What more can you ask for in life? Cheers to good friends and family.
We celebrated Father’s Day early on Wednesday, since Mio and I will be back on the East Coast this weekend on Dan’s first Father’s Day. I cooked some yummy barbecued baby back ribs in the slow cooker, and Mio and I presented Dan with this handsome blazer from Gap. Doesn’t he look sharp? 🙂
Last Sunday, we spent the afternoon strolling around Lake Chabot with Dan’s parents. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we enjoyed some quality time with the family and got some exercise while walking for about four miles around the lake. (I couldn’t handle the full seven mile trek around the lake, even in flats….)
Now that it’s summer, we’re looking forward to getting out more and enjoying the outdoors with our little Mio!
Sunday was Mother’s Day, and this year was my first time celebrating it as a mother myself. It still feels a little surreal that I’ve become a mother and that this day will now hold a special meaning for me for the rest of my life. Though it’s only been a little over a month since I have joined the ranks of motherhood, it’s already been such a wonderful and life-changing experience so far.
For my first Mother’s Day, I awoke to this cutie:
Later, Dan surprised me with a colorful bouquet of flowers.
Our friend and uber-talented photographer Tea came over to take some photos of Mio for us, and she brought me some flowers as well! So thoughtful and sweet of her… thank you, Tea! 🙂
Thank you also to all my friends who sent me Mother’s Day cards and e-cards to commemorate my first Mother’s Day… I was surprised but of course very touched to receive so many from everyone. You made my first Mother’s Day truly memorable! ♥
In the evening, we went out to dinner with Dan’s family to celebrate at Yusan Sushi. So happy I can finally eat sushi and sashimi again! 🙂
We ended the day by taking some photos to remember our first Mother’s Day together… 🙂
I couldn’t help but be consumed by an overwhelming feeling of gratitude this Mother’s Day.
I have always been thankful for the amazing mothers in my own life — my own mother who gave birth to me and raised me with love, my mother-in-law who has always welcomed and embraced me from Day One with such warmth, as well as my grandmother back in Hiroshima whom I rarely get to see but writes me letters every month.
But this year, I have even more to be grateful for. For the wonderful husband I have and for this precious, precious daughter we have brought into this world together. I feel like nothing I have ever done in my life warrants this incredible gift that has been bestowed upon me. I have never been — and never will be — the most beautiful, the most talented, the most successful. I am as imperfect as they come. But somehow, despite all of my innumerable flaws and shortcomings, I have been given so much in this humble life of mine, and now have been entrusted with the greatest blessing yet.
I look at Mio and am dumbfounded that she loves, trusts, and needs me more than anyone else in the world.
I am so undeserving, and I wonder if I ever will be worthy of all of this.
Last Sunday, we took Mio down to San Jose to meet some very special people…. She got all dressed up in her Sunday best before making the drive down.
Mio got to meet her great-grandmother Eileen! She is Dan’s paternal grandmother. 🙂
Little Mio also had the honor of being welcomed by her great-aunts!
Great-grandmother Eileen gave Mio a beautiful layette, and her great-aunts got her a portable swing! 🙂 We were very thankful for the generous gifts.
We enjoyed a delicious homemade dinner with everyone, and it was really nice seeing grandma Eileen and Dan’s aunts again, since we hadn’t been able to make it down to visit in a while. We were touched by their hospitality and were thrilled that Mio got to meet some of the wonderful ladies of the Allen family!
Mio ended up sleeping for most of our time there… I suppose it’s a lot of work being a newborn!
Mio has been soaking in love from both sides of the family. Dan’s parents were there for her birth and helped out a lot during her first week… and my mother’s been in town since this past weekend and has been doting on her non-stop. 🙂 Mio is getting spoiled with all this attention from her loving grandparents! I can’t wait until she gets to meet my father, too, since he’s the last grandparent she hasn’t met yet. (He is on a business trip this week, and could not make it across the country with my mother.)
My mother’s here for another couple days until she leaves on Friday night. The week is already flying by and I wish we had more time with her here before she goes back to Virginia. I wish we weren’t so far away from my family, so that they could all come and see Mio, but I’m sure there’ll be an opportunity soon when she can meet Mommy’s family too. 🙂
After this coming weekend, I’ll be flying solo with Mio, as Dan is back at work and I won’t have any grandparents around to depend on. It’s a little daunting, but because we’ve gotten so much help this first couple of weeks, I feel like I’ve really been able to recover and adjust enough that I will be able to handle it… and for that, I am grateful.