Motherhood

I love this photo.

Surrounded by my girls.  A mother to three children. 
The "minimum" number of children I wanted.  I finally had them. 

A sweet, sleeping newborn on my chest.
A five-year-old; my first baby.
An almost two-year-old; still very much a baby.

So far, motherhood to me has meant babies. 

Making babies, growing babies, birthing babies, raising babies. 

Dreaming of motherhood always meant dreaming of babies.

Although it was often pure chaos, I loved having two babies for the past year.

I loved being that mom with two kids born in two years. 

That mom people looked at in the store like I was crazy. 

It was something I always kind of wanted, but was too afraid to plan.

But Gracie-girl isn't so much a baby anymore. 

And every day Lily is growing and changing. Too fast for my taste.

Too soon, I won't have a baby. It's bittersweet.

I need to start re-defining my motherhood soon. I'm not ready yet though.

I'm still drinking in the baby-ness of my now 15-month-old.

I hold her chubby cheek to my face. I cherish her grip on the back of my arm. I memorize the heaviness of her head on my shoulder before I lay her in the crib.

Motherhood.

It's everything I hoped it would be, and more.

**This post is part of a giveaway on We Are THAT Family.**