{"id":6782,"date":"2016-03-21T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/?p=6782"},"modified":"2016-03-20T21:47:56","modified_gmt":"2016-03-21T02:47:56","slug":"letters-lindsey-volume-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters from Lindsey, volume 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

First of all, if you’re new around here, let me introduce myself. I’m Lindsey and I started The Nashville Mom a couple of years ago. In the past year we’ve had several\u00a0amazing\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>moms join the squad to help bring you great content from multiple perspectives. So, while I “own” The Nashville Mom, I’m not THE Nashville Mom. We all are. I hope you feel like a part of the family when you stop by, because I love having so many sisters out in the world. Now to the real story…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I guess I assume everyone knows my story and why I choose to spend so much time and energy on The Nashville Mom. I tend to be an open book, but if you haven’t met me, then you probably don’t know.<\/p>\n

I love moms. I’m passionate about moms. I want to help moms have an easier day. Because you know what- being a mom is hard. It isn’t hard because you are doing something wrong- or doing something right- it’s just hard because… life.<\/p>\n

I love moms of all kinds. Moms with big kids, little kids, babies (I really love moms with newborns that let me snuggle them). I love moms with babies in heaven, babies in their belly, babies being grown in someone else’s belly, babies that may be waiting for them in a lab. Moms are awesome. ALL moms are awesome. YOU are awesome.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, that still doesn’t explain a lot about TNM and my role in it. Let’s start at the beginning.<\/p>\n

I’ve been a mom for 5 years now. I’ve lived in Nashville for almost 6 years. We moved here while I was pregnant. I moved away from my parents, from the city I grew up in, to a new city. We decided to move before we knew I was pregnant and didn’t find out until we were already in the process. We couldn’t change our minds at that point.<\/p>\n

I didn’t handle my first pregnancy well. I wanted to be pregnant, we had been trying for months to get pregnant, but it wasn’t the fairytale that I had imagined. I couldn’t get a job (people don’t like to hire pregnant girls) and that just gave me ample time to dwell on how miserable I was. I sat in a small apartment with my growing belly and missed my mom and my home and my great job I had before. My support circle in Nashville was very small. I had a few friends but none of them were even thinking about babies yet. Brent (husband) was working a lot trying to grow his business. I was alone. I was lonely.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Then, in March, I got my precious baby boy. He was perfect. The delivery was difficult and anything but perfect, but he was healthy and I couldn’t ask for more than that. My mom kept me busy for a few weeks after Mason was born and that made me forget the lonely thing. But, after mom-time was over, here I was, sitting in an apartment with this little being I created, with nothing to do and no idea how to figure it out. I was probably depressed and needed help, but I didn’t know any better. I wasn’t alone. I was lonely.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"207642_1815157632729_201366_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was so nervous as a new mom to try anything new. I never wanted to look like a fool when I stopped by a new restaurant only to discover they aren’t really kid-friendly. I didn’t want to be the only one at story time that didn’t know you were suppose to pack 75 snacks for your kiddos even though the sign says No Food<\/em>. I hated doing the “wrong” thing. I just desperately wanted to fit in and look like I had it all together. Did I mention that most people thought I was the nanny? Yea… I carried that little rugrat for 9 months, spent 4 hours pushing (yes, pushing), and then they thought I was the nanny<\/em>. Slap.in.the.face. I just wanted some credit and respect. But, hey, I was young. One day I’ll love that I look younger than I am, right?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eventually, I got my mom bearings. I figured it out. Moms are fighters. We’re brave and strong. We will always figure it out. We learn that just showing up is 75% of the battle. But, you don’t have to figure it out on your own! Thankfully, I got my “mom-jo” at some point and Mason and I just ventured out to do whatever we wanted. And, yes, I looked foolish sometimes. :)<\/p>\n

\"1150885_10200386612336966_1718267719_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So, fast-forward a few years to my second pregnancy. By then, I had plenty of mommy friends and support. I had a busy, active life. I had finally accepted that I was living in Nashville and I fell in love with this city. My second pregnancy was harder physically, but emotionally I was 100 times better than I was the first time around. The labor and delivery was all sorts of easy, too. (I totally paid my dues with Mason. I deserved it!)<\/p>\n

