So thrilled to share yet another beautiful woman with you to start off my Saturday portion of the Mothers of the Heart Project.  The response to past posts have been absolutely amazing.  I’m finding (though not surprisingly) that no matter who the woman is, their strength exudes a certain beauty that is so hard to replicate.  When you (at least for me) hear their stories and see these smiles on their faces, these pictures come to life… and I guess it’s true, behind every gorgeous mother, every gorgeous woman, every gorgeous picture– there’s a story to be told.  So here’s Jennifer’s…

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I’ve always known I wanted to be a mom.  I am beyond lucky to have a wonderful mother who has played such a large and important role in my life and I’ve always known that I wanted to be a mom just like her to children of my own.  So, when 3 years after my husband I got married we decided it was time for kids and soon after got pregnant with our first daughter, I was beyond excited.  After a long few days of labor, Kaitlyn was born and she was absolutely perfect.

I cried when they placed her on my chest, I couldn’t believe that perfect little baby was mine! Kaitlyn was not the easiest baby, she cried non-stop, always wanted to be held, and didn’t sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Yet somehow I managed to take it in stride, even if felt inside like I was about to lose my mind! After a few months though, our little family of 3 (4 including our dog) fell into a routine and we enjoyed every moment and milestone as Kaitlyn went from rolling over, to crawling, to walking, to talking, and becoming her own independent little person. I look at her now at 8 years old and marvel at how my husband and I have raised such a smart, beautiful, creative kid, and how quickly the time has flown by.Fast forward almost 4 years and we welcomed our second daughter, Emery, into our family. Unlike my long labor with Kaitlyn, Emery decided to rush into the world with a bang, which should have been a warning as to how her personality would be as she got older!
Emery is my spunky, wild, silly, and cuddly girl who at 4 years old, makes me laugh and conversely makes me want to pull my hair out every single day! I tend to baby her, carrying her around and helping her with things I know she can do on her own.She’s my baby and while I’ve come to terms with the fact that Kaitlyn is growing up, I don’t want to let Emery get any older!

Motherhood may not always be easy, but to me it’s been an amazing journey so far. I love watching my two girls learn new things every day…

…Seeing how creative and artistic they are (which they clearly get from their father and not me!); watching them play with their friends; and enjoying our family time together. I also love the close relationship that they have formed with their grandma, my mother.  Seeing them laughing and playing with my mom and hearing them eagerly ask when they are going to see grandma and grandpa again always makes my heart smile.

The hardest part of motherhood for me is not knowing what the future holds. More than anything else I hope that I am raising kind, strong women who value themselves and always treat others with fairness and respect. I worry about things like “mean girl” syndrome as they get older, not only about girls being mean to them but them being mean to others. I hope and pray that I have impressed upon them enough the importance of being kind to everyone. Sometimes I wish I had a crystal ball and could see what they will be like as they get older, but then I also realize that part of the fun of having kids is how they surprise you as they grow up.

Each day my girls become a little more independent, Kaitlyn asked us not to pick her up from the bus stop anymore and Emery now wants to pick out her own clothes. It makes me sad, but when I think about how I always need my mom, no matter how old I am, I smile and hope that my girls will always feel the same way about me. On Mother’s Day I never ask for much, I already have the best two gifts anyone could ever ask for!