If I would have known Mother's day was like having a second birthday I would have started having kids years ago! I woke up this morning to the cutest surprises. The Hershey's chocolate bar was gone in 30 seconds. I got the most awesome card that made me laugh and cry at the same time:) And finally the best present of all: a Spotify gift card. So ever since I started going to the gym I've been using Pandora like crazy. I am the typical Hispanic that loves hip hop, cumbia, salsa, pop and anything that makes you want to start shaking it, but the problem is I have to skip every other song because they are either inappropriate or they start cussing. I've been dying to have my own set of music so I can pick clean awesome songs and not have to worry about it while I workout, but I know it's a luxury we can't afford. Fortunately I forgot I have an amazing husband who spoils me, so this morning I got an amazing gift card for spotify (an app that lets you pick and download all the music you want, create playlists and basically is the cooolessst thing ever). I can't even express how excited I am.

“I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children.I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”

-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

After hearing this quote for the first time a couple months ago, I have decided this is the kind of mother I want to be. I've made it my motto throughout my pregnancy and have read it many times as a reminder of the mother, wife and woman I want to always be. I want our family life to be messy, fun and real. Kids won't remember or care about the perfect little outfits you put on them or their perfectly braided hair, they will remember the moments you spent with them and the fun you had together. My mom was the best at this. She was such a cool funky mom who did so much crazy stuff with us. I will never forget one night when my mom, my little sister and I spent hours choreographing a song and memorizing the lyrics to it. My little sister and I had just watched Bring It On (a cheesy chick flick about a cheer leading competition) and felt inspired to recreate the main song. We each had a part we sang and then did our own little dance while the others side danced. Of course we had to put customs on for this so we all went to our rooms to get ready. My mom came out in her swimsuit with a Hawaiian lay and grass skirt on. Her part went like this:

" My name is Lilo

I like to party

Cause when I shake it

the boys say "Ay Mami!"

She sang her part like a star. It was one of the best afternoons we spent together as a family. I really don't know any other mom who would do such a ridiculous thing with her teenage daughters.

One of my favorite views of life comes from the response of a college director regarding his early retirement to take care of his wife who had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer, "It's not that I have to, It's that I get to." I see motherhood as the most amazing calling and privilege any woman could ever have. I can't wait to meet my little angel and get to spend my life helping her learn and grow. Something tells me though that the one who will grow and learn the most will be me:)