Our Weekend and My "Defining Mom Moment"

So I am sure you are all on pins and needles after reading the title of this post... My "defining" moment came Friday night, but I think I will talk about the rest of my weekend first.
On Saturday morning, we decided to beat the crowds and headed out at 8:00 am for Liam's first trip to the zoo. It was so nice to be there with hardly anyone else around. And it wasn't 95 degrees which was awesome. He is of course still too young to appreciate much there and he slept most the time, but he was pretty amazed by the waterfalls in the River's Edge. Here are a few fun pictures from the day.

Saturday night Uncle Bill and Aunt Karin came over to babysit so Keith and I could have a night out with friends. It was much needed! We went to the Heritage Brewfest in Forest Park and it was a perfect night. Although I drank too much too fast and needless to say we only lasted till about 10:00. :)
On Sunday we headed to the Bueltmann's for Avery's 1st birthday party. I wish I would have taken a picture of Liam and his future girlfriend. She looked so cute in her pink tutu!
So now, let's back track to Friday night. My Dad asked us to come over and since they live just a couple blocks down the street, it always seems like a good idea. They ordered Sage take out and Liam had his first taste of rice cereal. Let me tell you, the kid loves the stuff. He figure it out right way. He was smiling and "laughing" and kicking his feet and would open his mouth ready for the next bite. I can't wait to start trying all sorts of new foods!

After dinner, we put Liam to sleep in his crib over there and enjoyed some cocktails on the deck. Now for the "defining moment".
A couple weeks ago I got an email from thebump.com asking me to enter to win a Mexican get away. Since I am constantly entering sweepstakes, hoping that one day I might get something fabulous, I clicked on the link. In order to enter you had to write a quick sentence about your defining moment as a mom. I thought about this for a while and really couldn't come up with anything. I read other people's post and most of them said something about the moment their baby was placed on their stomach in the hospital. I mean of course when this happened to me, it was amazing and I knew I was now a mom and my life would forever be changed, but I don't think it necessarily defined me. So anyway, I wrote something silly and set off my entry.

When we decided to leave my dad's house, Liam was asleep. I knew if I got him up and put him in his carseat, he would wake up and the both of us would probably have a rough hour or so ahead of us trying to get him back to sleep.We got him out of the crib and laid him on my shoulder. And I know I might get some mom criticism for this next statement, but I decided to not put him in his car seat for the three block drive we had ahead of us. There was just something about carrying him out to the car on a hot summer night with the cicadas is full swing that felt to nostalgic, comforting and rewarding at the same time. As I sat holding him in the back seat, I just knew this was the kind of mom I was going to be. Exactly what that means, I don't think I am able to put in words yet, but it is a feeling I have.
When we got home, I tried to explain it to Keith, and I didn't have to because he already knew. I am glad we are on the same page. :)

Hope everyone had as great of a weekend as I did!