Enjoy!
-Ashley
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Who are you?
Hi, my name is Mariela Velasco, I´m 25 years old, I was born in Puyo, Ecuador, and I really like to learn about being a good mom, a good wife, and a good child of God!
Tell us about your family.
I love my family. I am very happy and thankful to God for having given me a family! My husband and I were married on December 27th, 2008, and four months later we found out we were going to be parents! It was really a beautiful surprise, it was the biggest and most beautiful news that we could have gotten. We fell in love with our son from the moment we found out that he was growing inside of me...and when he was born he was the apple of our eyes! We are currently expecting our second baby and we are very happy and want to meet him already! My husband and I own a small printing business and we are also part of a multilevel network. We know that God is in control of our lives and everything we have been through has a purpose that God shows us day by day.
We both serve in our church, my husband is the worship leader and is also in charge of discipleship and some teaching in the church, and I am the director of Sunday school and I also teach a class for children. I love to share with children about God.
How many children do you have, and what are their ages?
We have one son who is three years and three months old, and we are awaiting our second baby, and my pregnancy is currently 27 weeks along.
This is an interview about motherhood, but your motherhood is shaped a lot by your marriage. How would you describe your relationship with your husband?
My husband and I make a great team because we are best friends! We love each other a lot, my husband takes good care of me, he always wants the best for us. We love God above all things, we depend on Him and we trust that He will always give us His best, even though we sometimes have to learn by going through difficult things, but God´s love has always made us stronger.
What is the hardest thing about being married?
When there are problems, sometimes because of misunderstandings, or a difference of opinion, or because of financial issues.
What is the best thing about being married?
When we got married, when our son was born...and when our second baby comes!
Describe a memory between you and your husband that really stands out in your mind.
When we were about 7 months married, I was three months pregnant, and my husband had a motorcycle accident. He had a crash with a car, and I was waiting that night for him to come home. It was getting late and he didn´t answer his phone. I was crying because didn´t know what was going on. My mother-in-law called me and asked me to calm down, and she told me that my husband had been in an accident. I couldn´t calm down, I just kept crying and I felt so hopeless. For me it was really difficult because I was pregnant, and everyone was afraid that if they told me the news I might lose the baby from the stress, even though they didn´t have to take him to the hospital or the police. When he got home and I saw my husband, my heart was beating so strongly and the only thing I wanted to do was hug him and never be apart from him, because for a moment I thought I would never see him again. But God had taken care of him at every moment. He had some fractures and wounds, which healed quickly. For me it was really awful because I couldn´t imagine my life without him. I understood how strong my love was for him, and also that God is taking care of us all the time.
How did your relationship with your husband change when you became parents?
It changed a lot because we didn´t have the same time for each other, because now we had to think about and take care of our son and give him all of our love.
How does your parenting style compare with your husband´s?
We have the same ideas about our children´s education. We both know that we need to correct him when necessary and be loving at all times.
In what ways have you changed since you became a mother?
I have changed a lot as far as the time I used to have to myself. Now I do things more quickly, and give all the time to my son that he needs. I´m more dependent on God. I understand really clearly what my mother says, that you would give anything for your children. It´s true. I´ve become a more courageous woman so that I can protect my son from anything, and I would give anything to make sure he is ok.
Describe a memory of pregnancy that stands out to you.
When I was two months pregnant, I had a lot of problems. All kinds of food made me sick, and I could only eat a little bit because everything made me throw up. One morning my mother-in-law invited us to eat fanesca, an Ecuadorian food that I do not like, but I had to eat it all, because my husband said that she had made it thinking of us. When we left there to go back home on our motorcycle, I had to tell my husband to stop because I couldn´t take it anymore. I threw up everything I had eaten, in the middle of the street, and it was so embarrassing for my husband and for me, because the cars were honking as they drove by and some people were saying ¨how gross!¨. Also, before I got pregnant I loved to eat shrimp, it was the best food to me, but since I got pregnant and to this day I can´t even look at them, they disgust me. Ha!
Describe a memory of your first weeks of motherhood that stands out to you.
I felt so much tenderness and love as I looked at every little inch of him, and watched every little movement, his gestures, his smiles...and I used to always get really close to him to make sure he was breathing...haha
What things do you think you would do differently if you had another child in the future?
