My first Mother's Day was lovely. Tanner brought me two dozen yellow roses yesterday, gave me a sweet card and the camera flash I have been wanting is delayed, but on its way. My mom purchased and framed some gorgeous pictures Hannah had taken in Midland right around six months. She has been in town since Thursday, which has been so nice. Last night I slept for nine glorious hours, and she has really given me a break from housework this weekend. She even reorganized our pantry today, it looks about a million times better. We all slept until 7 this morning, then went to church and lunch at the original Ninfa's. Tanner and I took Hannah to see Mimi and Poppy this afternoon.
This year I was uniquely blessed to celebrate five women on mother's day.
1) My mom is the most self-sacrificing woman that I know. Every day for the last twenty-nine years she has placed my needs ahead of her own. She is also incredibly capable. Whether she is organizing a fundraiser or vacation bible school, orchestrating a move, caring for her mother, going way above and beyond to ease the lives of Tanner, Melissa and me or doting on her granddaughter, she does nothing half way. She is organized, disciplined and thorough. I strive to be more like her in all of those respects. She is also strong in her faith, compassionate and empathetic. She has a heart of service and is literally pained when she sees others suffering.
I honestly do not know what I would have done over the course of the last year without her. I rely on her wisdom, every morning in fact, during my morning commute. And she makes herself available at the drop of a hat when we find ourselves stretched too thin. I hope to be a blessing to Hannah, even into adulthood, the way that my mom is a blessing to me. One of the most fun aspects of motherhood has been to witness the joy that being a grandmother has brought to my mom.
One of my other great joys of motherhood has been turning my two wonderful grandmothers into great-grandmothers, which leads me to...
2) My dad's Mom (Mimi to me and GG to Hannah) picked me up from school one day every week until I could drive for our "together time." When I was small we would go to the duck pond or the park, as I got older we went to TCBY. I have the best memories of weekends spent with her in Cloudcroft and of movie dates where she would sneak snacks in to the theater in her purse. We still talk on the phone regularly and try to solve the world's problems. Her life has been characterized by service both to family and to the community and she always has a glass-half-full mentality. I was born on her fiftieth birthday, and she loves to tell everyone that I was the best birthday present she ever received. It still makes me smile when I hear her say it.
3) I remember spending countless hours "helping" Nana (my mom's mom) run her store as a little girl. I loved looking at all of the dolls and the knick-knacks that she had, as well as picking up personal pan pepperoni pizzas from Pizza Hut for us and sitting in the back room with her having lunch. Nana loves babies...she had four of her own and eight grandchildren whom she also considered her own. She still loves to talk about Hannah and always tells me that she wished we lived closer so she could really spoil her. I love that she remembers.
4) This was the second year I celebrated Mother's Day with my mother-in-law, Betty (Hannah's Mimi). I appreciate the way that she has completely welcomed me into her family. I also love the way that she is completely crazy about Hannah. She is such a doting grandmother and has also been a lifesaver multiple times. She considers time spent with Hannah a privilege and routinely provides Tanner and me with much needed afternoons off or evenings out and a full refrigerator. It is a blessing to have her living so close by.
5) And finally...me. As most mothers do, I struggle with guilt and I worry. I worry that I do not spend enough time with Hannah or that we leave her too often. I worry that I have not practiced drinking from a sippy cup with her enough, or that we are spoiling her, or that I say "no" too much. I know that this phase is the easy part of motherhood, and I worry about the future - how I will discipline her and how I will know what amount of independence she can handle. But right now, despite the guilt and the worries, I know I am a good mom and I pray that as the challenges become more challenging, I will still be a good mom. She has been an easy baby and I have been afforded the opportunity to relish in her over the last nine months. I love being a mom, her mom, more than I thought possible. So while it was nice to have Tanner and my mom and sister spoil me and hear Happy Mother's Day all day long, the real gift of Mother's Day this year is Hannah and the blessing that I get to play this privileged and cherished role in her life.
Here are some pictures from the weekend (some pertaining to Mother's Day and others not):
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| Hannah and Zac |
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| Liking the dishwasher |
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| Getting kisses |
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| Giving kisses |
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| Happy Mother's Day, Mimi |
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| I sure love Poppy |
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| Happy Mother's Day, Grandjackie |
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