The Best Job of All

My second Mother's Day is in the books. It was just as sweet as the first. Can't ya tell by our super duper sweet as sugar cuddly picture above??? The story is that I bribed her to stop running around like crazy for long enough to pose for a picture with me. The best part about the day was that I heard a few extra "wuv ew"s on Sunday. Any day with extra "wuv ew"s is a good day in my books. Here's my story......

Let's start with introductions first. I want you to meet someone special.....

"Hi, I'm Gracie"

Meet Gracie. Nanny's newest friend. A lil bit of background on this new development....Nanny has been talking about getting a cat for several months now. My Aunt Betty just so happens to breed exotic cats. Bada bing, bada boom! Kitty cat for Nanny! I sent her some pictures of a line up of kittens a couple of weeks ago that my cousin, Keisha, sent me. It didn't take her long to decide. She chose the pretty one with blue eyes and red fur.....she called it the cat version of Hallie Grace. Made me laugh. It was official...Nanny was about to be a momma again. I told a little white lie and made her think that the kitties were not going to be ready for another month when in reality I was going to pick up her kitten Sunday morning. I got up and around early, opened my sweet cards and gifts from Riley and Hallie, and headed out to Betty's to pick up the gift. Gracie rode in my lap on the way back to town and I set her up underneath a laundry basket in the garage with some food. I kinda wanted to just pack her up in my purse and take her to church but I thought her meows might give her away. ;)

Kitty got comfortable under her basket while I headed to church. I walked in a little late and found Riley in Sunday school with a big grin on his face. Oh no. What on earth did he dress me daughter in?? He asked me if I'd seen her in the nursery. Um, no, but now I had to see! I ran down to the nursery to find my sweetness running toward me. Wearing this......

Yes folks. That is her ball cap backwards with her cute little dress. I should've seen this coming. She was so proud of her hat just like her dada. I can't trust those two together. Nope! ;) My little tomboy was able to join us for a big event in church service that morning. Aunt Christy bravely brought Hallie and her cousins in to watch Carmen Jo's baptism. I was in charge of picture-taking while the family gathered around Carmen as she was baptized and Luke as he joined the church. Her dress was just precious......

Nanny was hosting a lunch to honor Carmen's big day so we went to grab the kitty and Kylie came by to put Kitty's bling around her neck before we wrapped her up to open. I was feeling pretty giddy about surprising Nanny with her new friend....

I love a good surprise!!

We gently placed kitty in a very appropriate animal print bag and topped her with some tissue paper. I felt horrible even leaving her in there for the two minutes that she waited....

"Um, hello up there. Excuse me???"

Side note: how adorable is this sign that talented Kylie made for her mom???

Present time! Nanny began to pull the paper out of the bag and kitty decided to greet her too soon. When she heard a meow come from the bag she dropped it on the ground....

"Meow"

"Scream!"

She was so excited and her reaction was priceless....

She officially named the kitty Gracie and I am fairly certain that kitty was pleased with that name....

My own little Hallie "Gracie" met Gracie the kitty. This was a rare moment where I caught her giving "nice pets"....

"Us red heads have to stick together, ya know?"

It was a beautiful day to celebrate moms! Grandma Ida joined us all for lunch as well as some of Luke's family who had been at Carmen's baptism.....

After lunch we realized it was getting very close to Hallie's nap time. In fact, Nanny found her waiting by the crib in the back room. Her nap plan didn't last long and we soon found her just chillin' in the animal cage....

"You always call me a crazy animal mom!"

She almost succumbed to her exhaustion on the way home but I did my best to keep munchkin awake with lots of tickles and kissing of her feetsies. I told her not to fall asleep and this is what she responded with.....

Little toot!

After my sweets fell asleep for an afternoon nap I decided to gather my Mother's Day loot. Nanny surprised me with a gorgeous Brighton charm bracelet and a charm for my Pandora bracelet...and a mani/pedi to top it off! Thanks to Riley and Hallie I was able to do some much needed shopping for summer clothes. The cards that they wrote instantly brought me to tears. And yes, if you are wondering, Hallie did write her own message to me. Riley says her favorite phrase is hollering "momma, momma, momma!" So he wrote that all over my card. I'm such a sap and loved every sweet word he wrote. I definitely felt loved. It's good being the momma around here....

I enjoyed a nice afternoon on the couch watching a movie and blogging. My idea of relaxation. Riley got to work on the side of the house ripping out a HUGE bush and roots that were growing out of the ground everywhere. The dude had an axe and a chainsaw....he was set. Hallie and I played outside around the house until we decided it was time to go somewhere.....

"Let's break outta this joint mom!"

"Let's go that way"

We tried to convince Riley to come out to Boiling Springs with us but he had a bit more to finish.....

Can you spot him...he says this would make a great duck blind. ;)

Hal and I ran to the store to pick up some food from the deli to take out to the park for a picnic. She turned her diva switch on somewhere between the house and the grocery store. It must be the glasses.....

We talked Riley into meeting us at the park so we spent about an hour running around the playground while we waited for him. It should come as no surprise that someone wasn't completely willing to wait before we chowed down. So she had a quick power snack....

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

Fabulous!

Being this little diva's momma is FUN!!!

She stood in front of this mirror for a good few minutes while she watched herself finish off the last of her banana....

She is most happy when she's outside running free. Me too!

We set up our picnic blanket and food before Riley showed up.....

She was a picnic pro and a great helper. She unpacked the bag for me and spread out the plates and food....

But I soon realized that her willingness to help was related to her desire to eat AT THAT VERY MOMENT! The girl was starving and scarfed down her food before our guest arrived....

"Sorry dude!"

"I never claimed to be patient"

As I sat there on the blanket, just me and my girl, I wanted to bottle up the moment and keep it forever. In my mind it made for a picture perfect end to another bittersweet mother's day. I was obviously thinking a lot about my sweet momma that day and couldn't help but wonder what it be like to have her there with us. She would be eating up every last second of her time with Hal. I can say without a doubt that my mom loved Hallie more in the the seven months that she knew her than some people love in a lifetime. Ah, here come the tears. My daughter is a reflection of me as I am a reflection of my mother. When I look at her......

I see my mom.

We had a nice little picnic (despite the relentless mosquitoes). Somehow we managed to come away with zero squeeter bites and a lot of laughs!!

I can only hope that when Hallie is my age she will look back on me and feel the same way about me as I do about my mom.

This girl is everything and everything to me.