Being a mom and missing mom on mother's day

Maybe it's because it's spring time and I'm reminiscing about this time last year when I was hugely pregnant with Trey, but I am feeling as scatterbrained and flaky as I did a year ago.  This week I bought something at a plumbing store, put it down in the parking lot to load Trey into his carseat, and then promptly drove away without my purchase. More than one person has told me that it's fortunate it wasn't the other way around...

Mother's Day is just around the corner and I have been thinking a lot about how much I love being a mom and how much I miss my mom.  There have been multiple incidents over the past few months where I want to talk to someone about something very specific about motherhood and when I go through my mental list about who to call or who I want to talk to, the list gets whittled down to one single person - my mom.  I didn't miss her as much when I was pregnant as I thought I would, and I didn't miss her as much during childbirth or right after as I thought I would, but I really miss her now.  Some lessons my mom taught me that I hope to emulate include telling and showing Trey on a daily basis how important he is to me, taking care of my husband so he is happy and comfortable, and reaching out and trying to be a loyal friend to my girlfriends.  My mom also had little tricks that she used to keep her household running smoothly which I find myself doing and little oddities that annoyed us that I can see coming out in myself.  Also, as I have told my dad and my husband, I think I officially have my mother's body.

But on to Trey...I know these pictures all look pretty much the same, but I love them all and couldn't decide which one was my favorite.  Isn't he just the sweetest boy?

Some of Trey's favorite things right now include windows, lids, and anything we don't want him to touch (specks of dirt, electrical cords, my cell phone).  Just recently, he pulled the curtain back in the window in his room and saw outside. His eyes opened in wonder as if I'd been holding out on him for so long.  Now every time we sit in the rocking chair, he immediately goes to the curtain and pulls it back to look outside.  He also loves looking out the window in our bedroom or the living room, especially if it includes watching his dad come home from work.  He's also really enjoying putting lids on and taking them off of tupperware.  We've been giving him a lot more floor time to build those baby muscles, so we got a new rug at IKEA.  I can set him on the rug surrounded by toys, but inevitably he goes for the piece of dirt that I didn't get vacuumed up.

Trey has been eating more and more "real" food.  Beyond baby pureed food, he currently eats things like chicken noodle soup, eggs, waffles, french toast, pancakes, yogurt, sweet potato, bread, graham crackers, cheerios, corn chex, and... my newest discovery thanks to Sarah Long: bagels and cream cheese.  One thing that he does not seem to like is applesauce.  Here is a series of photos of Trey being fed some one day.  You get the idea...

This was the Friday before Easter when we were pleasantly surprised with a visit from my dad.  Dad drove up from Eugene to bring Trey his first Easter basket.  He brought him a cute teddy bear and some yellow tulips for Mama.  They bonded for a little bit, and then my dad drove back to Eugene.  I love these impromptu visits.

Randy and I went to the spring brewfest with Kris and John.  Trey is a real trooper during these events.

On Easter morning I gave Trey his first Easter basket.  Little did he know that it is a basket that my mom gave to Randy five years ago (or at least parts of it) with a book about Easter that I have been reading to him for weeks.  I figure he doesn't know the difference and next year I will do it for real.  Or maybe he'll get this basket again since he won't remember anyways...

Here is Trey dressed in his cute Easter shirt during our brunch.  I love seeing both my boys "dressed up" in their collared shirts.  I'm such a lucky girl...

Last weekend we went down to Eugene for three nights.  Trey was sick with another cold, so he wasn't his usual delightful self, but it was still nice to spend some quality time with my dad and Sandy.  We also got to spend some time on Monday with my dear friend Sarah who is recovering from surgery.   The ride home wasn't as smooth as I'd hoped...what does one do when they are driving alone and have to pee and there is a sleeping baby in the back seat?

 Trey at his first baseball game

Trey and Grandpa eating graham crackers (not sure who got more of the snack...)

The rest of this month has some exciting things coming up: finding out if I will have a new niece or nephew, a trip to the beach with the family, and the end of daycare (for now).  Summer is just around the corner and I can't wait!  Now if I can just motivate to do some work in my garden and yard.