Mother's Day 2011

It wasn't too many years ago that I thought I might not ever be a mom. I went through a season of infertility and spent a couple of years having blood drawn and tests run to see what exactly was wrong with me. I remember a specific visit with yet another specialist when I was told I may only get pregnant through IVF. Ben and I had already decided that was a road we would not travel down and so this news was very disheartening. I was basically told I may not have children. Of course adoption was always an option, and something I had always been interested in but we were working at a small Christian school and I just didn't see how we could ever afford to adopt. God allowed me to get pregnant shortly after this doctor's visit and just a few short months later we joined a church in Kentucky that has a huge adoption ministry. It was there that I realized it was possible to adopt even if you weren't rich!

It was also not too many years ago that I spent the last Mother's Day I ever would with my own mother. It was May 2003. She was sick with cancer and died just a few weeks later. What do you buy a woman who you know is about to die? We had a bracelet made for her with the names of her kids on it. She loved it! Her vision was poor by then and she had to get a magnifying glass out to look at it. She cried when she saw it. She wore it to her own funeral.

So I have certainly had my share of sad and emotional Mother's Days. While I had a nice day this year, on my heart were those women who want to be mothers but aren't or who do not have a mother in their life.

Here are a few pictures from my Mother's Day:

The "kids" got me a new watch.
We were unable to capture a photo with all eyes open and facing the camera.

Owen - age 3, Aubrey - age 1 and 28 weeks pregnant

Before we ever moved to Kentucky I started a tradition of having Ben's family over for Mother's Day for dinner. It's been 5 years since we've done this so it was nice to be able to serve his mom again to honor her. She is always serving and cooking for others. It's kind of nice to force her to be waited on! Ben grilled rib-eye steak while I made homemade bread, sweet baked potatoes, salad, steamed broccoli and strawberry pie. It was such a nice day that we ate outside. Although, Owen thought it was cold and kept asking for gloves.