I am a Mom

That still sounds a little strange to me. But honestly, it makes me giddy too. I am a mother! I had hoped to write a post on motherhood before Mother's Day but that didn't happen so pardon my extending the motherly celebrations later on in the month.

This year, Mother's Day took on a whole new dimension for me, obviously. I have always dreamed of being a mom and am so thankful God chose to make that a reality this past year. The first few days after Isla was born were pretty incredible! When she was first laid in my chest, I couldn't get over the fact that she was a GIRL!!! How did that happen? Croziers don't make girls! I think that's probably all I said for the first five minutes. "It's a girl! It's a girl? It's a girl!" And then I probably made some sort of comment about how much hair she had. All over. Her head, her back, everywhere. But she was beautiful and she was OURS.

The next few hours were quite the whirlwind and it wasn't until around midnight or 1 AM that we were finally left alone to "sleep." I asked the nurse if we needed to feed or change Isla and she responded bluntly, "Everything you need to take care of her is in the top drawer." Whoa. What? No directions? No guidance? Just "whatever is in the top drawer?" I couldn't believe that no one was going to walk me through how to be a mom. And then it all hit. How was I going to do it? How on earth would I take care of this precious little person who was trusted into my care?

I cried pretty much the whole way home from the hospital. I was so excited, nervous, scared, joyful, so many crazy waves of emotion. There were numerous moments in the next couple weeks where I would burst into tears, look at Graham and tell him "I just love her so much!!" Although the strong hormonal emotional waves have tapered back a bit, there are still moments where the tears well up and spill over as I look at my little girl.

The Monday after Mother's Day, we were driving back from Spokane and made a pit stop at Starbucks to feed Isla some dinner. She was sitting on my lap, wearing her green bib and looking up at me with her blue eyes and those big cheeks! I couldn't help but cry. The way she looks at me with love and maybe even a little admiration thrown in there too. Wow! There is such a special bond. And if my love for her is this great, I can't even fathom the love that my heavenly Father has for me.

Mother's Day itself was wonderful. Isla decided she wanted to start the day off together extra early but there was coffee to be had so we survived the day! We had stayed the night with my aunt and uncle in Spokane and so had a lovely breakfast with the family before heading to Manito Park. Graham spoiled me with a very sweet card and lots of delicious Burts Bees products to pamper myself with. He also pleaded with me to go and get a massage ASAP.

My family took off for home, leaving the three of us to a leisurely walk through the park and cute surrounding neighborhoods. We met up with our friends the Moodys and had a yummy meal at an Asian fusion restaurant downtown Spokane. They took us to see the falls at Riverfront Park and then on to Riverside State Park for some water and sun. It was such a beautiful day!

Graham fed Isla every meal that day and I think he may have changed all her diapers which was such a lovely treat for me. It truly was a very happy first Mother's Day for me. I felt honored and blessed to be a mom!

(How can you not just love cheeks like that!?)