Mother's Day 2011

Well, this was a special yet sad Mother’s Day for me. It was special because I have a handsome son of 15 months and a little girl kicking within the womb. "Double the love” as my cousin says. Yet, sad because we just buried my grandmother, the last surviving grandparent that I had. My grandmother, Carolyn Young, lived to be 89 years old and passed away four days before Mother’s Day. It was weird not going to visit her on Sunday and taking her flowers. Instead, I was going home with beautiful pink peonies that the women at her church gave to me after her funeral.

These flowers remind me of my grandmother. She always loved the color pink and she especially loved flowers. Most of my memories at her house included beautiful flowers on her dining room table. She took great pride in keeping her house clean and having beautiful flowers to brighten the room. Maybe that’s why I love having flowers on my kitchen table.

We spent Mother’s Day morning with my mom. All of the family had been home for the funeral and were able to stay to celebrate Mother’s Day together. We had yummy waffles, which have become a staple on Sunday mornings for my family as well as Eliot’s. Then, we went to church, where it was Youth Sunday at Westminster. Ryan participated in the service; however, I got there too late to hear him say the Assurance of Pardon. Sorry Ryan. After church, we had an enormous and delicious lunch at the Country Club. Even Bradford ate a lot. After lunch we packed up and headed back to Columbia to have Mother’s Day with just our family. Bradford gave me a gift certificate to have a Prenatal Massage at Urban Nirvana and his other gift to me got lost in the mail. Apparently, he ordered me the new Laura Story cd (which I have been dying to get) but he accidentally had it shipped to our old address. We went to our old duplex and left a note. The current tenant called back to say she wrote “no longer lives here” on the package and sent it off in the mail. I sure hope it turns up soon. This was followed by a short trip to Sandhills and then dinner at Chipotle. I then convinced Eliot to run in to Fresh Market to get us some cookies. With our yummy cookie and a glass of milk we turned on a movie. What a wonderful Mother’s Day! I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful son and husband who spoil me rotten!

I love being a mother and I am so blessed to have such wonderful mothers in my life to show me the way. I could not ask for a better mom, mother-in-law, nor grandmothers. Every one of them have made a huge influence on my life and have shown me by their examples how to be a good mother. Motherhood is a blessing. It is a blessing I will always cherish.

25 Weeks and Counting...

      This past weekend marked the 25 week mark in the pregnancy with Baby Girl. I wish Baby Girl had her real name already, but her daddy and I just cannot decide on the perfect name for our perfect daughter.
     
      However, we do have a nice list of potentials. Hopefully, we will know which one it will be before she enters this world--which means we only have 15 weeks. And those 15 weeks will fly by, as the summer always seems to do.

      Here is a picture of me at 24 weeks pregnant. It was taken over Easter weekend, and we were in Greenwood celebrating with the Peace family. Mrs. Peace arranged for a photographer, the wonderful Caroline Jackson, to come take some pictures of the entire family. All of the pictures on this blog post are Caroline's photographs. Thanks Caroline!

      I have just recently transitioned to my lovely maternity wardrobe and have only gained 6 lbs. At this point in the pregnancy with Bradford, I had already been in maternity clothes for at least two months and had gained a total of 15 pounds.  Eliot says it is because she is a girl and is dainty. However, being that I am almost 5’11’’ I highly doubt any child of mine will be “dainty.”

     This pregnancy has been relatively easy thus far, and some days I even have to remind myself that I'm pregnant. The morning sickness is thankfully in the past--but the nighttime leg cramps and heart burn have made their debut into my normal routine. One night the leg cramps were so bad I wanted to take myself to the ER, but I knew I would just be laughed at . . . so I stayed put, ate a banana, and whined to Eliot.

      Bradford is busy getting ready to be a big brother. He is walking and talking. Well, talking his limited vocabulary of only four words. He is super excited about having a sister, can’t you tell…

    We love Bradford and cannot wait for our family of three to become a family of four when Baby Girl joins us in August!