Mother's Day

Mother's Day snuck up on us a bit, but I took some time to ponder my first Mother's Day with Baby G (more on that in just a moment). We celebrated our first Mother's day with cute cards from Jonathan and Baby G, and a hand-painted butterfly magnet from G. Very sweet!

We had a fun breakfast... with the mayor!

Seriously, that's Sam Adams in the University of Oregon t-shirt.

... and we visited the tulip farm in Woodland. G's first visit. It was a big day and a little cold and windy, but super fun. We got some great Tulip farm pics (keep an eye out for a post full of them). In the meantime, here are a couple to enjoy.

This year was a very special Mother's Day, as it was my first with Baby G. Last year just didn't quite feel the same, although my protruding belly definitely represented Gabriel well :) Of course, this gave me a lot to think about. I pondered Mother's Day traditions and which ones I might like to make our own, looked at examples of great motherhood/mothering, and thought about what type of mother I want to be. Unfortunately, I didn't come to any life-altering conclusions, but when I do I promise to share :) What I did discover is that (like most things worth doing) mothering/motherhood is immensely complicated. There are countless lists of things to make sure you teach your child, there are countless lists of things to make sure you don't teach your child... and there are even more lists that dispute the previous lists. I think it takes some common sense, learning to counteract much of which is not common sense, some serious perseverance, more patience than should be possible for one person, and more love than can ever be measured. My goal is to nurture my sweet boy, encouraging him to grow and mature into the adult he will one day be, and in the words of our favorite bedtime book, to love him all the time. "Even when you can't see me, I love you all the time." Love you Baby G - you are simply wonderful.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderfully amazing mama's out there!