Being a Mom of only Girls

Being a Mom of only girls is a wonderful, amazing, rewarding experience. Of course, I've never had sons, so I have nothing to compare it to! When I decided to join in Kelly's link up for Mom's of girls all I could think of is what a blessing it's been to be a Mom of these two beautiful, amazing girls.

My daughter's are nicknamed on my blog for the sake of privacy, so I refer to them as Hope and Joy on here. Hope is 10 {and a half!} and Joy is 9. They are just 17 months apart which is not something we EVER planned, but it has been a wonderful blessing to have them so close in age.

I always say, sometimes they can be the best of friends and other times they can be the worst of enemies. They will fight and bicker at times, then an hour later will play and get along so well. Many times they will go off to play for HOURS together and have the best time together. Their personalities are different, so obviously sometimes they just need a break from one another - probably just like ANY other siblings!

My girls are a great mix of girly girl and tomboy {well, maybe they lean a BIT more towards tomboy!}. They do like to get dressed up pretty and look nice. But they ALSO love to get dirty, play in the mud, ride bikes, pick up frogs, find bugs and wear grubby

t-shirts and sweatpants.

Hope is the more adventurous one, but I would expect nothing less of a firstborn. She will readily try new things and push herself out of her comfort zone. She loves a challenge and when she tries something new she will keep at it until she's come pretty close to perfecting it. {Rollerblading is her latest thing.} =)

Joy is a bit more timid. She waits and watches things more and then will step out and try things only after she's seen someone else do it. She is more cautious and often likes to follow in her big sister's footsteps.

 They both LOVE the outdoors, we do a lot of outdoorsy things together and they have naturally learned to love those things as well. We hike mountains, bike ride, go camping, go to the beach and play sports in the backyard. They also love to play in the creek behind our house, usually coming in completely muddy and soaking wet!

My oldest has a really fun and *interesting* sense of style right now. She likes to wear all kinds of crazy outfits and hairstyles and doesn't really care if it's not 'in style'. I'll admit, I haven't always been on board with every outfit and I know it's just because when we leave the house, I want her to look presentable so people won't think I'm a bad Mom. It's something I've been trying to work on because I want HER to feel confident and secure in who SHE is, and if she is confident in the clothes/ hairstyle she chose than why should *I* make her feel otherwise. I guess it's one benefit of homeschooling, kids feel more able to express themselves in what they wear than if they were feeling the peer pressure at school. The Lord has really been showing me that if I want my daughter's to feel confident and secure, I need to be supportive and not turn my nose up at every outfit that doesn't match or look cute.

Being a Mom of girls has it's challenges too. Dealing with emotions and 'attitudes' is an ongoing thing. Seems like whenever we get through one difficult stage, we start with another one. But I am getting better at not reacting so strongly towards these stages and trying to keep my own attitude and emotions in check {which isn't always easy!}.

Some of the fun things are having spa night, watching movies together, curling up to read books together, having little 'fashion shows', listening to their endless giggles, being creative & crafty together, talking about life, teaching them God's Word and seeing their friendships grow.

One of the best books I've ever read on raising girls is Dr. James Dobson's 'Bringing Up Girls'. I simply can't recommend it enough!

I also can't stress enough the importance of a wonderful Daddy in a girl's life. My husband does an AMAZING job of being there for his girls. He LOVES to take them out in the driveway and have basketball competitions with them, he takes them fishing with him, he takes them biking, he is VERY hands on with everything they do and they simply ADORE him. In Dobson's book he talks a lot {about 3 chapters worth!} about the importance of a great Dad in his daughter's life.

When people ask me if I'd ever keep trying to have a boy, I tell them NO WAY! I am so happy that God chose to bless me with these two wonderful girls. I know there have been challenges and there always will be - but the blessings FAR outweigh the challenges and the rewards are too numerous to count.

 My daughter's have both accepted the Lord as their Savior and I hope and pray that they will always make the Lord the center of their lives. My greatest desire is to see them grow into women who love the Lord and go on to raise their own families to know and love the Lord. I pray that they will always have confidence in knowing who they are in Christ; beautiful, chosen, dearly loved daughters of the KING!

 I am SO blessed!