Mother's Day this year was a little different than I had anticipated...
Tyce has been fighting a nasty stomach virus (gastroenteritis) since last Wednesday. We thought he was getting over it, but Saturday night he woke up sick and throwing up again (translation = threw up in his bed, then our bathroom, then our bed and all over me, Tyce and I showered, we changed sheets on all the beds, cleaned floors, snuggled, tried to get re-hydrated and snuggled some more). Scott had also been starting to feel sick to his stomach throughout the evening and by the time we got Tyce back to his crib, Scott started throwing up.
Needless to say, we woke up bright and early the next morning (Mother's Day) pretty tired. We thought it would be best to keep Tyce home for the day to get as much rest as possible. That meant that we wouldn't be going to church as a family and we wouldn't be getting together with Scott's family for a dinner BBQ.
In the morning, I thought I'd try to take advantage of some down time with Scott home to entertain the kids, so I started to work on my new camera and newly inherited computer. As I was quickly going through my owner's manual for my camera, I read that I was supposed to format my memory card, which I never did when we first bought the camera a few months ago. Well, I learned the hard way that when you format your memory card, you lose all the contents on it. The good news was that most of my pictures were already uploaded to my computer. The bad news was that I lost all of my videos (I hadn't figured out how to upload them from my new camera yet) and all of my pictures from the last 2 weeks (including pictures from Kolleen and Ray Ray's visit last week). This was pretty devastating for me, on Mother's Day of all days, to lose precious videos and pictures of my kids!! :(
I tried not to let the previous events get me too down and since Shay Shay and I were feeling like our usual selves, we decided to keep our plans and go to my aunt Nancy's house for brunch. I felt badly going without Scott and Tyce, but it gave them a chance to get some much needed rest. Tyce pretty much slept all day long, so it was good he stayed home. I sure did miss hanging out with him on Mother's Day, though!!
Before going to Nancy's house, Shaylie and I got our picture taken by my Mother's Day flowers:
Kai giving Shaylie love:
Shay Shay with Great Grandpa Jack:
Shaylie and Great Grandma Sally:
Big girl Shaylie with my cousin Jill:
Shaylie giving my uncle Steve a hug:
After spending time with the Burke Family, Shaylie and I came home and spent a little bit of time with Tyce and Scott before the kids went down for a late afternoon nap. I took the opportunity to go for a run in the beautiful sunshine :) When Tyce and Shay woke up, they all met me at the Salmon Creek Trail. We were planning on taking the kids for a walk together before dinner, but it started to get pretty stormy, so we didn't stay for long.
So, although this Mother's Day didn't go quite how I had planned, I now recognize that God used His plan to teach me a valuable lesson. He wanted me to celebrate Mother's Day by simply giving thanks for the most wonderful gift I have ever received, becoming a mother to my two wonderful children. The day wasn't supposed to be about me, but instead what it means to be a mother...selfless. It's about putting our children and others' needs and wants before our own. He spoke this truth to me several times throughout the day when all I wanted to do was feel sorry for myself. For example, when I wanted to get upset over losing all of my pictures and videos from my camera, He gently reminded me that I still have the gift of sight and I can watch them now, in the moment. This brings me so much joy. Thank you, Lord, for reminding me to always count my blessings, especially in the midst of what seems to be a challenging time. I realize that it's in these moments you are testing and building our character. I am humbled and in awe of the wonderful gift you have given me as a mother.
