happy mother's day!

If I'm going to be technical, this year I'll be celebrating my third year as a mommy. The first year, Evan was still in my belly but he was born just a few days after Mother's Day. For that Mother's Day, I was on bed rest because of some premature labor I was experiencing so both sides of the family came over to our house to celebrate with us, just at opposite times of each other.

When my mother.in.law, sister.in.law and her now husband came over, they showered me with cards and gifts. It was such a special day. One gift in particular was really special because my mother.in.law made Evan a beautiful quilt and I just loved it. I'm a lover of color and the quilt was made out of such vibrant colors and it was just perfect! Here are a couple pictures of me opening the gift:





I don't know if you can notice in the pictures, but my face is so puffy. I'm not sure why, but maybe because the pregnancy was coming to the end and fluid was building up, I'm not sure, but I was sure puffy! ha!

After opening the gifts, we had a little fun with the camera. My mother.in.law, like I've mentioned before, is a huge family picture taker and whenever the family gets together for a special occasion, she has to have her family group picture. I actually really like that she does this because it helps to remember who was there for what and you can see who as gained or lost weight! haha! Or maybe everyone can just see whenever I've gained and then lost some weight? Anyway...

Here is our family group picture:


Front left to right: Ben, me, Marsha, Kathleen and Mark

And here's me and my belly shot. You'll notice the entertainment center behind me and you'll also remember my new craft 'room'. In this picture, our TV was behind those doors! Now it holds all my craft and sewing supplies! ;)



And then the picture taking got a little silly...here is Mark and I. He was trying to compare his belly with mine. He had his baby a week after me...


(Sorry Mark...I just couldn't resist!)

And then Ben tried to do the same but he wasn't successful. My belly just completely blocked his but we all know there wasn't anything there to block anyhow! haha!


Tomorrow, Ben, Evan and I are not going to church. While I really long to spend Mother's Day in church, my church does something every Mother's Day that I just get really nervous about. The allow all the mothers in attendance to each stand up with the mic and say their names and how many children they have. This does not sit well with me. I am not a speaker nor do I ever want to be. Last year, I was just paralyzed with fear waiting for my turn to speak into the mic. I don't think I had heard another woman speaking the entire time because I was just concentrating on when my turn would come around. So this year, instead of spending my Mother's Day morning in a panic, I asked my sweet hubby to take me out to breakfast instead. So that's what we're going to do. We'll also be spending the time with my folks and my sister which I'm really looking forward to.

So, I'd just like to wish all you sweet mamas out there a wonderful Mother's Day with your families. May you be showered with many wonderful memories for years to come!

I'll leave you with a couple pictures of me and my baby, Evan.

Thank you Evan for entering my life and making me your mother. I love you so very much and you've made my life so much more full with your beautiful smile and contagious laugh. You are very special to mommy and I love you very very much.