Mother's Day!

When I was young and thought about what it would be like to be a mom, there are certain things I never anticipated...

 That I would have a daughter whose favorite toy is a sword...

That my little sister would turn into the most amazing, loving, fantastic aunt any two kiddos could ever hope for...

That I would be taking my children to the doctor multiple times in a month for double ear infections, roseola, runny nose, etc...

That my daughter would also love her brother's light saber and baseball hat...

That I would spend hours and hours outside on our driveway playing with chalk, blowing bubbles, pushing my son on his bicycle...
 

That I would be cheering at the top of my lungs when my kid jumps off the platform at swim lessons (and is the only one of his group that did it without any coaxing or bribing... :)

That I would have constant text messages with my mother about how hard this entire gig is (or that I would even understand what a text message was when I was younger...)

That I would have a son who cracks me up every day...

 And who loved playing tball with his Daddy as the first base coach..

That I would sneak into his room and take pictures of him while he was sleeping at night...

When I thought about becoming a mom, I also knew about this thing called Mother's Day,  A silly day in my opinion.  For a few reasons.  Of course, it seems silly to devote a day to celebrate what is the most rewarding experience in the world.  Being a mom is a gift in itself.  And now that I've given my Hallmark moment take on the holiday, let me tell you the other reason why I think it's a silly day.  Because it is not the relaxing spa day that the commercials make it out to be.  You are still a mom.  You are still taking care of your kids, still worrying about them, still cleaning the house, still feeding little people, still running errands in the short 2 day span the world grants you as a working mom, etc.  It's still awesome and fun and I'm sure gets easier but I still love it when mothers in Kroger who have children in middle school try to tell me it doesn't...  #hh.

 What made this Mother's Day unique was that poor Lucy slept horribly the night before.  She was screaming the entire night, miserable, and wanted to be held the entire time.  Why?  A horrible terrible rash.  Hello Roseola... how's it going?  Poor Goose was so miserable and so were we (given that Jack was the only one who slept more than 2 hours the entire night.)  But since Andy is amazing and was determined to make sure my Mother's Day was a fun one...

We still went to Bloom's Day!  Lucy, rash and all, agreed to be pushed around in a stroller in the 80 degree heat b/c she loves her mother and will let me look at random plants b.c it makes me happy.  I've got the best family :)

My favorite part of the UT gardens is the Kitchen Garden.  Look at the lettuce!!!

 And the onions!!!

 And the basil!  It's too much..

Jack loved the bug tent.

Especially the part when I let the creepy bug guy allow a millipede run across my hand.  Jack - this is proof I love you.

We brought Mimi to Bloom's Day b/c she loves plants as much as I do and loved spending time with the kiddos :)

 Jack loved the craft tent and made a butterfly kite.  Please ignore his jean capris.  I didn't realize the temperature would jump 20 degrees in 10 minutes so we improvised.

 I love being the mother to this awesome little family.  I do not look forward to the day when my kids are bigger than my purse.  They need to stay this small for a little while longer.

 Mimi with her kiddos!  So grateful to have her join us for this awesome Mother's Day.  I love sharing my kids and my love of plants with her at Bloom's Day each year :)

I stayed home with the Goose on Monday to make sure all was ok with her - after a quick appt to the dr to confirm that it is Roseola - this was her for the rest of the day.  Honestly, this day off was my true Mother's Day.  I got to spend an extra day with this girl (big faker), do some leisurely laundry, and even take a nap. Now THAT is a Mother's Day :)

Oh, and that night I had a fantastic dinner prepared for me by a husband who was determined to give a sleep-deprived, Roseola-plagued, Mother's Day a perfect ending.  And he did. Of course he did.  It's Andy. :)