ROCK ON

BB has started this new thing. When I walk in the room she points at me and smiles from ear to ear. "Mom, you rock," she says. "You are the bombdiggity. Thanks for the fresh fruit and the organic milk. Thanks for the special lotion so my skin gets extra soft. Thanks for reading to me and kissing me one thousand million times a day." Sometimes, as a mother, you forget how special you are. You forget that you are key in shaping your child's life. You forget that your child is happy and healthy because of the special things YOU do. I know so many awesome mothers. So to Melissa and Gina and Kendal and to Jess and Liz and Macie and Rebecca and Kylene and all the other BAD ASS mom's out there, YOU ROCK. YOU ROCK THE HOOOOOOOUSE.

IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT RAISE YOUR HANDS

TUESDAY'S CHILD IS FULL OF GRACE

Several years ago my mother started a journal. A compilation of letters to me and only me. When I found out I was pregnant she gave me the journal and I began writing to BB. Feeling oh so sentimental on her birthday Thursday, I went back and read some of the entries.

August 22, 2007

Betty Beatrice Calvert,

You were welcomed into this world at 12:39 p.m. We have never been so amazed, so thankful and so in love. You are perfect. You are beautiful and strong and we love you more than we ever thought possible. It's a feeling my mother has tried to describe to me 100 times but I never understood until I became your mother. Your dad and I just gaze at you, laugh at your funny faces and thank God that you are healthy. BB you are so very loved. You are two souls combined with the love of two hearts showered on you every second. Welcome! Welcome to a lifetime of happiness, trials, laughter and love. God is good.

You are not mine but I am yours.

OH JAMAICA

your waters are calm

your peeps are so friendly

your drinks so strong

your hammock so comfy

your canopy tour so long


oh jamaica i love you


more than rasta ralph loves his bong

DADA

Last week while we were gone BB stayed with Justin's mom. We were so happy they got to spend some quality time together. One morning when we called to check in Melissa mentioned something I found quite peculiar. She heard BB saying DADA! DADA! over and over. When she walked into the living room BB had her little finger on a picture of Justin when he was very young. This may not seem strange to some but he looks quite a bit different now than he did 25 years ago. How did she know it was him? Did she recognize his face? I don't believe that. I believe that daughters have a cosmic connection with their fathers. I believe Justin and BB are soulmates and knew each other long before they were even born. Maybe they frolicked in Heaven together and she has been searching for him all this time. The love the two of them share is incredible. Justin took BB to the park Saturday morning and when they came home he told me all of the things they had done that day. Swinging, teeter-tottering, hanging out. They are buddies and I see the start of a wonderful friendship between the two of them....until she turns 13.

I SWEAR

Tomorrow is my first child's first birthday party. I swore to her that her birthday party would be totally low key. "You won't even remember it, little girl," I said. "Who would waste all kinds of money on a birtday party that you won't even remember? Not this mama. No ma'am. It's going to be sooooo low key." Here is a sneak preview of the cake:




Except three tiered, of course.