you know you are a mom when....

after having stella life has changed so much. the first few months after she was born were beautiful, exhausting, and a blur. as much as i tried to soak in every moment with her....i know that i have already forgotten some special things about that little 5 pound baby girl. my mother in law used to laugh at me because i would just rock and look at her for hours! literally. i would still do this if stella would sit still long enough:) anyway, that first year is full of all kinds of "firsts" and so many changes. she was constantly changing and growing. there were days that i would walk into her room after her morning nap and swear that she had changed in that very short amount of time! but anyway, once she became a toddler it was a whole new ball game. sometimes i would catch myself doing or saying something and think.....wow! i am really a mother now! i have been having a lot of these moments lately. here are a few personal examples from the last few weeks....

you know you are a mom when:

1. you are out with friends and realize that you have a diaper/pull up in your purse. not in your diaper bag...in your purse. i know-i'm way cool.

2. you dig in your purse for lip gloss at work and find a random pacifier or small toy. in my case-a small "barbie" from a kids meal.

3. you have crayon on your couch and you are too tired to do anything about it for days. or weeks.

4. after dropping your child off at "school" you drive for at least 5-10 minutes before realizing that you are still rockin' the elmo/veggie tales cd that your kid had requested earlier.

5. you are embarrassed when new people get into your car because you for sure have to move goldfish crackers, random banana peeling, or something disquisting that you would have never allowed before kids. or 15 sippy cups. not really 15 but you get the point:)

6. shower or bathroom time=personal time.

i could go on but i'll spare you. btw-these are all wonderful things. i'm not complaining, just saying it's different.

ADOPTION UPDATE: i finally heard from childrens home and aid on friday. our clearances were received from the state of illinois and we are free to move on with the remainder of our homestudy process. i'm trying to schedule 2 appointments for next week. i want to get this done before brandon heads off to germany and prague at the end of the month. i have been working on randon docs for our dossier as well and hope to have those completed this week. i feel like things are picking up again! finally!!