Happy Mother's Day!

I am so blessed to be a mother, especially to my awesome kids! I had a very nice Mother's Day. Weston made me a laptop computer card complete with wannabe qwerty keyboard (which he is just learning about). He was very proud of it and gave it to me as soon as I was up. Unfortunately it just wasn't feasible for me to get what I really wanted for Mother's Day . . . sleep. We have church at 9am. I would have slept in on Saturday, but there was a ward service project that morning at 9am also, so it just didn't happen. I did, however, get a very nice Sunday afternoon nap. :)

Just because she looked SO cute in her Spring outfits this week!

The universe gave me a gorgeous, sunny, 75 degree Saturday. The boys gave me a grill pan that I had been wanting, an exercise mat, and a movie. Talia gave me a decent night's sleep on Saturday, and Ian gave me a good back rub. Ian also took care of baking me a chicken garlic alfredo Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner. Yum. I talked to my mom on the phone and got to tell her how much I love her. She really is amazing. I credit her with most of my best qualities and mothering abilities. I can only hope to be like her when I grow up.

Just in case you missed my guest post over at Mamablogga, and for my own records, here's a copy of it. I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day!

Lessons Learned

I tend to struggle to learn life lessons. I generally only really appreciate them in hindsight, which seems slightly unfair. They would have been really helpful to know in the middle of my life’s experiences! Lessons in motherhood are no different. I am finally able to apply many of the things I have learned as a mother with my third child. It sure would have been great to know that it was not that big of a deal and not to freak out when my newborn wouldn’t nurse for 5-6 hours. Or to have known that my insomnia, crying spells, and lethargy could possibly have been something a little more than “baby blues.” Now that I am a veteran mother (hey, I’m on newborn number three, that should give me a little street cred!) I have a tin bit more wisdom under my belt.

Oddly enough I had a motherhood epiphany while cleaning toilets last week. I was thinking about all the things I wish I would have appreciated while I was in the middle of them, and I suddenly realized that someday this exact toilet scrubbing, diaper changing, baby cuddling, Dr. Seuss reading stage will be one of the times that I will look back upon and wish I had appreciated. Ten years from now I may be going back to school or working or possibly both, and I’ll sigh wistfully and think, “Man, remember back when all I had to do was be a mom? Those were the days.” And I will be right. These are the days!

I am a doer by nature, so being a stay at home mom has been a struggle from the beginning. Now that my brood is growing I stay a little more traditionally busy, but really my days don’t usually consist of much that the world would define as productive. I used to really struggle with that because I felt like I wasn’t really doing anything. I have come to realize over the last five years that I am mothering! It’s my job, and whether or not it is acknowledged by the world in general, it means the world to my family. And to me.

I am lucky to have this season in my life to just be a mom. I am still a doer; motherhood hasn’t changed that, but now I count things like finger painting, baking with my children, going to museums, aquariums, parks, and libraries, doing laundry and dishes, and reading picture books as productive. They are producing the most important thing . . . my children. Although I will still probably look back on these years and think “Man, remember when all I had to do was be a mom?” I like to think that realizing it now will help me enjoy just being a mom!

***Unrelated to Mother's Day . . . here's My May Challenge update:

Update on Week 1: I did ok. Not perfect, but not bad. We ate Taco Bell tacos on Cinco de Mayo. I exercised 4 days then my knees were both bothering me, so I counted the clean up service I did on Saturday as my exercise. We also walked to Weston's school to register him for kindergarten. It was a good mile walk, so there you go. I will continue with my week 1 goals throughout the challenge.

Week 2 Goals:
-Drink 64 oz. water daily
-Take my multivitamin daily
-Eat 4 servings of fruits/veggies daily (this will pretty much be increasing throughout the month)
-Limit treats to two each day (I like to end every meal with something sweet, so two is the least I can do. Happily.)