Mother's Day Post

Hooray for Mother's Day! I remember growing up my sisters and I would ask my mom what she wanted for Mother's day and every year she would say the same thing- "a clean house and for every body to get along". I always thought that this was because she was a single mom and knew that we kids probably couldn't do much more than that anyway. Now that this has become my request (or very similar to it. mine is actually a clean house, a nap and a day of food that I don't have to cook. Even if it's out of a can/box/drive thru) I understand that as a mom this is actually all you ever really want for yourself (ok, again close to all you ever want. a new pair of jeans or shoes doesn't hurt either). As a stay at home mom, even more so. I find lately I spend my days in a frenzy of cleaning, cooking, cleaning, diaper changing, cleaning, teaching- only to sit down at the end of the day exhausted and surrounded by a cluttered house. Is it all worth it? Absolutely! Do I always remember that? Not quite. But I try. I also have found that the week leading up to Mother's day is often the most chaotic week of the year, many of the days spent in tears, status updates of the insanity, and finally after the hurricane hits it's peak the calm after the storm is usually a beautiful moment, or two, that reminds me why I love what I do. Luckily that part is a day or two before Sunday. This week it was Friday afternoon. After two separate trips to the grocery store, only to come home and find out that there was no solid evidence that anything we bought could be put together to make a meal. While feeling proud of myslef for sending out Mother's Day cards that will be late but were sent before the Monday after Mother's day, and after dropping off dinner to someone else's home, when I put all three of my little monkeys in the bath together. As they sat in the tub splashing the walls, floors, ceiling, and me, I got to have a moment to think about how great they were. How well behaved they had been all day. How awesome it is to finally have all three of them here healthy, and beautiful and funny. Watching them play together and laugh together and love each other. It was a confirmation that everything Aarik and I have done to get these little people here was worth it. The pregnancies and miscarriages, the sacrifices and the struggles, the stretch marks, and most recently giving up ice cream and cheese and sour cream in hopes that it will help Parker to get no more ear infections for my milk to have no cow's milk in it. Putting ourselves and often our marriage, on the back burner. It is an amazing feeling of completion and accomplishment. As much as I fail in life, I did three things perfectly. Raising them is another story, but we do our best, right?! Other things I learned this year for Mother's Day: if you're a "mother runner" you don't get to sleep in Mother's day weekend AND if you leave it up to your husband to come up with Mother's day food, you just  might end up eating a Cliff Bar for breakfast and whatever he's been craving the past few weeks for lunch (like, I dunno, a Burger King chicken sandwich?!)

A week from today is the Diva's half. It will be my third half marathon, and the first one back since having Parker. Of more importance is the fact that my mom is also going to be doing this race. She has trained and worked hard for it and is getting excited. Some time this week I'll find a little time to blog about all of this.

My gift this year is The. Coolest. My hubby bought me my marathon shoes.

Mckenzie wanted me to know that they were HER idea, but daddy was the one who went and bought them. Bless her heart.

I won't be running in them for the next couple of weeks but I'm especially excited to have them for the last couple of months of marathon training, and of course the day of the big race. Lucky for me Aarik knows how much I love shoes, and how hard it will be for me not to wear heels this year since training in higher mileage equals foot problems for me. Thanks babe for making sure the shoes I will be wearing the most will be hot!

Today I'm grateful for my mother and all of the sacrifices she made to raise her children as a single mom. I'm amazed at her strength. I'm also especially mindful today of the moms, grandmas, and nanas praying and fighting for a cure for SMA. The challenges I think I have are nothing in comparison to the ones they deal with daily. These women are angels, and rock stars and deserve a huge shout out, and loads of respect. Victoria Strong at Gwendolyn Strong Foundation  is an amazing woman, and mom, and has been so wonderful to support me in trying to raise money and awareness for their foundation. I'm equally amazed by the positive attitude that Callie's mom, Aimee, has. She is a wonderful mom, and friend, and one of the main reasons that this cause is so dear to my heart. Thanks to all of the wonderful mothers in my life! Happy Mother's Day all!

No language can express the power, and beauty, and heroism, and majesty of a mother's love.  It shrinks not where man cowers, and grows stronger where man faints, and over wastes of worldly fortunes sends the radiance of its quenchless fidelity like a star.  ~Edwin Hubbell Chapin