Welcome!

Hello to everyone reading this blog.... I have tried blogging before, but never really stuck with it, maybe because they were just random topics that I really wasn't too concerned about. However, this time around, I have decided to created "Exploring Mommyhood", a place for moms like you and I to do just that- explore the different findings of being a mom.

Let me start off by telling you a little bit about myself for those of you who don't know me:

My name is Jessica, and I am a 26 year old single mother to an amazing and beautiful 2 year old little girl, Claire. I live in North Eastern Ohio; I am a State Tested Nurse's Aide in a local senior care facility; and I am attending a local hospital's College of Nursing to obtain my Associate's Degree in Nursing, as well as another local college to obtain an Associate's Degree in Business Management. My career goal is to one day become an administrator of a healthcare facility, either specializing in pediatrics or senior care.

Claire is by far the absolute best thing to have ever happened in my life, unexpected as she may have been! Her dad and I spent the previous four years in the "off and on again" kind of relationship. We were either crazy about each other and in love or we were at each other's throats. There was never really an in between. Part of this was due to him being an active member in the Army. We would be okay... and then when it came time for deployment he would push me away and we would spend that entire time fighting... then somehow whenever he came home we managed to find each other and share a few "crazy nights" together and be okay just in time for the cycle to start all over again before the next deployment. Four years and three deployments later, when he was finally discharged from the Army and moved home, we started spending more time together. Only that time around it was the "I hate you... but I love to hate you" relationship. We had history, we had passion, we had the perfect mix of love and hate to make one heck of a steamy night after holding our breaths sitting next to each other watching "Flags of Our Fathers" (which, might I say, was not the best choice of movies to watch after what we had been through with our relationship versus the Army). Nine emotional months later, our beautiful little girl was born. We tried to make our relationship work when she was born, but it just didn't. Unfortunately, it took amost one year, many court visits, and a lot of tears to realize that it was okay that it didn't work.

So here I am now.... a single mother trying to do everything that's best for Claire and I, regardless of what it takes. I'm learning a lot on this journey- about Claire, motherhood, family, love, life, and about myself.

Until next time!

~XOXO~