The Rutherford Files: Mother's Day weekend

Here's my mom, and the little person who made me a mom, caught in one of my mom's favorite baby activities.

I almost said that this was the best Mother's Day ever, but then that would leave this out:

That was last year at Happy Hollow, and it's one of my all-time favorite Gwen photos.

Plus, there's this little gem at a picnic with my sister-in-law's family. It's super-short (I don't think I knew I was taking a movie, actually - the camera was my MD present.) (Hey, look at me - I uploaded a video!)

And of course, there was Mother's Day 2006, which was when I got my best present ever: it was the day after we found out we were pregnant.

Still, this weekend was pretty dang special. And I have zero pictures to prove it. I had the camera with me - I just didn't use it.

Keidi's little girl showed up on Tuesday, so on Saturday we took some lunch over to the newly expanded family. Eliana is very small! I look at her, and I look at my big tall girl, and it's hard to imagine that she was that tiny. Then I pick Eliana up, and my arms remember, and my body starts to sway, and I think, oh yeah. I had one that was this little, and this fragile. She's so sweet. When I introduced her to Gwen, she turned her little head and really focused on Gwen's face. So cute! The little sister baby!

Then Calvin decided all the guys should go to see Star Trek, so he and Jim called Kevin to see if he could go, and Alejandro (Keidi's friend Amy's husband,) and all the girls got together after naps and had dinner together. We had all sorts of little people running around the house, and one making little squeaky grunts before falling asleep again. I love our little group.

On Sunday, I got to sleep in, and Gwen brought me a Happy Mother's Day balloon which she promptly proclaimed was hers. We had breakfast and hung out and eventually went for a hike. The thing was, I had a bigger day planned, and then we downscaled, and at the last minute I decided I didn't want to deal with the camera, so I left it in the car. We were just a Henry Cowell, after all - we go there all the time. But we went down a different trail, one with a massive hill that we haven't been on since Rosie died. Then Gwen wanted to see the creek, so we went down to the little clearing where Rosie used to wade. And stayed there, because it was cool and pretty and private. Gwen threw rocks in the creek to the see the splash. I threw sticks in the creek to watch them float downstream. Jim climbed up on a log to watch us. Gwen kept chattering away, doing her little running dialogue about everything she does and sees. There was a little breeze, and it was green and sun-dappled and fantastic. I really wished I had brought my camera, but it was kind of nice to just relax and enjoy the moment, too. Gwen figured out the she could wade in the stream. She found a stick that was much longer than she is, and she kept throwing it into the creek, fetching it, and throwing it in again. Having a dog first really was good training. It was a great afternoon, with Rosie's spirit right there with us - I swear I could see her smile.

These are pictures from the Friday before Eliana, some of my favorite moms ever...