Happy Birthday Gogi!

Today is my mom's birthday. We were pooped after Nanny's big shin-dig so we decided for the girls to take her out to lunch. It's rare the four of us ever get together alone so it was really a treat. We found a restaurant downtown that serves Kentucky Hot Browns and knew we had to take mom there.

I hesitate to even write this post because I could never put into words what Gogi means to us. She's the true definition of a mother. She's the inspiration for the kind of mother I want to be for Grace & Finn.

She's the kind of mom that every year on the first day of school sent us out the door with a note pinned to our new outfit asking the teacher if she could be homeroom mom. I think the teachers finally caught on (and felt sorry for us) and mom was an automatic shoe-in for the position.

She's the kind of Mom that would do anything to save her girls from tears. She knew we would be devastated when Julie's beloved parakeet Crystal (named after Crystal Gayle of course) died. Mom put the dead bird in a shoebox, hopped in the car and spent the day visiting every petshop in Houston to find a bird that looked just like Crystal. After a successful Crystal "double" was found, mom quietly put her in her cage and never came clean with her deceit until a few years ago.

She's the kind of mom that mourned the day her girls moved away (but we all came back!). She had the clever disguise of wearing sunglasses my entire Senior year in high school to hide her non-stop tears because her "baby" was leaving.

She was the kind of mom that celebrated every achievement - big or small. She kept a steady supply of Randall's birthday cakes in our house growing up - in her mind there was always something to celebrate.

She's the kind of mom that taught us it's okay to be a little crazy and to have fun. If you walk in her home be ready to second guess the current season... she keeps her Christmas tree up year round simply because it makes her happy. Surprisingly, it makes me happy too.

It's fun to watch my family have their special bonds with Gogi. I try not to get my feelings hurt that she calls Kevin to go to lunch more than she calls me. They like to go try out different pizza joints and talk politics. Grace and Gogi are really two of a kind. Grace loves to snuggle her, talk non-stop to her and shop with her. Honestly, I think she's the only person that will piddle in stores as long as mom. Gogi kept Finn for us Mondays last year while I went to work. It was always so fun coming to pick him up to see what they had gotten into. It's embarrassing to say that he has more toys at Gogi & How's house than ours.

Thank you for being the mom and Gogi you are... we love you!