Show Your Real: Michelle

Is it Tuesday again already? Bad news is, the weeks are flying by. Good news is, that means it's time for another Show Your Real guest post. Oh, the bittersweet-ness of it all....
Today we get to hear from Michelle, and let me just say- she's getting real with ya'll. None of this, "yeah, I'm a bit of a mess, but I'm just going to show you a teeny tiny bit of it and hope that it actually comes off charming vs actually exposing the true me" stuff....She's willing to say the ugly things, and show the yucky parts. And I admire her for that. I know I see a bit of myself in what she has to share...maybe you do too.

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Hey y'all! I am so excited to be apart of the Show Your Real series!! I admire this series and how different each woman has been. From Amanda to Kristi - we are tough cookies, us women. With God, a little mocha latte and some lip gloss we can get a heck of a lot done!

A little bit about me: My name is Michelle, I am a 24 year old Housewife and Mama. My Husband is Jack and we have a daughter named Abigail (hopefully soon we will be adding more little munchkins to the team)! I am the author of the blog The Heart of Home. I blog about a lot of the stuff that attracted me to bloggers like Courtney. The Heart of Home's tagline is 'happy, silly, poopy & pretty tales' because connecting with other Moms and Wives who's lives are centered around family is important to me and really the root of why I started blogging.

Navigating Motherhood is so challenging, I think the most difficult part for me is balance. I am balancing on a board that is teetering on a ball and I'm not so good at it yet. Some days I wake up, make breakfast, pack lunches, take a shower and make it into the nursery by 7:30 to greet Abigail's smiling face. Other days it's 10:30, Abigail is tired of being in bed and I'm staring at the wall with a headache, no breakfast, Jack forced to buy lunch and all I can concentrate on is hoping that the world will stop turning for just a little while so I can regroup.

It's difficult. I feel like I should start some sort of charity where myself and a few other women allow promiscuous teenage girls into our homes to experience how difficult raising a child is. I feel like we would never see another sixteen year old in booty shorts again.

Growing up I dreamed about being a Mother, I've always wanted a large family, my husband has too. The funny thing about dreams is that there is never a scene played out in your mind where you haven't taken a shower, you've survived all day on a few Triscuits and a couple of swigs from a sippy cup, you're exhausted and your child is getting a tooth. No, dreams, they don't let you in on those dirty little secrets.

The truth of the matter is that nothing can make me as tired. Make my house a disaster. Push me to the brink of insanity. Make me as poorly dressed and inadequately groomed as taking care of this little girl of mine.

Yes, it's true. I am sitting at the computer in my pajamas with a stain on my shoulder involving a walk to the play pen and a mouthful of mango that Abigail wanted to share. Yes, it is 1:30 and I did just say that I'm in my pajamas. The only thing I've consumed all day is coffee. I have a massive headache and I am counting down the hours until my Husband texts me and says that he's off of work. No, I don't have dinner planned. And yes, I am afraid to look my kitchen in the eye. It is scary and I'm not sure I will come out alive if I walk in there to clean it. I am tired. Aunt Flo stopped by with her sisters Aunt Crampy and Aunt Bloaty, so all I really want to do is lay on my bed and be still for 8 hours.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, can warm my heart like my daughter wanting me. 

To be in my arms.

To touch my face.

To nuzzle into my chest.

I am hers, and she is mine.

And it makes it all worth it.

xoxo Michelle

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Show Your Real is a bi-weekly series of guest posts centered around the concept of authenticity. The goal is to encourage each other to expose the reality of our lives- good and bad- and to foster a sense of community that goes beyond the often suface-cy interactions of social media. We invite all of you to participate! Please comment, link, and hashtag to spread the showyourreal love. If you would like to contribute a guest post in this series, please email me!