Mother's Day

Today was a wonderful Mother's Day. Trav woke up with Collin so I could keep sleeping. I had just gotten up to go to the bathroom at 8:30am and when I came out, Trav was at the base of the stairs with "breakfast in bed". So I hopped back in bed and enjoyed my pancakes with applesauce. Collin joined me for a few bites. He was wearing his Old Navy separates pajamas and I kept thinking he looked so big in my arms, opening his mouth for more, and crawling all over me. We hurried and got ready for church then picked up the LaMacchia girls. It was snowing light flakes as we drove. It hasn't snowed in over a month. What luck.

Collin was a stinker during most of church. He just wants to crawl everywhere and gets frustrated that he can't. And it's his nap time, so that doesn't help. Rachel Nielsen gave an amazing talk in sacrament meeting. I didn't think it was nice that they assigned her to speak on Mother's Day since she lost her mom in college and hasn't been able to get pregnant herself. But of course she did amazing and was the perfect speaker. If everyone spoke as well as she did, I'd pay a lot more attention during church.

Young Womens was wonderful as well. We had seven girls come and Dorothy gave a great, light hearted lesson, that involved the girls a lot. I've been sooooo frustrated with Sabina, and even thinking that maybe I needed to ask to be released, but my patience was renewed today. I feel like I'd put up with anything or anyone for these girls. I really love them so much. I love being their leader and hopefully their friend.

When we got home from church, Trav ushered me upstairs for a nap, put Collin down, and got to work in the kitchen. I was a little nervous about that, but he only came up to ask me one question, and he made an amazing dinner. I need to let go more. I walked over to invite Clare, the widow that lives two doors down, for dinner and she accepted. I felt bad that we hadn't thought of inviting her til the last minute, but I'm glad she came. Trav made a roast, mashed potatoes, HOMEMADE crescent rolls, and steamed broccoli with brownies and ice cream for dessert. It tasted great and it was nice to visit with Clare. After she left, Trav started the dishes and wouldn't let me help.

Did I mention that he also surprised me with roses? White ones with pink edges. Oh, and chocolate. Twix to be exact. And two Sweatheart rolls. He knows me well. We had an agreement that if he didn't buy me anything then I wouldn't get him anything for Father's Day. So Saturday night, we were at the grocery store and he told me to pick out a chocolate bar. I wanted a Twix but didn't think that was very fancy so I picked a Symphony bar. Well, that stinker tricked me the next day with flowers and the REAL candy I wanted. I ate way too much sugar on Mother's Day but it was worth it.

It really was a wonderful day. I felt very taken care of and pampered. Much better than getting materialstic things. I got a message from my mom while I took my nap that was so sweet. She was crying and thanking me for the package and card I had sent her. She said she felt so blessed that we were "put together" and how lucky she was to have me as her daughter and that she felt so loved. I was so glad. My mom had major surgery on Wednesday and will be recovering for 6-8 weeks. It was kind of the aftermath surgery for having so many kids. My poor mom has really paid the price for having so many children. But she never complains about that. It makes me feel selfish because I still don't feel ready to have another child and one of the reasons is what it will do to my body! It's awful, but true. It's not easy to balloon up, give birth, get no sleep and try to get back to normal. It's been much harder than I ever thought it would be. But of course, nothing, NOTHING compares to Collin's smile. His laugh. Or when he snuggles into me. I love when he just lets me hold him. It's fun to have a little shopping buddy (when I'm not in a hurry and he's not screaming :) And I love watching him discover new things and learn new "tricks". Right now, he's saying Dada and it's so cute. We're still not sure if he connects Trav to Dada, but he says it nonetheless. He's such a ham. We were at Red Robin on Saturday night and he kept trying to get people's attention, then smile super cheesy to get a reaction. He took his first steps last Thursday. He will stand up and take a few steps then fall down, but he only does it occasionally. He's just getting SO BIG! How did this happen? How do I slow it down? I love him so much I can't describe it. And as for his dad, well, I am a smitten kitten. He is so good to me. He is my best friend. He will do anything for me and shows me every day how much he loves me. Am I lucky or what? It was a wonderful Mother's Day.