Mothers Day 2011

Today is Mothers Day.

I woke up at 7am to get a big breakfast ready for our out of town family coming for the day. I made baked french toast, breakfast casserole, bagels and fruit. I also made pulled pork for sandwiches after church.

I got myself showered and ready. Then the kids and I dressed Mack for his baby blessing. It just worked out that his blessing day was to be on Mother's day. As I dressed him in his little white sweater outfit and the kids and I ooohed and aaahhhhed over how cute he looked, I remembered imagining this day in my head years ago when he was taking his sweet time to come to us. I imagined the feelings I would have hearing my newborn baby being given a name and a blessing.

Today things didn't exactly go the way I had imagined they would. Mack slept all morning and we enjoyed breakfast with family. Then we got to Sacrament meeting and a few minutes before he was to be blessed I felt a warming sensation on my waist. He woke up because he also felt it. He had wet through his diaper and his clothes... his onesie was soaked. He also started to make his little grunting noises and I started to freak out that he might be about to go poopies, something he hasn't done in a day or two and we've been waiting for a big one! Luckily he didn't do that. Dave and I quickly changed his diaper and frantically got his wet onesie o

ff. None of this felt very good to him (obviously) and he started to get fussy. Dave took him up to bless him and he cried... loud.... through the first 30 seconds of the blessing. I had to laugh a little about how things just don't go as planned. I was anticipating this moment so much and there was my sweet baby that had pretty much been asleep for 24 hours prior to this, crying into the microphone. Obviously that makes it hard for the Dad to concentrate so Dave had to cut the blessing short. Then he held little Mack up to the crowd and he let out a big yell so everyone would know he was not happy about the situation!

This experience represents motherhood to me. It never quite goes the way you think it's going to go. You can plan and prepare all you want, but life is full of surprises and disappointments. Every once in awhile things might go even better than you thought they might, but mostly it is a roller coaster of emotions and the only way to get through it is to roll with the punches. "Come what may and love it!" A few years ago I probably would have cried over the wet blessing outfit and shortened blessing. But today I just smiled and truly wasn't surprised things had taken a wrong turn. I think this means I'm getting better at being a mom and I'm glad to know that. I'm glad I can let things go now and not look back with huge disappointment when things don't go the way I imagined.

I'm thankful to be a mom. It is something I wanted to be from the time I was very little. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have the children I have. They are good people and I hope that I'm worthy of them.

I am thankful for my mom. She taught me how to do the job right and gave of her time and energy to give us a good life. She wasn't one to necessarily get down on the floor and play barbies with us. And I'm not really that kind of mom either. But my mom made sure the essential, important things got taught and done. She always had our back and would st

and up to anyone for us. She made sure we were making good choices and if we weren't she was quick to help us change that. She made us a hot breakfast every morning, a sack lunch to take to school, and sent us out the door with a prayer and a hug. She taught us how to work, to follow through on commitments, to be on time, to look for ways to help others. She taught us to say thank you (and write thank you notes!) and to be kind to the downtrodden. She taught us to be honest, and to say yes to serving in the church. She taught us to be obedient, to read the scriptures, and to put family first.

I find myself teaching the same things. I might not sit on the floor with lego's very often (ok, never) but I know everything that goes on in my children's lives and I am 100% committed to teaching them how to live and how to be happy. Most importantly, I love my kids so much. I hope they know it. I hope they feel it in my service to them. I hope they know my heart aches when they are sad and leaps with joy and pride when they're happy and doing well. I hope they know I count them as my greatest blessings.

I have been surrounded my many great women and mothers in my life and I am so glad for their examples and love. Those are my thoughts today. Happy Mother's Day!

(more blessings pictures to come tomorrow)