life well loved: Mother's Day at the Beach

Life has been so busy lately! But, I guess that's normal for working families with a toddler, right? Sometimes I wish life could just sloooow down and give me about 2 extra hours every day! But I guess life on the move is just more exciting. :) With all the business at our jobs and at home raising this little stinker of ours, we have really needed to just get away. Not alone (yet), but just take a little trip with the 3 of us. We have talked about riding down to the beach for the day for a while but just haven't found a good time. So Saturday night around 6:30, Nathan asked if I wanted to go down to Wilmington for the night. Well, if you know me, you know I love spontaneity like that, so of course I was on board! So we packed up and in a little over an hour, we were on te road. It was after Kelsie's bedtime but we kept her awake and knew she would sleep the whole way there. Well, she did and that was great, but then she woke up as we were getting on the elevator at the hotel. Still, I was able to lay down with her and she went back to sleep. I did chest PT, then Nathan and I took turns getting ready for bed, and little miss started tossing and turning and eventually just sat up looking around. I suppose she was wondering where in the world she was and was either excited or nervous about waking up in a strange place. At that point it was 12:30am and Nathan and I were both ready to sleep! However, Kelsie was determined to do otherwise! She would not lie down (and would kick and scream and throw a fit if we tried to make her!) We tried to feed her and she didn't want that. We changed her. We did everything we could do in a hotel room but eventually, we knew it would take putting her back in the car and riding her around to get her to relax enough to go back to sleep. So at 1:30am we head back to the car and rode around for 30 MINUTES!! She had finally just dozed off so we pulled back in the hotel and again, she woke up!! Well, we were so exhausted by that point, neither of us could drive any longer. So I again laid down with her in the bed and wouldn't you know, the little stinker started sitting up talking in the bed again! I was so frustrated! We didn't know what to do but it surely didn't seem like she was going to sleep. She did eventually...around 3 or 3:30am!! Needless to say, it was not the night we had hoped for but we still woke up in time to have a great day at the beach!

It was Mother's Day and I got to spend it watching my beautiful daughter dance around the beach for the first time, witnessing two of God's most beautiful creations. What could be better? Kelsie absolutely LOVED the beach! We took her last year but she was only 3 months old at the time so clearly not old enough to truly get the excitement of it. So I didn't know what she would think this time. I was thrilled to see her light up when she saw the ocean and her feet hit the sand. Even the cold ocean water brought a smile to her face. She could not stop running around babbling and laughing. It was one of my greatest moments with her so far. She would just take me by the hand and run, clearly having a great time (and thankfully forgetting how sleep-deprived she was!)

This Mother's Day, I couldn't help but think how truly blessed and privileged I am to be a mommy, KELSIE'S mommy! She brings more joy to my life than I ever expected (and I expected a lot!) Her face is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, her voice is the sweetest sound I have heard, her skin is the softest and most delicate thing I have ever felt and her life is the most precious thing I have ever known! I am thankful for each day I have with her. Motherhood is the craziest, most beautiful journey I have ever experienced and I am loving every minute of it!

Here are some pictures and videos from our trip!!