Here's where I'm coming from.

2 days after my second daughter is born.  I'm happier than I have ever been in my entire life.  The past 3 days have been exhilarating and magical and breathtaking and beautiful.  Absolute bliss.  I wonder, how could anyone be unhappy in such a beautiful world?

Then I come home from the hospital and I start feeling tired and overwhelmed.  But I'm still very very happy.  How could I not be happy?  But then it seems like I'm clinging to the last threads of the bliss -- willing it to not leave quite yet.

2 weeks after baby girl is born, and she "wakes up".  Life gets a bit harder.

All of the guests finally leave the house, and I have no more reason to "put on a show".  The emotions/hormones start coming in full force.

The weeks go by, and I'm still happy, but very very tired.  Then my 2 year old decides to be potty trained.  Great!  Then she decides to sleep in a toddler bed.  Great!  Then my 6 week old baby starts crying for 3 straight hours every night.  NOT great.  Then my toddler decides to NOT be potty trained any more.  NOT great.

Then, 8 weeks after my baby is born, and every day feels like I'm a chicken running around with its head cut off.  No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get back to that tidy orderly life I had before my baby was born.  I feel like everything is out of my control.  I felt distant from both of my children and my husband, even though my entire life centered around their well-being.  And I wondered "was I really that happy when Genna was born, or was I just imagining it?"  "Didn't I have my life in order at one point?  Why can't I have that now?"

But luckily, I had a few tricks that kept me from being insane every moment of the day.  French Braids & Freezer Meals.

I remember one day being especially difficult.  Eva was being "terribly two" all day.  Finally I got her to take a very late nap, but by the time I got her to fall asleep I was almost late for my ObGyn appointment and I was sweaty and smelly.  There was NO WAY I was going to the doctor like that!  I took a quick shower and was in the car 15 minutes later -- thanks to my french braid trick.  I wasn't wearing make up, but at least I didn't smell like a pig.  Later that evening, I had to go to an important church meeting.  I didn't have time to make dinner, so I pulled one of our favorite meals out of the freezer and had it ready in 15 minutes.  Then I was able to run off to the meeting -- and brought both girls with me (so the babysitter could watch them at the church).  Well it just happened to be during my baby's cranky time of the day and the toddler had just decided to stop being potty trained.  So after a long meeting of a screaming baby and an unexpected poopy panties accident, we made an emergency departure with two wailing baby girls and a sobbing mother.  I felt completely out of control.  After all, I couldn't even make my baby stop crying or keep my toddler from pooping in her clothes.  Most of all I was embarrassed.  I felt like I was a bad mother, and now everyone knew it.

But then I thought of how much worse my day would have been if I had not been able to take a shower or eat a healthy meal.  I would have been a complete basket case.  Thank goodness for french braids and freezer meals.

That's when I realized that other moms have their own tricks to keep them from completely falling apart.  And then the thought came to me that if I could just learn some more of these handy tricks, that maybe I could get more of a handle on my crazy life, and maybe I would be able to slowly take control and feel like a normal human being again.

That's when I decided to write this blog.

I have become friends with some incredible women.  My own mother is a shining hero to me.  But the more women I meet and the longer I'm a mom the more I learn that everyone has their dark days.  But every mom you meet will tell you that it is all worth it!  Thank goodness!

The purpose of this blog is to share some of those heart aches, to acknowledge that we are normal and real, to uplift those who may be going through a personal dark period in their life, and to show that there are many "un-pinterest" things that can save the day.  This blog is a collection of tricks from many women that I love and admire.