"I wasn't ready," she told USA Today. "I don't think anyone is ever ready. I definitely knew I wanted kids, but the decision, it was not something that I had, like, planned."
Rest is not a luxury or something that belongs on our self-care wish list. Rest is something our bodies need to survive. It is as vital to our health as eating and drinking, and yet we are expected to do all the things and perform at our best when our primary source of energy is barely sustaining us.
Moms are entitled to feel exhausted or overwhelmed or defeated, and they're allowed to express those feelings. We should never shame them for doing so.
Luckily, I have this toddler who often lives for nothing but the moment, and I am doing my best to learn all I can from him and help him hold on to this skill before life tries to drag it away.
Never in my life have I felt so much fear as I jumped in and pulled him out. He immediately started crying, thank God. I held him close to me and didn't want to let him go.
There is no denying that my body has changed through the process of growing, birthing, and feeding babies for the past nine years. How could I expect it to go back to what it was before all of this happened?
This life is wonderful. So wonderful in fact that I would go back and live it again and again, which is why it is with bittersweet envy that I celebrate expecting moms and the amazing moments ahead of them.
When I looked at it a third time, I realized this was a beautiful photo of us. Honest, intimate and real, this photo perfectly captured all the feelings in the room that night, and the reality of motherhood, which is as complex as this photo.
We've had a deep passion and conviction driving our every decision that women and mothers deserve better—we exist to change the world on her behalf. And, we've got this, together.
Most parents have pregnancy announcements. Others, like photographer Haley Jones's
parents, do a photoshoot to celebrate their transition into empty nesters.
