Week 30-Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! What an exciting and event-filled week it has been. 

Being pregnant on Mother's Day is kind of weird because you feel like a "mother" because you have this little relationship with this baby inside you, but you kind of don't feel like a mother because you haven't met your baby yet (outside the womb--I feel like I know this little girl's personality, habits, etc. already!). Either way, my sweet husband woke me up with homemade crepes ready (a skill he mastered in my first trimester when crepes were the only thing that sounded good) and a sweet card and gift. 

This week I feel like I've gotten to "know" our little girl a little more. She DEFINITELY favors my right side. She is always just chillin on my right side, rolling around, and playing in my ribs apparently. It has been pretty uncomfortable and sometimes painful because I don't have a very long torso (just long legs which is where my height comes from), but it's fun and kind of funny to notice her tendencies that she doesn't veer away from very often. There are certain times of day where she is more active and I feel like a mom when Taylor will ask if she's moving and I can tell him that she's usually resting at that time and when she'll probably be active again. Let's hope she maybe has a consistent schedule when she's born.. :)

This week we decided to go out for Cinco de Mayo since Taylor is out of school and since we only have two months left to go out just ourselves whenever we want! It was fun to have a mid-week date, and the food was amazing. I have never been much of a Tex-Mex fan until I moved here! We also saw the new Avengers movie (wasn't a huge fan sadly) this week (two dates in one week---it was pretty fun!). That day I was getting worried because I hadn't really been feeling as much movement, and as I mentioned, our girl usually moves a decent amount and on somewhat of a schedule. I was worried all day and kind of didn't even want to go to the movie because I was just so worried. We ended up going since sitting around worrying wouldn't do anything and since I didn't feel like I needed to call the Dr. yet. The movie was really loud since it's an action movie, and that made our girl move like crazy. There was one point in the movie where it was super loud and my hand was on my belly and felt and then saw a big bump (maybe her back hunched over or her bum) come up and move. It was crazy. Needless to say I was pretty grateful we went to the movie since she ended up moving (lots) again. It was pretty humorous to see/feel her reaction to louder noises. 

                      

Being pregnant has probably only given me a glimpse of the love mothers feel for their children. I just wanted to share a little bit about my mom and my love and gratitude for her this Mother's Day! My mom currently works for EFY (Especially For Youth) at BYU so a lot of younger people my age who are counselors or work for EFY love my mom and think "Phyllis is awesome!" (what people tell me when they find out she's my mom). But what a lot of people who know her now and just recently met her don't know is the kind of mom she was to her kids as we grew up. 

My mom has always and will always put her children first. I know all parents are different and have different styles and needs, but my mom has never been one to just take some "me time" (although I wish she would because she never does anything for herself). I think she's just always too busy to stop and think about herself since she's been working full time since I was in 8th grade and adjusting to being a single-parent since my dad passed away 8 years ago. 

My mom has always made it a priority to make sure her children have opportunities to learn and grow and develop their interests, talents, and hobbies. Money hasn't always been plentiful in my family, but my mom has always somehow found a way to provide these opportunities for us, and for that I am so grateful! Growing up I was able to play the piano (even though one teacher told me my fingers were just "a little bigger"...who says that??), dance, play the cello, and participate in a lot of other extracurricular things to help me figure out what I wanted to do with my life and which things were really things I wanted to pursue. And not only did she provide these opportunities for us, but she was always there at our performances, she chaperoned one of my orchestra tours, she was there to cheer me on at the spelling bee in 4th grade (so what if I got out on my 1st word. I bet you're wondering what word it was now huh? :)), dance concerts (even when I'm sure I looked super awkward in my leotards. I have proof, so no I'm not exaggerating), etc. 

Something else my mom has always taught me through word and by example, even if I haven't always been good at practicing it, is to not care what others think about you. I have always been one who is self-conscious about what I look like, if I worded something wrong, or if people don't like me for whatever reason. Luckily I had my mom who would always encourage me to be kind and do my best in everything, but to not let what others think or say get to me. I think a phrase I heard a lot growing up was to "tell (enter person's name) to jump in a lake". I have teased my mom about this because it just makes me laugh since I don't think I even knew what that meant when I was younger, but having a mom who was able to brush off anything negative, mean, or not worth-while that people said about her helped me to try to be more confident. 

Even though my mom has always been confident and strong herself, she has always been willing to listen and try to understand when I (or one of my siblings) wasn't feeling quite that way. I remember when I was in third grade and going through an unfortunately long period of an awkward stage (go stalk my Instagram for proof. You'll find a gem from a while back), I felt just ugly and bad about myself at the time. My mom took me to get a haircut (I don't remember if I requested it or if it was her idea) just to give me a change to help me refresh how I felt about myself. I remember I felt so much better about myself going to school the next day even though it was just a haircut and even though my mom could've just given me a pep talk and hoped I felt better the next day.

My mom has always been very strong with her testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember when I was younger walking in countless times as she was on her knees praying or reading her scriptures in the morning. My mom always (and as of the last time I was home for Christmas still does) requires that we all watch the animated Mormon stories movie about Christ's birth before we would go downstairs to open presents. I'll be honest, we've all always kind of hated that (if you watch the movie now it's a little silly with the animation and voices, but the sentiment and message is there), but it was a lesson to focus on what was really important that day. My mom has always stayed close to the gospel and had faith especially through the many trials she's faced in life. I haven't really shared this before, but the night my dad passed away I went and asked my mom if she was okay as she laid on her bed. She told me that she was ok but that she just wanted to make sure all of her kids were ok. Her strength in that moment has always been an example to me that I can get through hard things with the Gospel just like she has. 

Throughout this pregnancy my mom has constantly been praying for the things she knows we are concerned about, the things in our lives that are causing us stress, and just for our baby in general. She will always listen when I just need to talk, and as an emotional pregnant woman that's kind of a lot :).

I could go on and on and on and on, but then I wouldn't get to eat dinner and I'd end up with mascara all down my face as I think about all that my mom has done for my siblings and for me. I will leave you with this memory: in third grade my mom took me, my older sister, and her friend to a Backstreet Boys concert. Since then I've known what all the people who meet my mom nowadays tell me: "My mom is awesome". 

I'm so grateful for my mom, and I'm also so grateful for my wonderful mother-in-law! I've been teased before about the fact that I get excited when my mother-in-law comes in town or when we are going to visit because that's not the stereotype that usually goes along with mothers-in-law. She is the most generous and kind woman. She and my mom are very similar in that they spend all of their time and energy on their children! She never fails to make us a warm breakfast each time we visit, and she is constantly sending us care packages in the mail and cards just for fun and for each holiday. She will text me and Taylor every morning with a thought or scripture to help uplift us and get us started on the right foot. I'm so glad our little girl will have two amazing women as her grandmothers.