Hands

While putting on my fake nails last week (a must for me because I have this horrid habit of picking at my fingers if I don't have nails on) I took a minute to notice that my hands look like my moms. I don't have a picture of her hands but I know hers look just like mine. Her hands have given more than they have taken, hugged more times than I could possibly count, cheered her family on, raised 4 kids (5 at times, if you count my dad - love you dad), put in thousands of hours of physical labor, wrung themselves out worrying and being patient with us, and held each one of her 10 grandkids. In my contemplation of a mothers hands, I thought it would be a good thing for Natalie to have a picture of our hands, like I wish I had a picture of my moms hands with mine. I've had to rely on my mom a lot over the last few months - worrying about Nati with her speech, getting good advice on pre-teens, and reflecting on the past while having high hopes for the future. I can only hope that my hands can do what hers have done.

And..... happy day for us - Natalie is going to regular kindergarten. I met with her teacher last week and she said (and I quote), "Natalie really surprised me." She did so great on the testing and has come so far. She technically doesn't qualify for the preschool anymore!! When her teacher finished explaining everything to me, I didn't know whether to hit her (for stressing me out so bad) or hug her. Needless to say, I didn't hit her. I made it to my car before I cried. We still need to keep working hard on her speech but we are most definitely on the right track. Yup, a most happy day!!