Mother's Day

I believe this was the first Mother's Day that I've received a gift! I got to sit with Jennifer at church this morning for the first time in months in our regular section. Certainly, this was never on the radar for things I took for granted circa Mother's Day 2010, but it was cherished today. Whenever the doctors are seeking to drive home the point of how important it is for Janie G to stay out of public places, we always hear "don't take her to church!" As a result, we've hit a groove where I take Jacob and Jensen to church for the first service and meet Jennifer in between services with JG in the car so that Jennifer can attend the 2nd service. We've grown accustom to it but going to church as a partial family is less than half the fun. Therefore, it was a blessing to have Jennifer's friend, Allyson (in town from SC), willing to stay with Janie Grace this morning at home while the 4 of us went to church together! It'll be even better when JG can one day come to church as well.


The kids gave me a good reminder of parenthood 101 on Saturday morning as we all filled out our cards for Jennifer. I asked them each independently what they like to do most with mommy...both gave the same immediate response, "I like to snuggle with her". Here we spend quite a bit of time wondering if we're "entertaining" our kids well enough and casting a vision for their life. It turns out they want what we all want... a secure place where they feel loved! I know there's a mommy in this house who will make sure that three kids are well-snuggled! We push our kids so much at an early age (soon they'll be expected to be born knowing their A,B,C's). I was reminded that one of the best gifts we can give them is a home where the warmth of physical touch via hugs, kisses and snuggles exceeds the urge to make sure that every day yields some lesson taught/learned for tomorrow.

I've tried to come up with some clever/cute post about Jennifer today. Not that I'm lacking for material but the vibe isn't flowing and there are some things best left said outside the walls of public consumption. I will simply say that I love her a ton and that my appreciation for her has elevated to a new level as I've observed the added responsibility put upon her in recent months.


Several of you have asked over recent days about Janie's scar and how it's healing. The truth is that it's doing really well. She's also turned into a smile machine which I cannot catch on camera like I did on the day we came home from the hospital, so I haven't tried, but take our word for it...she'll make you feel good about yourself real quickly these days. She also tries to grab anything she can put her hands on.