The Title of Mom

I've been "celebrating" Mother's Day for two years now since Luke and I got married, and I hence became a step-mom to the most amazing little girl I have ever met.  No really, Bella is amazing.  She is so well-adjusted, especially given the six times she's moved in her less than seven years of life, and the back and forth that visitation spanning 5,000 miles can be.  She is loving, kind, caring, helpful, spirited...

And of course, ridiculously beautiful. I mean, she looks exactly like her daddy.  Except with longer hair and a dress.

But a co-worker said to me that this is actually the first Mother's Day that I "pushed" for.  It made me laugh.  I mean really hard.  I wasn't trying to be rude, but I have never thought of Bella in any different way than I do Claire.  Sure, Bella gets spoiled because we see her so rarely.  We eat popsicles in the bathtub and get extra chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream when she's already had dessert.  But whose to say I won't spoil Claire the same way.  Life's too short and one can never have too much ice cream.  They are equal in my eyes.

Now, don't get me wrong. Luke and I knew very well that welcoming Claire into our family would be very different than what we have with Bella.  I mean, we wouldn't be sending her to another family for 44 weeks out of the year.  But these girls are my world.

Yes, one calls me Momma Gigi and the other Mama, but I wished and prayed for both of my girls.  And yes, I call them my "girls" rather than my "daughters" just so Bella's mother doesn't have a fit.  But I think of them the same.  I love them the same.  So this Mother's Day is really no different to me, and some people don't understand why.

But all that matters is they love me.  They show me with kisses, snuggles, smiles and the beautiful blue eyes of their father.  But on Friday they showed me with these...

The picture I took of the note was too fuzzy (see honey, I really do need a new camera) so here's what it said: "Dear Mommy, Happy Mother's Day from your girls.  We love you! From Bella and Claire." 

And when I called Luke to thank him, he pretended he had no idea what I was talking about, that they really must have been from the girls because he certainly didn't order them.  I love you babe, but I'm on to you.

I cleared some room on my desk because when they first arrived, I was on the phone with a client (trying not to squee with delight and attention) and it looked like this...

And this is what it usually looks like.  Headset, check.  Diet coke, check.  Cell phone, highlighter, pink coupon binder, check.  Pictures of my girls, a Bella orginal coloring and my prized $0.03 Publix recepit for $45.39 worth of groceries, check.  This is my life.  They are my life.

So, no I do not think of this Mother's Day as my first.  And I can't wait for the many more to come.  It means I am a mom, and I love that title more than anything else.  Happy Mother's Day to my own wonderful mom, grandmothers, my mother-in-law and all of the other mommas out there!