I’ll just be real: celebrating anything over 4 hours of sleep in a row is what I rejoice in these days.  Exhaustion and mom-guilt get the best of me often when it comes to truly celebrating moments.

I find it easy to celebrate the things you’d maybe expect as a mom:

• sleep-filled nights (can you tell I’m tired? ;)
• potty training successes
• new words
• new skills!
• new teeth!

But celebrating myself as a woman, wife and mom is something I avoid and shut down quickly.  Whether it be a compliment or a milestone, I find reasons I failed in some way, instead.

I coulda…

I shoulda…

I woulda….

I want to be the mom who says thank you to a compliment instead of turning it down.  I want my kids to see me rejoicing in small successes, so they learn to do the same. 

It’s so easy for me to be too busy or distracted: the mom’s to-do list is never ending.

Celebration often feels like a ton of work.  Well, maybe not a ton of work, but another thing on the list, for sure.

But I want to be the mom who celebrates finding petunias because “we can eat these mommy!”  I want to be the mom who stops what she’s doing to celebrate the lego tower and the drawings.  I want to be the mom who changes dinner to sandwiches, so we can spend more time celebrating a doll’s birthday at Ristorante Delicioso (that’s Harlow’s new restaurant, if you’re wondering).  

I want to learn to stop and truly celebrate the tiniest of moments.

Since our move, I find myself longing for familiarity.  And in small ways, that is starting to happen: I can even drive home from Trader Joe’s without using my GPS.

But the longing for a friend who’s known me longer than a few months is real.  Friendships take time, and when I think about celebrating something, it’s the friends who have known me for years that I long to be with.

I know the days will be long, but the years will be short.  Memories will be made and moments will be celebrated.

One thing we’ve celebrated as a family is the purchase of a home here in the Boston area!  It’s been bittersweet for me, as sometimes I felt like we were just on a long vacation and heading back to Pittsburgh in due time.  But knowing that we will have so many reasons to celebrate — both large and small — in this home together is what causes me to truly rejoice.

We go often to check on its progress and explore.  We’ve named the bunny family in the backyard, Harlow’s claimed a bedroom, and I sit and pray for laughter and celebration to fill the now empty spaces.

I want to be a mom who celebrates home wherever home may be.  

It’s easy for me to try to skip ahead into a home to settle into, nights filled with sleep and no more diapers.  It’s easy for me to say, “I’ll celebrate then.” and “I’ll celebrate when…”

I don’t want to be a skipper, and I don’t want to wait.  I want to stop and celebrate, even when my heart is missing family and feeling heavy.  I want to stop and celebrate, even when I’m exhausted and sleep is all I want.

I want to be the mom who finds joy in the mundane and celebration in the chaos.

xo

Sling Diaries Entry I // Sling Diaries Entry II

I’m wearing Sakura Bloom Chambray Linen sling in Curacao and dress is Stitch Fix.

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