Mothers Day Weekend + an Extra Grateful Heart

Mother’s Day weekend this year was just the way I prefer any ‘ole picture perfect weekend to be – a little sun, family, rest, catch-up, Jesus, and social time.

Earlier in the week I had scheduled a 7 a.m. Orange Theory class for Saturday morning, but on Friday night I canceled it. We had just returned from Georgia, and my body wanted rest as much as my mind wanted a quiet Saturday morning with my little fam.

I slept in until 7:30 (a rarity for this chronic early bird) and woke up to find Jamie on the back porch with the girls eating breakfast. I made a cup of coffee and joined him for a bit before we headed inside to catch up around the house, play a few games with the girls (Connect Four and Candy Land are favorites right now), and enjoy a bit of quiet before our schedule picked up a bit.

Around noon, my brother David showed up from Birmingham, and I wish I would have known to video Hadley opening the door and greeting him because it was the most precious thing. She was so happy to see him and held him tight for minute or two before skipping around to give him her “Hadley tour” of our home (i.e. “Here is my room! Here is my playroom! Here is my backyard!” and that completes her tour, haha!)

He and Jamie ate lunch while I whipped together a Strawberry Shortcake for that evening’s neighborhood potluck, and then I left the guys and kiddos to hang so that I could go scoop up my mom for an afternoon of pre-Mothers Day fun (my gift to her this year).

Our first stop: Mainstreet Cafe in downtown Madison for lunch. It’s the cutest restaurant that’s in a building that was formerly the city jail, fire station, and police station all in one. 🙂

We stuffed ourselves before browsing a few shops and then heading to Huntsville for a little surprise.

Mom loves having her hair shampooed and head massaged when she gets her hair cut, so I thought we’d treat ourselves to a blow out at Terrame Salon and Blow Dry Bar. Neither of us have ever had a professional blow out just for the heck of it before, so she was so excited when we pulled up!

As soon as we got there, we checked in and they immediately offered us complimentary mimosas. Yes, please! We were able to sit side-by-side to have our hair washed and blown out, and the quick 45 minutes we were in there was just fun. 🙂

After our outing together, I dropped her back off at home so that she could hang with my brother, and then I headed home to gear up to attend the neighborhood potluck pool party.

Our neighborhood only has about 30ish houses so far, but there’s probably 70ish more on the way in the next year or two! There was only about a dozen families that came, which was perfect because we were able to get to know the ones who were there and chat for a bit while the girls immensely enjoyed the potluck food.

Hadley couldn’t wait to show her daddy what a little fish she’s become, so they swam for a bit towards the end while Sadie and I hung around with the neighbors and some of their young kiddos. We headed home around 7:30 with two exhausted girls who slept darn well that night. Night swims always guarantee quick bedtime for the girls!

On Mothers Day morning, Jamie and Hadley worked on breakfast for me while I sipped coffee in bed and watched the news. I came out expecting regular homemade pancakes like we frequently do on the weekends, but Jamie had apparently put on his fancy pants and whipped up some Bananas Foster pancakes. “No Erica, these are NOT low cal!” LOL! We ate out back (any meal enjoyed outside is my favorite), so it was a nice way to start the day, to say the least.

Around this time, Jamie also gave me a gift which I have to share because it’s hysterical. I had told him not to get me anything because I’d gone shopping that week for a few things for a tropical wedding I’m heading to this weekend, and usually he takes me seriously when I say “don’t get me a gift” (which is good).

Because of this, I was surprised when I felt something in the card he gave me. He prefaced it by saying that the only reason he got it was because I specifically said two weeks ago that I wanted it for Mothers Day. I had no clue what he was talking about!

Sure enough, I definitely asked for it: laser hair removal for my upper lip! BAH!! I had gotten my lip waxed a few weeks ago and came home squawking that “all I want for Mothers Day is to get rid of this dark upper lip forever because I am so sick of getting it waxed!” I was obviously not serious at all, but he tucked my words away and legit got me a gift certificate for six treatments. To make sure he wasn’t being insensitive, he ran the gift by my mom first who confirmed that I would love it because I’ve hate how dark my upper lip gets after having babies.

Soooo…. that was my super romantic, fancy Mother’s Day gift. 😉 Bye byyeeee mama mustache!

ANYWAY!!

We tried out church #4 and LOVED it! It was the first church we’ve visited in Alabama so far that we left thinking “this might actually be our church!”, so that put us in even better moods. From church, we headed to Grille 29 for brunch with my parents, brother, and grandmother. We had a shaded outdoor table, and the meal was beyond fab!

After brunch, we all headed our separate ways to go home and enjoy a relaxing day. Jamie worked on the girls’ new swing set, I lounged inside and wrote a blog post during nap time, and then we threw frozen food in the oven to eat for dinner. Jamie was going to grill homemade pizzas, but I was so stuffed from eating 10 zillion calories at breakfast and lunch that I didn’t want anything substantial for dinner.

We’d also planned to go on a walk and swim at the pool that night, but I threw out those plans too in lieu of a truly quiet, relaxed evening. A 9 p.m. bedtime was on tap for me in preparation for a 5 a.m. Orange Theory class Monday morning, so winding down early was perfect and welcomed.

There’s a little saying that goes something like “I still remember the days I prayed hard for the things I have now”, and wow – I thought about that phrase a lot this weekend. I used to pray and hope and wish so hard for weekends like this one.

The last two Mothers Day were filled with tears for selfish reasons. Two years ago I had a three week old baby, a struggling two year old, and a husband who had just deployed back overseas. I was a wreck in every sense of the word, and that Mothers Day was such a fog.

Last year, Jamie was gone again in California for five weeks at NTC. I enjoyed church and brunch with a girlfriend, but I remember feeling so entitled and wishing Jamie was home to help give me a little rest on Mothers Day. I tried to cook dinner that night, and at some point that night Sadie fell 2.5ish feet out of her highchair. I remember sitting on the floor consoling her and just crying because I was so overtired, lonely, and sick of being alone on special days.  I’m the first to admit that all of this probably sounds so petty compared to how deeply others struggle for different reasons on Mothers Day, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a big ball of anxiety at the time.

Now here I was yesterday having a happy day with my family, and I just kept thinking about how many times I prayed holidays would look like this one day. Simplicity. Togetherness. Two things that mean a lot to me, and this chick wasn’t taking a second of it for granted. Thank you Jesus.