Sweet (and Sleepy) Mother's Day

Some might classify Mother's Day as a simple "Hallmark holiday" but I've always been a fan of the day.  I am blessed with an amazing mother and was also fortunate enough to have a true gem of a grandmother.  Mother's Day has always been an extra special day to honor them and to reflect on all of the love, guidance and happy memories that we've shared over the years.

The significance of the day took a drastic change in 2011 after Cael arrived.  I now marvel at how very little I actually understood about the "mothering" that I received growing up.  I look at my mom and am humbled knowing that she lives every day with the constant crush of love, thought, prayer, joy and worry that comes with loving a child with all of your heart.

That roller coaster of emotions was in full force for me today as I thought about my sweet son.  So many of my thoughts were rooted in the realization that his life is progressing at warp speed.  It seems as if we just brought him home from the hospital and suddenly he's this dynamic little person with his own trajectory into the future.

As I watched him nap today I was pulled to memories of how special it was to hold that sleeping baby and how sweet it was to cuddle up with him for a nap.  Some of that rest was definitely needed for basic "survival" in the early days.

Other times I happily enjoyed his preference for curling up with me versus being put in his crib.

And then there were those times of free and clear snoozing bliss ... the naps and nights spent together while on vacation.

That sweet cuddling was a part of my time with Cael that, for the most part, passed as he approached his first birthday and figured out that having some space while napping can actually be a good thing.  Now I'm lucky to get a few hours within a couple inches of him during a hotel stay since the kid loves to kick, flail and burrow these days.

 
While today I thought about how much I missed the joys of snoozing with my little guy, I also realized that I wouldn't trade the special conversation we had right before his nap for anything.  I suppose those bittersweet trade-offs are going to be a welcomed norm for the rest of our lives ... letting go of one wonderful set of experiences in exchange for another.  What an amazing gift ... Happy Mother's Day!

Easter Eggs-pertise

I love Easter.  Certainly the greatest gift ever given and the deepest sacrifice ever made are the most meaningful parts of Easter but I'm truly a fan of ALL of it.  Dyed eggs, bunnies, traditional meals, egg hunts, tulips, Easter baskets, jelly beans ... it's all good in my book.

Celebrating this holiday with Cael has always been great fun.  He took the obligatory basket picture at two months ...

... and patiently "participated" in checking out treats that came with his first Easter.

 
At age 1 he started to play along with the egg hunt and the search for his Easter basket.

 

At 2 he really started to hit his egg hunting stride with a rather nonchalant approach,

snacking as he opened eggs ...

... and checking out each surprise that he discovered.

And at age 3, he truly seemed to demonstrate his own love for one of his mom's favorite holidays.  He had his first jelly beans and loved the green ones (which is perfect since I don't eat those).  He looked for bunnies in the neighborhood.  He selected an array of Easter books to read before bed leading up to the big holiday weekend.  He also mentally prepared for the variety of egg hunts that he had planned over the Easter weekend.

We kicked off the egg hunting schedule at school and Cael was very pleased with his loot.

We had all of Zac's family over for pre-Easter lunch which included a great egg hunt with the cousins and another very successful run for Cael.

Finally the big day arrived ... Church, 2 egg hunts, big dinner with family ... this was to be the Easter grand finale.  Our day, however, started off in a room at our not-so-favorite urgent care office.

 

Our little guy held onto his adorable smile but unfortunately the original plans for the day were scrapped.  Cael is never one to let a day with fun potential go to waste.  He still had a great time tracking down his basket and some eggs in the process.

He also found time to dye eggs all by himself (he was better than me with that egg dipper!).

We had a delicious dinner "with family" (we didn't eat together but they lovingly prepared the meal!) complete with a traditional Handley family egg war.  The little man was the grand champion with his electric pink egg!

We wrapped up the Easter celebrations with a final Easter Monday egg hunt for the little guy.  By this point he was so in love with egg hunting and was stuck at home with us for the day so it seemed like a good way to enjoy a beautiful afternoon.

The egg hunts were fun, the meals and treats were delicious and the time with family was amazing.  We are so very thankful for all of that joy but are blown away by the everlasting and unconditional gifts that are the true reasons that we celebrate Easter.