Mother’s Day is around the corner so I made my girls these t-shirts using one of our favorite art techniques, gel glue batik.  We did these Father’s Day pillows in the same way.  This will be my my third Mother’s Day as a mama.  I’d say at this point, I feel fairly confident in myself as a mom, but man oh man is this hard…and exhausting…and really hard.  I mean, just when you think you have it down, they change.  The sleep deprivation is insane.  And the overall level of irritation and annoyance I can feel on a somewhat daily basis is a bit of a buzzkill.  Having said that, ironically, I love being a mom.  Ha! How could that be from the way I just described it?  If you’re a mom, I know you understand.  It’s like all day long I can’t wait for them to get to bed and the minute they are asleep I’m scrolling through old pics of them on my phone.  It’s a strange phenomenon I can only attribute to the most intense love and sense of connection I’ve ever experienced.

*Gel batik is pretty simple, though somehow I did manage to mess up Gigi’s shirt and I can’t figure out what happened  D’s came out great though.  You need Elmer’s gel glue, and any source of fabric.  Squeeze out the design of your choice and let it dry overnight.  Use fabric paint mixed with a little water to paint over the dried glue.  Let that dry for 24 hours.  Put the garment in the wash on a hot cycle and the glue melts off the fabric.  I’ve done this tons of times.  I don’t know why Gigi’s didn’t work.  It’s strange.  I tried soaking it in hot water but it didn’t help.  You can sort of still tell it says I love my mama.  Oh well, it’s the sentiment that counts and D’s looks awesome.  Who doesn’t love a good mama hashtag.  If you’ve done this before and know what happened to Gigi’s tee please email me.

Since it is Mother’s Day in a few days I’m going to indulge myself with these moments of my girls I don’t want to forget because it’s the moments that stay with us.  Not the crying or the needing.  It’s those precious moments of smiles and hugs and joy that are priceless.

On Mother’s Day this year I am going to focus on the love my two girls have between them and the love we share as a family.  When I first had Gigi I used to miss my previous life immensely.  I couldn’t relate at all when I heard moms say “I can’t imagine my life without them.”  I would respond with “Really?  I can.”  Now that I am a mom of two, I can relate more.  I still can remember my old life and love it from a distance, but I’m so deep in this life, those memories seem a little less relevant to me now.  I am here, with my husband and my two young children.  This is my life and I am so grateful. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.   Even when you don’t feel like it, you’re doing great.  We’re in this together!