Mother’s Day always brings a soft ache and a full heart. A day to hold both the beauty and the breaking — because motherhood is both.
Becoming a mother cracked me wide open in ways I never expected. It asked more of me than anything else in my life ever has. And yet, somehow, it’s given me even more in return.
This little soul — entrusted to me, growing under my roof, holding my hand for now — is the greatest blessing I’ve ever known. And the greatest challenge.
We are raising children to leave us.
To build lives beyond our homes, beyond our arms.
That truth is both sacred and staggering.
And still — I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Motherhood has reshaped me.
I am different now.
More intentional.
More playful.
More curious.
More in awe of the ordinary.
There’s something romantic, almost holy, in giving so much of yourself to someone else and watching it come back to you tenfold — in tiny giggles, tight hugs, endless questions, and sleepy “I love you, mamas.”
But today isn’t just a day to celebrate me. It’s a day to honor the women who made me this mother.
The ones I can call in the middle of the night. The ones I text “is this normal?” and the blurry picture of the new thing he’s learning. The ones who’ve seen me cry — and who’ve cried with me. The ones who have whispered prayers on my behalf. The ones who remind me that I’m not alone.
Motherhood doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens in community. And I’m endlessly grateful for the women who go before me, who stand beside me, and who hold me up when I need it most. I am the mother I am because of them.
This journey is not easy, but it is mine.
And it is everything.
To all the mothers — in every form and every season — I see you. I honor you. I celebrate you. 💛
A ring and a camera and a bridge that’s still one of our favorite places. A trip down the aisle, absolutely in awe that we were finally married. A surprise honeymoon that exceeded every expectation and that will rival all other vacations for us. A new job and apartment together. Handwritten notes. Getting a pup who was definitely not over the max weight requested by our landlord. Reading next to each other in bed. After dinner walks on the trail. The way we like to stick together on weekends, especially when it means we’re going to Sam’s club. Job changes and promotions. Late-night conversations that stretch into the early morning. A spur of the moment puppy adoption, turned tiny best friend. Being at home during COVID and not-so-secretly being thrilled to be together even more. FinalVibe, vlogs and all that comes with doing projects together. The life-changing joy of becoming parents. Watching him grow, learn, and turn into a mini version of you in the best ways. Making our houses “home”. Countless deep conversations, debates, and rants (mostly yours) about technology, politics, and everything in between. Making up songs. The ability to make each other laugh, even when life is hard. Especially when life is hard. Watching you be the best dad, the kind of dad our son will always look up to. The comfort of knowing, no matter what, we’re in this together.
The list goes on and on. A decade in, and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Because at the end of the day, the best part of our life isn’t the big trips or the big milestones—it’s the ordinary, everyday magic of being with you.
The instagram and Pinterest algorithms have been serving me up some solid mom content lately, including stunning, curated kid’s bookshelves that quickly had me spiraling down the rabbit hole of themed books, tiny shelves, and felt banners. Kevin and I are both readers and book lovers and we want to instill the same love of books in Callahan by making it fun and exciting to sit down and read a few books together. We asked for books instead of cards at our baby shower before Callahan was born, we have consistently asked for books for him as gifts, and the book store is a collective favorite.
I decided to keep it super simple – just two picture ledges from Command as well as felt bats and a ghost figurine from the Target dollar spot. The books are just all the orange, purple and black ones we have in our collection (that went along with the few Halloween/fall books we have). We are obsessed with Our Friend the Moon and Little Blue Truck’s Halloween, if you’re looking to add some festive books to your stash. We love the cozy little spot and the pillows are just decorative ones we snagged from our guest bedroom. We love to snuggle up on them before bed and they are one of the dog’s favorite spots in the house…of course. As we continue to make decisions about his room as we near the toddler bed stage, I’d love to incorporate a nugget couch (or similar) that feels special and just for him.
I’m already starting to think about gratitude, thanksgiving, and fall themed books that I’m going to put together at the beginning of November and then already have a stack of books prepped for Christmas (since we keep those separate with the Christmas decor). After the holidays, I’m hoping to open the theme up a bit to something more broad (animal books, books that make noise, books about space, etc) or a group of books that are the same color. It’s been a tiny creative outlet that, similar to toy rotations, keeps things feeling minimal, really fresh and allows us to cycle out books we need a break from so that they can come back in a month or two feeling brand new.
Fall is finally here, which means it’s time to spend more time outside, gulp down PSLs, and pull out all of the pumpkin decor. Fall is starting to become my favorite season – the jewel-toned colors, beautiful sunsets, time at the park with Callahan, as well as layered clothes have been worth looking forward to. In preparation, I’ve been consuming all the fall related content on my feeds as well as dreaming about what my ideal autumn will look like. We are lucky enough to have already started having cooler weather and it has been so wonderful to be outside.
A few weeks ago, Myquillen Smith of The Nesting Place released a new podcast called House Rules. The second episode was all about Decorating for Fall and let me tell you, it was one of my favorite podcast episodes I’ve listened to lately. It was all about the idea of decorating for the season without going out and buying all the tchotchkes at Hobby Lobby and instead how we can use our senses to create a cozy fall atmosphere in our homes. It really inspired me to make a list of how I like to experience this season. As this season goes on, I’m excited to pay attention to activities, meals, and vibes that feel quintessentially fall for me.
If you don’t know where to start, Myquillen recommends creating a pinterest board. Here was my inspiration:
Living in the mid-west, we get to experience all four seasons, including an often very beautiful fall with trees that show off autumn colors perfectly. We also have so many opportunities to celebrate autumn by visiting local farms, cheering on our football team, and with local restaurants that bring out all the festive flavors. In addition to bringing fall into our home, I also wanted to incorporate fun things we could do as a family. We have big plans to dive into this Autumn Bucket List I created over the next few months. I’ll be sharing some photos of our experiences as we go just for fun. As our son Callahan gets older, I hope some of these can become traditions that we can look forward to each year.
I am so grateful. This age is so much fun and we love showing him the joys of this life (time with family and friends, yummy food, adventures, etc) and getting as much fresh air as possible while it’s so nice out.
Here are some of my favorite things he’s said lately:
“You all done mama?” while waiting for me to finish straightening my hair before a two year old birthday party.
“Oh no, it’s the Mr Bill Show!”
“Willow, no ma’am.”
“Happy Birthday!!” Each day he has been deciding who’s birthday he wants to celebrate that day. This weekend was Aunt Ellie and Mama. 😏
When he builds with magnatiles: “That’s a big how-er (tower)!”
A sweet weekend that will keep my heart filled up for the whole week. ❤️
