Mother's Day musings

We've been so busy over the past several days! If we're not grocery shopping or going to appointments, we're playing in the sand box and feeding the fish in the pond :)

Doesn't Leslie look beautiful?!? The above picture of her is from MSD's Prom, which took place this past Thursday night. Leslie asked me to meet her at the dorm before the prom and drive her there, so i did. (Baba stayed home with Maelin, which gave me some much-needed one-on-one time with Leslie, and a dinner out with my friend, Shelly!) After school that day, Leslie's sister Brandi went to the dorm to fix Leslie's hair and make-up ... WOW!! By the time i arrived, she was all dolled up and ready to go :) We drove to the Prom (which was held at the Flint Association of the Deaf), and i went in with her for a few mintues, before leaving her to hang out with her friends. I haven't talked to her since then, so i'm anxious to hear an update on how things went! :)

We've had an eventful last several days. One day last week, we went to lunch with Kaleb (a former student of mine) and his mom, Barb (the second picture is Maelin with the Wendy's happy meal bag on her head!). Last Saturday, we had a visit from Mama's friend Maureen and her son Adam, who is ten days younger than Maelin. We've been down to visit Jacob and Lucas a couple of times (the bottom picture was taken while playing with sidewalk chalk at their house). On Tuesday, we had a play date with Erin and Ryan and their mom, Cindy (Erin was a student of mine at MSD last year). The third picture was taken last weekend at the kitchen table. I was writing out my bills, and Maelin had to be sitting there with me. The calculator kept her busy for a while, and then we added some stickers, just for fun!

As Mother's Day draws near, i reflect on the happiness that Maelin has brought into our lives in such a short amount of time. But i also think of the two other mommies that she had before me. One of them gave her life -- and we can judge her for abandoning that baby girl, but we don't know what things were like for her. We don't know what a difficult decision it was, or what circumstances surrounded it. We DO know that she placed her baby, bundled and warm, on the steps of the orphanage, with the obvious intention for that baby to be adopted by a loving family and given a better life. I also think of her foster mother, who cared for her for more than two years. I know that she must still be grieving for this beautiful little girl. We've only had her in our lives for six short weeks, and i already can't imagine life without her...

Happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous moms out there ;)

Mama