Happy Mother's Day

...and it was!!  My first Mother's Day was just wonderful.  Definitely a big improvement over the past few years, when I generally hid out at home with Mark.  Mother's Day was just so difficult and such a painful reminder of what I longed more more than anything through all the years of fertility treatments and the long wait to adopt.  I loved honoring our mothers and grandmothers, but with everyone living so far away the day just seemed empty, and a sad reminder of my lack of motherhood.

Three years ago today, we had just worked through the devastation of an unsuccessful year and a half on the fertility roller coaster.   We knew it was time, at last, to turn towards adoption with our whole hearts.  We spent parts of Mother's Day excitedly looking through packets and watching DVDs from various agencies which facilitate international adoption.  By the end of the afternoon we had settled on a country and an agency.  On that hopeful, optimistic, Mother's Day, in my wildest dreams, I never could have envisioned the sheer joy that this has brought to my life:

But as with all things, that which does not come easily is much sweeter once it is ours.  

This day was leisurely. We ended up not going to church, because AK was up in the night for a long time and Mark ended up staying up til all hours with her. I let them sleep in -- AK slept until 10:20! Mark fixed a big breakfast, and then we just hung out, played and did a few things around the house. Mark and Anna Kathryn had cards and gifts for me (a coupon book for all kinds of treats: everything from a massage to a week off from the dishes!)Our big outing was to the grocery store. After lunch, AK and Mark napped, and I spent a blissful few hours reading a novel and the Sunday paper.  

Mark and Anna Kathryn fixed a yummy dinner: and then we went for a walk and chatted with the neighbors after calling all of the moms and grandmothers to wish them a Happy Mother's Day.

Maybe no one will notice...

...if I munch on this raw piece of sweet potato!

My two chefs

This day was filled with ordinary things, but it was wonderful nevertheless. My husband and my daughter showered me with love all day. Truly, my best gift came when I went into Anna Kathryn's room to wake her, and she looked at me and said, "Mama!"

What I have longed to hear for so long, to be for so long. I don't forget the days of painful waiting, and the tears of Mother's Days in the past. But I rejoice in the present and our gift from God: Anna Kathryn. My dream has come true.