Mother's Day

May is a special month for me. My birthday falls on the 3rd of the month, which has always made it something to look forward to. Now I also get the privilege of being a mother and being celebrated on Mother's Day as well. And, while I think I am done celebrating birthdays for good as I hang on to the last year of my twenties, Mother's Day doesn't hold the unpleasantness of getting older, only the joy of being honored and feeling blessed as my children's mom.

This year was unique in a few ways. The first was that Caleb was old enough to make me a present himself. He painted this flower pot and made a card for me in Sunday School. While it wasn't quite a surprise like I think it was supposed to be (since he came running up to me at church wanting me to come see the "bucket" he'd painted the week before), I still enjoyed it just as much.

This was also my first Mother's Day with a baby in my womb. After eating a big supper at my mom's, you could even see the bump pretty well through my dress. Since I took plenty of pictures of my other two kids that day, I had to get a few shots of this little one too.

 

Dave even did a great job of including all three of the babies on the card he made - I loved it!

Aside from the enjoyment I got out of my own children that day, spending time with my mom, Grandma Nora Ann, Aunt Susie, and quite a few other family members made the afternoon that much better. 

Yay! NaNa has watermelon.

Open wide, Girlfriend!

Wait a second! Pop is trying to one up NaNa's watermelon treat with cookie cake!

Pop and Caleb on the "chicken wagon."

Caleb loves Aunt Courtney's iPad. It was hard to pull him away.

Peek-a-boo, Aunt Susie!

A karaoke special dedicated to all the mothers

As heart-warming as the day was for me, I hope it was a great one for my mom as well. And, while it is a week past now, here is a note that I hope gives her some idea of who she is in my eyes: 

Almost every Mother's Day I plan to do a blog post but it doesn't happen. I've taken the time to write up a few Father's day posts as tributes to the wonderful fathers and grandfathers in my life as well as my children's, but knowing where to start writing for Mother's Day is somewhat harder. I have a mother who is hard to describe in words. As an English major, and a verbose writer as most of you can plainly see from my other posts, you'd think that I'd never be at a loss for words. However, when I sit down to write about my mom I don't know how to truly explain the fullness of the blessing she is in my life, the extent of her self-sacrificing persona, or magnetism of her contagious personality that makes you want to spend quality time in conversation with her on a daily basis. 

Very few people know the physical pain my mom suffers through every day as a result of Fibromyalgia complicated by injuries from car accidents, strain from gymnastics in her youth, and just a lot of wear and tear from years of diligent hard work. Regardless, she is always there to step up and help with my children when I need to take care of my own health or to take on a large load to help my aging grandparents who are needing more help these days. Even if she gets far behind in her own list of things to do, she makes sure the needs of others are priority. There are occasions when I might feel like my toes are getting stepped on a little, but her intentions are to do the best to her ability to love and help me and to be there for her grandchildren. She tries her best to continue teaching me by example the way she always has. I know she thinks a lot of these acts of kindness go unnoticed or might be under appreciated, but as I said before, it's hard to know how to say "thank you" with depth of gratitude I hold for her. She definitely deserves to be celebrated and bragged on not just the first Sunday every May but on a daily basis.

Now that I have children, I've seen my mom love in a way that I've never experienced before. While I try to take in all the special details of both Caleb and Hadley and brand their unique qualities in my mind, Mom is  able to sit back and truly enjoy them in a way I can't, savoring their precious attributes. Often the highlight of my day is calling her to tell her something funny one of kids have done because I anticipate her laughter and enjoyment, knowing she gets as big of a kick out of hearing the stories as I do telling them. My children know how deep her love for them is too, and it's so fun to see their excitement every time she shows up at the door. For example, Hadley almost jumped out of my arms to yesterday when she saw her NaNa get out of the car in our driveway.

I don't want to be cliché (because she deserves so much more than that) so I'll stop here. Just know, Mom, that you are uniquely special to me and that no other person could be who you are in my life.