Mother's Day

Mother's Day... I've never really liked Mother's Day. That sounds HORRIBLE! But I don't really like mushy-love stuff and Mother's Day just always seemed to be one of those days. Growing up I always enjoyed going to get my mom a Mother's Day gift on the way home from church, usually with my brother Tony, and I loved giving my mom the gift and watching her smile from ear to ear, but I never really liked the, "Ohhh mom, I love you so much, you are so great, I couldn't live without you...." stuff. Being a mom, myself, doesn't change that either. However, yesterday I almost allowed myself to enjoy the Mother's Day mushy-love stuff when a ton of you called me to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. You made me feel special and I just wanted to thank you for your thoughtfulness (in a non-musy-love sort of way!!).

My mom and dad were in town for the weekend, so it was fun to spend Mother's Day with my mom. We woke up to Erik walking in with two huge bouquets of flowers, one for me and one for my mom. I've never seen such huge, beautiful flowers that smelled so good!! We then went to church and had an amazing Mother's Day service. The mothers of the congregation picked out the scriptures and songs, then they read some words that some of the children of the congregation wrote about their moms. At the end, we had a time where anyone could stand up and say something about their own mom, if they wanted. Erik stood up and spoke for me, since I never talk in public settings (especially about musy-love stuff!). He said such nice words. We finished off the afternoon with lunch at Perkins, then a nap at home, and a walk down to Chester Bowl to see the waterfalls again. It was such a nice day to experience Mother's Day for the second time and reflect on what Mother's Day truly means to me. I don't think that it's just a day where people can tell me how good of a mom I am and how much I'm appreciated (again, I don't really like that mushy-love stuff), I think to me, personally, Mother's Day is a day where I can spend the day in thanks for being a mom. Yesterday I couldn't stop thinking about how thankful I was for Maida. On the way home from Chester Bowl, Erik and I passed a family of three kids walking down to the park to play softball. I smiled at Erik and said, "I can't wait to have three kids like that." I love being a mom and on days like this, I am thankful for the motherhood journey and all the new roads it's already taken me down. I can't wait to see what motherhood has in store for me! :)

To end, I'm going to write some thank yous to the two mothers who have had the biggest influences on Erik and I. Again, I don't like the mushy-love stuff, but I thought for once I could manage. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY GRANDMA AND NANA!!!!!!

To my mother-in-law Carol: Thank you for being the best mother that anyone could be to a boy like Erik. Thank you for shaping him the way you did and creating in him values that make him such a good person. Thank you for teaching Erik parenting qualities that make him such a good daddy to our baby.

To my mom: Thank you for always being there for me growing up and thank you for being there for Erik and I now. We know that we can always count on you. Thanks for being my best friend and for always being positive and encouraging to me. There aren't enough words in the world to describe the kind of person you are. You are exactly who I strive to be someday. If only I'm half the mother you are, I'll be doing good!