Surely you know this was my first Mother's Day as a Lily. I used to just be a mom to these two handsome boys.
Circa 1994? Oh, yes, guys, you are welcome.
To this day, I contend that being their mother was fun at every phase. They were fun when they were babies, they were fun when they were toddlers, as grade schoolers, teenagers, college kids -- I can't think of a stage I didn't enjoy.
They were pretty easy on me.
Then I was fortunate enough for them to both make fabulous selections for wives to share their lives with... Does that make me lucky or blessed?
We did get to iChat with the youngin' and his beautiful wife yesterday in Haarlem. It is hard for the four of us to all coordinate a time we can all get together online, and when we do, the conversation is all over the place. Our son is working on a thesis-type project, as well as a thesis, and he has a lot going on right now. They have U.S. visitors coming to see them this week after the project presentation, so that is going to be somewhat of a relief for him when that is behind him, as he is looking forward to the company and relaxation. We got into a funny conversation about men that are good-looking. He disagreed with my choices of handsome celebrities, therefore, he had some suggestions of men whom I should admire. I am flexible, and he had great observations. lol. He and Chief had to discuss the most attractive women. Ho hum. So -- not being able to see them on Mother's Day, I pulled out a picture from our trip to see them at Christmas. Not sure if any of us have a serious bone in our bodies.
We are their parents, and they treat us like their friends. We are so blessed.
And then we got the bonus of seeing older brother and his beautiful, precious wife a couple of days this weekend. They live close to us, and by bringing the precious
Baby O to see Lily and Chief, it was a great couple of days.
I can't type the words that this picture makes me feel. Seeing your child as a parent? There are no words.
How blessed are we that our sons selected and are loved by such unbelievable women? And the bonus, Baby O! I have a hard time writing about Baby O, because the words don't seem like enough. I don't feel like I can adequately describe the emotions that come with this. She is just such a little dumplin. Perfection. It feels redundant for me to say anything about being a grandparent, because I feel like those that are grandparents already know how it feels. It is still very new to me. Awesome. I love the addition of girls to our family. This blog post is going to be followed by another one focusing on the D.I.L.'s, and how great they are!
Additionally, we were fortunate to have my folks over for part of the day. It is great to be able to wish your mother a Happy Mother's Day in person. I am confident I will never be half the woman she is. She wins in the "example setting" department.
I think this is all I did this weekend. Hold her. And she held me. Except when I had to share. After you have parented, you know how fast they grow. I love just sitting still and holding her. Her mother and I had a funny conversation about how we talk to her and want to sing to her. I started telling her an old familiar story, and I got no further than the first line, when I couldn't remember what came next. It was the Three Little Pigs. Baby O's mom just died laughing, because she said the same thing has happened to her. She said, "I want to sing or something to her, but after I start, I realize, I don't really know any reasonable lullaby-type songs!" To which I replied, "I have done the same thing!" We truly are newbies. I just started singing my favorite songs. Might be Billy Joel, might be Taylor Swift, might be a Christmas carol, just whatever I can think of the words to sing... am I failing at this already? I just knew I could figure it out.
And I suppose I will.
