My Second Mother's Day!

A pretty amazing feat when we weren't sure if there would be a first mother's day. Looking back at our incredible journey to Wylie, I have learned a lot about being a mother. There's really two parts of this mother business, in our world.

There's the first part of the journey, where a mother is someone who learns that she is actually creating and growing a person who will enter the world and takes on such a serious, selfless job. The one who quits eating junk food and starts swallowing giant pre-natal vitamins. The one who goes to doctor's appointments and loses sleep at night due to tiny footed kicks to the ribs. The one that knows the feeling of a belly that takes on a life of it's own, and defies the constrains of ordinary jeans. Wylie doesn't quite get it yet, but this part was mastered by a mother who clearly loved him before she was able to meet him. Wylie had the great fortune to grow with Becca, who was determined to take impeccable care of him and ensure he would grow up safe, and healthy and happy. And while he doesn't know what I'm saying yet, there are few days that go by that I don't tell him this first part, how lucky we all are to have started this family with Becca.

And then there's the part where I come in. The waiting and wondering and dreaming, without the big pregnant belly. The wishing and the anxiety, the sleepless nights and the excitement, without the morning sickness. The preparation for parenthood and family and motherhood without the details, the date or the plan. And really, what's more Nielsen than plowing ahead without the details? This adventure, this wait, this journey, this sweet Wylie... this is us. A definition of mother and child that goes beyond the conventional matching genes and same colored hair... that's us. And to be honest, when I look at the family we cherish the most, they were not created by genetic lines, they were created by choices and happenstance and providence. And without a quiver of a doubt, when I walk in his room in the morning and see him jump up and down in his crib, I know Wylie is my son and I am his mom. I like to believe that we were meant to be, the three of us. But three is not all, there are really five of us... without Becca and Garrett, our family would not be.

So Mother's Day is not mine, it's shared. Shared with a woman I admire and adore, shared with the only woman on the planet who can probably understand the wild and crazy love I have for Wylie. Shared because we both have a part. It's sort of organic, where one overlaps the other. And like I know the love of two moms in my own life, Wylie will have the love of two moms in his. When I woke up on Mother's day, so thankful for the opportunity to be Wylie's mom, the first thought I had was of Becca, and how i could NEVER say thank you enough.

These two pictures are of Mother's Day in Chicago at Adam's parents. It was a great day- great company and great food. Wylie was ENAMORED with Adam's Grandpa Willard. He often stretched out of our arms so that Grandpa Willard would hold him, and when we reached to take him back as we were leaving, he clutched Grandpa's shirt. Those are the little moments I love. The second picture is of Wylie and Uncle Caleb (or K-bub for short) hamming it up on the sofa. Caleb is a true natural with kids, but really, most of the Nielsen men are- one of the very coolest things about them.