First Mother's Day: fountains, pink polka dots, and a new camera.

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

My first Mother's Day was absolutely perfect.  More than anything, I felt so very thankful - to finally be a mother, to be parenting alongside a passionate and compassionate man who is an incredible father and husband, to have friends who are like family and treat our daughter as their own. There are many daily challenges and hum-drum activities in motherhood.  But over the last 10 months, I have found that each day is painted a certain color depending on my mood and perspective.  I set the tone.  And it's not always a positive one, but I am learning day by day.

The day before Mother's Day, Steven and I spent a glorious afternoon with our little girl, playing in the fountain at our "beloved SMU" as I've come to call the Southern Methodist University campus that we consider our own private park here in Dallas.  She splished and splashed and tried incessantly to remove the pink polka dot sunhat. In the end, Mommy was victorious, thanks to the chin strap.  That's why they have velcro, my dear, that's why they have velcro.

Meanwhile, I sank my toes into SMU's carpet-like grass.  Ahhhh.  One of my favorite feelings in the entire world...

And not another soul to be seen.  See?  Our own private park.  I guess the secret's out now.

The next morning on Mother's Day, our dear friend Kyle asked if she could cook brunch for us.  Did she really have to ask?  She made a delectable spread: crisp bacon, asparagus frittata, juicy roasted tomatoes, and blueberry drop scones... 

Then, she presented me with a card that said our close friends had all chipped in equally to give me a special gift.  The card said,

"This is something we know you'll love and appreciate, something you'll get much use out of and will be a part of the tools God uses as He continues to write you, Steven, and Luci Belle into His story.  You have a special way of seeing His world - may you continue to bring it to our world." 

((Insert tear here.))  I felt so understood by those words.  And I didn't even know what the gift was yet!  To my utter surprise, I opened a large manilla envelope to find a print-out of a brand new Canon Powershot 12.1 megapixels camera!  WHAT?!  The Sony Cybershot I currently use for all my photos is 5 megapixels and almost 7 years old now, although it has been very, very good to me.  Once I receive the new Canon, you better buh-lieve I'll be debuting it here first!