Mother's Day

It rained, it snowed, it hailed and sleeted and the wind blew so hard it knocked my wicker furniture off the deck, but today was a great day.  I drove home and it was 1 degree, the ground was white with snow on May 12 and yet it was a great day.  It took an hour and a half to get Grace to sleep tonight,  I wasn't able to get out to put out the garbage or bring stuff in from the car until after 10:00 and Grace is now not in her crib but in my bed, and yet today was a great day.  

The view from our living room window this afternoon, ugh.

My first Mother's Day and I couldn't have had a nicer day.  Here's how it went:

Grace and I woke early (like every day!) and we snuggled and played in bed for a long time, singing songs and goofing around.  For breakfast I made pancakes, Grace's favourite, and we turned on the furnace to warm up! (Man, it was cold today!!!!).  Grace surprised me with a beautiful gift, a red carnation plant.  She has such good taste and knows me so well to know that I would like a flower for Mother's Day!  Look how she decorated the pot with pink ribbon (she's crafty like that!)  

We made it to church on time (yeah!) and finally, after 6 years of being a mother-to-be I was able to stand up when the priest gave his blessing to the mothers at church. On the way home Grace fell asleep in the car and she napped for an exceptionally long time for Grace (yeah!).   I had almost two hours of peace and quiet to enjoy my Mother's Day (I folded laundry, paid a few bills and cleaned the bathroom, but hey, it was quiet and I got to eat lunch sitting down!).  Afterwards, we headed out to do some plant shopping for the garden, my favourite, but it was too cold, even I wasn't interested in looking at geraniums in this weather!  We eventually made it out to my parents' place and had a nice visit with family and a great dinner.  My dad had called me on Friday to tell me he was "BBQing dinner for all the mothers"  how sweet!  Thanks Dad!  My sister Lynda was celebrating her first official Mother's Day as well this year and she was so kind as to buy a little gift for Grace to give me.  It melted my heart and was very thoughtful of her.  

Grace's surprise gift for Mommy

For our first Mother's Day, I bought a necklace for Grace, something that she can wear when she's older.  It has two hearts attached.  We will break them apart and then have one each to wear.  One says Mother, and the other Daughter.  I like to think she would have picked out something like this as her Mother's Day gift to me.

I feel exceptionally blessed to be Grace's mother.  She has made my life complete and like I said a few months back, I can no longer imagine life without her nor remember life before her. 

Lovely weather!  Hang on Grace, we're trying to get a picture!!!

Giving nose kisses, her latest trick!

Overall a great day.  After all the years of waiting, when my patience faltered and my hope faded, when I thought it might never happen, I kept picturing this day, kept picturing me as a mother and it's what got me through.  I know Mother's Day is contrived, mostly pumped up by card companies and stores and restaurants to get us to buy stuff, but the sentiment behind it is still important to me.  I appreciate my own mother and I shouldn't need a day made up to tell her that, but somehow we all do.  Happy Mother's Day mom and I love you!

A little quote I found posted on facebook by another adoptive mom sums up these past two days beautifully for me:
"A child born to another woman calls me 'mommy.' The magnitude of that tragedy and the depth of that privilege are not lost on me this weekend."  
Jody Landers