The new man in my life

Sorry I've been neglecting everyone. I'm going to make this quick since I'm typing this on my IPad in the NICU and it's not very fun or easy. Clark arrived on May 24th weighing in at 5 pounds 12 ounces and 19 inches long. He was initially just fine but quickly had a hard time inflating in lungs with air. He was sent to a different hospital in the NICU to jump start him on his breathing. He's now four days old and absolutely the sweetest thing in the world. He's more than likely coming home tomorrow! I'll givea more detailed story when Everything finally slows down. Until then here are a few pictures. Okay, so no pictures. Apparently blogger and my iPad aren't friends. Soon enough, I promise I'll try, but trust me, he's a cutie!

A Mother's Day Post for a Mother

Did you know that I absolutely love and adore my madre? I promise, I do. She (with the help of my father, of course) raised me to be hard-working, loving, genuine, and so much more. She made me who I am. I am the third of four children, and my mom was able to be an amazing mother on top of working full-time. The house was always kept clean, food was always on the table, homework was done, kids were clean and happy, and we all felt loved my mom.

My childhood is filled with nothing but wonderful memories of my mom. Even though she worked full-time, she made sure we had plenty of fun. I remember summers full of boating on the lake, Lagoon, Seven Peaks, the zoo, and so so much more. If we were sick I remember my mom calling into work to let them know she wouldn't be there because we were sick, and she would tend to our every whim all day long. We could lay in her bed (which was a treat) or lay on the couch, she would then make sure we could watch whatever we wanted while she would get us whatever we wanted, no matter how strange. If we vomited, she never once made a big deal about the mess, she would sit there rubbing our backs, holding our hair out of our faces, and telling us how sorry she was and that she loved us.

She is now the best grandma anyone could hope for to two rambunctious girls, and she's thrilled to be adding a boy to the mix extremely soon. I have never understood the love a mother could have for her children, until I became a mother myself. I finally learned first-hand everything a mother does. The frustrations, sacrifices, hurt, but most importantly love, the goes along with being a mom. I want to tell my mom that I finally get it. I finally get why she would cry when we got hurt or when we got mad at her. I finally get it why she wanted to hear us tell her we love her...and that's all she ever asked of us, she didn't want flowers or jewelry, she wanted a simple, "I love you, Mom." I understand the pride she had in her children when we did something we didn't think we could do, or when we tried our hardest to do something. I finally get why she could get so protective and want to rip heads off. But I finally get her love. I finally understand how you can love someone so much that it feels as if your heart is going to explode.

Neil said something a couple weeks ago that made me so proud to call my mom my mom. We were watching General Conference when someone (I'm really bad at remembering who talked about what) stated that President Monson's daughter can always rely on being told she is loved and beautiful when she visits her parents. After hearing this, Neil turned to me and said, "That is exactly like your mom. She's always making sure her kids know she loves them." And it's 100% accurate, no matter what I do I know my mom will always love me. That's not to say that she agrees with what I'm doing, and she'll probably be the second in line (after my dad) to tell me how stupid she thinks I'm being if/when I do something stupid. But I know she'll always love me.

All in all, I love my momma-cita. She's there for me every step of the way. She's the best mom and Grandma Sue anyone could ask for.

I love you, Mom. Thank you.

P.S. Okay, so maybe there are somethings you did wrong...and that's how this one came to be...