I’m so, so excited for today’s guest post. Janine Manley of Little Rabbit Wears is the first person I thought to ask when I decided to post some essays on motherhood in honor of Mother’s Day this week. Not only do I love her vintage-inspired girls shop and think she’s pretty fabulous, but I love how open and honest she is about motherhood…

I can’t say I’m one of those moms who instantly felt connected with my children in utero. While pregnant, I flopped around and ate carbs and wore my bathrobe like it was on trend. With my first born (son), I worried I wouldn’t know what to do with a little boy and that I would be left out of Daddy and boy fun. I freaked out about having to take care of a “winkie.” Or willy. Whatever. I kind of wished I was having a girl when I shopped for him at Baby Gap and looked at my friends’ Facebook photos of mommy and me tea parties and American Girl store visits.

But, when Jackson arrived on 2/3/11, it certainly didn’t matter one bit that he was a boy. He was simply the most beautiful little thing I had ever seen. I had been proud at times and I had been happy. But, never have I had a moment as sublime as the feeling of having a warm, soft baby burying his head in the crook of my neck while placing my finger in his hand to hold just like I had seen on TV—not caring that he was squishy, or wet, or that he had just come right out of my lady bits. And so began motherhood.