Moms and Memories and Puddles.

Tonight as I was waiting for my pictures to upload, I was catching up on a couple of blogs. The first couple that I read seemed to have a theme about mothers. They both had something so profound and beautiful to say, things that I think about often and cannot find eloquent enough words to express.

If you have a minute and you're interested, read this , by an inspiring mom with 3 adorable mischievous looking boys who do hilarious things and a sweet baby girl, and this, by a courageous, down-to-earth amazing mother of 4 little girls, who is also the proud wife of a soldier.
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 This morning we were really sad to say goodbye to my mom and grandma, who selflessly took the time to come up (over?) and visit us and bring us all sorts of goodies, including more apples:) (because apples in Ohio are apparently less than HALF the price of what they cost here!!)

It was a whirlwind visit, packed with laughter, stories, and new memories. My grandma grew up very close to where we live now so driving around our neighborhood is like coming home to her. She showed me the house where my grandpa grew up, an adorable bungalow just a couple blocks away from our place! She showed me places where stores were that she would visit, where the trolley used to run and told stories of happy days in her past. And then last night, she and my mom treated us to a nostalgic dinner at a Czech restaurant close-by where they used to go many, many years ago (30-40 years!)

My great-grandmother was from Czechoslovakia and lived very close to our place and I got to see the house where she lived and out of the recesses of my dusty brain, came a distant memory of visiting her house! It was a fun trip for my mom, too, as she had sudden memories of places that she recognized from her childhood. It was fun to see her so excited to eat roasted pork loin and sauerkraut; things I've never seen her eat in my life!

Thank you, Mom and Grandma, for coming here and blessing us with your love and your presence. It meant the world to me, every too-short minute of it. The boys just soaked up your presence (as did I!) and it made me long to live near our families once again. I can only pray!
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While they were here, Eliana learned something very new and very cute! She learned how to say, "Hi!" in the sweetest, softest, little voice you've ever heard:) In the past few days, it sounded like she was trying and then last night before bed, Ben was holding her and she laid her head on his shoulder (as she likes to do when she's feeling shy) and said to my mom and grandma, "Hi."

We all melted into a sugary puddle on the floor.

And then this morning as she was crawling around, she pulled up on the tv (don't worry, it's not usually on the floor:) and discovered that she could see her cute self in the glass. I heard her very clearly and softly saying, "Hi!" to herself.

And then I melted into a puddle again.

It almost made up for the fact that I have not had one solid night's sleep in over a week due to her hysterical middle of the night cryings and her daytime mommy-obsessive disorder.

Almost. If she does it again tomorrow, I just might have to forgive her. It's going to be tough....:)