Back in the backs of time...

I was talking to a friend this morning, and we were chatting about the show Teen Mom (its fine, don't admit it outloud, but I know we all here watch this reality show), and the young moms on that show Break. My. Heart. I can't just watch that show like a normal person, I watch it from a mom's perspective, and being a teen mom myself, I watch it from the perspective of the girl who was in that same situation. There are times during the show where I realize I've stopped breathing altogether. Sounds stupid right? It's just a dumb reality show, most of its probably a set up. But regardless, those girls go through SO much, and I can totally feel their pain..

Let's face the facts here- I had Will when I was barely 18, fresh out of high school, just moved to AZ to live with my aunt because I had no where else to go, trying to figure HOW to figure out what to even do with my life. I had no direction, not even an inkling of who I was, or who I even wanted to be. In retrospect, I was so incredibly lost, had I been an outsider looking in, it would've broken my heart. But the second I held that gigantic boy you see in this picture below {the one with the spiky hair, mischievous eyes, and swoon-worthy smile}, I knew exactly who I wanted to be - first and foremost, I wanted to be the best mom I could be (what, with the teeny, tiny bit of direction I had in that area), and I wanted to be someone Will could be proud of.

I didn't exactly have the best childhood, and no thanks to myself, ended up struggling in the beginnings of adulthood. Will and I fought alot of battles together, emotionally and outwardly. By the time Will turned 2, we had lived in 3 different places, 2 different states. We were living in Vegas, my dad living in Tennesee, my mom in California. I was working full time, trying to be a single mom, trying to be a teen, trying to be myself, and I have to say, the absolute hardest thing I had to deal with ---- Judgement. Judgement from family (so sad), judgement from my friends, my peers, my co-workers. I couldn't understand why all these people in my life spent so much time making comments about my situation when they could have easily stepped in and helped put some positivity into my life. We weren't living an extravagant life, but at the end of the day, I was exactly who I wanted to be - the best mom to Will. And check it out - I was figuring it out by MYSELF :)

When Will was a few months off from turning 2, God gave us one of the greatest gifts - Nathan. He was 20, living in a house with 3 other guys, working part time, partying, going to UNLV. Sauntering through life, being a 'normal' 20 year old. Except that he wasn't. No other 'normal' 20 year old would pick up a girlfriend AND her toddler. But he did. And almost 7 years later, we have a unit here, Team Maier. We are a strong family of 5 (soon to be 6). Even on our worst days, we have a our health, we are happy, we have love.

I had a baby when I was 18. That baby helped shape me in to who I am today, and I wouldn't change it for the world. I don't think its wise for teens, or even young adults to have babies. Most people are never ready for it (I'm BARELY ready for it, and I have 3 kids). Give those teen moms on the dumb MTV show a break. It's not like they woke up one morning and thought "Gee, I'd like to make my life as difficult as possible. Think I'll have a baby in 40 weeks, that ought to do it!".

We should always remember that every person comes with their own story <3

This photo is about 15 months old, but good God there is so much love vibrating out of it, I had to share it :)