Thursday, March 22, 2007

26 YEARS AGO TODAY.......

....I became a mommy for the first time; and my life has never been the same. Thank heaven.

For YEARS, I thought Jenni's birthday was March 21. That's because all of the work was done that day. I went into labor early in the morning on March 21, and all day kept thinking, "Today, we will have a baby. Today, March 21 I become a mommy. March 21 I will give birth."

I found out what all other parents know, babies have their own timetable and they like to trick their parents.

Jenni was born shortly after 1:00 in the morning; March 22.

I had been told about the instant love a parent feels for a child, but didn't quite understand the POWER of it until I saw her. Oh. My. Gosh.

And she was perfect.

All wiggly and pink; dark eyes and a thick head of dark hair. I had incredible heartburn the last 3 months of my pregnancy, and my Italian mother-in-law advised me that was the baby getting its hair. I brushed it off as yet another Italian wive's tale while popping another 12 Tums.

When Jenni was born and the nurse said, "Wow, what a head of hair," her dad tapped me on the shoulder and said, "See? My Mom was right." Like I wanted to hear that right then!

Three and a half years later, we had a second little angel, Meghan. We were so blessed.

And then the sibling rivalry started. Oy. I remember sitting on the couch between the two of them as they were yelling "I hate you!" at each other, and having them say 5 nice things about each other. They developed a singsong response: "I like your hair, I like your eyes, I like your dress, blah blah blah." I would just sigh and tell them that my biggest wish was that they would become best friends, like my sisters and I are.

They assured me that someday, that MIGHT happen, but right then, they just couldn't stand each other.

Well, it did happen. Right now, they are in Florida with their significant others (Meghan and Ben, Jenni and Tim), spending Spring Break together. Today for Jenni's birthday, they woke up around 3:30 in the morning (and by the way, I'd like some sort of proof of that, because that does NOT sound like my daughters), Meghan and Ben made breakfast for them of cinnamon rolls, and then they all went to Captiva Island to watch the sunrise. Then they went to watch dolphins and manatees, and tonight, they are all going to go out to dinner. My girls are spending a vacation together and having a wonderful time, just like best friends.

And where am I??? The one who did all of the work???

At work.

But thinking wonderful thoughts of them and how I'm glad they are enjoying the time together. And wondering what wonderful souvenirs they will bring home to mommy.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm??????

Oh, by the way, on that hair and heartburn thing, Meghan also had a head of thick hair and I had heartburn in the last 3 months. Neither of my sisters had heartburn and all of their babies were born bald. So, ??????

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awwwww. So nice. Thanks for sharing these thoughts.

You are The Love of My Life, right? :)

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to Jenni!

When I was a kid, my mother always said if we didn't kill each other, we might grow up to enjoy each other someday. It sounds like your girl got to that stage too. I hope their vacation is as much fun as it sounds!

The trick of having them say nice things about each other? Yeah, I had a friend who did that. One time one of them looked at the other and said, "I like the way you bleed."

Unknown said...

Happy birthday to Jenni!

I also had horrible heartburn before my daughter was born.

With a full head of hair.

Anonymous said...

*snork* at neo's comment

And Happy Belated Birthday to Jenni. Nice stories, sly.

cathurynn said...

I came by from Dave Barry's blog. It will sound like a crazy coincidence, but I live in the same city as you, with the same birthday as your daughter, down to the year. If that's not odd, then the fact that for years my mother thought my birthday was March 21 instead of the 22nd should do it. :)

Anonymous said...

I think we left your souvenir in Florida :(
Thanks for the great post!

Anonymous said...

Now I have the heartburn. Just kidding! I hope to someday offer you some perfect, wrinkled little grandbabies. And, yes, they/we got up before the sun. On purpose. For porpoises. -- Tim

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding me?!?! I left your souvenir in the hands of your daughter the day we left. Did she not give it to you? By the way Jenni, how was the fudge from Kilwins?
And yes we did get up that early. Someone made me get up and preheat the oven. Argh.

rita said...

Captiva????? It's one of my favorite places in the world! Did they go by the tiny cemetary by the sea? People leave shells instead of flowers.

And my son had lots of hair, and I had lots of heartburn. Later I discovered it was really gall bladder attacks, but what the hell.