On loving my body after baby.

On multiple occasions since having Eisley caught myself doing something that I totally convinced myself I was NOT going to do when I first got pregnant. I promised myself that no matter water, I was going to be happy with my post Eisley bod.

That has proven to be much harder of a task than I expected.

I have spent quite a bit of time beating myself up. Sometimes crying at night about the little clusters of stertch marks or the fact that my flubbery thighs. Nitpicking every part of myself.

Until I realized all the things I love about myself post baby .

I love my strong arms. Muscles I’ve earned from holding my baby when she needs comfort. From carrying her in her carseat. From holding her and spinning with her just to hear her laugh. From pulling out of her crib when she decides to wake up at 4:00 am. I love love love my strong arms.

I love my not so taught tummy. Do I want my ‘old’ tummy back? OH YEAH. I would loooove to have my toned-ish belly back, and hopefully I will someday, but my baby loves smacking my still slightly smooshy belly and whatever she loves I love, too.

I love my glutes. Let’s be honest. If you’re a mom you know that your life is one big game of up and down. You’re unintentionally doing squats all day long. Thank god for that. :)

I love my wild hair. After giving birth, my hair grew like a weed. WAYYYY more than when I was pregnant. My hair is now long and due to my wonderful hair genes I have crazy, colicky, wavy/curly hair. With the visitation of the post partum shedding fairy and some help from Eisley’s unnaturally strong baby fist super grip, I have short tufts of hair hidden among my hairline. But wanna know what? I honestly LOVE my hair. I recently went brown with some balayaging so my hair will be easier to maintain and I may be a little obsessed with it.

I love my tired eyes. I don’t think I’ve experimented with or bought so much concealer in my life before having Eisley. I’ve learned the true wonder of color correcting concealer. Concealing dark circles is an art form & one that I have yet to quite master. But I truly wouldn’t trade them for the world. If these tired eyes mean more moments with my sweet baby girl then bring it on.

I guess the moral of my little tale is that when I sat down and really truly thought about it I love so much more about my body that what I don’t. Really even the things I don’t like have a small place in my heart. Those little lines on my belly may feel like gross scars some days when I’m not feeling so confident but in reality those were formed while my body was busy working it’s butt off to create an incredibly smart, beautiful & brave little girl. No amount of creams or oils kept them at bay. It’s a reminder God decided to create in order to remind me how wonderfully blessed I was to carry her in my womb for 39 weeks and 4 days and to hold her in my arms every day since.