So… I thought for Mother’s Day, I would write one of those sappy posts on how much I love being a Mother and how much my kids mean to me.  One that would stand as a tribute to how special I think my kids are.  (Sounds kind of corny, doesn’t it?)

I’d like to say that having kids is easy and that my kids were perfect and that I never made a mistake.  But…that would be far from the truth.  Some days it was hard, really hard.  But those good days, those average days, those lazy days, those small victories days they are what makes everything worthwhile.

I have always wanted to be a mother and I was lucky that God blessed me with three wonderful, creative and distinctly different kids.  (Ages 30, 25 and 15)  Raising these three have been one of the biggest joys of my life.  I am thankful everyday.

Since it’s Mother’s Day and I’m feeling a little nostalgic, I thought I’d share.

Here’s a little bit of their stories.

We had only been married not quite a year when we brought home our very first child.  Jim had been a Marine and on his own for too long.  When we got married, he wanted the whole package, baby and all.  (I was happy to oblige.)

Our oldest son was 3 weeks late, according to the Dr.’s estimate, and we we’re scheduled for an early Saturday morning induction.  I remember playing cards at my sister’s the night before a little nervous about everything.  She said, “There’s nothing to worry about, it’s not like you’re getting a C-section.”  Around 5:00 that evening, after the water broke and still no progress we decided on surgery.  I remember being totally scared being wheeled into the operating room.  The doctor was listening to extremely dramatic classical music. Once Nick was born, everything else didn’t matter.  He was perfect.  A beautiful 7 lb. 7 oz. bundle of joy.  I remember looking at him and thinking just how much his skin looked like velvet.

Once home, life changed dramatically.  We lived in a tiny two bedroom house which was shared with other renters downstairs.  In the beginning, the only way he would fall asleep for the night was to sit on the end of the bed and bounce.  We still laugh at what the downstairs neighbors must have thought.  Seriously, again?

My daughter was born 4 1/2 years later during one of the hottest summers on record.  The day she was born set a record for the hottest day that June.  The record still holds 25 years later.  Even though I went into labor with Stephanie, she was born Cesarean also.  I remember I kept waking up in the recovery room saying “you said girl, right?”, over and over again.  I wanted a little girl so bad.  She was beautiful.  Dark hair, perfect features.  (looking a little more like her daddy)  She was a wonderful addition to our family.  Nick adored her, that is until she started walking.  And…lucky for her, she walked really early.  (right before she turned 9 months)

Now, my youngest son was a little bit of a surprise.  He’s our bonus baby.  He was born on a beautiful fall day right before the busy Holiday Season.  Justin was my tiny baby, only 5 lbs. 5 oz.  I remember the first time I saw him, I said, “He’s so tiny.”  At the time, I was working full-time at our gift store, beanie babies were hot and life was crazy.   Having Justin made me slow down and I’m so glad I did.  Justin used to ask me “Aren’t you glad you had another kid?”  and I’d say “Yes, I didn’t know I needed another baby, but, God did.” (and… he was right)

Happy Mother’s Day.  I hope your day is filled with good memories.