(Below is a guest blog from my daughter, Melissa Rogers Dalton. This is the first installment of three guest blogs from my three children.)

 
How exciting! This is my first guest blog post, and I’m very flattered that my dad asked me to share. We pick on him that he doesn’t like to give up his pulpit, so if his blog is any relation, it’s a real honor (even if I am family). Love you, daddy!

Well, I was asked to share about being a new mom almost a month ago, and I thought it would be easy to sit down and write it. I forgot that I was a NEW mom, and babies set the schedule. I guess I’ll start by sharing a little about myself. I’ve been married to my wonderful husband, Steven, for almost 6 years now, and we had our first child, Keagan, on December 16, 2011. I’ve been on maternity leave since then, but I went back to work on Monday, February 13 (I teach 4th grade) and will now face a whole new set of challenges. I’m nervous about it but ready to get into some sort of routine.

I’ve always known I wanted kids one day, but for years I joked that I wanted to adopt one that was potty-trained. Babies are cute, but they’ve always scared me a little. They can’t tell you what they want, keep you up at night, and I hate changing diapers! However, I’ve been seeing friend after friend become a new mommy, and my biological clock actually started to tick almost 2 years ago (I never thought it would). Steven wasn’t ready yet, and we wanted to be a little more financially stable, so we waited. When we found out we were expecting last May, both of us were thrilled and couldn’t wait to welcome our little one into the world. To make it even better, our entire small group at church was expecting as well, so we had friends to literally go through the process with us.

Since Keagan has arrived, I’m amazed how much love I have for him. He could do anything or do absolutely nothing and I still have an overwhelming amount of love for him. Even when I’m up four times in the night because he wants to snack on his bottle instead of having one good feed, all he has to do is let me hold him and my heart melts. I think he’s the most adorable little boy in the world, and it’s so cool that I can actually call him “mine”.

Don’t misunderstand me: it’s been a challenge to be a mom. Like I said earlier, sleep is constantly interrupted. I can’t just go do whatever I want whenever I want. I feel like all I do is feed him. I’ve been peed on AND pooped on multiple times. And, on a more vain note, I’m 5 sizes bigger than I used to be, and it seems like the weight will never come off.

But then I remember that God CHOSE to bless me with a child. He felt that I was worthy enough to entrust with the care of one of his own. This is a gift that is not bestowed to everyone, and I fully intend to be the best mom that I can be! It is a top priority that Keagan be taken care of to the best of my ability AND that I raise him in a Christian home that instills the values and priorities that Keagan will need to grow up as a strong Christian man. Our parents did a wonderful job with both of us. Now it’s our turn!