When you are passionate about something, you have to chase it. That’s what I’m learning to do with all of my “spare time” as a mom of one, soon to be two.

Little Jessica was always pretty annoyed when her answer to the all too common question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was met with disproval and a push to do more with her life. What was my controversial answer, you ask? “A mom!” I always knew I wanted to spend my life loving on my kids, but I was also always confused as to why that would be a problem? More specifically a problem for other people to weigh in on? Why did my answer receive “Aww! You can’t just be a mom!” or “That’s so precious! Don’t worry, you still have time to figure it out!”, while my peers were only encouraged when they said they wanted to be an astronaut or a rock star? Little Jessica didn’t like the way this push back felt, especially because her dream job felt much more achievable than being an astronaut or rock star . Even as a kid it was pretty clear from that people didn’t place very much value on the unseen work of moms, much less acknowledge how hard women who get cast in the role of Mom have to work, and how our society would absolutely cripple without mothers. Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite that clear to little Jessica, but it was the start of her becoming aware of a f-ed up society. Why weren’t her dreams met with responses like, “That’s awesome! It’s a tough job but I know you can do it!”, or “Woah! The world can never have enough of those!”?

I find myself still today being caught off guard by well intending strangers who are trying to make small talk at the grocery store as my toddler gallops around and my 30 week baby bump and knocks into things. “What do you do, mom?” “Oh! I’m a stay at home mom - and I love it!”, I say. Seems like a pretty normal response, right? Well apparently it’s inconceivably offensive. Ninety percent of the time I’m then met with, “And what do you think you’ll do after your little ones go to school?” You may see where this is going, but I would proceed to tell them I plan to home school and ooohh boy, that’ll really get them going. “You can’t do that, you need time for yourself!” “You won’t want to. Once you have more you’ll see. You’ll be counting down the seconds until they go to school.” Then there’s my personal (least) favorite - “Ahh don’t do that.” - simple and to the point. I respect it.

Now, here I sit in my third trimester with my second little girl, faced with the same struggles as little Jessica; finding that I have little support and an ever growing longing to be the best mom I can be.

Where is the support for moms who see beauty in the pain and hardships that come with motherhood?

With a focus on mothering the way our bodies naturally do, and looking for support in holistic and natural based remedies,  I want to make and offer accessible support for every mom, with any story. For the little you who knew you wanted to be a mom from the time you were old enough to understand the concept, to the you who has found yourself thrown into the role in your less than ideal way. Every mom deserves to be informed and embraced throughout this beautiful journey. No filters, no sugar coating, no softening the blow, just a raw, unfiltered look at the nature of mothering - motheringNAKED.