Mother’s Day

We had a very nice Mother’s Day.  It was pretty overcast and storms were possible, so we (meaning me and Auntie Ann as Gary was in Belize) really thought hard about whether or not to go to church.  There’s not much worse than trying to get 4 kids under 4 in and out of church in a rainstorm.  In the end, we decided to risk it.  I’m glad we did because the weather only got better.  Once everyone got ready for church, I couldn’t help taking a few photos of my cute kiddos. . . .

Piper is not in any of the above photos, though.  She wasn’t much into having her photo taken on Sunday morning.  But I was determined to get some Mother’s Day shots of all four kids!  Finally, I bribed her with the promise of some candy and she made her way over to the camera area. . . .

How adorable are they?!!!  I love having photos with all 4 kids in the shot.  They’re never perfect, but they really make me happy. 

When we got to church, we put Penelope in the nursery for the first time.  I tried once before when she was about 8 months old, but couldn’t handle her crying when I handed her over and asked to have my baby back.  The result was that I spent the entire mass outside with Penelope because she didn’t behave well enough to stay in the church during mass.  I feel like Penelope is finally ready to stay in the nursery so I can go back to church.  One of the big kids’ playschool teachers was there, so I felt even better about leaving Penelope in the nursery.  But, lordy, that child screamed.  The playschool/nursery director told me that I could come back any time to check on her.  About 10 minutes into mass I headed back to the nursery to check on her.  Still screaming some – but not the entire time.  She’d play a bit, remember that she was mad, then scream a bit (I didn’t let her see me, I just listened).  But, as the director told me, Penelope was really just MAD and not really that upset.  And I know that child has a temper and that was a completely accurate assessment of the situation.  If she hadn’t been with the big kids, I probably would have just taken her out and outside until mass was over, but at least they were there to take care of her (to the extent she would allow them to take care of her). 

In the end, she recovered and I think had a good time.  We’ll try again next time and hope that things improve.  She starts playschool in September, so she’s going to have to get used to it at some point!!