What does a mommy say?

My mom has made up a lot of adorable little kid songs to sing with us when we were young. That is a talent I don’t possess, so I just borrow hers. The babies start lighting up and doing actions the moment they hear the first words of any of the songs. There is one where I ask them question, and they answer. It goes a little like this:

What does a duck say?
Quack, quack, quack!

What does a horse say?
Neigh, neigh, neigh!

What does a cow say?
Moo, moo, moo!

What does a mommy say?
I love you!

The kids absolutely love participating. There are other verses during which they’ve learned a lot more animal, and vehicle sounds, but the second to last sound (Train: choo choo, Rooster: cock-a-doodle-doo, Owl: whoo whoo) always rhymes with “I love you”. How I’ve LOVED hearing my little ones say that all-important phrase in their sweet voices. They might think it is all part of a game we’re playing, but I’m just glad that those three words are always echoing through our home as we sing the song each day. Bennett was the first to say it, and now it’s a regular part of his vocabulary. (If you listen carefully, you hear him say “What does a mommy day?” after he says it.)

We say that more times than we can count everyday. This Mother’s Day, I felt more grateful than ever to have that title. I’m sure the gratitude will just grow throughout the years. I can say with every ounce of honesty that there is nothing in the world I’d rather be doing with my life.

Now, the day wasn’t perfect. Ha! In fact, it was one of those days where I needed to take few time-outs in my room. The house was definitely in need of some TLC, the laundry was piled up, the kids woke up too early, and the naps were a joke.

Of course it wasn’t all bad. We did make it to church, and they did go to nursery. Without me! (And I’m just going to take a second and apologize for what I said about the nursery a couple posts back. The leaders were there, and wonderful. They deserve a medal for what they do each week.) I got a lovely rose from the ward, and was able to enjoy a lesson in Sunday school as I sat by KC for the first time in years. As the third hour was coming to an end, my tired babies had had enough, and we left with Alex doing the ugly cry a few minutes before church let out. Just what I had suspected when I was nervous about skipping naps, but maybe they’ll get used to it. (I was still checking on them periodically, knowing they were very tired, knowing we might have to leave early, so we made it longer than I thought.) When the babies were finally all napping at home (No babies, a 10 minute nap on the way home DOES NOT count as a real nap! When will you learn?), I got a little nap myself.

We had a lovely dinner with the Ribeiras. Jeff made some melt-in-your-mouth roast and potatoes, and KC helped with our portion of the meal, artisan bread, and corn on the cob. I made a Carrot Cheesecake Trifle for dessert, an idea I’ve been concocting in my head for a while. Since I love to make dessert, I considered it a gift that I got a little time to myself to play in the kitchen.

I know that a lot of people believe that this is supposed to be a mom’s day off or something, but that just doesn’t fly around here. If I’m here, I’m helping. I don’t expect KC to do all the work, but he does help out a lot every day, and that’s what matters to me. He did give me the most gorgeous vase of flowers that just brightens up the room. And I may have bought myself a new robe and said it was from him. So, even with all the ups and downs, the day fulfilled it’s purpose by making me feel appreciated, and more importantly, me appreciating what I have even more.

I did get to talk to my mom, and KC his, when we had a moment to spare. How we love them. Especially now that we have children, and truly know what they went through and how much they love us. Since the kids were born, this is the longest amount of time that I’ve gone without seeing my mom, and I get homesick for her. I still need her in my life. Probably as much as my kids need me, just in a different way. I’m sure I started out the same way my kids are, learning to say “ I love you” because my mom said it to me over and over every day. And just like my mom always made it known to me, I hope my kids always know how much I love them.

Since this is about as successful as we get when taking a group picture lately. . .

. . .we gave up tried some individual shots.

It’s good to be a mom.