Happy Mother's Day

It's hard for me to believe that I have celebrated my second Mother's Day. Last year, Maya was only a few weeks old and being a mother was a journey I had only just begun. Now after a year of motherhood, I could never have imagined how much joy I could feel and the blessing she has been in my life. There have certainly been ups and downs and some days were harder than others as I found my way through this new, foreign territory but every day brought more familiarity and confidence and there has never been anything that I have been more proud of than that of my role as Maya's mother. She is a healthy, happy, beautiful, little girl and I know that is in large part due to Jason and I and that is truely rewarding! So, knowing that made my Mother's Day very special indeed.

Maya woke up a bit early on Sunday morning so Jason let me sleep in and they slipped off to finish a Mother's Day project(unbeknownst to me). When I got up, I found that I had cards from them both and Maya had signed hers with two purple little handprints. So sweet. Then while I cuddled with my girl and gave her some breakfast, Jason went out and got me coffee and muffins for breakfast. He had wanted to make me breakfast but I desperately wanted a starbucks! :) It was a lovely way to start the day.

Since it was a beautifully sunny day and the forecast was for 18 degrees we decided to brave the crowds and head to the zoo. We had not taken Maya to the zoo yet and hoped that she would enjoy it. She LOVES animals and thought that she would really like seeing them live. Unfortunately Maya was not in very good spirits due to those pesky eye teeth she is still cutting but she did her best and ended up having a nap in her stroller while Jay and I enjoyed the sunshine and the new animal exhibits. Here are some of the highlights.

BIG FAT hippos (I don't remember them being THIS big); giraffes and zebras. These were part of the african exhibit. Even though I have been to the zoo many times, I always find it a treat to see these animals up close. They are so exotic!

Despite the fact that she wasn't a happy camper, she still managed to enjoy seeing the animals as we knew she would. She was captivated by the big animals moving around and I'm sure she recognized some from her books. It was very cute to see her looking and pointing at the very interesting creatures.

Two of the animals that caught our attention the most were the huge elephant bull and the peacocks. The elephant bull, named Spike, is a very old and very large elephant especially compared to the females. I didn't know this but apparantly most male elephants are very aggressive and live on their own after being kicked out of the herd by the females. Elephant heards consist of all females who are related (mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts) with one matriarch that heads up the clan. However, Spike has lived amongst these females at the zoo for over 10 years and is a very gentle and cooperative male. His eyes captivated me most as they looked so large and gentle and wise. He was one of my favorites. We also enjoyed the peacocks. They roamed free EVERYWHERE and you could hear them calling to each other across the grounds. We happened upon one peacock who had it's tail feathers up in a beautiful display of color and awe. He just stood there turning from side to side while we snapped pictures all around him. It was as if he was there for a photo shoot, posing for the camera. Priceless.

I also captured the peacock on video.

It was a beautiful Mother's Day and I felt truely blessed to be able to spend it with the two most important people in the world to me. I am looking forward to many, many more days like this and celebrate the privilege of being able to call myself a mother!