Mother's Day Blessings

My mom was the MVP of my wedding planning, my most valuable partner. She has very strong opinions and her taste is perfection. She helped me filter my ideas and when she didn't agree with them, she made me justify them and thus decide for myself if they were important or not. She always jumped on board when she knew it was something that mattered to me. All my life I have known that she was there for me, my cheerleader. She looked so beautiful on my wedding day!

I have also been so blessed to have a very loving mother-in-law. She raised my husband to be a compassionate, quality man and she has welcomed me into her family with tight hugs, loves and special stories of her life raising my husband and his sister. She said that it was destiny that I joined their family. She always calls me from St. Lucia and says, "well, hello Mrs. Loctor" and we giggle because we are both Mrs. Loctors!

During our wedding ceremony, we chose to have our mothers take part in a handfasting ceremony. When I asked my mom to do it, she said it was appropriate because we were both tied to them and now they were tying us together. Asher's mom brought the cloth we used from St. Lucia. Isn't it beautiful? It was one of my favorite parts of our day.

I am so blessed to be surrounded by strong examples of motherhood, including, my sister-in-law and my very own sister. Both are new moms that have shown me how to parent gracefully.
My sister-in-law had a four month old baby Josephine at our wedding. I love how she can always put Josie (and I) into giggle fits! She was the first person close to me to have a baby and it seemed effortless, she is a natural.

And most recently, my sister, who was about five months pregnant on our wedding day. She looked absolutely beautiful acting as an amazing Matron of Honor, playing the violin in our ceremony and giving a speech. All while making life in her tummy. Little Hank was in there all along.

So today, before I go off to breakfast with a few of these special ladies, I want to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all the special mamas in my family. Thank you for being there for me, you mean the world to me.