FIRST MOTHER'S DAY

Ah, Mother's Day.  That one day a year where moms everywhere get to sleep in as late as they please and leisurely go about their day, right?  Right??

Alas, the bubble I had been living in the weeks leading up to Mother's Day quickly burst when Wade and I found ourselves spending multiple hours (ack!!) trying to get Everly to take an afternoon nap....so we could take naps.  The day had started out fairly close to my expectations...

Wake up leisurely to the smell of breakfast in bed.  Ok.  I still had to get up early to feed Everly, but she did nod off again for a little bit, which was nice.  And there were pancakes.  Good ol' Mickey D's hotcakes, which were delicious.

Arrive at church early enough to give my mom her special flower.  I had envisioned arriving early to church to give my mom her lily for her to wear, but characteristic for us, we were 10 minutes late.  This lily corsage is a tradition my grandpa started many years ago.  I'm not even sure exactly when it began, but I have memories of the doorbell ringing each Mother's Day before church and then my mom walking back into the kitchen with a beautiful smile and a beautiful flower pinned to her shirt.  It was a quick delivery on his way to his own church service, but it started the day with such love.  The first Mother's Day after my grandpa passed away, I noticed there wasn't a lily pinned to her sweater as in years past.  It was another raw reminder of the void he had left.  The next year, I went to the store a few days before Mother's Day and picked out a lily corsage for my mom.  I've been doing it every year since.  This year I even picked up one for myself:)

So while I didn't get it to her early, at least we were able to be twinsies for a few pictures.

Enjoy a picnic lunch of KFC.  If mom isn't supposed to be burdened with cooking, what do you do?  Cook ourselves?  No way.  Grab some KFC and eat outside is the best idea.  It was raining, though, so we enjoyed our KFC inside.  Everly was pretty fussy, and I complained to my mom how I had started to realize how moms don't really get a break, even on Mother's Day....while she was busy clearing the dishes herself and getting me more water.  The irony wasn't lost on me:)

We used to sneak into my parent's room and pilfer through my mom's drawers and then wrap up her old scarves and jewelry as her Mother's Day "gift".  She always acted surprised, but I'm sure it just added another thing to her to do list: put away all the crap my kids took out of my drawers.

I have to say that Everly is already proving to be a good little gift giver.  She (and Wade) gave me this awesome jogging stroller!  Now I'm going to be able to run everywhere with my little babe by my side and all that baby weight will come melting off, right?  Right??  Or is that another motherhood delusion?

The day before we went to see my little niece shake her booty in her first dance recital.  She was A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E.  We went back to my brother's house afterwards for a pre-Mother's Day celebration and also to see their new tree house.  This is far from the one we had as kids, though.  It's got a roof, patio that multiple adults can stand on, two levels, a slide, and POWER!  Yep, they should rent that thing out through Airbnb.

Yep, we're both wearing golden pineapples.  If being a twinkie with your baby is wrong, I don't want to be right:)

Seeing the love between Everly and her cousins melts my heart.  I remember when these little tykes were babies and now they're playing with my baby.  It's very surreal and wonderful.

I'm so lucky.