Allison Cooper

Why the hell didn’t anyone remind me how hard the toddler years are? I’m taking all the mental notes on how to survive the toddler years.

In theory, the concept of a new mom not being able to answer your phone calls and/or texts right away should be self-explanatory...

While this final stage might take years to get to, you will finally come to a place where you realize that strong truly is the new sexy and you did something that took all the strength that you have inside you to bring your child into this world. This is not something to take lightly, this is heroic.

Just like anything else in the world, the struggle is very real. It’s my struggle and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Every day I get to experience my joy, my downfalls, and my life — and no one can really judge unless they have walked my path.

I remember very vividly those first days of feeding my son solids.

I can't just embrace the chaos. I wish I could follow the advice: “Stop stressing, Allison, you work full time, stop comparing yourself to mothers who don’t." But I can’t help but to play that comparing game and label myself as the inadequate mom.

... there is no joy in the season when mom is locking herself in the bathroom to pull her hair out — don’t let that be you!

Luck.

Finding yourself doing extra loads of laundry because your toddler’s favorite T-shirt is dirty and you know there will be the mother of all meltdowns tomorrow if it’s not clean?

Dear Husband, You are putting up with an awful lot in being with me right now, and rightfully so — I’m growing a tiny human inside me. Our tiny human. You have been very patient and kind with me, but so far we are only 15 weeks along and I fear that we have an even longer road ahead of us.