Happy Mother's Day!

I had a really wonderful Mother's Day: a yummy breakfast of bagels and cream cheese (delish!); a trip to the GA Aquarium, which was awesome!; a really healthy and delicious picnic lunch in the park; fun watching Aiden at the Olympic Fountain in the park in Atlanta; an exhausting afternoon run with Ava in the jogging stroller--I dropped 2 lbs just from sweating, gross!; an awesome carwash courtesy of my fantastic husband--my car looks so shiny!; an amazing homemade dinner of pulled pork enchiladas and mexican rice--soooo good!; and ice cream at McDonald's--the icing on the cake of my wonderful day:) Thank you to Chuck, Aiden and Ava for making it such a great day!

I was thinking today about how much my life has changed since I became a mother. It made me want to tell you all the Top 5 Things I Love About Being a Mother:

1. Making my adorable kids laugh. Seriously, anyone who's ever stayed at home to care for two young children knows what an exhausting and thankless job this can be some days. But making my kids laugh makes it all worth it to me. Nevermind that my knock-knock jokes are ridiculous, and I make up the silliest of songs that just don't make any sense--my kids think I am the funniest person that ever lived. Really. Just ask them! :)

2. Falling in love with my husband all over again. On the cruise for Liz's wedding, so many people commented to me on what an amazing father Chuck is. And I couldn't agree more. He spends every spare second of his time with us, playing with the kids, helping me around the house (he does all of the outdoor chores--AMEN to that!), and just being generally wonderful. I knew when I married him that I loved him, of course, but seeing him grow into an amazing and caring father, well, it made me fall in love with him all over again. Growing up without a father myself makes me all the more appreciative of everything that Chuck does for us. He really is the best!

3. All of my awesome mom friends! I knew that having kids would mean making news friends, but I never knew how important other mothers would become in my own life. Thank you to all of you for being such wonderful inspirations to me, providing me with the encouragement and support I have so needed over the past 3 years. Some of you I've never even met in person, we're just pen pals on the internet, but I don't know what I would do without you. Every one of you has taught me how to be a better mother, and I have so much respect for you all!

4. Appreciating my own mother in a whole new way. I knew that motherhood would change me, but I didn't realize how much it would make me appreciate my own mother. Giving up so much for my children, working so hard to make sure that they thrive--I have a newfound respect and gratitude for my mother that some days brings me to tears. She was a single mother for most of my life, and not a day goes by that I don't think, "I don't know how she did it!" She is an inspiration to me to try to be a better version of myself, and to love my children no matter their mistakes or faults. I love you Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

And finally, 5. Learning that there is no such thing as a perfect mother. All my life I've been a perfectionist, but having children is helping me to learn that perfect just doesn't exist with this job title. All I can do is try my best, take a deep breath, and remember that tomorrow is a new day. Some days all 3 of us are in tears, and I think that I must be failing at motherhood. But then 10 minutes later we are in a giant tickling fight and the tears and tantrums all just fade away. There is no such thing as a perfect parent, but my kids make me want to try, and that's really all that I can do.

I hope all of the mothers in my life had a wonderful day today. You deserved it!