\"1601975_10152239192380948_1088062782_o\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was just a couple months after Maddie was born that I realized how great life was treating me this time around. I was happy and healthy- physically and mentally. My babies were healthy. I was confident as a mother. That’s when I took the time to reflect on how difficult it had been for me the first time around. And that’s how I came up with The Nashville Mom.<\/p>\n

\"McPherson-8-BW\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I NEVER want another momma to feel that way. I never want you to want help and not know where to turn.<\/strong> So, if you just want tips and ideas for things to do with that little being you created, we want to provide that through our blog and social media. If you want to make a new friend in a safe, non-judgemental environment, we want to provide that through our community events. If you’re nervous to come to an event by yourself, please don’t be. You know at least 1 face (insert Lindsey face here) and I would LOVE to be your friend. If you want to feel like you’re not alone in your struggles, I’m an email away<\/a>. Seriously.<\/p>\n

You are not alone. Please don’t feel lonely.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"TNM-FRIENDS-25\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First of all, if you’re new around here, let me introduce myself. I’m Lindsey and I started The Nashville Mom a couple of years ago. In the past year we’ve had several\u00a0amazing\u00a0moms join the squad to help bring you great content from multiple perspectives. So, while I “own” The Nashville Mom, I’m not THE Nashville… <\/p>\n

View Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[299,112],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nLetters from Lindsey, volume 2 | The Nashville Mom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Letters from Lindsey, volume 2 | The Nashville Mom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"First of all, if you’re new around here, let me introduce myself. I’m Lindsey and I started The Nashville Mom a couple of years ago. In the past year we’ve had several\u00a0amazing\u00a0moms join the squad to help bring you great content from multiple perspectives. So, while I “own” The Nashville Mom, I’m not THE Nashville... View Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Nashville Mom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheNashvilleMom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-21T13:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-21T02:47:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/McPherson-8-BW.jpg?fit=4500%2C3214&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"4500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3214\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dawn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dawn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dawn\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/32acb624127d92c788461c86f6534058\"},\"headline\":\"Letters from Lindsey, volume 2\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-21T13:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-21T02:47:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":1046,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"For Mom\",\"Real Mom Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/\",\"name\":\"Letters from Lindsey, volume 2 | The Nashville Mom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-21T13:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-21T02:47:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Letters from Lindsey, volume 2\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Nashville Mom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Nashville Mom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/36311551_1150478465094684_1097428611587112960_o.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/36311551_1150478465094684_1097428611587112960_o.png\",\"width\":1,\"height\":1,\"caption\":\"The Nashville Mom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheNashvilleMom\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thenashvillemom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thenashvillemom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/32acb624127d92c788461c86f6534058\",\"name\":\"Dawn\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/author\/nashvillemombloggmail-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Letters from Lindsey, volume 2 | The Nashville Mom","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Letters from Lindsey, volume 2 | The Nashville Mom","og_description":"First of all, if you’re new around here, let me introduce myself. I’m Lindsey and I started The Nashville Mom a couple of years ago. In the past year we’ve had several\u00a0amazing\u00a0moms join the squad to help bring you great content from multiple perspectives. So, while I “own” The Nashville Mom, I’m not THE Nashville... View Post","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/","og_site_name":"The Nashville Mom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheNashvilleMom","article_published_time":"2016-03-21T13:00:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-21T02:47:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":4500,"height":3214,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/McPherson-8-BW.jpg?fit=4500%2C3214&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dawn","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dawn","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Dawn","@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/32acb624127d92c788461c86f6534058"},"headline":"Letters from Lindsey, volume 2","datePublished":"2016-03-21T13:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-21T02:47:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/"},"wordCount":1046,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["For Mom","Real Mom Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/","name":"Letters from Lindsey, volume 2 | The Nashville Mom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-21T13:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-21T02:47:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/letters-lindsey-volume-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Letters from Lindsey, volume 2"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/","name":"The Nashville Mom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#organization","name":"The Nashville Mom","url":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/36311551_1150478465094684_1097428611587112960_o.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/36311551_1150478465094684_1097428611587112960_o.png","width":1,"height":1,"caption":"The Nashville Mom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheNashvilleMom","https:\/\/twitter.com\/thenashvillemom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thenashvillemom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/32acb624127d92c788461c86f6534058","name":"Dawn","url":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/author\/nashvillemombloggmail-com\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/McPherson-8-BW.jpg?fit=4500%2C3214&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9HZL8-1Lo","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6782"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenashvillemom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}