1. You find your morning cup of coffee still sitting in the microwave at 5:00 PM.

2. The most popular comments in public are, “Wow, you have your hands full!” and “Are ALL those yours?”

3. You have 10 pacifiers and can’t find any of them.

4. Sitting in the church service with your husband feels like a date.

5. You no longer have to apologize to your company for the house being a disaster.

6. You can’t remember the last time you had a full night’s sleep.

7. The only break you get is a bathroom break.

8. Breaking up fights and disciplining is your job whether you like it or not.

9. You won’t dare go to the grocery store unless you are alone.

10. Your third child doesn’t mind eating off your second child’s breakfast plate (sometimes cold).

11. You have to schedule your morning around how many dirty diapers you’ll have to change before going out.

12. You consider lifting a 2 1/2 year old, 1 year old and newborn as your weight training class.

13. You get angry that there aren’t more mom-friendly, healthy drive-thru restaurants.

14. You have to think twice whether or not you forgot a child.

15. Visiting a chiropractor is a non-negotiable.

16. You throw your kids at your husband as soon as he walks in the door.

17. You pack all your kids in your van for a drive so you can have a conversation with your Husband.

18. Mother’s Day out and morning preschool are lifelines.

19. You’ve become good friends with your pediatrician.

20. The only way to cook a meal is to put a kids show on.

21. You are amazed you even got through another day.

22. You’re humbled because your son’s teacher wrote you an email this week saying he’s pretty much her top student. She didn’t know you’ve felt like a failure of a mom lately.

23. You realize more than ever how precious life is and it’s not a cliché that it’s truly a gift.

24. You want other people to experience the blessing of children, even when motherhood – no matter how many kids you have – is the hardest. job. ever.

25. You are surprised that your capacity to love grows richer and deeper.

26. You find yourself not wanting to ever miss out on each child’s first milestone because you know how fast time has flown with the oldest.

27. You pray every day that your children will come to know and love Jesus in spite of you.

28. You ask God to do great things in and through your children so they can make a difference in the lives of others.

29. You start to understand that the daily, difficult, messy, complicated, satisfying, beautiful, mundane tasks in motherhood and raising children are working together for a greater purpose. When you serve them, you serve God.

30. It’s a miracle that you finished this blog post!