Mother's Day

17 years ago I celebrated my first Mother’s Day. I have a busy weekend this Mother’s Day weekend. And while I think it might be fun to have a relaxing weekend all about me, all my activities that will keep me busy are because I’m a mother. Ironic, don’t you think? Puttin’ on the Ritz musical at Heights Friday night, Saturday morning 10K River Run (I run to lose weight because I gained weight when I was pregnant, so this is because I’m a mother), double header baseball game to watch Nate Saturday afternoon. The rest of the weekend is full of regular mom duties that have to be done. I am not complaining, my children are probably two of the best things I’ve done with my life.
Have any of you had a mother of older children tell you to enjoy it because it will go by fast?

Freshman 2007 Sophomore 2008 Junior 2009

I love these pics cause they are taken at the same time every year, same clothes, same everything. Look at the difference 2 years made. These pics were taken April 2007, 2008, and 2009. Two years and my baby went from boy to man. I’m crying as I write this, because next year at this time, he will be preparing for his high school graduation. I’m not ready yet. I have a year to get ready, but I won’t be. I don’t feel this way when I think about Whitney. There must be some truth to that Irish saying “A son is a son till he takes him a wife, a daughter is a daughter all of her life.” I won’t say that he is the greatest or the best because I know every mother thinks her kids are the greatest, and we all should. What I will say is becoming his mother saved my life. Not in the literal sense of life and death (well, it’s possible there too), but I was on bad path when I found out I was pregnant. He made me make changes in my life. I fell in love for the first time in my life with a 10 week old heartbeat. At that point, no one but my family doctor and OB knew I was pregnant. My life changed forever at that moment. I remember the room, the table, the doctor, the black shirt I was wearing, and laying on that table with tears running down my face into my ears, wondering how I could love something that was only an idea, a sound at that time.
I have not always been the best mother and I have moments I am not proud of, there are things I wish I had done differently. But I have truly tried harder at being a mother than anything else I have ever attempted. I can honestly say that my son has already at age 16 become more of a man, a better man than I had dreamed. I spend a lot of time talking to God about him, and I can say I am proud to be his mother. This Mother’s Day, I am celebrating what (who) made me a mother, and I’m letting Mother’s Day be about my kids.

(AND JUST BECAUSE I ONLY TALKED ABOUT MY SON, DOESN’T DISCOUNT HOW MUCH I LOVE MY GIRLS)