I believe that Mary was the mother of God, but I am having trouble with the idea of prayer to her.?

I am protestant and learning about Catholicism. I am having trouble with all the prayer, adoration and devotion to Mary. I mean, I believe that she is the mother of God. I believe that she was pure and she is significant and amazing. Please don't misunderstand. But there seems to be SOOOO much attention on her. It is distracting for me. I feel that it distracts from God. I have always been taught to put all devotion and adoration on God. So, I am having trouble in my learning as to why so much attention is turned away from God and on Mary. I am sure that I am missing something. Any thoughts?