My First Mother's Day

Today I celebrated my very first Mother's Day, and it was truly all I had hoped it would be, and probably a little bit more. If you've read the post immediately below this one then you've been reminded of how incredibly awesome Joe is, and how lucky I am to be his wife. And you've probably guessed that he worked incredibly hard to make sure I had the best first Mother's Day ever.

The day started bright and early (maybe a little too bright and early at 4:30 thanks to Mr. Charlie) with the babies giving me cards and a basket of my favorite candies. After morning bottles were done, Joe announced that it was time for us to read a story. He headed to the bookshelf and returned with a special book made just for me by the babies called "Why We Love Our Mommy." The book contained the sweetest poem and pictures of me and Charlie and Lily - it was the best story ever!

After we read our book, I got ready to go to the gym for Body Attack class. Before I left though Charlie and Lily gave me another gift - a great shirt proclaiming me "Lily and Charlie's Mommy." Definitely the greatest title of my life.
When I returned from the gym the babies had another surprise in store for me. I was presented with a picture frame containing a photo of the babies and me with two blank spaces, and two bottles of finger paints. The paints were to use to help Charlie and Lily put their hand prints on the picture. I had a great time painting their little hands and making their hand prints. They weren't quite sure what was going on, but they thought it was fun!

The finished product is definitely suitable for framing. In fact, it is framed and currently hanging in our dining room!

After our little artists finished up, Joe ran out to do some errands and returned with my final gift - a box of delicious cookies from a local bakery. Cookies are by far my favorite food, and they made a delicious Mother's Day lunch :)

After their own (slightly more nutritious) lunch and a nap, Charlie and Lily received a visit from Crackers, Nana, Aunt Jill and Uncle Aaron. Last weekend Joe, Charlie, Lily and I had met Jill and our cousin Adam at the mall to have some pictures taken for Crackers and Nana for Mother's Day. They turned out great, and Crackers and Nana loved their presents.
Finally, Mother's Day concluded with dinner. We had 5:30 reservations at Malaga, a Spanish/Portuguese restaurant that I love, and were meeting Grandma Anne and Grandpa Fred there. We arrived at the restaurant to discover that it was mobbed, and even though we had a reservation we waited 40 minutes with no table in sight for us. The babies were hungry and cranky at this point, so we bailed and ended up going to Applebee's instead. The staff there was very accommodating and helpful and we had a table in less that 5 minutes. Charlie and Lily got to eat their squash and pears and wish Grandma a happy Mother's Day, and I got to drink a delicious red apple sangria. It turned into a very nice ending to an all together perfect day.

Everything I received today was wonderful, but honestly nothing is better than having the privilege of being Charlie and Lily's mommy. I waited a long time to be a mommy, and took a long, hard painful road to get here. But it was well worth every step.

(And to my sweet, perfect Annaleigh -I missed you very much today, and will forever cherish those 8 amazing weeks that I was lucky enough to spend being your mommy. I love you.)