Mother's Day Weekend

While Mother Nature was surely present somewhere else this weekend (I know D-town can't have perfect weather all the time,) it was a quite lovely Mother's Day weekend.  Ryan was gone and was very missed but Tante and MeeMee were great girls to celebrate with.  Saturday we ventured to Home Goods and out to lunch and on to a couple Open Houses and drive-by's.  We came home with a gorgeous hanging planter for MeeMee and to a beautiful vase of flowers from Ben being kindly kept at a neighbor's house.  Saturday night I made Nana Pat's fish tacos in honor of her birthday and we watched Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  It was as moving as I expected and actually had a very different plot than I anticipated.  

 

Benjamin you did a fantastic job with these!!

Sunday started with a couple away from home tasks for MeeMee and me so Tante and Ben got a little quality time in.  The weather was rainy all weekend so we all enjoyed relaxing, reading, and giggling.  A group trip to Costco and some amazing Mother's Day steaks were the perfect ending to a great weekend.  Molly even took the challenge to grill and not ruin the Prime New York strips in her first time at the helm.  She did a fantastic job!

Post Nap Mama tickles :)

head

nose

ears

A Mother's Day recital

The highlight of the weekend for me occurred after lunch Saturday when we popped into a little high-end kids clothes and gifts shop.  Ben ran in and straight for a VERY large Jellycat brand stuffed dog and turned and headed straight back for the door.  He had Tante and I in stitches and did oblige when we asked him to put it back.  He did, however, keep going back to it and really really loving it.  Tante and I immediately started justifying the crazy and unplanned purchase that was about to occur.  My heart was frighteningly warmed by giving Ben something he wanted so badly.  He had never shown interest in anything in a store like this before.  I assured his DaDa on the phone that no! we weren't going to "give him everything he wants just because he's cute and shows interest no matter the cost."  I also assured Ryan that I would never have purchased it if Ben had thrown any kind of fit when I initially asked him to put it back.   It was a very scary happy feeling for me though that I will continue to work to subdue in the future:).

a re-enactment of him trying to leave the store

Who could say No to this.........

Perhaps because we are so busy and have so many other in-person birthday celebrations this year, the week leading to Mother's Day this year was less emotional than last.  I still had many moments of sadness mixed in with all the overwhelming joy.  Looking back on last year's Mother's Day post though, I can say I've held up my commitments in writing to legislators both in CO and KS.  I've also stayed connected to Resolve and their efforts and lots of the very scary Personhood bills in state legislatures all around the country.  My wishes are sadly unchanged but tax credits for infertility treatments (although they are minimal) are still alive in congress.  I have just recently been connected to a few different people going through some of the struggles we did and I hope I can be helpful in sharing and listening as they journey down the difficult path of infertility.  

My strongest Mother's Day wish this year is that lots more moms and parents take time to be grateful for what they have and reap the benefits of the love of their children and the immeasurable benefits those children would feel when they are deeply and unconditionally loved.  Mother's Day really is every day and I'm overwhelmingly grateful it's the most important role in my life.