I see you, Momma. I see you and I relate to you. You want nothing more than to spend every hour of the day cuddling that sweet baby girl you just brought home from the hospital. Nothing more than to sit and smell that sweet newborn smell and drift off to sleep with her. But you look around your house and you see a mess. Dishes are piling up, laundry is overflowing and your floors could use a good mopping.

Hold your baby.

Your dishes can wait. The floors can go a few extra days without being mopped. Wear something you wouldn’t normally throw on if it means letting the laundry wait an extra day or two.

Hold your baby. Hold her and rock her to sleep. Hold her while you’re on the phone with your mom who just wants to check in. Hold her even after your mom tells you “You’re going to spoil that baby”. Hold her because you aren’t going to spoil her, but you are going to spoil yourself.

It’s true what they say, babies don’t keep. One minute you’re singing her a sweet lullaby while she drifts off to sleep and the next you’re listening to her obnoxious music as she sits behind the wheel of your car.

So just hold her a little longer.

Hold your baby when she first wakes up in the morning. Those moments are the sweetest. Remember the way she smiles when she first opens her eyes and sees your face. You are the happiest part of her day, and in that moment nothing else matters.

Hold your baby after her bath time. Snuggle her up in a fluffy warm blanket and smell her hair. Remember the way her soft baby hairs feel on your face as you lean down for a kiss. Her baby hairs won’t be baby hairs forever.

Hold your baby and rock her to sleep. Sing to her and watch her drift to sleep in your arms. Rock her a little longer momma, she feels safe here. Remember the way her tiny little chest rises and falls as she dreams sweet little dreams. She won’t always want you to rock her to sleep.

Hold her at 3 am when she wakes up hungry. I know you’re tired, momma. She knows it too and she’s sorry. Let her nurse a little longer, she just wants to be close to you and feel your warmth. Her little tummy might be full, but she just wants you to hold her.

Hold your baby. Because one day she will grow up. One day she will be too big for you to hold. One day you will long for these days when she fits perfectly in your arms. You will look around and wonder where time has gone. It goes by so fast. Take in every moment.

So hold her just a little longer. Your dishes can wait.