I grew up and currently live in Wisconsin which is a joy and a headache at the same time. You get the 4 seasons; amazing summer weather, swoonworthy fall vibes, and an arctic tundra all in one year! I am married to my high school sweetheart and best friend. I give credit to my husband for so much in our lives. He keeps me sane, takes care of the house (when I know I will mess something up), and he always supports me in whatever I am passionate about. All the crazy started our freshman and sophomore years of college. We were living our best college lives, partying the nights away, being typical young adults and then our lives got turned upside down.

A BABY. 

Yep. You read that right. I found myself sitting in my college dorm room staring at a pregnancy test in disbelief. The two little pink lines glaring me in the face. I was lost. I was broken. I had NO idea what the he#% was going to happen next. After some much needed talking about what our future held, we both decided that this baby was coming into our lives no matter what the circumstances were. Come October 2014 we became parents. Holy mother of god, what a life changing moment. I never knew in a million years that my heart could be so unbelievably full. Our little guy was the center of our universe. My husband and I grew up fast… no more partying like there's no tomorrow! We had a little life to take care of now. 

Being a young mom changed me (for what I believe, the better) in so many ways that it’s hard to name one. It was no longer just about me. I had a little life that was depending on me. ME! That’s a lot of pressure when you’re 19 years old... When I recount my story of becoming a mom, it’s not what I was expecting. I expected to be married, have a house, a stable job, (insert “perfect” life scenario). Was I ready? Absolutely not. Would I do it all over again? Absolutely. 

Here is the cold hard truth: I was a mom and in college full time. Did I have to go back to college? Nah, but it was something that I needed to do to prove to MYSELF that I could do it if I set my mind to it. The balance between learning how to parent, work, and do homework in order to graduate is no joke. It was some of the busiest years of my life. Looking back and reflecting, it was chaotic, but so rewarding in the end. I was tested in every way imaginable. Being on the outside now and peering into my younger self, I wish that I would have slowed down. There was so much I missed with Christopher because I was crazy busy, but in the long run it set the tone for the next couple years of my life. 

The moment I had been waiting for YEARS finally happened, I was going to marry my best friend! I gave him way too much grief about waiting to propose to me, but in reality we were already married, we just needed the title! On November 18th, 2017 I got to marry Dan. I wish I could go back and relive that day a million times over. It was perfect in every way I could imagine. Christopher was our ring bear and that made every moment of that day even more precious. Looking back, I feel lucky that he got to be a part of such a special day with his mom and dad. Plus, he totally stole the stage during the ceremony stating “he wanted to get married too!!!” 

After we got married we laid out a plan of what we wanted in our future. I needed to graduate still, which was coming up mighty fast and we wanted that dream life as soon as possible! Fast forward to 2018, I was fresh out of college and landed my dream job: 4th grade elementary teacher. 

I did it! Job, check. Mom, check. House, (almost). As I started my career of teaching, I felt ready and up for any challenge that would be thrown my way. If I could survive going to school full time and parenting, this would work out right? (More on that one later). My husband and I built our beautiful house that first year of my career. Notice a trend yet? I thrive on chaos apparently! Everything felt in place and finally at a point where I could breathe again. Why not try to add another bundle of joy to the family? 

Two little pink lines showed up again, this time in a very different place in my life. House, check. Marriage, check. Stability, check. This time the story didn’t end the same way. My dream of having another baby came crashing down when we were supposed to hear that precious heartbeat at 8 weeks. 

Silence. 

My heart was ripped out of me that day and I didn’t know how I could recover from it. Could I ever have children again? What did I do wrong? Why did it happen to me? If you’ve ever experienced a loss, you feel so alone. No matter how many loved ones you have rallied around you, you feel alone. It took me a full year to feel like I was ready to open up my heart again to a new baby. 

Two pink lines, again. Exactly a year later those precious lines showed up. I was cautiously excited because I did not want to get my hopes up. An agonizing 6 weeks passed by and sure enough there was a little nugget in there! The moment my husband and I got to see the little heartbeat going strong was one of the happiest moments I had in the last year. It was finally happening! It was an uneventful pregnancy (thank GOD!) that ended in my second son being born. 

March 13th, 2020 was when we welcomed our second little man into our lives. We felt so complete and thankful that we were able to welcome this baby into the world. Remember the chaos part early? COVID decided to hit. Even though we went through a once in a lifetime experience with COVID, we got to spend time with our little family that would have NEVER happened to that extent. We got to learn to be a family of 4 during the pandemic and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I finally felt like the mother I was always supposed to be. 

As I’m writing this, it’s 2021 and I am back to teaching! Being a working mom with two kids is no joke! The feeling of constantly being “on” will never go away, but soon enough that feeling will begin to dwindle when my boys get older. I will cherish these crazy times with every ounce of my being. Even though half the time I feel like I may drown :) I can’t wait to begin my journey of blogging and giving my honest opinion about products I LOVE and suggestions or advice I have about daily life as a mom of two crazy boys! Thanks for stopping by. 

-Mama Carlson