Best Mother's Day in the History of the World

What could be better than spending Mother's Day with my mom, brunch on the beach, celebrating with my hubby and 2 first born Ethiopian babies, getting a pedicure with my momma, and the grand finale...bringing home my baby boy from the NICU?!?!? Absolutely nothing. The day was pure perfection.

My mom and daughter at brunch. Addise refused to say "cheese". She's two.

View from our table at brunch. You can get a sneak peak of the ocean in this shot.

Brian knows how to celebrate me. I'm a much better mom because of him. After brunch Brian had scheduled pedicures for mom and me. What a treat before we went to get Asher.

The ones who made me a mom.

The one who made this day supernatural. All I wanted for Mother's Day is for him to come home. Miraculously he did.

Leaving the hospital to bring home Asher Zacarias after 3 weeks in the NICU. He is a "blessing" and "God remembered" all our prayers, indeed. His name is truly prophetic!

Home at last. Snuggling with momma.

Another post will have to reveal Judah and Addise meeting Asher for the first time on Mother's Day. We caught the entire moment on video. For now, let me just say - they LOVE their baby brother. Of course they are learning to share mommy with this 5 pound-something little guy, but they think he's a keeper. They constantly want to kiss him wherever I'll allow, touch him, and "hold it, mommy". :) They are fascinated with his dinosaur cries, itty bitty booty, teeny hands. Today I asked Judah who Asher looks like and he confidently said "Addise". LOVE.

Mother's Day 2012 - a day to remember with deepest gratitude.

Asher's Shower

Six days after Asher was born, I had my previously scheduled baby shower. My friends who threw the shower tried to convince me all week that we should postpone it. "You've just had major surgery!" "You need to rest!" "Let's postpone until Asher comes home!" I stayed the course and convinced them I could do it. I'm so glad I did. It was good for my soul to be with women who love me and my family. The shower took the sting out of Asher being in the NICU instead of my arms. And let's be honest, we needed the gifts to bring home Asher!!
I've had two of the most AMAZING baby showers in the last 18 months. At my last baby shower, I had just left Judah and Addise in Ethiopia and was a blubbering idiot at my shower. Then, at this shower I left Asher in the NICU. Geez. No more baby showers for me. These were two very emotional and non-traditional baby showers for me and my friends.

May the pictures can share the story of this incredible afternoon with my friends...

Cutest cake you ever did see!

Everything had a personal touch. All the desserts were made by one of the girls on my team - a baker at heart!

Every guest made their own party favor - personalized bags with Asher's birth information. Every guest also signed a handmade guestbook, complete with their address (easy for thank you notes!). Finally, everyone wrote in a book with "mommy advice". These words were beyond general - they spoke into who I truly am and what I need to be a great mother. THANK YOU, RAI, for creating such meaningful, personalized items.

To say my friends are "generous" is just too flighty a word. Thankfully, they didn't make me open gifts at the shower. Afterward, I opened gifts for two days.

Maybe the best part of my shower: my daughter and my mom were there. My mom flew into town just a few hours before the shower. A dream come true to have her there.

She who walks with the wise grows wise (Proverbs). These are some amazing women in my life. Over the past 7+ years these women have spoken into my life, walked with me, and transformed me.

No caption can capture her beauty or personhood. Loved having my daughter with me at this shower. To say she was given too much sugar by all her aunties is an understatement.

Adorable clothes line of baby clothes. The preemie clothes look like doll clothes. The great attention to detail and thoughtful, meaningful interactions blew my mind!

Every guest spoke a prayer and word of blessing for Asher and me. The white beads are for Asher's birth month (diamonds) and the green beads for mine (peridot). They were all strung on to a necklace for me. Beyond amazing!

The icing on the cake: Carol (in above necklace picture) secretly talked with my mom who wrote me a two page letter of blessing and wisdom. Yes, I cried.

Most of the women who showered us with love. Massive love and thanks to Rai, Carol, Sookyung for hosting this lavish affair. Though I still look 9 months pregnant here, I had to post this picture of my beautiful community.

I left full and exhausted. What a day. It truly takes a village and this village is a keeper. Much love and thanks to my community for showering us with love.

REGULATED!

This morning my mom and I went to see Asher. Her first meeting of her newest grandson. :)

Within minutes the nurse told us that Asher's blood sugar levels have self-regulated!!!!!!!!!!!!! His sugar IV was removed and he is now IV free. MIRACULOUS! Somehow between when we saw him Saturday afternoon and yesterday his insulin and blood sugar levels reversed and his body is doing what it's supposed to!!!! I almost lost it. Regulating his sugar-insulin levels was the biggest deterrent to him coming home.

Next Goal: sucking, swallowing and breathing from a bottle 8 times in a row successfully (we can supplement with breastfeeding, too). Today he took 1/2 his feeding successfully from a bottle. The nurses and OT will keep working with him on this combo. When he accomplishes that – ASHER COMES HOME!

I told his doctor today that we've had LOTS of people praying for Asher and he said, "that's good". :) I also informed him that Asher will be coming home before 37 weeks. He chuckled and said "sounds good. Alright." In my momma-opinion, he could come home in the next week. That's my hope.

Keep praying people!