Mother's Day #2...

This was my 2nd mother's day and it was just as special as the first, in different ways.  I got almost a whole weekend out of it, but it really started a few weeks ago at a Girls' Night Out.  Some of my girlfriends and I got together at a paint-your-own-pottery place and I made this:

It was quite a challenge to get Deacon's little handprint on it (probably the last year I'll be able to get it on a mug this size), but I think it turned out okay, and I'm SO pleased with how the mug came out!  What a treasure this is to me!  And I reckon I'll be drinking out of this for the next 20 years or so...  :)

So then this weekend rolled around.  Saturday we went to the beach together and it was a GORGEOUS day!  The perfect day to go to the beach -- it wasn't too breezy at the beach, it wasn't too hot.  Seriously, I could've stayed all day long!  But after about an hour we headed home for lunch and naps.

 

 

Well, my boys napped while I went to get a pedicure!  We have a new place right up the road that I wanted to try and I left there a very satisfied customer.  :)  Aaahh, it was so relaxing!  My poor feet were in desperate need of some TLC and the sweet lady at the salon did not disappoint.  She painted my toes with a beautiful color of pinkish-purple and then added a pretty design (she painted it by hand):

Sunday morning, we got up and got ready for church as usual but I found this on the table for me:

After church, we picked up sushi for lunch (that was a big hit last year!) and then took naps all around.  Sunday evening, we ended up at a place in Surf City for dinner -- Mainsail Restaurant.  It's not a new restaurant, but one we've never eaten at before.  It was a great atmosphere with great service, and the food was wonderful!

I loved spending lots of quality time with my boys this past weekend -- they are my most favorite in the whole world!  Being Deacon's mama is the absolute best job I've ever had.  He is my heart, truly, and I'm so humbled and blessed beyond measure that God would choose me to raise this most special little boy.

one month...

We have a one month old, ya'll. 

How?  Tell me, where has the time gone??  Everyone told me that it would go by so fast and I figured that to be true, but it blows me away that our child has been with us for over a month now...

We gave Deacon his first bottle at 25 days old.  Jeff has been ready to feed Deacon himself and I've wanted to let him but didn't want to risk any confusion with breastfeeding so we waited.  It turns out that Deacon has his Daddy's temperament -- he's pretty easy going.  :)  He switches between breast & bottle with no trouble at all.  We're not feeding him formula -- just breastmilk that I'm able to pump and store in the refrigerator or freezer, depending on when we need it.  It's been so nice having this option for times when we're out and about and especially for when we're at church.

[25 days old, with his first bottle of breastmilk]

Deacon met his Wenzel grandparents for the first time at 4 weeks old.  Jeff's mom & dad (aka Grandpa Duane and Grandma Sherry) flew in from IL for the week of Thanksgiving.  We picked them up from the Wilmington airport and Sherry barely had him in her arms before the waterworks started.  :)  She was so excited to finally meet Deacon.  We had been skyping with them since he was born so she said she felt like she already knew him but she couldn't wait to get her hands on him.  It was love at first sight, to be sure.  Duane was pretty excited to meet him, too.  :)

[4 weeks old, with Grandpa Duane & Grandma Sherry]

Deacon's first Thanksgiving was spent in our home with his Wenzel grandparents.  Sherry and I cooked the meal together, which wasn't anything fancy but it was yummy.  Jeff carved his first turkey.  It was a quiet day for us all, different from Thanksgivings in the past, but it was nice nonetheless.

There isn't anything really Thanksgiving-y about our photo.  It's just one that we took of the 3 of us to commemorate Deacon's first Thanksgiving.  I've heard people talk about how hard it is to get a family photo to turn out well with kids -- I guess that starts pretty early...

This is the best one we got out of 4-5 attempts:

The rest of these photos are random ones we took in Deacon's 4th week of life and the few days after, leading up to one month:

Don't you love little baby feet & hands??

[22 days old]

[27 days old]

[1 month old]

[27 days old]

[4 weeks old]

[27 days old]

[4 weeks old]

[1 month old]