Organized Chaos: Mother's Day and all the little gifts....

It's so amazing how the definition of the word "gift" evolves over the years, as we grow older and find the real meaning in the little things that mean so much more than big ticket items. There must be a "new mommy" fairy that invades all of us when we are still too tired and dazed-shortly after childbirth- that sprinkles magic potion on each of us that suddenly transforms our old idea of what a gift is into something else.

The potion creates a love for things like macaroni necklaces, hand print Christmas wreaths, and anything our darlings are able to scribble their name on...all by themselves.

Today is Mother's Day and while many mother/daughter combo's gather at fancy brunch locations or (gasp!) maybe even day-spa's, my day has gone a little something like this:

4:17 AM (thats AM): ....."mommy, I gotta barf again".... - Ethan. In his bed, jumping up into a heaving all-fours position ready to hurl. Again. I run for the towels, realizing this kid aint going to make the toilet.

6:00 AM Repeat above. Shorter this time. Cleaned up and back into bed. Everyone else is still asleep. It's Mother's Day, mind you.

At around 8 the entire house is up and going, and so far no more barf episodes from Ethan. Fingers crossed.

To clarify: this does NOT qualify as a "gift".

Dave walks up and hands me a sweet Mother's Day card that he actually took time to choose, and it has a Starbucks gift card in it (that is what I asked for)..with a "Happy Mothers's Day, hon", he gives me a kiss.

Gift? Most definitely! I am so thankful for my wonderful husband. Somehow he is missing just enough marbles to have put up with me for 13 years and counting....

I think about each of our four kids, and what gifts they really are to me. Each one has grown my heart and its capacity to love even more than I ever imagined. Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to have a big family, and every day I remind myself how lucky I am to have them all.

Before I go on, I do have to say that there still is a small period of time, usually when I first awake on Mother's Day before everyone else where I feel the pain of missing my own mom. I wish I had her here to take to brunch or to get our toes done like my friends do with their moms...the list of wishes is endless but I only have memories. In some strange way, these feelings give me strength to make the best memories with my own children, and to never take a single moment for granted.

Back to my gifts, they go a little like this.....

Katelyn Rose, my sweet sweet girl and first born. What an amazing gift she has been- she is deeply caring, intelligent, and humble. But get her in the car and put the windows up and she will belt out her favorite songs at the top of her lungs...with me of course...and can somehow cast a spell over her younger brothers to get them to do whatever she wants.....most of the time. She can also orchestrate quite the "family dance show" in the evenings, and has a contagious silly side that's all her own.

Katie sitting out by her little teeny pool at age 3. Such a chubby sweet face!

this is what you will most likely find Katie doing out in the backyard...she has always been our little scientist.

Ryan David, our first boy and what an entrance to the world he made. Ryan was born with several complications, but LONG story short, despite his disabilities has been such an amazing gift to us all. This is one of those unexpected gifts....the ones that take a little while to see exactly why they were given to you. Ryan is proof that God has a plan bigger than what we are doing....and that His plan is good. Ryan has brought a level of patience, understanding, and tolerance to me that were never as deep before he came along. He has introduced me to people I would have never met and some of those people are among my closest friends today. Ryan has brought our family closer together and gives each of us more character because of who he is. For the gift of Ryan I am so grateful.

Such an inquisitive face on that dude! Age 6

At age 8, he is our mini Fred Astair...always loving to put a hat on and dazzle....

Ethan Michael, our second boy and a little thunderbolt. Had the doctor not just pulled him from my belly, upon seeing his brown furry body I would have called "birth mix-up" right then and there. The kid was fuzzy from head to toe...and shoulders and back too. Six pounds of screaming monkey-ness. And what a gift his humor, spite, spunk, and super-loving side is to us all. He is my master cuddler, rad dancer, and the mommy's boy out of the three. He may not like reading that part later, but I had to put it down. He is also the comedian of the family, coming up with the funniest sayings and questions ever. We even had to start writing down these "Ethan-isms" to be sure we didn't forget them all. He just asked me the other day if daddy married me because I do a really good job of doing the dishes. Ahhhhh.......

Fuzzy wuzzy was a boy.....here is Ethan at just a few days old. Ah, how I miss the smell of a newborn.

Just because you are only two doesn't mean you get out of watering the back lawn. :-)

And last but never least, Owen Scott. Boy numero 3, child numero 4, knew he needed to be one thing for sure: patient. And boy is he...he has been the easiest, happiest, and yep-most patient baby of all. What a joy he brings with his huge gap-tooth grin. He is a blooming dancer, I can see it already by the moves he busts out in the living room...Ethan may have competition there. It is so fun watching him develop into his own little "self"...and at 20 months old I am still seeing new things every day with that little dude. Owen- slow down, you are growing tooooooooooo fast!

Mommy and Owen...he is a couple hours old and I am in LOVE....

He will be filling those shoes WAAAAY too soon....ugh!

Now back to the "art appreciation" fairy I mentioned earlier. You want to see some wonderful gifts? Here are mine for this Mother's Day.....

A duct-tape rose pen-topper from my super artsy Katie....

Ryan made this flower for me with both hands...even lefty got in on the action! He also wrote his name on it.

From Ethan it was a hand-colored flower with rainbow petals and a random number 9. He is standing here as I write this and asked me to say that "Ethan worked really hard on it". :-)

And then Owens gift. A GIANT smile upon waking from his 2 hour nap...ahhhh.....this kid knows what a mommy wants :-)

And finally...I am going to just add some random photos because each of these have special meaning to me, whether its a group photo or individual, these are what life is all about.

For God's great gifts, I give thanks.