A Heaping Helping of Motherhood

For Mother's Day today my kiddos gave me a heaping helping of motherhood. With Ross at work we had the day to ourselves and as is par for the course with a toddler, that meant we were go, go, go all day.

Unfortunately the Wee Baby Cade is kinda a hot mess right now. His perpetual runny nose, which I am 99% is allergies, evolved into what Ross calls a "productive" cough this weekend. Poor baby actually coughs so hard it brings tears to his eyes. In part because of his cough, and probably in part due to the diaper rash I discovered this morning, we had a wakeful night. Bedtime is at 7p but Cade was up at 7:30, 10:30 and then 3a. The 3a awakening unfortunately was somewhat inconsolable. It was almost 4a before he was finally back in his crib, calm and quiet. I assume he fell asleep shortly thereafter but of course I'm not 100% sure (I was far too tired myself to hover around his crib and keep tabs. Besides I find if I stay in the room he doesn't sleep; he just wants to play or be snuggled which is 1000% counterproductive to what I am trying to achieve at 3 or 4 in the morning).

Since Ross' alarm goes off at 5:45a to go to work and then Cade and I started our day by 7:30a per the usual, it was a wakeful morning to say the least.

Once we really started our day Cade and I went to Starbucks, the Play for All Park, Walgreens and HEB. He was very very well behaved at Starbucks. I'd like to think it was equal parts his general awesomeness, his genius self knowing it was Mother's Day...the short line and the snacks I bought and continuously offered him. Those Starbucks snacks may be pricey but you can put no price tag on a happy toddler at 8:30a on Mother's Day Sunday.

The Play for All Park is definitely our new favorite park. It is like 6 parks in one and we hung out there for FORTY-FIVE minutes which is like 5 days in toddler time. We discovered a xylophone thingy and per the usual, Cade really enjoyed the tunnels and slide. The cutest thing though has to be the Round Rock Village part which is a mini-downtown with kid-sized stuff. As you can see, Cade is already learning all about safety and the importance of using crosswalks.

After our morning fun, it was time to run errands including the grocery shopping. There was a small meltdown in the check-out line but those Starbucks snacks proved their value once again. God bless 'em. Also to Cade's credit, he is a remarkably good grocery shopper. I've taken him grocery shopping, like big for-the-whole-week shopping, at least a dozen times, maybe twenty even, and this is the first in-store meltdown he's ever had. And hello, he has a snotty nose, tear-inducing cough and diaper rash. And I was taking his snack pouch away from him (because he was insisting on flinging pureed fruit all over himself, the cart and the poor HEB employee standing next to us). So really, I can kinda understand the meltdown.

Once we were home and Cade ate lunch, it was time for a slightly early nap. He definitely needed it per the unusual levels of pre-dawn activity. Now, I will admit, in the spirit of total honesty, I was ready for naptime too. I mean I'd basically been up every 90ish minutes since 3a and then up for the day for real at 7:30a and had to manage a grocery store meltdown. And Lexi has allergies and I have to give her 3 pills today which she is totally not into and I still haven't done because its very challenging and just thinking about it exhausts me. So by 11:40a, I needed quiet time too.

Thankfully Cade and I both had a naptime rally. He slept an hour and a half or so and I wished my own mom a happy mother's day (because she's the best mom on the face of the planet and holy cow if you think you want your mommy just wait til you're a mom because then you need to talk to/consult with an experienced mom [and your own is always best] like 4 times a day, 7 days a week. Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you!).

Then it was off to Meg & Stacy's for Mother's Day lunch. They hosted this last year too and it is really nice. With their pool, great patio and beautiful yard, it's a perfect, pretty and easy event. Not to mention Stacy is bad-ass on the grill.

Margaritas, fajitas and a lot of toddler-led entertainment. Believe it or not, as the only small person in attendance he was the center of attention. Shocking I know.

For my Mother's Day gift, Ross and Cade gave me pearl stud earrings. I tip my hat to Ross for catching it when I said a few weeks ago that I needed simple pearl earrings to wear for every day things with my pearl necklace (the earrings that match the necklace are lovely but with diamond chips and dangling pearls are more special occasion earrings than business meeting earrings). Well done boys!

And now Mother's Day is winding down. Cade is in bed, hopefully for a better night's sleep now that he has a humidifier. (Thanks goes to Nancy for picking one up and bringing it to lunch. I had every intention of buying one at HEB but totally forgot [ditto to milk] and in my "I need quiet time" state after shopping, could not muster the will to go to the store again today. She totally saved my sanity.) I am about to enjoy one of my favorite guilty pleasures of a bowl of popcorn with melted real butter and 1-2 episodes of DVRed trashy TV from the past week.

Finally, I tried to think of a witty transition but I can't. So I'll just share. We got our family photos back this week and they are AWESOME. We've already printed and hung two in the living room and I LOVE THEM. I can gaze at them forever because it is simply incredible what a perfect, beautiful little family and life we have and the photos are such a wonderful, tangible reminder. Sometimes, honestly, I think I must be dreaming. Because it's exactly what I've always dreamed of: a husband I am madly in love with and who is crazy for me too, a happy, healthy, stunning child, even a sweet loving family dog, a beautiful home in Texas and a prospering business.

Grocery store meltdowns and grouchy 3a anythings aside, I have been blessed with a wonderful life and I love the warm fuzzy feeling I get every time I catch it looking at me from the living room wall. I'll take a heaping helping of this life, this moment, this motherhood any day.