Mother's Day

Mother's Day is one of those holidays wherein I dream big; some years it goes as planned, others, not so much. This year was sorta all over the place. As we were in the throws of illness, my first gift came when Brian got up at the crack of dawn with Lucas who had thrown up all over his bed, and cleaned it all up. Then Lucas proceeded to come down with a high fever and spent most of the day sleeping, so Brian and Mason stayed home with him while Connor, Isabel and I went to church.

Then I had to teach Relief Society to all the sisters in the ward, as even those from Primary and Young Women attend RS on Mother's Day. I love my calling and generally feel comfortable teaching, but it was slightly daunting having the room filled with so many amazing women. I gave a lesson on sisterhood, and it seems to have gone well.

In the midst of this, my children gave me sweet gifts (a blue drinking cup for my water as requested by Lucas, flowers from Isabel, and chocolate raspberry cookies from Connor, who had initially requested getting me a new couch; that's still in the works). Brian made a great breakfast of pancakes with whipped cream and fresh berries, and omelets.

I was most touched by the sweet blog post that Brian totally surprised me with; who knew the guy even knew how to do a post? One of the benefits of being married to a writer is that he always expresses himself to me through his writing. What he wrote meant a lot to me, and I appreciate him sharing his thoughts.

I am so grateful to be a mother, and to have a great mother, mother in law, and countless sisters, cousins, friends and more around me who fulfill their duties of motherhood to the highest degree. Being a mom is the hardest, craziest, funnest, most demanding, most entertaining, most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life.

I love mothering this one because he is my oldest, my first born, my foray into motherhood. My goal each day is to make him laugh; his laugh resonates with me in a very special way. I love watching our relationship develop as he matures. He is an extremely independent person, but has his little ways in which he shows me how much he loves me. He'll often honor my request for a slow dance, even spinning me now and then. He makes me think about things I've never thought of before. He is thoughtful of me and concerned for my well being. He has taught me patience I never knew I had, although some days it's not even enough. His smile is a gift to my soul.

I love mothering this one because she is full of life, adventurous, and has an infinite amount of things in common with me. I honestly need to do a post someday about the unbelievable amount of ways in which we are the same. At times I feel like I am raising myself. Having her is like having a mirror constantly held up to me, reflecting all of my good traits, and all of the bad ones. It's like a journey of self-discovery. She is fun loving. She loves to shop, and dance, and listen to music. At times she is a demanding little diva, and once again, I learn to dig into that well of patience, and then sometimes, I have to find more where I thought none remained. She is gifted with verbal profusion. Her observance of simple, lovely, beautiful and praiseworthy things all around makes me appreciate the world even more.

I love mothering this one because he is the king of snuggles. And the king of toughness, confidence, stubbornness and temper. Really, he is a fascinating study of opposites. He has bright eyes and a sparkling smile. He loves his mother so completely, even when we are locked in a battle of wills and I want to pull out my hair. He always knows what he wants, and how to get it. He loves to learn and experience new things. He idolizes his older brother. His voice and pronunciations dance in the air like little bubbles of happiness I can enjoy but can't quite grasp. Even on his most tough-guy days, there is a well of compassion that always springs forth. His sick little self broke my heart.

I love mothering this one because he is my baby, my last born, my most recent reminder of this amazing ability I have been blessed with to bring these little ones into the world. My last opportunity to watch the day by day miracle of growth and development; of learning to walk where once there was crawling; of words, where there once was babbling; of developing a personality and interests and dislikes; of the innocence with which we are all born.

They are quite a crew.