Ain't motherhood grand?

A brand new blog for a brand new stage of my life. Looking back at my last online journal - which I abandoned some four years ago - my life was in such a state of flux. I was fresh out of college and already jaded while trying to figure out my path. I was loveless and love lost, and was sure I was going to spend the rest of my days alone and trying to live up to other people's expectations. Well, a lot has changed and I won't event attempt to try to catch you up on everything that's developed over the past four years (as if you care). In a nutshell, I've been in a committed (though sometimes turbulent) relationship for the past three years. And three months ago I gave birth to the new love of my life: Stella James. I can't remember what my life was like before her, and I would never try to.

Motherhood is the kind of pleasantry that you can't explain to someone who's not a parent. I used to watch my friends wipe their kids' noses - barehanded - and rub the snot on their jeans. And I used to think to myself that I could never be that kind of person. I was wrong. Motherhood breaks you in on all kinds of bodily fluids. Stella peed on my jeans last night while I was putting her in the bathtub - well, before I got her in the bathtub, when I was enjoying the laugh she lets out when I rub her neck with warm washcloth. We're talking about a full bladder, here. And instead of changing my jeans, I finished her bath, restored her diaper, dried and dressed her all before I relieved myself of my discomfort. (On the upside, we have a video perfect for "America's Funniest..." because Dad was capturing little Stella's funny laugh when I screamed, "SHE PEED ON ME!")

What I'm trying to say is that I will always put my daughter's needs before my own and that I love my daughter more than anything in this world "with the kind of love that makes you cry" (to borrow from Scott Baio's reality show) .

On a side note, I finally got my store up and running at Etsy. Visit www.stellajames.etsy.com and plan on coming to see me and my friend Jen at Craft Saturday (www.craftsaturday.com) on March 22.