Today, as you all know, is mother's day. 

   Technically, it's not my FIRST mother's day, as last mother's day I was 2 months pregnant, and it was also the day I announced the news to Randy's family.  So I guess this is my 2nd mother's day, technically.  They just get better and better!

   But first, a tribute to the two moms who made it all possible.  You know, life, love and other mysteries.

  My mom.  We are very different, and yet somehow, SO alike.  We understand each other in a special way, probably because we possess so many similarities.  There are so many levels to our relationship, and there is genuine REAL-ness that I can have around her, that I can have around very few.  She has seen me through some of the roughest, lowest moments of my life, and has come out still loving me on the other end.  She has believed in me, hoped for me, fought for me, wept for me.  She has taught me so very many things: how to be a gracious hostess, how to clean a house good AND fast, and how to have tough skin in a world that can throw a mean right hook.  She is a huge part of what has made me the way I am today, and for that I am truly thankful.  And she is a wonderful Grandma to my precious baby girl.





    Bonnie, my mother-in-law.  The emotions that the words “Mother-in-law” evoke for some people can range from disapproval to abject terror, but I am relieved to say, that is not at all my experience.  First of all, she gave birth to the most wonderful, amazing, husband-material boy in the world, so that's all she would have ever had to do to make me like her.  But she went so far above and beyond that.  She welcomed me into their family with open arms, and has always made me feel so loved and accepted.  She has been a friend, mentor, and a generous giver of her help, time and gifts, and has helped to make this distant land "home" for me.  I couldn’t begin to repay her for it all.   And she is a wonderful Grandma to my precious baby girl.

  
And then there's this little bundle who made me a mama.