Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there! So, far this has been a great weekend. We took a little day trip with some friends yesterday and had a little picnic out at a nearby castle. It was so nice to get out of the city and have some time with great friends. Thaddeus loved the outing too and even took great naps yesterday! Yay!

Today is also off to a great start too. I was laughing to myself this morning as I thought about the things I wanted for Mother’s Day. It was all stuff that sounds sort of basic and trivial. And it was all stuff that I did pretty much every day before having kids and totally took for granted. Here’s my list of what I wanted for Mother’s Day (don’t laugh – or judge me… please).

1. To take a shower and get dressed first thing in the morning. Honestly, I shower sporadically since having a baby, usually only a couple of times a week and almost never first thing in the morning. It’s just hard to find time – it’s hard to shower while Thad is napping because our bathroom is right next to where he sleeps and it will sometimes wake him up. Even if he doesn’t wake up his naps are often only 30 minutes which means that if I shower there’s no time to pick up, do the dishes, do the laundry, or anything else. So, often no shower. Thankfully, this is one mother’s day gift I’ve already gotten. Today I was showered and dressed before breakfast thanks to my sweet hubby taking the baby!
2. To eat. Hehehe - I do normally eat, don’t worry. But, it’s hard to really sit down and have three full meals since having a baby. I usually can eat a distracted breakfast while watching Thad and I try to snack often throughout the day, but I usually don’t really eat a full meal until Thaddeus is in bed for the night. So, today I told Bryan I want to actually have a good breakfast, lunch and dinner… oh and desert too. So, the plan is Dutch Babies with Coconut syrup for breakfast, Pumpkin Curry Soup with Sourdough Crackers for lunch, a big salad with a variety of veggies and nuts and cheese and all kinds of goodness for dinner. And for dessert… homemade Cheesecake! Yummy!
3. To get caught up on reading some books and blogs. I have so many great blogs in my google reader and so many interesting books I want to read and usually no undisturbed time to do either, or at least not very much of either. I’m looking forward to having a little bit of relaxed reading time today.
4. To edit the pictures in my camera. I haven’t been taking as many pictures since having a child as I did before, but the few that I have taken have sat in my camera for weeks now without anything being done to them. I don’t have a lot of time without the baby when I can work on photography lately and I miss it so I’m also really looking forward to getting some of this done.

Well, that’s what I’m hoping for today. I’ll leave you with some Mommy Links to check out:

• I really want to see the movie Babies.
• I liked this poem this week. Favorite line: “This belly grew a baby, Why should it be flat? It curves with the memory of the womb.”
• Here’s an idea for a Mother’s Day brunch which sounds really yummy! I particularly want to try the Coconut-dipped Strawberries.
• I found this study interesting. Yet another reason to cuddle your baby today.
• I thought this was a helpful resource for praying for your children. I think I might want to make my own prayer calendar for Thaddeus… we’ll see.
• I was inspired by this 10 point Mother’s Manifesto from Holy Experience.

What do you want this Mother’s Day? What “Mommy Links” have you found interesting or helpful this week?

Rejoicing in the journey - Bethany Stedman