I won´t be too overprotective, I will make schedules for every day and organize everything, and try to do more early stimulation with the new baby.
Describe your child´s personality.
My little David is very affectionate with others, and very tender to me. He gives me kisses without having to ask him. He´s generous, he likes to make friends and play with them. He likes to listen to stories, put together puzzles, he loves tractors, and wants to spend all of his time playing. He learns songs really quickly and he loves to play with his dad because they play so crazily and he loves that! He does´t like to eat any kind of meat, he loves to drink water all the time, he´s very sociable. He can´t be still or in one place for too long or he starts to go crazy. He gets angry when we can´t play with him. He apologizes when he hurts someone, although sometimes it´s very hard for him, and he loves to swim.
In what ways are your children similar to you? In what ways are they different from you?
He´s like me in the way he eats, and that he wants to be with his daddy all the time. He´s also like me in that he likes to go out and do things all the time, and he loves ice cream, like me.
We´re different in that he likes to play roughly, like his dad, and he loves cows, but I am scared of them. Haha.
For each of your children, share one of your favorite memories.
I love when we play doctor and he says, ¨Mommy, I´m the doctor and you´re sick¨ and he tries to make me better with all kinds of creams, and operates on me and puts bandages on me and gives me lots of kisses and tells me I´m all better. I like when he asks me to make him a cake, because he wants to put in all the ingredients and help me with everything until it´s done.
When it´s time to sleep, I go to bed with him and tell him a story, but he likes it when I tell stories where he is one of the main characters and it makes him laugh a lot.
Describe a moment as a mother where you felt overwhelmed.
When he went to day care for the first time, my son was 10 months old. It was awful for me and for him, because when it was time to go and leave him alone, he cried a lot for me, and I left the day care and cried inconsolably at the door for him. I didn´t want to leave him, I didn´t like it, I didn´t like hearing him and seeing him cry. He was only there for a few days and I took him out until he was bigger and could understand that he needed to go to school. We cried then too, but then I couldn´t take him out because the law is that they have to study at three years old. But as time passed he understood that he had to go to school, and now he loves to go and be with his little friends. He learns a lot and he always wants to show me what he has learned that day.
What are your favorite ways to relax when you need a little break?
I like to go to the pool or river and relax while I swim with my family! I like to get out of the house and get to know new places and visit my family.
What has been the hardest lesson you have had to learn as a mother?
I have had to learn how to show my son love as a mother, to show him that everything is ok, to tell him I love him a lot, to fix meals for him...In our day to day life we have had a lot of financial struggles but in all those difficult moments God has always been with us and has never left us alone. Everything that we have gone through has been a lesson for us as parents that has helped us to depend more on God and always smile at our son and show him love.
What has been the hardest experience you have gone through as a mother? What did that experience teach you?
My son kept getting sick, he would get a lot of colds and I would wake up almost every night to see how he was breathing, because if he caughed he would wake up and cry, and even throw up. I was desperate because I didn´t know what to do to get rid of the cough. He would get really high fevers and would have to put cold cloths on him all the time to get the fever down...all of that helped me learn to trust more in God.
Looking back on your life as a mother, what, if anything, do you regret?
I don´t regret anything, and I wouldn´t exchange the blessing of being a mother for anything! It´s the most beautiful thing that God can do with a woman´s life!
What do you think is the most important quality in a mother?
Love for her children
What do you think children need most from their mothers?
Time every day to share with them, enjoying our children every moment
What advice would you give to other mothers out there who are reading this interview?
That being a mother demands a lot of love, and more than anything time to share with our children. That being a mother is the most beautiful thing God can give to a woman, because it allows you to carry another life inside of your and then care for that life and give it the best.
Any final thoughts you´d like to share?
My husband and I are very happy about our new baby, we are waiting anxiously for his arrival and we want to see him and give him all of our love just like we do with our first son David. Everything we go through in life has a purpose from God, although as humans we can´t understand, but as time passes we realize how wise and good God is and how He has permitted so many things in our lives so that we can learn from our mistakes or poor decisions, to become stronger spiritually and become more united as a couple and as a family, showing the world that with faith, anything is possible.
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