One year ago today at 9:52am, Baby A was born.

The first grandson to DCM and a new love for JJ! I happened to be in Atlanta that weekend and was lucky enough to be there to see him when he was a few hours old! (We tried to get him to come out before we left Atlanta, but he wouldn’t listen, DCM’s grandson, go figure!)

I’ve gotten to see him a few times throughout the year, Christmas was the last time, and if you’ve been on my Facebook page you saw my Mother’s Day picture from him. As you can tell, he is a very handsome boy and I can tell you, he looks just like his mommy, what a doll baby! DCM is there representing and spending some good quality time with him and…he loves the tricycle DCM picked out for him.

Happy happy birthday Baby A!

I surprised my sister!!!

I am famous in my family for surprising family members. It started when I was in college my freshman year and I decided to come home and surprise my parents for Passover. I walked into the restaurant where there was a party for my cousin and my mom just about fell on the floor. My dad, on the other hand, seemed to know I should be there.

I did that a few times, surprising my dad on his birthday several times including last year. To date, I had never surprise my sister before.

Well, this is my last weekend off freedom, so to speak, before I can travel until the end of the project so I decided to come to Boston and surprise GES.

My dad was in on it and my brother in law. My dad was really good about keeping it secret, my brother in law wasn’t even sure if he knew!

My brother in law was great and pick me up from the airport, telling my sister that he was going to meet some friends for drinks.

We got home I saw dad and LaLa and snuck upstairs to see GES, who was checking on MGS and the look on her face was priceless!

She was very surprised and excited and said she didn’t know but had a feeling.  She is her father’s daughter!

I said, well, you did invite me to two parties this weekend! (Lots happening here this weekend, go figure).

I’m so excited that I surprised her and that I’m here for the weekend.

(Think EJS and MGS will be excited tomorrow?)

Lots happening…more tomorrow.

I did it!

The day started very early, about 6:15, when the birthday girl, MGS, came in to say hello.

That’s a wee bit early, add to that the fact that I had taken a Zyrtec and it knocked me out! I have to tell you that I didn’t come out of my fog until late today!

So, MGS came in to say hello and I tried to stay awake. She left and then EJS came in to say hello, I could barely keep my eyes open.  I was disappointed in myself because usually when they come in in the morning, I get up to spend time with them.

I passed out again and got up just as EJS was getting on the bus and she said to get mommy “Why does Auntie J sleep so late when she’s here?” (8:00 is late, awesome!)

I got up, got dressed, GES headed to a dentist appointment Abe I straightened things up, the cleaners were coming.  When she got back we went to get some brunch and a little shopping done.

We got back and then both got some work done and at the same I made a batch of brownies for MGS’ birthday at school. We headed out to school to celebrate her birthday in hey classroom.

After Brown brownies and singing, we headed to do some return and get some extra shopping done.

All of a sudden, it was time to meet the rest of the family at the Cheesecake Factory, where MGS wanted to go for her birthday dinner.

We got there and Poppa and La La were waiting, they had picked up EJS and when ACS got there with MGS it was time to site down.

Everyone was glad to be together and had a really great time at dinner.  For dessert, there was Cheesecake and singing happy birthday.

After dinner, it was home for presents, stories and bed..ahh. And now that everyone is asleep, It’s my turn, goodnight!

The day started very early, about 6:15, when the birthday girl, MGS, came in to say hello.

That’s a wee bit early, add to that the fact that I had taken a Zyrtec and it knocked me out! I have to tell you that I didn’t come out of my fog until late today!

So, MGS came in to say hello and I tried to stay awake. She left and then EJS came in to say hello, I could barely keep my eyes open.  I was disappointed in myself because usually when they come in in the morning, I get up to spend time with them.

I passed out again and got up just as EJS was getting on the bus and she said to get mommy “Why does Auntie J sleep so late when she’s here?” (8:00 is late, awesome!)

I got up, got dressed, GES headed to a dentist appointment Abe I straightened things up, the cleaners were coming.  When she got back we went to get some brunch and a little shopping done.

We got back and then both got some work done and at the same I made a batch of brownies for MGS’ birthday at school. We headed out to school to celebrate her birthday in hey classroom.

After Brown brownies and singing, we headed to do some return and get some extra shopping done.

All of a sudden, it was time to meet the rest of the family at the Cheesecake Factory, where MGS wanted to go for her birthday dinner.

We got there and Poppa and La La were waiting, they had picked up EJS and when ACS got there with MGS it was time to site down.

Everyone was glad to be together and had a really great time at dinner.  For dessert, there was Cheesecake and singing happy birthday.

After dinner, it was home for presents, stories and bed..ahh. And now that everyone is asleep, It’s my turn, goodnight!

Staying in a hotel, you don’t normally get things like mail.

That is unless you have something shipped to you. And I’ve had one or two things shipped to me, especially when I knew I wasn’t going to be going home for a while, it’s just more conveient.

Well, today, I received a wonderful treat in the mail! My sister told me she had a card for me and asked where she should send it. I gave her the address here at the hotel and today, when I got back to my room, it was waiting for me!

You can see the card here and inside, the most adorable picture of EJS and MGS. Inside was written by EJS, “Dear Aunite J, Happy Mothers Day” and they both signed it! I teared up it was awesome!

I will treasure this card for always, for now it will sit on the nightstand, soon, it will go in the clear sleeve for my calendar, that’s where their valentines day card is. I am truly blessed and touched.

Thank you. I la la la love it!

You may or may not know that I am a mom.

A step-mom to be precise, I became a mom when I started dating the wasband oh so long ago. When I met my kids, my son had just turned 7 the day before and my daughter was 8, it was a new experience. I was in love and I never wanted it to end.

From the moment we became a family, I never called them anything but my son and daughter, I didn’t see a difference. I may not have given birth to them but I don’t think I could have loved them anymore! I like to say I have all the joys and none of the stretch marks!

There were many times that they tested our patience, mine more than his because if you’ve never been one, [this is my opinion] being a step-parent is incredibly stressful, you want to be the best parent you can be, ensure everyone is happy, worrying that there might be a blow up, not wanting to overstep boundaries, so many things. Sometimes I joke when people are expressing frustrations with their teens and pre-teens, this too shall pass and I can say that my kids lived, that’s pretty good.

On the flip side, being a step parent can be the most rewarding experience ever. I wasn’t sure about being a mom when I was younger, but I fell in love when I met them and what adventures we had. I became a mom and I loved every minute of it, even the moments I didn’t love at the time.

They were both shorter than me when we met and as you can imagine, that didn’t last long! They are also so very smart, I know, you think I’m biased, and in some ways I am, but they were both very smart, graduated with honors, sometimes ‘not a lick of common sense between them’, but they were mine and I was so proud of all they did and were.

They tested my patience at times, as every child does to their parent and they made our time together special. I loved throwing birthday parties, coming up with creative ideas to surprise them, introducing them to so many new things and experiences. And as for the birthday parties, 20 was the last one I got to celebrate with my daughter, her dad and I were divorced a few months later.

No getting maudlin.

I think about my daughter every year on May 8th and my son on November 11 and send them love and hugs and wish them well. I think about them other times, just especially on those dates.  And as today was her birthday, I was inspired to tell you a little about them.

Even though I don’t see them I still talk about them to anyone who will listen, I brag about them and so…I have a 26 year old! Imagine that!

Hap Hap Happy Birthday TYH! I love you!