About Mummalove
Oh hello there.
My name is Annie, we live in sunny Queensland, Australia, and I am the ‘mummalove’ to three gorgeous boys – Sam, Charlie and Nicholas. I am also a wife of one, sister of six, aunty to 20, friend, daughter, business owner, podcaster and writer. Some days a superwoman, other days not so much, but always giving it a red hot go.
I think my life has been shaped by a small number of extraordinary experiences.
- Growing up with six siblings
- Marrying Ben
- Becoming a mum to three gorgeous boys within four years
- Discovering Nicholas had Down syndrome
- Sam being diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
- Losing my beautiful Nicholas at only four years old
...And a whole lot of amazingly ordinary moments in between that I continue to choose to pay attention to, to be grateful for and to fill with love.
One day I was writing answers to interview questions and struggling with one to do with my purpose in life. I asked my beautiful sister for inspiration on this one and she said,
“Love. The fact it’s your last name is no coincidence. Love found you because it’s your why.”
It made me cry. Possibly because it resonated at my deepest level and I knew it to be true.
I think we grow up expecting a fairytale. Marrying the partner of our dreams, falling pregnant easily and giving birth to perfect children, living happily ever after. I have learned the hard way that things don’t always (or maybe ever) happen the way we expect them to. And yet, these experiences have led me to be who I am today. They have shaped me and broken me and strengthened me.
“Something very beautiful happens to people when their world has fallen apart: a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point when our knees hit the floor.”
~ Marianne Williamson
In the brokenness, I have had to remember over and over again to look for the love.
In sharing our stories here, I want you to know you’re not alone. That hard things happen. Maybe in your life it looks different to the hard things I’ve been through, but they are your hard things. And I know that you and I can do hard things if we try to remember to look for the love. Somehow we can find the strength and beauty in the brokenness. Sometimes it is far more beautiful than we could have imagined, and most times, we are far stronger than we ever thought possible.
I'm here sharing our story because I know that this parenting gig isn't easy and we're all just doing the best we can. I'm here because I've worked out that I can't control what life throws at me, but I can do my darnedest to try to find joy and blessings amongst the chaos, and see the stars in the darkest of nights. I want you to know that it's okay if you feel a bit overwhelmed too. Maybe we can start in this moment and support each other by doing 'small things with great love', rather than trying to tackle anything too epic just yet.
Thank you for sharing in our story, for being part of this crazy journey.
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