Nicole has been a dear friend of mine since high school. We have been there to witness each other's ups and downs, happy times and bad. When I asked her to guest post for me while I'm on vacation, she immediately said yes and I'm so excited to have her here. Please show my "red" some love!
~ Noelle
What a fun thing it is for me to be able to write a guest post on beautygirl24. A little about myself, I am the daughter of my heavenly father, I am the wife of almost 6 years to an amazing man, momma to twin three year old boys and a newish blogger. I’ve had my blog (fittobetwinned) for a few years actually and before this one, I had another one. It wasn’t until recently I really decided that I wanted to write more, share more (but hopefully not too much) and have something to call mine. I’m a stay at home momma and that transition from Bachelors degree working woman, to stay at home mom was a tough one for me, but having this little space helps me feel like I’m doing something. My hope is that people can relate to my stories, learn something, laugh, or just feel like someone else in the world gets whatever it is you're going though. That’s why we all like to follow blogs, right?
When Noelle approached me to write a guest post I was so excited! My mind started reeling with what I could write. She left it wide open, and even though we shop at the same places and I love all of her pieces, my concept of getting dressed up is skinny jeans, a black top and a nice necklace, which is few and far between these days. However, in thinking of what I wanted to write my sister came up with an awesome idea. She suggested I talk about why it’s important for me to get ready every day.
Before I was a stay at home mom, my vision of a stay at home mom was that of non stop fun, sleeping in with snuggly babies, staying in yoga pants all day long, no schedule, the list goes on…well, let me tell you…sleeping in with snuggly babies is nearly impossibly when a small child (who is no longer a baby) sneaks into your bed in the wee hours of the morning and spends the next 2 hours kicking you in the back! Staying in yoga pants happens on some days but makes me feel lazy. That whole "no schedule" thing is a laugh because your entire life is a schedule with small children. Last but not least we do have a lot of fun but it’s equally as much work to do anything fun at all.
I decided early on that I had to do one thing for me to just help me feel productive and if that’s putting on makeup and doing my hair so I can just make meals all day, break up fights and love on my sweet boys, then that’s what I’ll do. When they were small this was really hard and I totally understood how someone could go a day or days without showering or getting ready. I struggled with PPD, although not officially diagnosed, I know what I felt wasn’t normal after having a baby or two! I felt secluded, anxious, and like my life was never going to feel normal again, I felt like I was never going to feel like myself again. Yes, I did change, I became a mom but that didn’t mean I had to give up all things that make me happy. One of those big things was just waking up, taking a shower, getting in clothes other than yoga pants, doing my hair, and putting on makeup. When I started that routine, it just helped. It might sound funny, but fighting for that part of me and having me time was so important. Do I still have my days of workout clothes, messy hair and not showering until after 1pm? Absolutely! Life happens and I have twins! But just having that little bit of time to get ready helps me face the day ahead.
So ladies or even men, if you have kids, want kids or are waiting for your special gift from above, just know that yes your life will change, but you don’t have to give up everything about yourself. When you become a parent, your life is that baby. It is so easy to get wrapped up about caring for them and your spouse but don’t forget about you along the way. It’s not selfish, you’re not a bad parent, but you will not be happy unless there is a bit of yourself for just you!
Take Care Everyone,
Nicole
Nicole's blog can be found here: http://fittobetwinned.blogspot.com/
