Ava's Fashions

Brown and pink, a combination that can't be beat. Especially cute in a family photo.

To All The Moms I've Loved Before

Today the "Lewis Mothers 2011" yearbook comes out. I wonder who the class celebrities will be??!! I'm so excited!! Let's look....

MOST LOVED MOTHER

My own mother earns this title because, well, she's MY mother. Any woman who says, in regards to Angelina Jolie, "If God had wanted me to adopt African babies, He wouldn't have put that big ocean between me and them" is going to be the mother I love best. Even the most olive complected mothers pale in comparison.

MOST PATIENT MOTHER

Ah, the woman who used to understandably HATE Mother's Day, my sister-in-law Kathy. 20 years of marriage without a child and you'd probably avoid the day altogether too. And while I'm sure Kathy will no longer hate this holiday, I would guess she feels that every day since little Robert came into her life has been Mother's Day. After 20 years of waiting, the look she has in this photo is the look you see on her face all the time.

BEST NAVIGATING MOTHER

Talk about a life changing year. My sister Amy had to face every mother's fear when her daughter Ashley, who has some learning challenges, got pregnant. Amy navigated those rough waters with a grace and dignity that some might not expect from my sister. But I never expected anything less. Her love for her daughter, as well as for her childless brother, gave her the strength to choreograph the most beautiful of endings. And while most will never know the great toll it took on her, a few of us do, and we bow down in awe.

MOST HEALING MOTHER

My sister-in-law Sue has the unwanted distinction of being the mother with the sickest kids of the past year. But if anyone can handle that title, she can. No one can attend to and mend a sick child like Sue. From ear infections to lifelong diseases, she can manage them all with ease. She definitely missed her calling as a nurse. If my kids ever get very ill, I'm sending them to her house!

MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED MOTHER

Though this mother's baby looks oddly like an unsalted peanut at the moment, my niece Brooke will no doubt be putting the rest of us mothers to shame come December. She will be changing diapers and making bottles and folding onesies and powdering bottoms and tickling toes, all with both hands tied behind her back. I know I'm looking forward to meeting this perfect mothers' baby, who will surely have the fattest cheeks in all of Christendom!

MOST ATTENTIVE MOTHER

This toughest of nuts was forever cracked when her baby Landon was born. From the minute my niece Brianne laid eyes on that baby, she fell head over heels and turned into a big bowl of mush! That boy will never go a minute without knowing his mama thinks he's the smartest, most handsome, funniest, kindest, most talented, best dressed, fastest, most creative, best hairstyle, cleanest eater, best sleeper, ....you get the point. Landon's got his mama's full attention, and we all love seeing her soft and gushy side!

MOST PREPARED MOTHER

She may not now be or ever have been a Lewis, but my best friend Melissa has earned her place in this family's yearbook. While some mothers make decisions for their kids on a whim, Melissa analyzes to a gnat's eyebrow each and every decision regarding her children. Whether it be as simple as what outfit they should wear to a party or what the best course of treatment is for their learning disability, she will spend hours upon hours researching each and every possibility to find the perfect one. Her children can sleep deeper at night in the knowledge that what their mother has done for them has been exactly what they needed.

MOST EASY GOING MOTHER

Nothing ruffles this mother's feathers. My oldest niece Bonnie has 5 children under 13, and you never see her lose her cool. And why would she? She was born to be a mother. She's seen her kids safely through rough times with her relaxed, positive manner. There's not a week that goes by that either Melissa or I don't say to each other, "I really wish I could be more like Bonnie right now...why can't I just relax about this??!" No grey hairs in this mother's future, that's for sure!

MOST GRATEFUL MOTHER

I am so lucky to be part of a family full of strong maternal influences. The Lewis family as a whole would fall by the wayside if not for the perseverance and tough-mindedness of all of these women.

MOTHER OF THE YEAR

While the rest of us spent the last year ranting and raving like plucked chickens about our petty issues, my niece Ashley was quietly proving herself to be the most real mother of us all. She had the intelligence to realize that she wasn't ready for the challenges of motherhood and the courage to allow her child to be raised by people who were ready for those challenges. We should all hope that in the face of tough decisions, we would be as practical and as brave as Ashley has been. (Not to mention she gave her Aunt Kathy the chance to stop hating Mother's Day!)

*Wow, those moms are all so cool...I hope they sign my yearbook!

(p.s., keep your eyes on Being Suzanne Mosley around 8am, there may be a surprise in store!)

The Face Of Postpartum

These pictures were taken in March of 2003, I think it was a birthday party for Ashley. Why was I there? I'd just had a baby in November, and was probably looking for any excuse to get dressed and get out of the house...Amy called and said she was throwing Ashley her first "boy/girl" party, and I should come for the entertainment value, if nothing else.

The birthday girl

Brianne and Victoria

Brianne, Allyson, and random Ashley friend

How much do I hate post-baby pictures of myself...

Alex and Amy (and random Ashley friend again)

Victoria

The Things We Do For Family...

Just what every 8 months pregnant woman wants to do....attend a Mary Kay party! As if being over 230 pounds isn't shameful enough, I had to remove all my makeup in front of a group of people and put new makeup on, in hideous shades. And why do I ever let myself be in a picture with my oldest niece Bonnie?? Even in funky Mary Kay colors she looks like a movie star...

(more nieces, Brianne and Ashley, and my sister-in-law Sue in the background)

This is why I am determined to crush her in fantasy football this weekend. Being that gorgeous is a sin, and deserves to be punished.

Strollin' Along, Singin' A Song

When I was in the height of the Irish twins stage, this was the stroller I used. An Eddie Bauer double stroller. The stroller was gigantic. It weighed 44 pounds, and took up the entirety of our trunk area in our old Jeep. The process you had to go through to fold it up and to unfold it was insane.

But I had an 11 month old and a newborn. I had no other choice if I wanted to leave the house but to use a double stroller. Without that stroller, I would have spent those first 3 years in solitary confinement. Colson wasn't walking when Ava was born, and he didn't really walk for another 4 or 5 months after she was born (I only call it "walking" when they can walk without falling down constantly).

So that stroller, along with my mother, kept me in the land of the living during those crazy years. Being able to get out of the house was crucial after being pregnant for 20 months. The stroller helped me physically do it, and my mother helped me emotionally do it.


I used this stroller for a good 3 years. I realized at one point that with both kids in it, I was pushing over 85 pounds. No wonder my arms were so toned back then...


Those are two of my nieces in the picture; Brianne, ELew's 4th daughter and Ashley, Amy's 2nd child.

See You In The Funny Papers!

Oh yes, it never ends, folks........This time it's just Ashley, always in the right place at the right time.

Attention Hogs

Ah yes....folks with Lewis DNA always seem to end up in the newspaper....Brianne, Ashley and Alex, back when we all lived on School Lane in Newtown Square, PA.