Babies Don't Keep...

Each night as I get in the shower, I start to pray... I thank God for my precious baby girl, my wonderful Husband, and our truly blessed life, and yet somehow each night, my mind wanders to the lists of things that I "need" to accomplish the next day, or didn't accomplish today, who I need to call, who I've failed to see lately, what I haven't finished, or started or done well enough...

I need to work on Hannah's baby book, her photo book, call, visit or have lunch with several people since it's been months, work on all the unfinished crafting and sewing projects, start the Christmas gifts, Christmas cards, blog about recipes, or blog in general, keep up with the house work, cooking, baking, my bible study, my emails, thank you notes, weekly dinner menus, bills, errands... It goes on and on, and then it starts to feel so very overwhelming.

While I was driving home from an impromtu few hours of "Mommy Time" that involved a trip to Starbucks and Anthropologie, (LOVE my dear Husband) I started to realize how big and out of control this self-imposed fear of not getting it all done really is! Why do I feel like I need to get all the things that I, myself, put on the "to-do" list in the first place. Talk about pressure. It's pretty darn exhausting y'all.... and it needs to stop.

I was reading THIS post from Ashley Ann, and it really reaffirmed for me that my most important item on my "to-do" list is to be a GOOD MOM. To hold my sweet baby girl and love on her and enjoy her while she's still tiny. I've been loving this poem for a while now, and I thought I'd share it...

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.


Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.


Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo


The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.


The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

                                       -Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

So I'm going to work really hard in the next few weeks, with God's help of course, to put down all the things I need to do and just enjoy my sweet girl. Life's just too short to make myself miserable trying to do it all, and missing the good stuff in the mean time. Can I get an "Amen" from all you Mamas out there?

Of course, I can't leave without showing y'all some photos of my "Chickie" on her first Halloween!