Families across Chicago area share appreciation for all mother figures on Mother's Day

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Sunday was Mother's Day, and for many it was a time to celebrate the moms and mother figures in their lives.

Many families were out and about enjoying great weather across the Chicago area this Mother's Day.

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Chandler Tavenner relished on the job and joys of motherhood on her first mother's day.

"It's a blessing, especially it's Sunday. It's just a beautiful day for all the moms to celebrate," Chandler Tavenner said. "This is very special for me," "Because being a mom is really hard, it's exhausting, but it's magical at the same time."

Her husband, Dustin, made sure that the woman who gives her everything was able to wake up to what most mom's wish for on the day, a day where they have to do nothing.

"You see up close and personal, how much it takes just to raise this little human that you have in your life now," Dustin Tavenner said. "She just makes me appreciate her even more."

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It was a day where her heavy lift was limited to lifting a bouquet of flowers.

"He did all the bottles, the laundry," Chandler Tavenner said. "I didn't do anything."

Over at Navy Pier, Renaee Henry and her son, Naeven Newell, celebrated her motherhood journey by showing support to other mothers.

"It's such a beautiful day and I'm doing a stay mini vacation in our downtown Chicago beautiful city on Navy Pier," Henry said. "It's hard and it takes a village it takes a village to raise a child in this world to this magnitude."

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"We just collectively talked to all the mothers that came past, we gave out some roses, so it was a pretty nice time," Newell said.

A mother's strength, while often tested, can never be measured.

"It can be overwhelming but for me what matters is the love that you give," Chandler Tavenner said. "Just be kind to yourself."

However, it's a job and journey worth celebrating, not just Mother's Day, but all days.

"I admire all moms... it's very hard job. We all should appreciate what they do for us," Dustin Tavenner said. "I am very blessed to have a good mom myself, 'Hi Mom!' And also a wonderful wife."