Ten Years of Motherhood

My mind cannot wrap itself around the fact that I've been a mother for a DECADE. I honestly can barely remember what I used to do before I was a mom. Thinking about all the time I had to myself...what a life ha!

I know my age has grown a DECADE, I technically know my baby boy is now a TEN-YEAR-OLD - which did you know this is considered a pre-teen - but it just seems crazy to think of how long I've been a mom.

That time I got really drunk and didn't know I was pregnant. October 2008

Celebrating a pregnancy that took! While not knowing I was pregnant. October 2008

Hi baby Miles!!!

Baby on board {and I didn't know it} October 2008

I thought it'd be fun to think about the pre-mommy Allena and her ideas and laugh at me!

Things I swore I would never do:
-Bribe with food - I read something once that using food as a reward teaches kids to view food that way and can lead to food issues later on. While I would highly bet this is true, I am NOT above saying 'If you do xxx, I'll give you yyy.' {I used it yesterday!}
-Excessive screen time - No way were my kids going to spend hours on screens. They would have way less than the recommended time! Yeah right. This one is such a battle, but we do have days where I don't care and we all go to town!
-Not closely policing YouTube - This is probably a bad one to admit, but we don't police what the kids do online as much. Brent and I have both admitted we need to get better about this!

What just happened to me?!?!

Things that used to freak me out:
-Babies barfing {largely because Trent didn't throw up ever until he was 7} - now I can catch it in my hands and keep right on rocking. Now that's not to say my heart still doesn't break when my babies are throwing up, but I can deal with it like a champ!
-Ear infections, the flu - I was scared of all illnesses but was so conflicted about antibiotics and vaccines. Now a lot of people might not agree with how I treat and prevent illnesses, but I'm confident at least!
-My kids growing up {I used to think it would be so 'boring' to not have babies} - I can remember seeing people with older kids and feeling sorry for them - isn't that nuts? Now I see how much FUN it is to have older kids. It's less work in some ways {they can help with chores, get their own snacks, little night wakings, etc.}, but of course the problems do get bigger as the kids get bigger!
-Feeling like I wasn't giving them undivided attention - I struggled with this big time as a part of my post-partum journey. I had such guilt about not giving ALL of my attention and effort to my kids. Now I am THRILLED when they play alone or with each other, and I say quite often 'Dad and I had more kids so y'all would play with each other.'

I'll be really curious to see where I end up in the next 10 years when I have an adult and 2 teens!!!