Follow Your Heart: Sponsored Post

 

This Mother's Day, I'm working with Clever Girls in support of Macy's Heart of Haiti to shine a light on the "trade, not aid" program, which provides sustainable income to Haitian artisans struggling to rebuild their lives and support their families after the 2010 earthquake.




As our lives are always busy, I needed to prepare myself to really write from my heart. Inspiration comes in spurts and sometimes I need a little push.  So, as we get ready for Mother's Day to approach I've reflected on these three posts:

• Ramblings of a Mommy-to-be
• From the Beginning

• Memories, Dreams and Reflections 2011

Looking back on my journey thus far as a mother, there are many words I could use to describe my feelings, but today I'm choosing proud. In no way do I have all the answers or have I a been perfect, but I am proud of myself, my baby boy, and of who I have become. It’s strange living your whole life as someone and then this little baby comes along and you are suddenly changed. I am still the passionate, silly, sarcastic girl I have always been, but now I have become part of this exclusive club that happens to have millions of members. We talk about the strangest things (milk supply, stool color, swaddles, bumbos?). Somehow this connects us. Welcome to motherhood.

Mother’s Day will be here soon and I can’t lie…I’m kind of excited. I love holidays and celebrations of all kinds and this is a new one that I get to be a part of in a new way! I, as a mother, get to be celebrated. More importantly, now I ACTUALLY know why mothers should be celebrated. It’s not because I’ve seen how hard it is or because I feel like I’ve done something special. It’s because in the past 6 months, I've realized even more the importance of this job. I realize that the women whom I’ve celebrated on mother’s day my whole life deserve MUCH more than just some stinkin’ old Sunday dinner and some flowers. 
I owe them everything.

My Mom (NaNa), Jonah and Me - minutes after his birth!

I now realize that these women have taught me to be a mother that I can be proud of. Most of all, they've shown me the love that I can now show my son. They've shown me how to show him that he is loved - unconditionally. They've told me that I am loved and now I am able to tell him how much he is loved.

I come from a fairly large extended family that is ever growing still. Jonah was the fifteenth great grandchild for my maternal grandparents (and Cousin Benjamin makes 16). Each son, daughter, grandchild, great-grandchild and those that come along with us is hugged on the way in and on the way out of my grandmother's home. That's the way it's always been and that is the way it will remain, I hope, for generations to come. My grandmother is there for every shower, birth, birthday party, and graduation. My mom is where ever we need her, when we need her. I am blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law who has persevered in seriously hard times and is one of our biggest forms of support. I have watched my sisters and sister in law become mothers, leaving me to be the last and I have learned so much from each of them and was able to get a glimpse of what it would be like to be a first time mom.

My sister Maggie, My Mom, Me, My Grandma, My sister Andrea

Jonah and MeMe (my mother in law)

All of this to say, I am one of the lucky ones. My list of thank yous to the women in my life would go on long past the "wrap it up" music. This Mother's day will be a different and new experience for me and hopefully documenting it here will be a reminder down the road of that first, new feeling. When I'm tired and frustrated, I'll have something to look back on and be grateful, because today I am proud to have joined the ranks of motherhood. 

Thank you to Macy's Heart of Haiti for sponsoring my participation in this “Share Your Heart" promotion. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Necklace from Heart of Haiti Collection at Macys

What is Macy’s Heart of Haiti? Heart of Haiti is a “Trade, Not Aid” initiative launched by artist and social entrepreneur, Willa Shalit, The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and Macy’s. Already, Heart of Haiti has led to employment of 750 artists in Haiti, providing financial benefits for an estimated 8,500 people in the country. Each item is a one-of-a-kind design and handmade by a Haitian master artisan from raw materials such as recycled oil drums, wrought iron, papier-mâché and stone. The collection features more than 40 home decor items including quilts, metalwork, ceramics, jewelry and paintings and is made almost entirely from recycled and sustainable items such as old cement bags, cardboard, oil drums and local gommier wood. Heart of Haiti products are available online at Macy’s.com.

I received two of the necklaces and haven't decided who should get the second...