Mother's Day 2014 & 2015

Mother's Day Adventures

Last year on Mother's Day weekend, my first ever Mother's Day as a new mama, Jellybean (at 6 weeks old) and I flew to D.C. to spend a few weeks with Matt since we were, as the military likes to call it, "geographically separated." Traveling as a new mom that weekend was actually really nice. Everyone kept wishing me Happy Mother's Day and it was my first one ever! On the actual "day" we went for a walk down to the Smithsonian complex, Matt gave me a Tiffany charm with Jellybean's initials inscribed on the back, and made me a delicious ahi tuna steak dinner. The year prior, before we even had a Jellybean growing in my belly, we learned that Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year to go out to eat. Since learning that, we opt to just stay in and have a nice dinner at home instead of risking the masses...especially with a little kiddo, and next year TWO little kiddos!

This year, we're living under the same roof, and my six week old baby has turned into a 13 month old ball of ENERGY. Matt got me orange roses (since for some reason, I really just don't like red roses....I think they're too cliché and overdone and not really romantic). He also got me (per my not so subtle hint of sending him a link) an aquamarine infinity ring. Aquamarine is Jellybean's birthstone. When Tater Tot is born, I'll get the same type of ring in his birthstone and the plan is to stack them with my wedding bands. :) I'm impatiently awaiting finding out if Tater Tot's birthstone will be green or red. Matt's mom asked him what Jellybean got me for Mother's Day and the look on Matt's face was kind of priceless. He didn't realize that he was supposed to do something cute and crafty with Jellybean to give to me..... you'd think that last year's footprint card on Father's Day would have been a good hint. So, thanks to my mother in law for teaching him a new lesson! Maybe next year I'll get a card from my little man. Thank God for daycare though! Because they do arts and crafts all the time and I got a little handprint card from them.

Saturday Matt made us a yummy breakfast of blueberry pancakes, corned beef hash, and eggs. I've been loving pancakes lately. We followed that up with a trip to the Farmer's Market in Yorktown where I bought some locally made honey (they say local honey can help fend off allergies which I don't have but Matt severely suffers from), a stroll along Yorktown beach (which was extremely crowded), and lunch at one of the restaurants on the waterfront. We followed that up with some time in our kiddie pool in the backyard. It was kind of an awesome day and Matt did a great job of making it that way.

One of the best things about having a kiddo that doesn't sleep in is waking up early to beat the morning rush at breakfast restaurants. So on Sunday, when Jellybean woke us up before 0700, we were dressed and ready to run off to Cracker Barrel. I'm kind of obsessed with their French Toast. We got out of there just as the crowds started to show up on the busiest going out to eat day of the year. We followed that up with a trip to our favorite grocery store- kind of a local Whole Foods- to pick up some lamb. My special Mother's Day dinner would be Matt's lamb which is kind of to die for. That afternoon, we took advantage of the sort of nice weather and kayaked to the beach across from our backyard.

First of all, I didn't want to go because that water is still super cold! At work we have to track the water temperatures because it dictates if the pilots wear their "poopie" suits when they fly over the water. Basically, they're suits that will prevent them from getting hypothermia if they ever have to eject over the water. Anyway, I've been tracking the temps for quite some time now and I told Matt it was just way too cold to go kayaking. He argued that it's really hard to tip over a kayak and I argued that I'm not taking that risk with my ONE YEAR OLD. I threw a number out there...65 degrees, and said if the water temps were higher than that we would go. UNFORTUNATELY the water temp was at 66. Damnit, I was kind of stuck. Well.....Tropical Storm Ana was in North Carolina that afternoon and I knew thunderstorms were coming our way but it still looked sunny, and despite TWO meteorologists living in the house, we didn't check the weather before we went out. While already in the water, we look behind us and see HUGE thunderstorm clouds forming. While I wanted to turn around not risk it, Matt thought we had gone too far and there were lots of people on the beach already (people who got there on motorized boats not a kayak!) so we might as well just keep on truckin'. The winds were horrendous, the kayak kept getting blown about, and the STILL COLD water was choppy. It was a nerve-racking kayak trip. Luckily, Jellybean was a champ and didn't squirm, move around, or fuss on our way out. On the way back, he knocked out in my arms.

At the beach, when I could finally breathe, Matt went in the water which was still too cold for my tastes, and Jellybean and I sat on the beach and played in the sand. Sort of played in the sand....that kid does not like the way sand (or even grass) feels on his hands. I'm hoping to break him of that aversion- he's a boy for goodness sakes, he's supposed to get messy. The way back was way harder than the way out to the beach. The winds were stronger, the water was choppier, and those thunderstorm clouds were waaay bigger. For some reason, our kayak kept veering to the left, which was frustrating Matt to no end. I imagined him throwing the oar in the water..... We finally made it back to shore and turns out one of our neighbors, a retired Coast Guard vet, had been watching us to make sure we made it back safely. He tends to keep an eye on who goes out and makes sure that those who go out make it back safely. For some reason, just as we got back to the safety of our little cove, the wind died down, the water calmed...and just as we were getting back into the house, the rains came. I didn't want to go out to the beach in the first place, and while we had fun on the actual beach, I think we learned some pretty good lessons on this little outing. Like listen to mom when she doesn't want to go to the beach. I don't think Matt will be wanting to take the kayak out again any time soon anyway.

Being a Mother has blessed me in the most tremendous, beautiful, inspiring way. I can't imagine not having kiddos. Sure life tends to be harder sometimes, but the number of times something he does or "says" or the way he smiles, or just watching him sleep.....well it makes up for the hard times a billion times over. I can't think of anything more rewarding than raising another human being. It's like I'm re-living parts of life I thought were behind me and I know it will only get better. I'm impatiently dreaming of next year when I'll have two of them hugging me on Mother's Day.