Lately, I’ve been soaking in the moments with my little bit. I couldn’t imagine life without her. I stop and pause daily thinking about how fortunate I am to be a stay-at-home mom and to enjoy the little things every day. From changing her diaper to wiping her tears, from cuddling on the couch watching Frozen for the 500th time to running after her outside, life is certainly sweet.
In motherhood, you see the best of days and the worst of days, but every day with my child gives me something that I try to encapsulate in my memory forever. I cherish the sweet moments, and I hold on to the not so sweet moments, too. And all of these things make me grateful for my mother. I’ve mentioned it briefly before here on the blog, but my mom had me when she was 17-years-old. She was in high school, and she had me her junior year. She went on to graduate on time, and her family helped raise me while she and my dad were still in school. I had a great childhood and life growing up. It’s because of the village that I now get to have the life that I do.
I graduated high school, earned a bachelor’s degree, and then a master’s degree, before ever having my little girl. I always like to say that my mom beat the odds with me. Statistics would show that I was supposed to get pregnant before graduating, too. But I didn’t. It’s because of all the support that she had, we stopped the cycle.
That’s why teen pregnancies and unplanned pregnancies are near and dear to my heart. Today, I’m joining the Huggies #UltraHug Selfie Contest and nominating LifeHouse Houston to win a $2,000 grant. LifeHouse helps women who are in an unplanned pregnancy or crisis situation. Most women who reach out to LifeHouse are alone and afraid, but LifeHouse gives them a home and helps them along their pregnancy journey. The women live in a family environment; they eat meals together, they read the Bible together, they have help to and from work or school, and they also receive counseling from licensed professionals. But most importantly, LifeHouse gives these women the tools they will need to be a parent. LifeHouse helps these women get on their feet and ready for life after baby.
LifeHouse has been around since 1988 and is privately funded. They partner with churches and volunteers around Houston, but I would love nothing more than to see LifeHouse receive the Huggies grant.
If you know of a local charity that could benefit from this contest, you can enter too! From April 20th until June 25th, Huggies will be accepting all selfies of you and your baby with the hashtag #UltraHug, and featuring them in a collage on the campaign landing page. On July 6th, voting will begin to narrow down the 20 finalists to 10 winners who will win a $2,000 grant from Huggies for their nominated community initiative.
Here’s how to enter the #UltraHug Selfie Contest:
- First, take a selfie of you and your baby and upload that selfie to Twitter or Instagram. Make sure to use the hashtag #UltraHug.
- In your same post, make sure to include a text nomination (approximately 100 – 120 characters) including a name and/or identifying description of a community project in the US, which you would like to nominate. Make sure the community project is something near and dear to your heart.
- Visit THIS page for more information.
I hope my selfie wins! Will yours win too? Thanks to Huggies for hosting this wonderful contest!
Let’s keep in touch, shall we?
You can see where I’m linking up on this page.
What a cool program!! And I love all your selfies :) I’m a newish stay-at-home mom w/ my son so I totally feel the same way you do…we’re so lucky!!
Aww, thanks Nikki! Absolutely. :) Wouldn’t trade this job for anything.
Love this! Love your pictures- truly shows the spirit of motherhood! Love it!
Thanks, Keri! Motherhood is such a beautiful blessing. :)
I hope your selfie wins too!!! Y’all are the cutest. I love the story behind your nomination too. xo
Thanks, friend! I really hope I can win them some money! :)
Ok, these selfies of you two are quite possibly the cutest I’ve ever seen!
Thanks, Shannon! That is so sweet of you. I’m afraid she already knows all about the selfie, but I don’t think I’ll ever regret having these pictures of us. :)
What a cool program!! And I love all your selfies :) I'm a newish stay-at-home mom w/ my son so I totally feel the same way you do…we're so lucky!!
I’m not a mother, but I sure did enjoy seeing your sweet pictures :)
Oh, thank you so much, Kelly! Hope you are having a great week!
Love this! Love your pictures- truly shows the spirit of motherhood! Love it!
I hope your selfie wins too!!! Y'all are the cutest. I love the story behind your nomination too. xo
Ok, these selfies of you two are quite possibly the cutest I've ever seen!
I'm not a mother, but I sure did enjoy seeing your sweet pictures :)
Wonderful selfies and a wonderful message! The love shows in every shot!
:-)
Traci
Thank you so much for that! :) Love definitely is abundant around here.
Wonderful selfies and a wonderful message! The love shows in every shot!
:-)
Traci
Aww, thanks Nikki! Absolutely. :) Wouldn't trade this job for anything.
Thanks, Keri! Motherhood is such a beautiful blessing. :)
Thanks, friend! I really hope I can win them some money! :)
Thanks, Shannon! That is so sweet of you. I'm afraid she already knows all about the selfie, but I don't think I'll ever regret having these pictures of us. :)
Oh, thank you so much, Kelly! Hope you are having a great week!
Thank you so much for that! :) Love definitely is abundant around here.
What a wonderful place you’ve nominated! My husband’s parents were very young when they had him and I think he would agree about how it takes a village. And he is definitely who he is today because of his mom!
What a wonderful place you've nominated! My husband's parents were very young when they had him and I think he would agree about how it takes a village. And he is definitely who he is today because of his mom!