My very first Mother's Day - May 9, 2004

Mother's Day, May 9, 2004, was the day we brought our new baby girl home from the hospital.

...We pulled up to our house to find the front lawn sporting a "Welcome" sign for our new baby girl - specially made by her new grandpa. As we opened our front door, the crisp smell of Pine Sol and the hum of the dishwasher greeted us. Vacuum lines adorned the carpet. The bathtubs sparkled, and our refrigerator glistened inside and out. It felt like an episode of Extreme Home Makeover, courtesy of my mom.

Never before had out house felt more like a home. This was where our daughter would learn and grow, where we would see her smile and hear her coo for the first time. Down the hallway, she would take her first steps while her daddy and I cheered her on. In the kitchen, she would be covered in frosting after demolishing her first birthday cake. Out in the backyard, the grass would tickle her bare feet as she toddled after a butterfly. Under this roof, my husband and I would learn and grow right along with her as we embraced our new role as parents. This was the home where we would become a family.

My daughter's wrinkled feet peeked out from underneath her Pooh Bear blanket tucked around her fidgety legs. She curled her hands into small fists and started to cry. Glancing at the clock, I realized it had been almost two hours since she had eaten. I scooped up my baby girl and carried her into the nursery. I sat down on the glider and we rocked back and forth, just as I had imagined so many times before. As she nuzzled close to me, a sense of peace seemed to quite my insecurities about being a new mom... I put my daughter's hand in mine, kissed her tiny fingers, and whispered, I love you, "sweetheart. I'm so glad you're home."

(This is an excerpt of my story Welcome Home published in A Cup of Comfort for New Mothers - April 2009. Abby calls it her story - That it is.)

Just as I told Abby at bedtime, the night before her birthday, she is the BEST Mother's Day present I could have ever hoped for.

Exactly six years from that day, I feel so blessed to be a mom to TWO fantastically amazing kids.

I can't even imagine my life without them.

For the back story on this picture, tune in tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day!!!