Because I'm the Mom

I posted these pictures and crafted this blog post in my mind about 4 months ago.  And then life happened.  Lots of life.  So now here it is, super late but not forgotten!  (I'll try to remember my original train of thought but it might get a little random and we'll go with it, k? Thx).

My friend, Sara, gave me this mug for my birthday.  I love it.  Partly because it holds a lot of coffee and it is totally pink and obnoxious--in a good way.  It's really huge, people, like I love a lot of coffee and it still looks like it is just floating down at the bottom of this gigantic cup.

At lunch when she gave it to me, I interpreted its message as one of bossy superiority and expected compliance.  It made me kind of proud.  It reminded me of a speaker I heard at MOPS convention a million years ago that made us repeat, "I'm the mom.  I'm the boss!" with authority.

Later in the conversation, we started talking about the things we do for our kids and I realized my mug had a double meaning.  It could also mean things like this:

And then I was complaining about this:

and I was all "Why does it always end up being ME on the floor scrubbing stinky orange pee residue when I have no problems with my aim???" to which another friend, with perfect timing, answered, "Because you're the mom, that's why." Touche.  Well-played, Jill :) 

So, I bring you the "Because I'm the Mom" slideshow.

I get to buy cute clearance swimsuits and vicariously enjoy someone else wearing them.  This is the ONLY swimsuit shopping I like.

I give in to my son's begging and let him get (what he dubbed as) "The Awkward Cup" out of the FREE pile at a garage sale.

Because I'm the mom, I love this picture.

And this one.

(And I have to laugh that Annie was blessed with such a strong sense of smell + 2 older brothers.  Oh girl, I don't even know what's coming for both of us in a few years with those two!)

I shamelessly dress my kids up for free donuts.  And I consider selling their 6 boxes of free donuts for a profit, because I am the mom and I reserve the right to do that if I want.

Because I'm the mom,  I am in charge of remembering all of the birthdays...which means a lot of creative last-minute oops-what-could-we-do-really-fast-so-it-doesn't-look-like-we-forgot multi-media presentations.

Because I'm the mom, I bear the burden of knowing the heartache that will inevitably come with a balloon animal (especially a raccoon balloon animal) and say yes anyway.

Because I'm the mom, I get to make the whole family endure the rather boring Placentia parade in the hopes that it will be better than the last 3 times.

And I make them stand up and cheer for my alma mater, even though all they want to do is go to the festival at the park like all the other people that are streaming past us.

Ooo, this one is good:  Because I'm the mom, I make my husband pay to endure ALL-HALFTIME/NO-FOOTBALL (in other words, we attended a band field show tournament with my old bando friends). 

(Jeremy is not impressed)

Because I'm the mom, I choose Legoland for my birthday present.  I know.

Because I'm the mom, I am as excited as they are to see their favorite characters made out of Legos...

(I am not even an avid Lego-builder or Star Wars fan and I got strangely choked up when we came around the corner and saw the enormous X-Wing fighter made out of like 8 million Legos.  Being a mom is so weird.)

Because I'm the mom, I will never tire of taking pictures of little kids in big glasses.

Because I'm the mom, I will watch the kids drive by themselves! on Legoland streets and feel the weight of the moment in light of the fact that in the blink of an eye, they will be driving real cars on real streets and I will be happy for them even though they will drive far out of my grasp.

(Because I'm the mom, they've learned to cooperate for pictures...OR ELSE!)

(This one has nothing to do with being the mom...instead, it has everything to do with the sailboat scene in "Tommy Boy")

Because I'm the mom, these are the pictures I find most handsome and romantic of my husband.

I'm so amazed as I watch them create things I wouldn't have thought of.

Because I'm the mom, this is going on my Facebook profile.

Because I'm the mom, I get to benefit from family traditions (i.e. eat at my favorite place :))

And because I'm the mom...I can't let a pretty sunset go by without documenting it heavily.

And that's the end.  Voila!

To Jeremy On Graduation Day

Sixteen years ago, I met you and was attracted to you for your kindness, handsomeness, gentleness, conviction, and love for God. You were a young man who was going places...but not the usual places of wealth, power, and career. You were going to Turkey, then to Mongolia. You were going out on campus at NAU to share your faith with others. You were driving an old beige truck and washing dishes with your socks. And I liked it. I committed my life to going with you, even though it scared me a little bit. But you helped me catch a glimpse of what a life lived for something greater could look like and it made me feel alive.

On our first anniversary, I had “And I will go with you” engraved on your wedding band...a remembrance of the song our friends sang at our wedding and a commitment to not waiver on all that I had promised you and God.

We went...to Carlsbad, Kazakhstan, to Oceanside, to Phoenix, to Tucson, then Flagstaff (with a little Mexico, Inner City LA and Europe mixed in between).

4 years ago, you felt God's call on your heart over and over, against your best plans for your life, that you would go on to get a PhD...an idea that seemed strange to us and out of our league. Remember, when I met you, I thought you were cute, but I also thought you were a dumb jock? Yeah, so it seemed out of our league. But you prayed and waited and sought wise counsel from your professors and trusted friends.

So we moved here, with so many ideas of our own of what would happen and how we would build a life for ourselves in Southern CA while you pursued a Masters of Theology—a stepping stone to a PhD program. 18 months later, here we are today. So many of our dreams and desires have died painful deaths over the last year and a half, and yet you have persevered to finish your degree with excellence and integrity...often forging ahead on your own when the way seemed too hard and the path was lined with doubt. I am so proud of you and how hard you have worked and how you have not once lost your temper with us or taken your stress out on me, like I probably would have if I were carrying your load. You are still the kind, gentle, principled man I fell in love with 15 years ago...and your love for God has grown and caused me to grow with you.

Now I stand here with you in this moment and look around and see the fruit of the last year and half—the accomplishment of your degree and our personal growth and the sweetness of the relationships represented in this room and I feel deeply thankful.

I'm glad that I made that commitment to go with you so many years ago, and even though going with you has not been the easy road, it has been blessed and I know I can laugh at the days to come and the roads we have yet to travel because God will be with us and will lead you as you lead our family in ways we both have never dreamed of.