They often call her bella/bellissima which means beautiful or beautiful girl, & piccola which means little one. She loves when they come kiss her & talk to her in Italian! 

It will be so sweet when she can say 'ciao'!