My First

This was my first Mother's Day as an actual mother. Last year at this time, I was pregnant and that felt real. BUT, I did not yet know my son, or the extreme sense of connection that I would feel for him. This Mother's Day had an entirely new meaning to me. It makes me sad to think of all the years that I did things for my mom on this day without understanding the extent to which she felt about it the holiday. I guess that is just the cycle of life. I don't doubt that Aiden will love me (or already does), but I don't think he will understand the breadth of the feeling I have until he has children of his own.

This year it was a weekend long celebration and I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT. I made plans to meet the Luck family for a potluck barbecue at the beach with JR's family. That morning, Travis decided to fit in blowing the attic with insulation. Chris R. came over to feed the machine, while Travis crawled around in the cramped quarters of our attic space with the hose. There were a few hiccups (the originally rented machine did not work, one hose got severely clogged, etc.), so Travis was not ready to leave when we needed to. I would have waited, but since I figured Aiden would not last long, I wanted to get out there before his afternoon nap.

Fortunately, Travis was able to meet us down there just an hour or so later. The location they chose to have the BBQ was right on the beach, so we parked right next to where we were sitting. I will DEFINITELY be going back to this location next time we visit the beach. It was so much easier than attempting to cart everything with you in one trip from the Seawall down to the water. We were able to go back and forth from our car with ease.

Since the last trip to the beach with Aiden was not very successful, I did not have confidence that we would stay longer than a couple hours. I was sure to put sunscreen on Aiden before I even got him out of the car. I, on the other hand, decided to forgo the cancer-prevention. I thought, eh, just a couple hours, I should be fine without it. Well, two hours turned into ALL DAY. It may have been cloudy and windy, but don't let that fool you! I AM FRIED. JUST in time for our trip home. Through the airport. With our luggage for two adults and a baby. With shoulder straps. Ahhh! Stupid me. I really should have applied sunscreen once Aiden fell asleep for his afternoon nap. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway, the day was wonderful. I think the lack of full-exposure sun helped keep Aiden from getting cranky. We ate lots of food, while Travis and I passed Aiden back and forth. We played horse shoes and bags, but did not get in the water except for our feet.

After the beach, we went home to shower, then came back to meet everyone for dinner at a Mexican restaurant that we haven't been to in a long time. Aiden was such a trooper. He made it all day long without breaking down once. I'm sure it helped that he never got any sunscreen in his eyes! It was really great to catch up with Sara and JR and to see how much their kids have grown. I took a bunch of photos that I will get up later.

Sunday was a fairly laid back day for us, just the family. Travis got Aiden up, grabbed his bottle and laid him in bed with me, so he could run out to grab us kolaches and that horrific gas station cappuccino that is my guilty-pleasure. During breakfast, Travis gave me my Mother's Day gifts. Expensive gifts have never been a part of our relationship, so I was shocked to find my gifts came in two small gift bags: Victoria's Secret and Jared's. Aiden and Daddy got me new perfume, Sexy Little Things Noir with a cute little aerosolizer, and blue topaz earrings. The blue topaz is because that is my favorite stone, not because it is Aiden's birthstone.

While Aiden took his morning nap, Travis worked on replacing our hole-filled aluminum screens with nylon solar screens. Travis is taking off our storm shutters, which has been a source of anxiety for me. On one hand, they are great. The one time we have had to evacuate for a hurricane since living in this house, I was able to walk around to each window and turn the knob to close the storm shutters.

On the other hand, if there is a fire, we have no alternate escape route. I was also worried about the direct sun light affecting our electric bill, but Travis solved that problem by purchasing screens that block out 90% of the sun's rays. It has changed the ambiance of our house dramatically, as we have switched from warm daylight to a cool blue light that filters through the screens. I also believe that the storm shutters are an eye-sore. They make the house look extremely dated.

I already feel secure in our decision to remove the shutters. The house looks SO MUCH better, meaning it should be a little easier to sell the house in a year. I can't wait to see how much the combination of attic insulation and solar screens will affect our electric bill. It's been a green-weekend at our house!

Anyhoo, when Aiden woke up from his nap, we grabbed his lunch and a blanket and headed to the park. We stopped at Wendy's on the way for an easy-on-the-go picnic food. I do have to say the meal itself was very disappointing, but the time by the pond was worth it. Aiden had a good time crawling around the blanket with Travis, tinkering with his toys. We only stayed for an hour and then headed back home.

Travis worked on the screens some more during Aiden's afternoon nap. Another plus about taking off these shutter is we now can reach the outside of the windows to clean them. They were bad. I feel like it is so much easier to see out of our windows now. During the day, the windows just look black from the outside. At night, they are like any other window. I was amazed to notice just how tall our neighbor's pine trees are, now that we can see without the shutters. Travis replaced five out of fifteen of the screens. I think the rest should go pretty smoothly.

For dinner, we grilled the rest of the fish Travis caught weeks ago (we had frozen half of it) and steaks. The best part, is Aiden ate what we were eating. He tried speckled trout, Parmesan rice, green peppers and onions. This new level of eating is SO EXCITING as a mother. I love giving him new things to try. I never would have thought to offer him onions, except that I read it recently in a magazine. He took it on like a champ!

Aiden had some trouble falling asleep, so Travis ended up rocking him to sleep in the hammock. We rounded the evening off by watching the movie Sherlock Holmes (probably would have been better if we hadn't needed to pause the movie several times) and eating Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. I couldn't have asked for a better day with my boys!