Happy Mothers Day! (late)

My Mothers day-

I had the MOST wonderful 1st Mothers day EVER!!! It was full of hand-made cards and fresh picked flowers, a special breakfast and LOTS of time with my kids. We read books about mothers and talked about Mommy, sang about mommy, it was great! Malachi gave me the most thoughtful and wonderful present...he took a video camera and went around to Lots of our kids, friends and family (thank you for all those who participated) and ask them- What do you think about Layne? How is she doing as a Mother? Do you have any advice? ...It was wonderful to hear all the lovely things that people said! It made me feel overwhelmed with gratitude for this role that I finally get to play...I AM a Mother!


Malachi was so great- he knew this Mother's day meant a lot to me and he really did all he could to make it wonderful, which is pretty impressive considering that he has very little $ to spend- he had to make "the best Mothers day ever" out of nothing! - I guess I should start preparing now for father's day...

My Mother-
I also wanted to pay tribute to the most amazing woman in the world...my mother!

My Mother is my best friend. She knows how crazy, over-analytical, and stressed out I get- and she loves me anyway! She is always there to support, to help and to balance me out! I call her (at least) once a day! I love going shopping or garage sailing with her, we always have so much fun! I cannot imagine living far aways from her. Now that I am a mother, especially to foster children, I have gained a whole new appreciation for how wonderful my own mother is, and how much she has grown and how strong she has been. She has taught me (almost) everything I know about being a good mother, and I hope that I can be as Wise as she is One day!

My favorite things about Motherhood-

• I love to watch them grow and progress. They are not even the same kids from when we first got them. When something we have been working on, clicks!! It makes it seem like those 5oo times we talked about the yellow school bus was worth it because they recognise the color yellow!!


• Cuddling- I love to cuddle with my children! I always feel like I am protecting them from the scary world (the world that they were in) and when I have my arms wrapped around them I feel like I can keep them safe!


• Its so fun when they know out routine "We are going home, going to get Pj's on, then bush teeth, read two books and say prayer- then go to sleep" Yep!!


• In Lots of ways they are SO the same as Malachi and I! I know it was meant to be because they have SO many of our qualities!! But they are so different too! HE is SO athletic (already) and you know he didn't get that from us!! I love to see those similarities and differences come out!!


• I LOVE teaching them the Gospel- they were not going to church, they did not know who Jesus Christ was! Now they know that Jesus loves them and they can pray to him always!


• I love going on outings- to the zoo, to the park! Simple things are SO fun when you are a kid- they make me enjoy life!


• I love what it has done to my relationship with Malachi- I always knew he would be a good dad. Now I get to see all those qualities bloom, and fall in love with him all over again!


• I feel fulfilled! I have stepped into this role and I feel complete- anything else I do is icing on the cake!!

Some of the HARD things-

• I Always have a hard time going potty in public- it's just hard to coordinate! I don't feel comfortable sending him into the potty by himself so he comes in with us- but then if I have to go too I have then stand by the stall, but if its a family bathroom- it's just hard!


• There are no Sick days when your a mom. There was One weekend when we were ALL SICK!!! I could not get out of bed, but I had to change their sheets and blankets, and try to get them to eat something. When everyone is throwing up and has diarrhea- that sucks!


• In my world everything gets repeated at LEAST 8 times-(I'm purple, He's blue, shes pink) "Mommy is that a truck?" "yep that's a truck" "oh, its a truck" "Yep its a truck." ...."Mommy is that a truck?" "yep, its a truck!" "oh, its a truck" "Yeah its a truck!"SHHHHHHHH- Do you know how many trucks we pass on the freeway??? OVER AND OVER AGAIN.......


• I think the thing I struggle with most is that I DON'T know there history...So I don't know if they have always had food- so I struggle with strict "no more snacks" rules. They act like normal kids, but they have a history of neglect- so I want to find a balance that meets their need, but doesn't spoil them.....and that is HARD!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!