Welcome to the Mommy Club

I know nothing about dogs except from what I know from Wilson and now Ollie. As for babies...after Julia, schooling, and my daycare experience you would think I know a lot. I don't. I thought I did...but I don't. Two years ago I would be the first to give advice to a new mom. But after having Sophia I know babies in controlled environments, on weekends when the house is spotless before they arrive, and when my whole world is not invested in them.

When you find out your pregnant you have this image of what the next 18 years of your life is about. All the movies and experience you have had with babies and children morph into this vision of what life will be once your own baby is here. You picture what you will look like pregnant, what your husbands face will be when they put the baby on your chest, who the baby will look like, and if she will like you. You wonder when she will walk, what her first word will be, and will she have your energy and outgoingness or be shy like her Daddy. You will always question, are you eat right, is she moving enough and will she have mercy when she decides to make her way into the world.

Then the day comes and everything you though it was going to be it isn't. Your morph was wrong. Your delivery is messy and your 2 day stay with family visiting turns into a 7 day stay with nurses being the ones you turn to for support. When you get the baby home it isn't what you expect. You do everything that you were told to do, everything you new to do and it doesn't work. Instead of feeling the love and courage to face whatever else this little being throws at you, you think, "What now do I expect?" Your ideal life you once pictured for 9 month is replaces with questions like, "Will she be a biter in daycare?, Will she be able to handle her vaccines?, What if she can never drink milk?, What if she is an out of control toddler?" With every experience new questions emerge. Little ones keep you on your toes and once you think you got it down to a science, they change their routine.

At the time you think, "What have I gotten into?" Then months later they catch on to what you need them to do and the things you once feared or dreaded don't happen anymore. You have new things to worry about but some reason they don't effect you the same way. You learn to go with the flow. You learn to laugh about it. You learn to use those moments to get you through the other moments that aren't so pretty.

So, the next time Ollie pees on the carpet or poops on your floor....laugh about it and remember it. Pick him up and cuddle him...because someday he will no longer pee and poop on the floor and when that happens he probably will be to big for you to pick up and cuddle.

That said:
"Welcome to the Mommy club! Whether you are a mommy to a canine or human as part of this club you are responsible for another life that will make you heart expand with love and happiness like you never thought it could. You will be faced with frustration, sadness, fear, anxiousness, but mostly joy. There will be times that you will get frustrated or mad at that little puppy and then he will look up at you with that droopy face and your anger will fade away immediately. Other times it won't. Those are the times that you need to spend a little more time with him so that he can make up for what he did to upset you. But most of all, enjoy these little moments because tomorrow they will be your memories.

Good Luck and have fun and keep cleaning