The Best Things in Life

My First Mother's Day - May 14, 2006

It was great! I love being a mom! I love that I can celebrate such a wonderful day! Mike made me the cutest mug, with Tyler's little hand and feet-prints on them. I love it, I brought it to work and use it all the time! I had received a bunch of "Mother's Day" email forwards, mostly about how motherhood changes your life (in good ways!). I had read them in the past, before I even began to think about kids, and it's just amazing how differently I was affected by them this time! Most of them brought tears to my eyes...I finally understood what it was all about! Here is the forward that I liked the most:

Before I was a Mom, I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom, I cleaned my house each day.

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on.

Pooped on. Spit on. Chewed on. Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

On Saturday, May 13, 2006, Tyler acheived a major milestone. He purposely grabbed a toy! He was actually sitting in his bouncer, and I happened to walk by and see him reach out with his right hand and grab hold of the toy that hangs down from the bouncer toy bar! You could see the concentration in his face...it was so exciting! He did it again several times, so we bought him some small rattles and baby keys that he could more easily get his hands around. Now he grabs hold of anything he can :)

Yesterday, my sister called me to tell me she started feeling regular contractions. Well, regular in the sense that they were occurring often, but not at consistent intervals. Then, this morning, my mom called to tell me that my sister had gone to the hospital at 3:30 am because her contractions were closer together and she was feeling a lot of pain. And, get this...today is her due date! Who has their baby on their due date? 8% of women, I think?? So exciting! I will update as soon as I hear anything :)