These Are The Days . . .: Happy Mother's Day!

In what may be one of the biggest understatements ever, I have to say that these last few months have changed my perspective of motherhood.

Here's what I know now, as well as pictures from our Mother's Day at the bottom:

1. I have a newfound appreciation for my own Mom:

I know this is cliche, but I honestly don't think it's possible to know exactly how hard the job of "mom" is until you are one. You also don't realize how much moms are willing to give up for their children (which is approximately, um, everything), or how much every mom actually does give up for her baby (which is, well, a whole lot).

Since Bailey was born and I became a mom, my paranoid and completely unfounded fear of somehow raising a child with whom I cannot relate and/or have to bail out of jail repeatedly has grown exponentially. Every decision seems laced with danger and the possibility of permanent, irreversible emotional damage - from breastfeeding to sleep training.

But my relationship with own mama gives me hope. In my humble (and obviously unbiased) opinion, she has a pretty good track record, as I feel like I turned out ok, my sister is one of my very favorite people on the planet, and the three of us are extremely close. Plus, my sister and I have ~~mostly~~ stayed out of jail (I'm not gonna lie, we've had some close calls). We don't even have any tattoos (yes, that link deserves a repost).

So, my mom deserves some serious appreciation and love (which I hopefully expressed to her yesterday on the phone). In addition to being a great mom, she is also a wonderful "Mimi" to Bailey, Maddie, and Caroline, and they all love her energy and fun nature. And, I may or may not need some lessons from her one day. Because if Bailey pulls my hair/earrings and/or gives me a good pinch ~~on the nipple~~ one more time, my sleep-deprived self may very well go all Mommie Dearest. And then I'll have to start putting money away for bail rather than college tuition, and nobody wants that.

2. I realize that NO day is going to be about me for a long, long time:

On Mother's Day, Bailey woke up a full hour early at 6 a.m. and let us know, under no uncertain terms, that she needed to be fed immediately. Scott wasn't feeling good, so it was up to me.

So, I may or may not have spent the morning of my very first Mother's Day EVER very sleepy, trying to convince Bailey to eat, pouring myself a bowl of cereal for breakfast, and trying to both entertain Bailey and work on her crawling skills (as instructed by daycare). All while simultaneously trying to put a dent in our ever-growing mound of laundry and to clean up the ~~thick layer of dirt and dog hair covering the~~ ~~cardboard box~~ apartment. Lovely.

Also, probably because of a combination of her unusually early wake up call and the new teeth we can see pushing their way out, Bailey showed off a brand-new sasspot 'tude yesterday. This 'tude exhibited itself through shockingly loud, repeated screeching whenever she wasn't getting 115% of both Scott's and my attention, crying after I let her take a sip out of my water glass but wouldn't let her fish out all the ice with her (dirty) hands, and repeatedly, and seemingly purposefully, hitting her food bowls and spoons to send (very colorful) food flying across the newly-clean room to entertain herself while being fed.

Not that I ever thought Mother's Day would be all unicorns and rainbows, but I wouldn't have minded her saving the 'tude for a day or so.

3. Babies grow up:

I know, I know, that seems like the most obvious statement in the world, but I'm not sure I could think that far ahead when I was pregnant, and I could barely think at all during the first few months of her life. While I was pregnant, I knew that B would come out eventually, and I knew she'd be a newborn (scary scary newborns!), and I had some vague notion of soccer games/shopping/manicures down the road (I am still so excited about that!).

But, for some reason, every time I see Bailey do something new and "grown up," it honestly surprises the hell out of me and seems like the biggest miracle on the planet. I don't think I realized how temporary the baby phase really is, and how fast it goes.

For instance, when I see B asserting her will and pushing my buttons, I get a small glimpse of some less than pleasant future ~~fights~~ carefully worded "discussions."

But then, when I see her light up like a Christmas tree when Scott or I come in the room, and feel the love in her kisses and hugs, I know that, whatever happens, we're in this together, and I just have to work on making sure she has the tools to turn out even better than I ever thought was possible (when can I get those lessons, mom?).

But truly, being a mom has been the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. Every day is an adventure, and I'm extremely lucky to have sweet Bailey as my introduction to this wonderful experience. She truly makes my life better and more fun every day, and I can't put into words how much I love her!

So, I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at Shelby Farms' dog park to let Reilly get some exercise (Bailey's first trip!):