Positively (Im)perfect

We sat idly in the stifling plane as the sky darkened and the minutes ticked by...ten, twenty, an hour delay. Finally the engines whirred to life. I prayed the kids would fall asleep quickly and painlessly as we made our way through the night toward home, but I dared not close my own eyes for fear I would stir and wake the blond little towhead that had eventually come to rest in my lap. It had been a wonderful but physically exhausting trip to see my family--which started with our daughter missing the last two days of school so we could fly across the country for her aunt's graduation--and my brain had been close to implosion as I'd tried to get everything in order for the end of another school year while packing up for the trip out. Now, our return trip was already taking its toll. I'd started out the day feeling awful, but thankfully made it through some sightseeing before our delayed red eye flight, which finally landed in Denver at midnight--or 2am, according t

Originally published on February 14, 2012 They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well I submit that true love beholds true beauty. And I have never been more in love—nor have I beheld anything more beautiful—than the blessings in my life today. The concept really hit me the other day when I was hanging out and playing with the kids. I’m not sure what we were playing, or what Marie was chattering about incessantly at that moment; all I knew was that all of a sudden, just like in the movies, the background noises faded, time seemed to stand still, and all I could think while staring at my little girl’s moving lips and little face was, WOW. She is SO pretty. I swear she gets more beautiful every day! She quickly shook me from my reverie as she walked toward me, took my face in her hands and demanded, “Mommy! MOMMY! I’m talking to you! Did you hear me?” All I could say was “Umm…no, Sweetie. Sorry. But do you know that you’re beautiful?” And in that moment I had a

Originally published on June 27, 2011 I wish I could say that our potty training adventures bring out the best in me; that I approach each saga channeling my inner   June Cleaver   with a happy sing-song voice and dazzling smile, full of encouragement and enthusiasm that assumes nothing less than success as my darling girl beams up at me with proud little eyes. Not so. I think I more closely resemble this gal: Oh I can encourage, alright. I can coax, prod, and reason, offer up m&ms till I’m blue in the face, beg and plead...and eventually threaten and count to three while giving The Look. But at this stage of the game I’m about out of tactics.

Originally published on May 6, 2011 4 generations! The cartoon on my day calendar a few years ago summed it up pretty well. A new mother stood in front of the CEO's desk at “Motherhood, Inc.” listening to her job description. The employer stated, “You will work a 24-hour shift daily, to include weekends. No breaks allowed. You get one vacation day a year…it’s called Mother’s Day, but you still have to work.” There’s nothing like the honest truth to give you a good laugh. I’ve learned a lot about motherhood in the past 3+ years (exponentially more than I had in the 20+ years prior!), and while I'm no expert, I know there's still a lot more to it than is contained in that simple cartoon. I’ve learned that you are a mother long before you hold your child in your arms. From the moment you see that plus sign (or the actual word ‘pregnant’ if you don’t believe that the plus sign is dark enough and you make your husband go get the expensive kind), you’re a mom. From