Mother's Day

I realized today that I have not posted on the blog in a VERY long time. Either our lives have been really boring lately or really busy. Maybe both.

Anyway, today is my first Mother's Day with two kids. So it has made me reflect on all the changes that have taken place in our lives since my last Mother's Day only one year ago. The most beautiful change is that I have not just one adorable, special, fabulous kid....but two! Maxwell has brought such joy to us in a year full of such sorrow. While a new baby is life-altering for sure, the other change in our lives took our calm, easy, and blissful lives and threw it out the window forever. The day my dad died. This year has been a rocky one, at best. And while today I am still thankful for all that I still have, a giant piece of that once full puzzle I call life, is missing. To bring this back to Mother's Day....I have to say that I always admired my mom because, well, she was my mom. I could have come up with a list of reasons why easily; however, today, they all seem so insignificant. On this Mother's Day, I can say with complete certainty that not only do I admire my mom, but I stand in awe of her. It is only in the worst of times that you can see a person's true soul. And while many people's souls have been highly disappointing to us, my mom's has not. In fact, I revere her more today than ever before. She has withstood the ultimate test and faces a new test each day. And each day she rises again. No doubt, she has had bumps and dips, but she is living a life. I'm sure over time the quality of that life will improve, but she is living none the less. Her true soul has shown strength (in it's rawness), bravery, and power. I've always said that I wanted to be like my mom, but it has a whole new meaning now. Not that I EVER want to endure what she has endured, but to possess those same characteristics that she has dug down deep to show, would be no small feat. Mom, I love you. Happy Mother's Day.

To end on a much lighter note, I thought I'd share a little story about today where I also stood in awe of my daughter. She never ceases to amaze me especially in the things that she knows. She has been known for a while to be able to "read" signs that she is familiar with. You know, she mostly just recognizes the pattern of letters (i.e., Publix, Kroger, Old Navy, Alexis, Max, etc.). But today she totally left me standing with my mouth open. I cleaned the playroom in preparation for Mother's Day events at our house and erased her dry erase easel. I wrote on the easel "Happy Mother's Day". When I wrote it, Alexis was not even in the playroom with me. About 20 or 30 minutes later, I hear this coming from the playroom, "Mommy (in a slow whine), I want to draw, but I can't because it says Happy Mother's Day over here". WHAT? How in the freakin' world she knew that this said Happy Mother's Day I have absolutely no freakin' idea. I mean seriously....what is that Etz Chaim Preschool teaching them??????