My Mother's Day!

I'm just a few days late with this. Pretty good if you ask me!

Anyways, Mother's Day started off in the most memorable of ways. The night before I just could NOT get Emma to go to sleep. We went down around 10 and at 10:30 Emma was up screaming. I changed her diaper and tried everything I could think of. Nothing worked. After 2 hours (yes TWO HOURS!) of trying to get her to sleep to no avail, we finally figure out a new "technique" to get her to sleep. She slept great the rest of the night; Daddy & I--not so much! haha

It seemed like just minutes later her daddy was waking me up saying he had to go meet his dad so I needed to get up with the baby. I was scared it was already like 8am because we had a full day ahead of us and I needed every minute to get ready for the day. I hopped up and that's when I realized something was "off." He had this huge grin on his face and was leading me to the kitchen. There, sitting on our counter, was a huge stack of pancakes and my iced tea just the way I like it!!!
   **Side Story: Every Sunday I have tried to make pancakes for us as a family and it never happens. Either her daddy has to help someone out, or we don't have syrup...SOMETHING! 
But this time, this time I got to have my Sunday pancakes!! And they were delicious! Everything was perfect. I even had a dozen yellow roses and a B&N gift card. My "daughter" already knows me so well!! haha

After that I had to get Emma ready for her busy day. Diaper bag packed. Car loaded up. Emma dressed up. Me dressed up. Extra "nice clothes" for both of us for when Emma decided she no longer liked what we were wearing (aka: spilled something on herself or me, spit up on me, wiped guk on me, etc). Mother's Day bags ready for Mamaw (my mom) & Nonna (her dad's mom). Then we made our rounds! haha

We had brunch at a really nice place... a golf course. The food was really good. I ate way too much sausage gravy & biscuits and bacon! Emma even enjoyed he eggs, biscuits & gravy, hashbrowns... my girl can EAT! After brunch we went to hang out with Nonna and her family for a while.

Towards the end of the night we went to Mamaw's for dinner. We were celebrating my mom's birthday that night too. It was a lot of fun! Emma entertained everyone. We had rotisserie chicken my stepdad made, salad I made, and my sister's "famous" ranch potatoes. It got really late on us pretty fast though. Not sure if that was due to the lack of sleep or if Emma just was wore out from her busy day! Either way, we were home and asleep by 9pm! haha

I must say. Mother's Day was as perfect as it could have been. I had the best wake up. Got to enjoy both of my families. And I got to share my Emma with people who love her. There's nothing a mother could ask for than to see her baby receive so much love. That might have been the best gift of all!

Mother's Day, Father's Day, and gifts

Holy cow. Mother's Day is in 2 days!! That's still so surreal to me.

Last Friday I gave my mom her Mother's Day gift early: I took her to our elective ultrasound appointment. She hadn't been to any of the medical ones or the elective one prior and I knew this was something she was really looking forward to. So I scheduled it for a Friday after work, hoping both my sisters would be able to make it as well. One wasn't because of work, but we had fun anyways. And because she didn't cooperate, we get to go back the day after my mom's birthday and I think it will get to be all four of us this time.

While we were there, my mom bought me a Baby Book. It is sooo cute! Pink--of course--with all these pages to fill in. The nerd in me was quite excited! lol She said it was my first Mother's Day gift. I honestly hadn't even thought about getting a Mother's Day gift this year. I don't know why since I am usually one to over-think EVERYTHING! but I really hadn't considered whether or not I was "eligible" for a Mother's Day present. (Side note: My sister got me and my mom teddy bears with Emma's heartbeat in them for our Mother's Day presents!)

So... Am I a Mother? Officially? Mentally? Spiritually? All those other "ly's"? Should I expect a Mother's Day gift or acknowledgement on Sunday? I guess I don't feel like I should expect one. But that's also because I don't love getting gifts for the most part. I like giving gifts. I like making gifts for other people, picking things out I think/hope they will like. But Christmas and my birthday are always weird days for me. Because people ask me what I want and I never know how to answer that. I usually tell them I just want dinner with friends and family. Fun games or activities. Bowling or volleyball or even going to a karaoke bar (even though I NEVER sing! lol). I like being around the people who mean the most to me. Now there's another day where people might feel obligated to get me something and that makes me feel a little awkward. :-/

That's not to say I would ever tell a pregnant woman she is not a mother. Because then I think about it: and I truly consider my boyfriend a FATHER to our baby girl. Has he been able to hold her yet? No. But he has made hard choices to make sure her life is a good one. He works very hard to provide for her. And I know how much he loves her. Like last night. We were sitting on the couch and he was just rubbing my stomach. I asked what he was doing and he said "I want to feel her kick." Of course she already listens to Daddy more than Mommy, because almost immediately she kicked right where his hand was! (Stinker!) He also kisses my belly, holds it as he's going to sleep at night. I feel so much love when he does that. It's almost like there's an invisible beam going from his hand straight to her. I feel different when he's holding my belly. I can't put it into words; I guess it's just a feeling. I have every intention of getting him a Father's Day present from me and Emma. I've already been looking for just the right thing. (Still a little stumped, so any ideas you want to offer up would be GREATLY appreciated! LOL) But I can't say that I thought about whether or not he would get me a Mother's Day gift. hmmm

Today made me think of all the traditions we have in my family for Mother's Day. We are really big on traditions! (Maybe we just don't like change. lol) For Mother's Day growing up, we would make my mom coffee and Puff/Smacks cereal, put it on a tray with a little bell, and wait for her to wake up. You should know that us making coffee consisted of putting hot water over coffee grounds; and the milk was poured into the cereal long before she woke up so it was always incredibly soggy!! But she would eat the cereal and drink her mud and say how much she loved it. And she would ring the bell just to tell us she loved us. For Mother's Day 2 years ago (I think), I tried to do an upgrade on our childhood tradition. I bought her a new tray (one she could use on her patio they were just finishing up), a brand new bell with a beautiful green stone on the handle (her birthstone is an emerald), the new Special K with chocolate cereal, and fresh ground Starbucks Vanilla coffee. I don't drink coffee so I have no idea what a good flavor is. I took a stab at it! haha She loved it. She said it reminded her of when we were little and that was almost the best part. That we still got to be her little girls.

My dad was lucky. I was born the day before Father's Day. And since I'm his first, he never had the dilemma on whether or not he was "really" a dad while his wife was pregnant. Man, thinking about it--the guys in my life are so lucky! I mean, my birthday is the day before Father's Day again this year. It also happens to be my anniversary. So that means my boyfriend gets presents TWO DAYS IN A ROW! What a jip! LOL just kidding!

A very nice lady at the bank today wished me a Happy Mother's Day. And it made me smile a huge smile. Maybe because I didn't expect it, didn't ask for it. Maybe because it was nice to have someone look at me and say (indirectly) "You are a mother and are doing a great job--judging from the size of your belly." hahaha

All that being said: I cannot wait for Mother's Day next year. To spend the day with Emma in my arms instead of my belly. To watch my guy hold her and love on her. To know I can still give him a gift on a day people say is designated for me... to share the moments she will have with someone I love so much... that is going to be the best gift I ever receive, I think.

P.S. Wasn't totally kidding about needing ideas for Father's Day/1st Anniversary gifts for my guy! :)