feestelijk moederdag!

that's happy mother's day in dutch.

my mother's day got off to an interesting start... all little reminders that i am a mom for sure. jillian wished me a happy mother's day first by waking me to eat around 1:30am. jayden was second - only his wishes were not exactly what i expected... i heard some fast pitter-patter upstairs at around 4am. i could tell someone was rushing to use the bathroom.... well jayden didn't quite make it! so i helped him get changed and back to bed. after another feeding for jillian - i was able to sleep until 9:30am! yeah! when i woke up, graham came running up to me and gave me a hug and said "mom - do you have another baby in your tummy?" - i quickly replied "NO!!" - he said "mom - your tummy is big". i could not think of what to say.... after all at my 6 week checkup after having jillian i only had about 10 pounds to loose.... i was simply speechless! the joys of motherhood! .... and honesty of children!

for the remainder of the day - our family went to see the giro d'itialia bike race go by our house, then we hopped a train to utrecht where we toured a beautiful church and walked around the city. then we watched the finish of the bike race!

my top 10 list of moments in my life as a mom so far (in no particular order)

1. the moment each child was born.... i remember all 4 individual moments vividly

2. the first "coo" from each child (brought tears to my eyes each time)

3. the smell of a child after their bath

4. the moment a child takes their first step.... a little wobbly at first - but soon full of confidence

5. when a toddler reaches up to grab your finger to walk next to you

6. a fresh bunch of dandalion flowers

7. graham was the only one of my children to attend daycare - but i remember the "smile" on his face in a picture that the daycare sent me on his first day after i went back to work

8. the look on a baby's face when they make the hand to object connection

9. the first day of kindergarten - it's amazing how much a child changes from start to end of kindergarten. it's the first time i realized that my babies are really growing up!

10. the first time a child reads a book from start to finish

i feel so blessed each day to be a mom and i'm thankful for my 4 beautiful children!