I could spend a week telling you all the things I love about her but I have a toddler so I don't have that much time. So instead, I'm just going to give you some snippets of what I love most about my girl.
I love that each morning when I go to get her out of her crib she smiles at me like she has just been waiting for me to come and get her.
I love her sense of humor and that she has the most adorable laugh I have ever heard. it's infectious.
I love that her favorite part of the day is sitting on my lap before bedtime making faces at me and silly noises and then laughing hysterically.
I love that she has combined the names of her two cousins Meghan and Jacob and she now refers to them as MeggieJakey. Kind of like Brangelina.
I love that she walks up to my computer and says Hey Mumma, I talk Auntie Amy, Sarah, Nate on puter. And when she asks at 4:00 am their time in California and I tell her we can't because they are sleeping she repeats her request but says it very quietly because they are nigh nigh.
I love that she will be doing something and will suddenly run up to me with her lips all puckered and says Mumma, I need kisses!
I love that when we leave to do errands she always says Gacie come too and Gacie help mumma!
I love that every morning when I leave for work I get kisses, hugs, a pat on the back and a later gator!
I love that she will just randomly announce to me that she's happy.
I love that she breaks into song whenever the spirit moves her. It could be while we're brushing her teeth, at Target, in her car seat, at the dinner table. You never know when the music will hit her but she has to respond and it delights me.
I love that she loves to dance and that she has rhythm in her feet. We were at my step-mom's surprise party last week and Gracie started dancing the minute the DJ started playing and she didn't stop until we left after 10:00. And she even tried joining in on the lines dances. I'm amazed at how musical she is and how quickly she picks up dances and songs.
I love when I ask if she is a big girl and she says yes and then says but Gacie is mumma's baby.
Her favorite kids show is the Backyardigans, The penguin's name is Pablo but I love that she pronounces it palmlo.
She is without question my greatest joy and I feel so lucky to be her mommy. And when I celebrate with Gracie tomorrow my thoughts will be with the woman who gave birth to her and loved her before me. And so now I do it for both of us and I hope when she looks down on us she's pleased with how well Gracie is doing and knows that she's never far from from our thoughts. I never have, and I never will take for granted the gift of raising her daughter, my daughter....our daughter.
Happy Mothers Day to my sisters Amy and Kate who keep me sane in my first years of mommy hood. To my Aunt Wendy who is without the question the best aunt on the planet and was my role model for the kind of aunt I wanted to be. To my step-mom Judi who came into my life after I was an adult. She knows the secret that you don't have to give birth to a child to love them as your own. How lucky we three girls were that my dad was smart enough to choose two wonderful wives. To my mom Dorothy, who passed away nine years ago this week. I miss her every day but I know she is proud of me for making my dream of being a mother come true. She once told me that being a mother was the only job she ever really wanted. Me too, mom. Me too!
