We’ve spent the day snuggled under blankets, watching sparkling snow add layer after soft layer, stretching as far as we can see.

We’ve played trains and built towers and watched a little Mickey Mouse, too.

And that great big piece of my heart that is carved out for being a mama is filled to the brim.

But while sometimes it feels like motherhood fills every corner of my heart, there are other spots, too.

And when I woke up this morning, I caught this hint of excitement that can so easily get glossed over if I’m not careful.

As snow continues to fall and I look ahead to the new year, my heart feels cleaner and ready for whatever is coming.

I want to dream and I want to create and I want to fill the canvas in ways I haven’t even thought of yet.

I’m in that stage in my life when I have a lot of friends having babies and raising little ones and making that never-easy decision of staying home or working outside the home.

I just want to encourage you who are doing this little thing called mothering: You’re wired for such a time as this.

And that time you spend investing into little ones and worrying over decisions and making lists of pros and cons?

It matters.

Your big and small acts of mothering reverberate well into eternity.

We sacrifice in different ways and bend in ways that we never thought possible, but we’re stronger than we know and we never break.

And you know what we’re not reminded of enough?

That we don’t have to follow a script.

We don’t have to fall into cliché characters and repeat the motions.

We don’t have to be frazzled stay-at-home moms or disconnected working moms or whatever stereotype in which we think we’ve been cast.

We have the power to flip the script.

We can wear yoga pants or rock three-inch wedges. (But, um, probably not at the same time.)

We can create art or love running or take gourmet cooking classes or pursue a new language.

What works for her might not work for you, and we should celebrate that. For me?

Staying home with my little boys in this season of life is a privilege.

Not everyone has a career field or a spouse’s schedule that makes freelancing possible, and I’m grateful.

Staying home with my little boys in this season of life is a sacrifice.

I stepped back from my career, and we made things work on one income—and I’m humbled.

Being a stay-at-home mom doesn’t make me a super woman or a failure, both of which I’ve felt at different times.

Staying home with my little boys in this season of life is gratifying and humbling and it’s a big part of my life, but it doesn’t define me.

What defines me is the way my eyes crinkle when I laugh and the way my voice shakes when I take a stand.

What defines me is the love that pours out of my heart and my desire to trust that the best story of all is still being written.

So, fellow sisters in the motherhood tribe, let’s go let snowflakes fall in our eyelashes and make snow angels and revel in fresh starts and new beginnings.