12 Years and Counting

So today marks the 12th anniversary of my venture into motherhood. Twelve years. It's not a very long time, is it?

However, what if I were a doctor? Twelve years of experience is a lot of experience. What if I were an attorney? After twelve years I would be an expert in a certain field. If I were a teacher (one who actually works), I would have been assigned an apprentice by now. If I had spent twelve years at any other occupation, I would feel confident in my skills and abilities and might even consider myself an expert. I might have been promoted!

But none of that really applies to motherhood. I've been doing this for twelve years, and after twelve years I don't have anything right. I go to bed nearly every night pondering what I did (or didn't) that I should (or shouldn't) have done. Well, I really only ponder on the nights I can stay awake for 60 seconds after my head hits the pillow. Every morning I get up and pray I can be a better mom today than I was yesterday. Honestly, after some really bad days, it's not hard to be better today than yesterday. But for the most part, it's a conscious effort everyday.

After twelve years, I can't say I'm an expert. I still look to moms with way more experience than me and learn from them. Unfortunately, they don't have all the answers either! However, if baking counts for anything, I can make excellent sugar cookies, killer brownies, and am comfortable experimenting with food.

After 12 years of motherhood, the only thing I know for certain is that there is a love that never stops. And when you think you can't possibly share that love, you have another baby and the love multiplies. And that love is what makes us lay in bed at night trying to figure out how to do it better tomorrow.

When we brought Braxton home from the hospital 11 years, 364 days ago, my dad took me aside and said, "Your job as a parent is to pick them up when they fall. Brush them off, and send them on their way again. It will be easier when they are little, but picking them up gets harder and harder as they get older. But you just remember, your job is to pick them up."

Today, I will celebrate 12 years of picking up and brushing off. How empty and useless my life would be if I didn't have this job.

Happy Birthday, Braxton.

Cruise News!

Yes, I know. I'm a little behind everyone else. I did post the food, though, and that was very important.

The cruise was the best (and only) vacation I've ever been on. I'm ready to go again.

Mary snapped this photo on the plane as we were leaving SLC. It was cold and snowing in Salt Lake so we were really looking forward to Long Beach!

Now when you look at the four sets of photos I have of the cruise, it amounts to over 1,000 pictures to sift through. And as I'm sifting, I'm seeing a pattern of me. Me and the stage, that is.

Day Two. Austin Powers Disco dance class. I'm front and center. Lori to the right and April next to her. Behind us are Denny (tan shorts) and Jess (chicken legs). But there I am. On stage.

Day Four. On stage with Barry Van Wie, a fiddler from Vegas. Yes, I am playing the cowbell. That, my friends, was fun. However, when he asked my name, I said, "Trulee." He said, "What?" and then I wished I would have said something simple, like Mary, or April, or Lori, or Vicki.

Day Six. Country Line Dance Class. I'm wearing the exact same thing I wore on day two. We recycled on this cruise...unless you were Lori and Jess and actually did laundry while you could have been walking around on a cruise ship eating carrot cake. So there I am. On stage. Again. This time I am joined by Vicki (to the right in the pink), Lori (in brown), and next to her, Jess (the guy with the chicken legs).

My sweet husband managed to record video of the dance classes. IF I can figure out how to post video (Liz??) and IF I get brave enough, you will all have a great laugh.

Some of My Favorite (Cruise) Things

There were a lot of things I loved about our recent cruise to the Mexican Riviera (Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas). Some of my favorite are here.

Each night, the steward (ours was Linda from Slovakia) would turn down our bed, leave us a caper (tomorrow's activities), two chocolates, and a towel creature. It was a different creature every night.

Another of my favorite things was the food. Not just that it tasted great and you could eat as much as you wanted, but the way it was presented was as enjoyable as eating it. Our headwaitress was Andrea from Romania and her assistant was Nicart from the Phillippines. It was almost sad to say goodbye to them. They were wonderful. On the 2nd and 3rd nights, one of our group asked for the cheese plate as we were being seated. Every night from then on, Andrea had it on the table when we arrived.

Each night we also had "Showtime" during dinner. The servers would stop serving and sing and dance for us. Nicart really got into it and put on a great show.

Cruise details to be continued...