I PLANNED ON WRITING A MOTHERS DAY POST SOMETIME LAST WEEKEND to honor my mother and all the new mothers I’m surrounded by this year. Instead, I spent Friday night at the hospital with Ash and Saige, and Saturday afternoon helping Kevin’s brother Bryan move.

I’d show you more of their new house but I don’t want to intrude. Let’s just say it was full of vaulted ceilings, jetted tubs, walk in closets, granite counter tops and dark cupboards.

I think I may have drooled on the carpet.

Not really, because that would be gross. (Hey Katie, if you want photos of your interior I have some. Email me).

I alternated between taking photos, moving boxes, and trying to snap a photo of James.

He was wearing clothes earlier – really cute mini sweat pants. It was the bomb. But then he peed on everything and everyone so he had to have a change of outfit.

I still think he’s cute like this though. Look at the tiny hands!!

While Katie went to change him I moved to photographing Madyson instead.

It was really hard to not put down the camera and eat those cheeks. Isn’t she a cutie?

Poor Maddie. She was just sleeping, minding her own business when uncle Kevin walked over.

Wanna know how NOT to wake a baby?

1) Find a sleeping baby.

2) Keep whispering their name to wake them up Wait patiently until you see them moving around and waking up.

3) Moving quickly, grab the babies stomach and say, “HI MADDIE!” loudly. Your face should be about 6-12” away.

4) Have Mean Aunt Aub there to photo journal it.

Hey, at least I used my zoom on the poor kid so she didn’t have something else in her face. Unlike Saige. Poor Saige. First thing the girl ever saw was the camera and the freak behind it.

So Saturday was officially spent and I still hadn’t written that Mother’s Day post. Sunday morning looked promising when I ran to the store to get a few gifts for mom and Grandma. I had the post all planned in my head, but I decided to write it later after I got a text from Ash saying that Aspen wanted, “Kevin and Aubrey”. We are always a package deal as far as Aspen is concerned, and if Kevin isn’t with me the first thing she asks is, “Where is Kebin?” We hung out there for a bit and then came home. I hopped online and opened the photos I was going to use. That’s when my phone rang. It was 6:00.

“Can you come up here? And HURRY!” Grams was on the other end, talking fast and breathing funny. I hung up the phone and dashed upstairs to find her leaning over, holding a tissue to her nose.

“I gob a bloody nose and I cab’t get it to sbop” She mumbled through a Kleenex. I grabbed some new paper towels from the kitchen and handed them to her, sitting beside her to wait for the faucet of blood to stop.

Five minutes pass.

Then ten.

Fifteen, and Kevin comes upstairs to investigate.

Twenty and I’m calling mom to see if she knows any solutions, because pinching the bridge of her nose wasn’t getting us anywhere. It wasn’t the bleeding that had me worried, it was the lack of oxygen. Grams has to be hooked up to an oxygen machine all day, and I could hear from her breathing that she wasn’t getting as much as she needed.

Five minutes past that and Mom heads over. We pack Grams into Mom’s car and she takes off like a bat out of hell to the emergency room. They hook Grams up to some monitors and left my mom with instructions to keep pinching the bridge of her nose. When they came back the doctor told her to tilt her head back so they can take a look. The flow was too bad to get a good look, and she was spitting clots and chocking on blood so they put a rhino rocket – or a nasal tampon up her nose (no, I do not make these things up. And I quote, “Nasal tampons are commonly used to stop bleeding, yet their insertion is painful.”).

It wasn’t the most ideal thing. She had to leave it in for a day for the pressure of the swelling tampon to allow clotting of the wound. I felt bad for her but there were funny moments, like her cursing the doctor for “going after her brain” and how she swears the “damn thing was touching my eye”. Then there was the call from my Aunt, “So I heard you’re wearing Kotex again?”.

I don’t think Grams will forgive me for texting people about her tampon.

The most amazing part was watching my mom. My mom, who hates seeing people sick and in pain, sat there and held my grandma’s bleeding nose. She held the bucket up when Grams needed to spit, and she gently washed the blood off her hands and from in-between her fingernails.

Don’t get me wrong. Watching someone become a mother is amazing, and I’m so proud and happy for new moms Ashley, Lindsay, Katie and everyone else that gets to experience motherhood this year. I’m so happy for my friends who have new babies (Evonne and Kamie), and my sisters and sister-in-laws that have older kids to snuggle and read to.

But watching your own mother take care of her mom? There’s something special in that. It’s a true testament that you did right.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. I hope it was filled with flowers – not fluid.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO:

This beautiful woman who taught me everything from right to wrong, how to tie my shoes, good fashion sense, jewelry knowhow, antique shopping, the best food places to eat at, the worst food places to eat at, and how to size shoes. You taught me love and patience, to charity and kindness, and how to win a fight (just kidding. That part just sounded cool). You taught me how to deal with stress, and take my failures with pride,  and use them to make myself a better person. You taught us girls the importance of being a family and taking the time to do things together. I love that you see what joy simple pleasures can bring, like walks on the river trails, bottle and arrowhead hunting, and even just a good old Redbox Movie night on the couch.

I love you from the bottom of my heart mom. You’re my inspiration, my guidance and my light. Thank you for always being there for me. Happy Mother’s Day!

Love,

AubMo