My First Mothers' Day

Today was my first Mothers' Day!

Appropriately, last night we had our first "date night" in months, unintentionally. We'd been invited to a wedding for one of Craig's co-workers. We initially considered it just a thing to do out of politeness, but it ended up giving us some really nice together-time. The reception was exceptional with the live jazz band playing Big Band music, a delicious dinner, and fabulous desserts--Craig and I sat alone at our table after our table-mates hit the dance floor, downing the beautiful chocolate-dipped fruits and just talking and laughing. Spending quality time together that we hadn't spent in a very long time. It was a wonderful pre-Mothers' Day treat I hadn't even expected.

And where was our dear daughter during our evening? She was home with Megan, our wonderful sitter who had helped me out in a pinch when E. was 5 weeks old and Craig had to go out of town for work. I'm so grateful I easily found a babysitter I trust just by asking my good friend for a reference. So I wasn't nervous about Megan coming, just nervous about the first bedtime babysitter. But, God helped me relax enough to completely enjoy my evening without worry about my daughter; I wasn't going to call but broke down at about 9 PM to see how things were going. And everything went perfectly--bottles, bedtime, and all.

We hadn't planned to do anything for Mothers' Day. Craig and I had earlier discussed that we wouldn't get each other gifts for Mothers' or Fathers' Day, just wait until E. was a little older to pick things out herself. And Craig and I have never been big card givers for each other on events, either. So, was I surprised when Craig entered the bedroom where I was making the bed, carrying our daughter who, in turn, was carrying an envelope in her own little fist! (She just started grasping things!) He told me she had something for me. I opened the envelope to find a Mothers' Day card--signed with a tiny, Elizabeth-sized purple handprint. I burst into tears. I couldn't imagine a better gift for my first Mothers' Day. My husband came up with the most thoughtful, sweet, quiet-without-fanfare gift from our baby.

And that's how the rest of the day was--quiet, simple, just us as a family. We all (dog too) took a walk, then later shared a nice dinner and just hung out in the family room the rest of the evening, playing with our baby.

I could not have asked for a better first Mothers' Day!