A Mother's Day Full of Firsts...

First of all let me recap my morning. It was amazing!! I awoke to a cool breeze blowing gently over me, and in a big warm bed. I turned my head to look out the window to see local wildlife frolicking. I listen to hear the cooing laughter of my children coming closer... I was completely content.

Then I woke up!!

The cool breeze was our old oscillating fan. The big warm bed contained Chris, Lily and I. The local "wild life"was our dogs, one of which was doing his business. The cooing was Charlotte letting it be quite known that she was awake and ready for the day! And ya know what?

I was completely content! :-)

I hope that every Mommy had a great day today!! My day was fantastic! Chris ran Lily over to get breakfast. She was thrilled to have choco-milk - I really don't think they have ever had it. I know for sure it was Charlotte's first. After we finished up breakfast we started to get ready for the adventure that is Downtown Baltimore City! Ya never know what you will see there!

My gift this year was a membership to the National Aquarium at the Inner Harbor. It will pay for itself in just two visits! Score! This is where we were headed. We ALWAYS, and every time get lost in the city. This was the first time we found our destination on the first try! We found a great place to park- very close- very public makes Megan VERY happy! Remember where we are....

Once we got it all together we made our way and for the first time we get to use the Member entrance. We felt very high class- of course we laughed about that! The next first wasn't planned for. We didn't know that we couldn't use the stroller while touring the Aquarium. So for the first time Charlotte got to ride in a backpack carrier. They offer them for free. Charlotte didn't care if it cost a billion dollars she was not happy! We tried for a while to make her happy, but in the end we took her out and she walked 90% of it. She was so proud of herself!

After we ditched (returned) the backpack the fun really started. Lily was in awe of everything she saw. There was a large pool of sting rays. She told me that they looked like butterflies and they were flying like Peter Peter (Peter Pan) just in the water. She was in heaven! We wandered for a while then we came to the spiral. It is pretty dark in there and it is a winding walk down. Lily is NOT a big fan of ANYTHING she deems spooky. Her and I just held hands and kept walking and looking at the 'fishes'. At the very bottom of the spiral is the shark tanks. These suckers were huge up close. Lily deemed them 'bigger then Daddy' FYI anything large is big like her Daddy. He is her point of reference. Charlotte was in awe as well at this point. She just kept pointing and saying 'see, see'.

When we hit bottom we walked right into a feeding session with the sting rays. That was a first for all of us! There was a little ledge that the girls could stand on to watch. Charlotte was clapping her hands and laughing. We were very careful NOT to let her bang on the tanks. We didn't want a Darla moment from Finding Nemo! Although she did squeal while in the shark tank area! Chris said he thought she might ignite a frenzy from the sound! As for Lily she swears the sting rays were smiling at her! We stood there for a long while waving and saying Hi to each one that swam by watching them eat the little 'fishes'. Thankfully Lily didn't really catch on to that!

After a while the diver ran out of fish waved a good-bye and we moved on. Next was the Dolphin show! Lily had talked about this for days! She was soooo excited. To get to that part of the building required another first for the girls... escalators! Up and down back and forth! Something I know most people do not know is my fear of these things. I can go up fine it is the down. Regular steps get to me too. I never carry the girls down steps. Chris does. When we are in the playroom upstairs I carry Charlotte and walk backwards facing Lily. I don't know why, it just freaks me out! So the thought of doing it with my child in tow was a first time I had to deal with that panic. Chris took Charlotte, and I had Lily. I must have let 5 families go first. All of whom looked at me like I was crazy! By the time we made it down I was a red face mess! Lily loved it. She really thought she a big girl today. She had no clue!

Back to the Dolphin Show....When we got right outside of the show we thought it best to have Lily and Daddy go to the bathroom. What we didn't notice was there was a restroom right in front of us DOH! It took them a few minutes to make it back, but they did and we headed in. Chris and I decided it best not to sit in the 'splash zone' we sat way up high! Which ended up being a good idea the girls got to see the dolphins jump better there.

Being this was their very first show like this we didn't know how they would react. I would have never guessed this! Charlotte LOVED it! She giggled, squealed,kicked, clapped. She really seemed to feed off our reactions to everything going on around us. She was really into it and was very verbal about it. Lily also LOVED it but she was overwhelmed by it. She had a smile planted on her face the entire time, but I don't think she said one word! She just took it all in. It was a really neat show. Chris and I loved to see their reactions to it.

After it was over we decided it was time to head out. We of course perused the gift shop! Lily picked out a dolphin who Chris helped her name Mac, for the Mackerel Fish they eat. Charlotte picked out a hot pink penguin, who I have named Peggy. I have never seen her react that way to something. She loved on that thing all the way home, all evening, and she is now sleeping in her crib! I think we might have found her nite nite bear! Chris and Charlotte headed out to redeem our stroller, while Lily and I paid for their goodies! When we were done I didn't realize that to get to where they had gone required yet another trip down an escalator. Lily missed the first step, I had her hand and grabbed her up...we found the elevator.

Chris just smiled and shook his head when he saw us coming from the elevator. We grabbed some lunch went to the restroom one more time then headed out. We pondered around the Inner Harbor for a little while and then made our way back to the van.

Charlotte fell asleep on the way home- nothing new about that! Lily though had her first roadside emergency. We were maybe 2 minutes from home when she announces that she has to pee. We tell her we are almost home just hold on tight. She at that point crossed everything and held on as tight as she could, but it wasn't to be and then her announcement changed to "oh no it is coming out guys!" Chris hit the gas and we pulled into a Burger King like a Nascar car, her and I race in there. I felt as I pulled her out of the car seat that she had wet through already. I got into the bathroom and she hopped on the potty and finished. Thankfully Chris had remember this morning to grab an extra pair of shorts just in case. I switched out of the wet into dry, and drove the 30 secs to the house.

Once we got home, we got Charlotte down for her nap and Lily in our bed for a rest. Charlotte cut her nap WAY too short but woke up happy. We didn't rush right in there because we hoped that she would just fall back to sleep. She did get quiet for a little but then started again, this time a little louder. Chris went in there, he yells out oh S$&^T!!! I holler back asking what she had done now. We found her again a few days ago partly naked at bedtime. So I thought she just did that again. He yelled back "no really S^&T GET IN HERE!!"

Miss Charlotte must have been inspired by some of the prehistoric fish we saw this morning and drew cave drawings all over herself, crib, and sheets. With-you guessed it- poop! Well now that is a FIRST for us! I guess she is just doing her part to make us well rounded parents!

Today was filled with a ton of firsts. It really was a great day!

Chris thank you for making this weekend wonderful, and for being a great hubby!

Lily and Charlotte thank you for being such good girls today and handing the day really great!

Charlotte thank you for all my kisses and hugs today!

Lily thank you for all my hugs and kisses and all the Happy Modder's Day wishes!

A special thank you to a woman who I will never meet, in your selflessness you gave me my Lily and made me a Mommy!