Happy Birthday Mom! I Love You!!!

That awesome lady up there, the one on the left in all those crazy pictures, is my momma.  And today I am dedicating my entire blog to her wonderfulness :)  You see, it's her birthday.  And she's quite fantastic, so I thought I would share how super great she is with all of you!  (But I won't share my momma, she's all mine.)

(Me and mom sometime around 1981 chillin' at home in Savannah, Ga)

I'm kind of her favorite kid (we'll leave out the part where I'm also an only child). 

(Easter Sunday with mom)

(On vacation in California...around 1988 or so)

My daughter thinks she's kinda cool.  The two of them have this incredible bond like I've never seen.  Almost 10 years ago, when Marley was born, she spent the first night of her life wrapped up on my momma's chest sleeping soundly.  I think their souls made a connection that night because they are almost inseparable to this day.

("Momma" and her Marley - Feb. 22, 2002)

(Summer 2002, Momma and Marley)

My mom and I have always been super close, except for those few random years where I was a crazy hormonal teenager who didn't like anybody very much...and through all that mess, she loved me anyway.  Isn't she great?!

(Me as a blonde and my pretty mom, 2001)

We lost my dad to a heart attack when I was 19 and it rocked my world and mom's.  They would have been married 25 years that year.  It was the hardest thing we have ever been through together.  But we are closer now than we have ever been.  My mom is truly my best friend.  (Ok, I'm starting to tear up a little now...this is pathetic.) 

(Mom and Dad at our house in Savannah, early 90s)

I have always loved and respected my mom, but I truly discovered the love of a mother when I became one myself.  I never knew how difficult and equally rewarding motherhood could be.  I never knew how you could feel someone else's pain like you do for your child, or love someone so deeply you would cross the earth and back on fire for them, quite like you would do for your child.

(Marley and Momma, 2004)

(Marley and Momma, 2008)

Thank you mom, for being so cool.  You're funny, beautiful (although a little on the short side!), supporting, stronger than I can ever hope to be, smarter than I give you credit for, a woman of God whom I aspire to be like one day, the best mom and grandmother in the entire world.  I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

(Three Generations, 2008)

(Mom and me, 2011)