Mothers Day

Mothers Day is always bittersweet for the Keitzer Household. I am fortunate enough to live 1.3 miles (door to door) from my parents. This is a blessing and a curse (just ask JJ). We always enjoy spending time with my Mom on Mothers Day. It is special for her to be able to share the day with her youngest daughter and 2 of her 4 grandkids. 

What makes the day bittersweet is the fact that my Mother-In-Law is no longer with us. Patty passed away a year and a half after JJ & I were married and about 4 months before H was born. My husband is always torn on Mothers Day between celebrating with me & the kids and feeling sad about the fact that he can't celebrate Mothers Day with his Mom. Mothers Day is just one big reminder that she never got to meet his kids or see him grow into the amazing husband and father that he is today.  I always mourn on Mothers Day because I didn't get a chance to develop a close relationship with my Mother-in-Law.

So, yesterday was tough for both JJ & I. What made it more tough was unmet expectations. Yesterday was just another example of how hard it is to blend two different families. Even though JJ & I were raised fairly similar, our families are different. We have different traditions and feelings about things. 

I woke up yesterday expecting breakfast to be made for me. Not breakfast in bed or a special breakfast but some though and effort into what I was going to start my day with. We always made my mom breakfast on mothers day. Even if it was pancakes or a bowl of cereal, it was more that we took the time to make it for her. My husband thought about making breakfast for me but said it was too hard with two kids. 

My feelings were hurt. Yes, it is hard to do things with 2 kids two & under but I manage to do it on a daily basis. I grocery shop with 2 kids. I make dinner with 2 kids. I clean the house with 2 kids. I work my butt off raising 2 kids and he couldn't get it together enough to make breakfast. So, naturally, I cried. I am not normally a crier but I always dream of Mothers Day being special and I knew that we were going to spend the afternoon watching the TPC (not something I wanted to do), so I thought he would do something nice for me. 

Now, I know that last paragraph is coming off a little harsh. I was never mad or am I mad now. That is just what I was thinking during my exchange with JJ. In JJ's defense, I never expressed desire or expectations for breakfast and that isn't something that his family did so it didn't seem important to him. I have a husband who loves me endlessly on a daily basis and I shouldn't need a day to feel special.

After that the day was pretty much normal every day events with glimpses of reasons to celebrate. We went to church. This used to be a very normal thing for us until about 8 months ago. H suddenly decided that he could not part from Mom or Dad and would scream just heading to the nursery. It was so bad that they would page us to come get him because he was upsetting the other kids. So, we stopped going to church for a while. Well, recently, H has started to ask to go to church and yesterday we went. He actually lead us back to the nursery and just went off playing with the other kids without looking back or crying. That is HUGE!!!!

After church we went out to lunch with The Casey Arnold Family. We classed it up and went to Hooters. They had a great Mothers Day special ($10 off) so I got oysters, wings, and beer. The kids were all well behaved and the weather was beautiful so it was the perfect Mothers day lunch. 

NiNi with A

A just hanging out being Awesome (with capital A).

Excitement all around.

H brought me a beautiful flower from his walk with Poppa.

A just could not get enough of NiNi and her silliness.

After lunch was nap time and then over to my parents. We hung out outside and grilled out while watching Tiger win the TPC (boo). 

Over all it was a good Mothers Day. One thing we are going to start doing is taking a picture of me with my kids on Mothers Day. When trying to find a picture for this  post I realized that there were no pictures taken of me and the kids. So, that is something that we are working on. 

I hope that everyone had a great weekend and a Happy Mothers Day (and that no one but me cried on Mothers Day). 

KK

PS: I am looking at the pictures of my Mom and Me and realize that our mouths are open in EVERY picture. We are so weird sometimes.