Mother's Day

I am so very grateful to be a mother! I'm also grateful that we have a day to celebrate mothers and reflect on their invaluable influence on our life. Even though I only have one, beloved biological mom I have been blessed in my life to be mothered by many. I have so many amazing women in my life who have and continue to encourage me through their words, and more importantly their actions. I never imagined that I would enjoy, so thoroughly, being a mother or that I would find it to be so rewarding. More so than any career I could have pursued. The hugs and kisses I receive daily are worth more than any monetary amount I could ever receive. And no matter how frustrated I get because I cook something and she won't eat, and then I cook something else and she won't eat that either (you can see the pattern here) I marvel at her each night I get to put her to bed, and as I sneak in her room and watch her sleep that is when I realized how truly blessed that I am to have her AND to have the ability to be with her during the day and see her face light up each time she discovers something new or says a new word or sings a new song. I have the most PERFECT job in the world, I'm a mommy!!!

This Mother's Day was spend in Canada and it was a nice, relaxing mini vacation for me. All I really did was knit and relax. As for gifts I got an iPod dock alarm clock which was expected (I picked it out myself, haha) and a few pairs of earrings which were very unexpected (I LOVE my husband)! My mom recently purchased a gym membership so we gave her some workout clothes and a nifty water bottle so that she can remain hydrated. And for my mother-in-law, well she got what she requested. About 3 weeks ago she asked me if I could knit her "one of those short jackets that everyone wears these days" (those were her words). She was referring to a bolero or shrug as they are more popularly called, but I, being a novice knitter, told her that I couldn't do it because I had never knitted an actual garment before. But I must admit that I do love a challenge so I started looking at patterns and decided that I would make it after all. I am also in the process of knitting her a second one which will be her birthday present. I was slightly stressed about finishing it on time because the only time I have to knit is after we put Y to bed, so I spent many late nights knitting and I still wasn't able to finish it until 11:35pm, 25 minutes before Mother's Day ended! But alas it was done and I am really amazed by it, I still look at the pictures and am in awe of what I did and how fast I did it. I mentioned that it took me about 2½ weeks (give or take) to knit it but that was only working on it for 3-4 hours each night and some nights I didn't work on it at all. I estimate that it took me around 49-50 hours to complete which is pretty amazing considering the lace pattern on the sleeves and the stupid rib border. But anyway, here are the pictures!

On Monday we went and had lunch with one of B's really good friends that he grew up with who has returned to live in the area. Once we returned I put Y down for a nap and left to go out with Q (B's mom) to pick out a corsage for B's brother's prom date on Saturday. We took the long route home, making a few stops on the way and while we were in one store we found some sidewalk chalk. The previous day when Q had taken Y out for a walk Y walked up to a little girl who was playing with sidewalk chalk, picked up 2 pieces and began to walk away as if they belonged to her. And so, the idea of buying Y some sidewalk chalk was born. Here are some pictures of us having fun on the ground. You can see my portrait of their cat (of which I am not a fan) and Q's portrait of herself an P (B's dad). You can also see that Y did more drawing on her own face than she did on the ground...Enjoy!