First Mother's Day 2011

It's hard to predict what days will be the hardest with dealing with the loss of my dad. I find that some holidays that aren't related to him are sometimes harder than the days I would expect. I did better on my birthday and my parents' anniversary than I did on New Years and Mothers' Day, even though I never spent those days with dad. Mothers' Day this year was colored not just by the loss of my dad, but by the loss of some of my friends' mothers to cancer as well. Because of that, it was really important for me to spend Mothers' Day this year with my mother. Besides, she deserved to spend the day with her new favorite buddy baby James. Love you, mom!

As for my first Mothers' Day as a mother, James was extremely well-behaved. The car ride to my mother's and back made him nearly comatose with sleep, so he napped the day away. It was his first trip to New Jersey and his first trip out of state. Kevin gave me a sweet card from the two of them, and I got a lovely "push present" this week too- pearl earrings! Okay, technically, I didn't push, but my 75-minute epidural insertion was so unpleasant that my doctor himself told Kevin to get me a push present.  Besides, I was pregnant with a nearly 10-pound baby. That's got to count for something right?

My awesome family

I love my mommy

James is cashed out from car travel

The other first Mothers' Day with mom, 1979