The girl effect

Embarking on this new journey of motherhood has sparked a lot of emotions. I'm about to experience a newfound relationship with a daughter that I haven't been able to experience with only having boys up until this part in my life. I have so many things that I hope to share in our bond with each other. I have a dream about our relationship that I want so desperately for it to be and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it's a healthy, loving one.

There are so many things that I want her to know and I find myself already making mental notes of these to make sure I tell her through the years.

All photography below beautifully captures Landry at exactly one week old and were taken by the very talented Kim Martin. Kim, I will forever treasure these photographs and they will always have a special place in our home and in our hearts. Thank you for these pieces of art of our family and our beautiful daughter.

Here are some bits of random pieces of advice to Landry I want to share and a thing or two I've learned through the years...

 

1. The happy girls are the prettiest ones.

 
2. Don't be afraid to try something new and take a leap of faith even when you're scared. "You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."

3. Expect the best from life and that's what you'll get.



4. Make snow angels, catch lightning bugs and wish on stars and stay up to watch the sunrise because life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.

5. Do what you love. And if you want to know where you heart is, look to where your mind wanders.

6. Accept what you can't change, change what you can't accept.

 

7. Know that beauty has everything to do with how you feel about yourself and nothing to do with looks or other people's opinions.

8. God doesn't give us what we can handle, God helps us handle what we are given.

9. People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will NEVER forget how you made them feel.

 

10. Happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather recognizing what we do have.

  

11. Golden Rule: Would you like you, if YOU met you?

 

12.  Apologizing does not always mean that you're wrong and the other person is right. It just means you value your relationship more than your ego.

13. Be thankful for what you have and you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.

 

14.  Just because today is a terrible day doesn't mean that tomorrow won't be the best day of your life, you just have to get there.

15. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.  - Dr. Seuss

The journey of being a mom of a girl is exhilarating and frightening all at the same time. There's something about knowing that I'm about to mold this little human and I want so much for her to be happy, self confident and compassionate toward others. Making sure that I have the right "recipe" to mold that human, so to speak, is a lot of pressure. While the pressure may be intense, the love just comes so easily, so I'm hoping that is the main ingredient.

And in honor of celebrating having a daughter, I want to share a video of the power of girls and all that the strength and power they possess. It's for a cause I feel strongly about...The Girl Effect. Just another reason to show that girls really do rock.