Mother's Day

First, can I just say that I can't believe this is my second Mother's Day already!! Time is flying! I couldn't remember what were we doing last year so I had to go search for some photos to see.
Oh yes, that's right. We spent it with my own mother.

My poor Pumpkin was just getting over croup. And I had only been a parent for a couple of months. Both of us were exhausted and out of sorts.



This year was so different! I am in a groove. My girl is healthy and happy. Although I didn't get up to visit my mom this year, it was still very enjoyable. Love you, Mom!! You are the best! You stay with us in our hearts, always. Your love and guidance and affection for me make it so easy to love my girl the right way so thank you!

Mother's Day 2011 was nice and low key. Becoming a mother was such a long time coming and it's such a joy to be included! I loved all the kind words expressed to me today, even from strangers. So nice to be recognized for simply being a mom! When Almi woke up this morning she wanted to get in bed with me and watch movies. While she was there we had our first real adoption conversation. She has heard about Ethiopia before because we include it in our prayers at night and I have told her before that she has a mommy in Ethiopia but I figured today was a good day to bring it up again. While she was lying next to me I reminded her that she has two mommies, one in Ethiopia and one here. She said, "Two mommies. One, two, three, four. One mommy!" I said, "Well, you have the mommy in Ethiopia who carried you in her belly but she couldn't take care of you anymore so I took a long plane ride to go get you so I could be your mommy." (I am not sure if that was the right thing to say so I may not use that phrase next time--she couldn't take care of you--I don't want to upset her with that fact. Note to self: read up on how to broach the adoption conversation with a toddler before bringing it up next time..). She made an airplane with her hand and some airplane sounds and asked me to join her. We flew airplanes around above us as we laid next to each other for the next minute or so. Then I continued, "So then I got on the airplane and I went to Ethiopia to get you so I could be your mommy!" What she did next astounded me. She said, "Look, Mommy! Diamond," and she showed me how she could make a diamond shape with her two hands together. Her birth name is Almaz, which means diamond! I don't know how she went from making an airplane to making a diamond but what an incredible thing to happen at that particular moment!

Later on we met my neighbor downtown at an outdoor Italian festival. The weather was gorgeous and Almi had a ton of fun playing and dancing with her friend, T. A low key, fun day, just spending time with my special girl.