Me and my wonderful mom, Cynthia Garrett

Thoughts on Motherhood

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~Washington Irving

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. ~Abraham Lincoln

A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, "where mother is." ~Keith L. Brooks

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A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest. ~Irish Proverb

It is not until you become a mother than your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding. ~ Erma Bombeck

A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path. ~ Agatha Christie

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My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. ~ George Washington

The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. ~William Ross Wallace

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Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful, wonderful, precious mother! I love you more than I could ever express!

Advice & Comfort for New Mommies: This, Too, Shall Pass

My new little great-niece, Brooklynn Nevaeh


My niece Lindsie and baby Brooklynn

Tonight I'm going to a baby shower for my beautiful niece, Lindsie, and her adorable firstborn baby, Brooklynn Nevaeh.

I can't believe Lindsie is a mommy. It seems like just yesterday she was born herself. I remember it very clearly, because Lindsie was my sister-in-law Sherrie's first daughter after having two boys.

I myself had two boys, Jonathan and Justin, and although I was crazy about them, I longed for a baby girl. Little did I know that, probably at the very time I was attending Lindsie's baby shower, I was carrying Elizabeth Ashley in my womb.

Nine months after Lindsie's birth, Elizabeth arrived. And those two have always loved each other. Lindsie and Lizzie. They were so cute together as little girls.

My advice for new mommies

I'm going to be sharing a devotional at Lindsie's shower tonight, and I'm not going to share that here right now. But I will impart some of my advice for new mommies.

Not too long ago, Ann-Marie, whose blog I love, had her first baby. After the initial joy of Sam's birth (she had pretty much given up on being able to have a baby), real life set in, as it has a tendency to do.

Real life, with the attendant lack of sleep after being up all night with a screaming baby.

I wrote this in her comment section after a post in which she poured her heart out about new-baby difficulties:

First of all...he is ADORABLE!!!! I love that picture of him smiling with his eyes closed.

Second of all--all the craziness you're going through right now--this, too, shall pass. And very soon. With every week, you'll be more confident with him, and he will get easier to figure out.

He'll also grow, so he won't need to eat so often. And he'll sleep more.

The day will come when these rough days will only be a fuzzy memory. And you WILL get to write more.

In the meantime, just enjoy...because in two seconds, he'll be 29 years old (like my firstborn Jonathan), and you'll say, "What happened!?!"

SO true. No, you'll never stop worrying about your baby, even when he's 30, 40, 50 and beyond.

But these difficult baby days will pass--and though they seem like an eternity while you're experiencing them, in retrospect it will seem they went by so fast they made your head spin.