It’s almost Mother’s Day! I love when this day comes around, and not so much for the celebration of myself (although that’s real nice too), but more for the love, tributes, and kinship shared between moms. Last year, I gathered testimonials from my mom squad and it was one of my favorite posts (For my mom squad). I still love to read it.
FAVORITE MOMENTS
In last year’s post I focused on lessons, balance, and advice for new moms. This year I’m feeling all sentimental and mushy. Must be all the cooing and babbling of my second child, my baby girl Ellie, who is now 8 months old. Plus seeing her and my son together is simply beautiful, a total heart explosion. So I thought I’d ask a question that would let mamas gush a little. ‘What’s been one of your favorite moments as a mom?’
I’ll start with mine. My son Braden is almost five so it feels like a lifetime of favorite moments. But one in particular stands out. When he was about two and half, we took a family trip to Kauai. On our first morning there, Braden woke up at about 4:30am and of course got me up as well. Oh those silly time zones, right? But since I hadn’t caught up with the time change either, I was surprisingly coherent and I thought how lovely it would be to show him the ocean. So we went out on the balcony. I sat on a chair and pulled him onto my lap and we just sat there in quiet and darkness, under the blanket of stars. It is rare that he is that quiet, but he just snuggled me close and sat there. After sitting there for a bit, he said ‘Wow, that’s a big ocean.’ I just said ‘Yes, it is’. And then we snuggled a bit more before going inside. I was hoping to make it to the sunrise, but that’s quite a long time for a toddler to sit still. And just that small moment is something I’ll always treasure.
With my daughter Ellie, I know there will be so many moments ahead. But one thing that’s lovely about the second child is you don’t worry as much. You don’t really have time to. So I feel like all the late nights and exhaustion doesn’t seem as crazy as it did with Braden. Instead those times at night when I’m waking up to feed her or rock her are the times I get the privilege of focusing only on Ellie. In Ellie’s room, we have a twin bed and when we were first transitioning her to sleep in her crib on her own, I spent a good time sleeping in that twin bed. The first night that we put her in the crib, she woke up and began to fuss. Since I was in the twin bed, I quietly said ‘Ellie’ and she looked over at me through the crib, pulled her hands together and up to her chin in excitement, and just smiled the biggest smile. That’s the way Ellie reacts when she hasn’t seen me for a few hours and it’s one of the best feelings you can have, knowing that you make your children feel safe and happy.
Here are the other sweet responses shared by my mom squad:
- Oh gosh so many moments but the best is just watching them grow and being able to spend time with them-the little things…Biking together, hiking, cooking.
- All the snuggles!
- Watching my children become best friends!
- Giving birth…it was just so many emotions and feelings…and such a feeling of absolute love and happiness to hold your new baby.
- Really hard to pick! Since it’s so hard, I’ll pick my favorite moment of the day that applies to all three kiddos…it’s bedtime! This moment is really important because I feel like it’s a privilege for me to get to be home with them at bedtime and to tuck them into bed. I feel like I was really traumatized from when I was in residency and didn’t always get to be home to put my first born to bed because I was on call a lot. I wouldn’t see him for three or four nights out of the week. Now I cherish the fact that my youngest snuggles in after I nurse her and sing her to bed. I love her sweet breath and soft noises. And I just get to squeeze on her without her wriggling away to go play! I love analyzing her tiny noises, chubby fingers, dimples! And her sweet baby face! For my two older children, our bedtime routine is stories, but then I sing and ask them three questions and I love hearing all their answers 1. What made you happy today? 2. What made you sad? 3. What did you learn? And even though I’m home with them almost everyday, they both individually answer a lot that they loved playing with me and eating ‘mommy’ food, or missed me while at school. It always surprises me that I’m not boring to them! There are so many other moments on a daily basis, listening to them talk about their day and their family makes me so proud to be a mommy! (Or also when they both say they want to be a mommy and a doctor-you can be both!-when they grow up!
- When my son and I play together and he’ll suddenly stop and look at me and give me a big hug or kiss.
- Watching my children see or experience something new. I love it because they have different reactions depending on their ages. Plus it’s humbling to watch it through their eyes and listen to their questions.
- When my daughter started preschool. I stayed in her first circle time and they were singing wheels on the bus and all of sudden she says really loud ALEXA CHANGE SONG. Dead. I just shrugged at the teacher and said bye to my daughter. I knew she would be fine after that.
- Making eye contact and smiling back and forth with my baby girl. Seeing my husband hold and interact with her.
A TOAST TO MOMS!
When it comes to breakfast (especially during the week), I’m ALWAYS rushing. I usually grab a piece of fruit, sometimes string cheese. Or if I’m lucky, I manage to make peanut butter toast, wrap it in a napkin, and scarf it down while driving Braden to Pre-K. And inevitably on the way Braden asks me for some of mine even though I’ve likely made him a peanut butter toast as well. Can someone please tell me why it is that even when he has the exact same thing, he still wants mine?? Ellie is getting to that point too. Now when I’m holding her and I take a bite a food, she turns and puts her whole mouth around my nose in an attempt to eat whatever I’ve got going. Lol.
This year, I also asked my mom squad what their go-to snacks are. There were lots of granola bars (some kept in the glove compartment), nuts, smoothies, popcorn, cheese & crackers, salami, fruit. And I thought…my mom squad deserves more…like a quiet peaceful breakfast where they have all the time in the world to sip their coffee or matcha and enjoy the perfect piece of toast. And I said a ‘perfect’ piece of toast, not one that is burnt or has been sitting on the counter unable to be eaten for several hours. I cannot tell you how many mornings I have stuck a piece of bread in the toaster only to forget about it in the morning rush and find it still in the toaster at the end of the day. #mommyhood
So as a toast to my fellow mamas, here’s a roundup of six amaze toasts I’ve made over the last year. These are the kind of toasts you want someone to make you for let’s say a breakfast in bed (hint hint to all the loved ones out there who will be celebrating their mamas this weekend). Strangely enough none of these are avo-toasts. Avo-tastes are obvi always a favorite too, so I mean no offense by excluding them. Lol.
First, my current favorite. I mean, I can never get enough of strawberry season and how lucky we are that these gorgeous beauties coincide with Mother’s Day. This is a wheat toast with cream cheese, rhubarb compote, and perfectly ripe strawberries. And I sprinkled with some fresh mint chiffonade.
Here’s another good one, a welcome standby…a glam version of peanut butter toast. Peanut butter, sliced banana, granola, and date syrup (I like Just Date Syrup).
And then there’s these Cara-cara oranges which always steal my heart in the winter. This toast started with mascarpone (love the creaminess and slightly sweet flavor) and was topped with Cara-cara and fresh mint.
The next two toasts were my favorites in the fall. The first is a very classic fall combo of turkey, brie, and cranberry all piled on baguette slices.
And the second fall favorite was a combo of goat cheese, prosciutto, fresh fig slices, and balsamic glaze. Yeah, that was a good one.
Last, but certainly not least is a super easy toast that I crave in the summertime. Sourdough toast, really quality mayo, the juiciest heirloom tomatoes, and a sprinkling of salt. Simply perfection.
I hope you enjoyed this roundup friends! Thanks for reading and thanks to all the moms that contributed! LOVE you ladies! I wish all the mamas and mamas to be love and joy on this special weekend.
Valerie