becoming a mom with my mom
my mom is an angel. anyone who has ever met her would agree, and gush about how wonderful she is. she’s astonishingly selfless, never ever complains, and serves endlessly, abundantly, lovingly. she also happens to be super fun to hang out with and have conversations (on so many different topics) with, is up for pretty much any adventure, and often laughs until there are tears streaming down her face. she embodies perfectly so, so much good, and she has a golden heart that shines on others more than anyone i’ve ever known.
i’ve never been more convinced that my mom is the most angelic person on earth than during the first week of my own venture into motherhood. a couple of months have passed since mom was with us leading up to and right after moses’s birth, but still as i write this and reminisce i am blown away by all that she did for us and how her presence contributed to those days being tremendously sweet. i will forever treasure the 5-17 of july 2016, when i became a mom with my mom.
click through for pictures and words from my angelic mom’s presence during those special, special days – waiting for and welcoming baby moses.
mom arrived on the 5th of july, six days before my due date. i took the tube out to heathrow airport to pick her up, and was experiencing braxton hicks contractions the whole way! i was a little worried that real contractions would kick in before we got back to the flat, but it turned out that that didn’t happen for another four days :) i was really hoping that baby boy would make his entrance pretty soon after mom arrived, since she had to leave back to the states on the 17th and i wanted to max out time for our son with his grammie. i got a little impatient after a couple of days, but the timing really turned out perfectly. mom and i were able to have some fun adventures around the city (in gorgeous weather) for four weekdays while ian was working long hours (so i otherwise would have been pretty darn lonely leading up to birth day!), and then after moses was born on a saturday we still had eight days with mom around.
our mother-daughter pre-childbirth london adventures included:
exploring the summer exhibition at the royal academy of art:i went to this event last year and was so excited to bring my mom (who is responsible for imbuing a zealous love of art in my bones) to check this year’s exhibition out. it was, as my mom would say, to die for. exploding with colour and creativity and curiosity and coolness! we both loved it, as evidenced by this huge load of pictures that i can’t narrow down any more…
^^ can you spot my reflection in one of the pieces of art above?! i just loved how this show was curated, with the art just absolutely saturating the walls. ^^
^^ a deer bust made of hangers! ^^
^^ and a cube made of gorgeous copper wire! and a man’s face made of eggshells! ^^eating donuts, freshly squeezed juice, turkish delight and flavoured mustard samples, and delicious cheese and crusty bread at borough market:
taking walks around the iconic sights of london: (the whole city seemed to be bursting with summer flowers at every turn!)
enjoying a candlelit concert at st. martin’s in the field and mom’s first ever visit to liberty: (where the front door flower pails never disappoint!)
and discovering the courtauld gallery at sommerset house:
^^ that one on the left is a picasso! the courtauld gallery is absolutely delightful – small but stuffed with awesome art. ^^
^^ the special exhibit was astonishing – works by a 19th century spiritualist named georgiana houghton, who claimed her hand was guided by various spirits, including renaissance artists and biblical figures. the detail in the watercolours, painted by freehand, was incredible, and the context was fascinating. ^^
we also shared several delicious, unique meals at fun london restaurants and sat on the front row (thanks to day-of tickets) at the brilliant play the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime. i loved so very much talking with my mom about her childbirth and newborn mothering experiences (of which she had nine!).
having my mom by by side as i labored at home and at the hospital was a huge blessing, and i’m positive her presence was a significant influencing factor in the miraculous way moses was born. i’ll never forget the moment i saw her loving face as i was wheeled out of the operating theatre with my brand new baby boy on my chest. throughout our hospital stay mom was making sure we had everything we needed and were taken care of, and she showered so much tender beautiful love on newborn moses. one of my favourite memories from the hospital was when my mom french braided by hair as i sat in the bed holding my sleeping baby. ian slept over at the hospital with moses and i, and my mom went back to our flat each night and (we found out later) scrubbed the bathtub, stocked the fridge, and filled each room with a bouquet of fresh flowers.
we had five full days at home with grammie around, and it was just dreamy. she cuddled tiny moses while we slept, reassured us that things we were worried about were totally normal, gently coached us and offered advice, brought me pillows and a chair to put my feet up when i was nursing, made gourmet food for us every single meal, accompanied us on walks around the neighborhood, went to the grocery store every single day and made sure we had plenty of our favourite treats, changed diapers and cleaned up spit up, shared in engaging conversation and made us laugh our heads off, and doused our little one in so much sweet grammie love. it was the sweetest week of my life, and i’ve never felt so much adoration and appreciation for my dear, amazing mother.
^^ we loved and were thankful for mom’s helping hands during moses’s first bath, and when times got a bit rough! :) ^^
^^ i’m so sad i didn’t take more pictures of the food mom made for us – the above is just a tiny sampling. i’m not exaggerating – gourmet homemade awesomeness for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. i’m talking a fancy, beautiful cheese platter for appetizers before lemon parmesan chicken with herbed vegetables and then ice cream for dessert! that whipped cream up there? homemade with vanilla sugar. there was always something delicious ready. it was incredible. ^^
^^ mom even worked on teaching moses to suck his thumb and self-soothe! too bad that one didn’t stick :) ^^
^^ mom accompanied us on our first family walk when moses was three days old! we strolled around the corner to trafalgar square and it started pouring! it was an adventure. mom was so nice to take this photo for us from under her umbrella! ^^
^^ and then every day after that, we four took a walk around the neighborhood. it was just so sweet having my mom with us. mom also ensured that the boy and i also got some precious time just the two of us and just the three of us with baby moses. ^^
^^ mom was supportive while i took hundreds of pictures of newborn moses :) i’m including some in this post to spread them out a little! ^^
^^ i’m pretty sure these grammie snuggles are forever imprinted on moses’s little soul! ^^
^^ we all three delighted together at moses’s many varied expressions. he has been soooo expressive and quite wiggly since day one! ^^
^^ there used to be seven photos of his teeny darling feet in this post…and i just can’t bear to erase another! can you stand how cute those little toes are?! ^^
^^ moses in his moses basket, one week old. ^^
when the time came for mom to go back to utah, we were all three so sad. i started crying as we dropped her off at the tube station en route to the airport. but my tears weren’t just made of sadness (although there was a good dose of that!) – they were made of the sweetest happy tenderness of having my mom with me as i became a mom. i will forever cherish that time.
love you so so so much, angel mom!
What a beautiful post and what a blessing your mama is!
ReplyDeleteSweet, sweet post. I hope I can do as well as your mom did when my time comes to be a grammie. Have just got to get my daughters through their ridiculous amount of graduate schooling...haha
ReplyDeleteHow lucky you are to have such an amazing mother and what a special time for all four of you! Love the hedgehog blanket!
ReplyDeleteI love your mama, too!! She is so so awesome.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a lovely tribute to your mom and you becoming a mom. Just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet mom you have. So fun to hear about your love of motherhood and your London adventures, Charity!
ReplyDeleteWOW Charity! How I love you for documenting these halcyon days! The privilege was mine! "Heaven lies about us in our infancy." (Wm Wordsworth). These were priceless, never-to-be forgotten moments in time. There is nothing like seeing one's baby have a baby! And with such deliberate peace, grace and love! You were astonishing!
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ReplyDeleteThese baby photos are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! And the FEET...!!!! Awwww...but I teared up when I saw the last photo - clearly your mother's visit is imprinted on your soul too :) She should think about writing a book of suggestions for "grandparent imprints" with their daughter/son and newborn, I loved reading of the different contributions she made, some great ideas there.
ReplyDeleteYour mum truly is an angel. I'm so glad that I got to meet her.
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