{Holiday: Mother's Day}

I am grateful. I'm grateful to my mother for loving me well, with a love which I now realize took an extraordinary amount of work and patience, a selfless love that was too often unappreciated. I'm thankful for my mother-in-law who continues to faithfully serve her family and who raised my husband to be the man he is today, the man I love so dearly. And I'm grateful to the three guys in my life without whom I would not be a mother. It is the greatest privilege and greatest responsibility I have ever known. 

We had an awesome Mother's Day weekend.  I opened my gift on Friday night, the Sakura Bloom sling I've been pining for since Aksel joined our family. I know, it probably sounds lame to a lot of you. Why not jewelry? Or a spa giftcard? I hear you, I do. When we were first married, I was definitely one of those people who did not exactly appreciate a 'practical' gift.  A blender for Christmas? I don't think so. An iron for my birthday? Don't even think about it. But then I realized there was no money tree in our backyard, and even practical items can be expensive! Don't get me wrong, I love jewelry. I love a trip to the spa.  But this year, all I really wanted was this sling. I've already used it several times in the last few days, and I am loving it! Okay, rant over. On Saturday morning, we had the opportunity to serve our community as a family, along with several coworkers, at the Trinity River Audubon Center. It is an absolutely beautiful nature preserve, but it also turned out to be an allergy nightmare.  Plus, our guide kept repeating warnings about poison ivy and snake sightings.  Umm, hello, we are free labor.  Are you trying to scare us off? Luckily, the rest of my Saturday was spent sans poison ivy and snakes. I read magazines, took a nap on the couch, and enjoyed a delicious steak dinner at home with my guys. Sunday morning we woke up bright and early (which is the same as every morning with a newborn and toddler in the house) and headed out to The Original Pancake House.  Man, there is something about those pancakes.  What is the secret ingredient that makes them taste so good? Does anybody know?! Later in the day I received a sweet card from my boys, my incredibly thoughtful sister brought me a beautiful bouquet of hydrangeas and lilies, and we wrapped up the evening by picking my parents up from the airport for a week-long visit!  Now that is a successful weekend in my book.

Another request I had for Mother's Day was that Andreas take some pictures of me with the kids. I'm much more comfortable behind the camera, but I cherish photos of me with the boys.

Andreas complied and got a few good shots, a seriously difficult task when dealing with a rambunctious toddler.

Sadly, Aksel wasn't all that agreeable. Rather than post a picture of me with my baby screaming, I opted to post a picture of me and the back of my baby's head.  This way at least I can pretend it was a sweet moment.

So thank you to everyone who helped make Mother's Day 2013 such a blast.  I love you all!