My First Mother's Day

When I think about it, I’m very happy for the timing of Abigail’s birth. She was born in February, so during the first few weeks where I never left the house, I didn’t feel like I missed anything. I’m stuck on the couch for 12 hours? Oh well, it’s 10 degrees outside. And now, with our first Mother’s Day, she’s three months old and just starting to be not such a drag ; ) In all seriousness, she’s much more capable of looking around, delaying her needs, and going with the flow, which helped make Mother’s Day enjoyable.

To be honest, I looked towards this day with a lot of anxiety. All of a sudden, I’m part of this exclusive club, previously only occupied by the older women in my life. What do you mean, I’m one of THOSE women now? I’m not old enough for that!

But the day turned out to be very pleasant, of course. Kenny always makes breakfast on weekends, usually pancakes and bacon, but this Sunday the pancakes had chocolate chips and strawberries, yum! We watched a Formula 1 race while we ate and talked about taking a trip to Texas for an F1 race in November (the only race in the US). Then Kenny and Abigail brought out a gift bag for me. I had given Kenny a couple of random ideas, but had dropped not-so-subtle hints about wanting a sewing machine. The gift bag, which had been sitting in our bedroom since the night before, clearly did not contain a sewing machine. I was disappointed but knew that Kenny always picked out amazing gifts, so was curious to see what he’d gotten instead. In my card was a gift certificate to a one hour postpartum massage! This was an awesome gift. I have only ever had a chair massage and can’t wait to go get this one. In the bottom of the gift bag was a small square-shaped item in gift wrap. In my mind I was guessing jewelry? A watch? I opened it carefully to find something metal in a plastic bag. Upon closer examination, I saw that it was a foot! No, not the kind that grows on the end of your leg, but a sewing machine foot!! Kenny and Abigail took me out to our detached garage, and there was the giant sewing machine box. Kenny had totally fooled me and again hit the gift out of the ballpark. Now all that’s left is to learn how to use a sewing machine!

We took our time getting dressed and by then, it was time to eat again. I picked out a sandwich shop on Kirkwood, in downtown Bloomington, called Potbelly. We’d never been there but I’d heard good things from a former co-worker. Abigail was dozing off, so we tossed her in the carseat, grabbed a blanket in case we wanted to have a picnic, and headed out. Abigail gave me the best gift a mother of an infant could want, and she slept all through lunch AND through our subsequent walk around campus. It was supposed to rain all day, but instead the weather turned beautiful and sunny. We ate lunch outside and strolled around IU, reminiscing about not-too-long-ago when we were students and only dating. And now we had a little baby! We even passed the church where we got married. It was almost 3 years ago, but it felt like yesterday. All the while, Abigail slept in the Ergo carrier on my chest, quiet and content.

We spent the rest of the afternoon outside at home with our furry children, and capped off the evening with some carry-out Cracker Barrel (my choice haha!). By the end of the day, I no longer felt old, but I did feel my new mommy identity seep in a bit more. I can’t wait until next year, when Abigail will be 13 months old, walking and talking. I know it will be here in no time!