Happy Birthday!!

My Sweet Emma Lynn, I am sitting here typing this while you are next to me on the floor, quietly looking at your books. Today is your very first birthday, and it is a perfect time to reflect on this last year. I am kind of in disbelief...have we really had your little spirit in our lives for an entire year?? Well, I guess not officially...until 9:09 this evening. :) MY, how these months have breezed by. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was, at this moment, getting ready to go to my checkup. You were due on the 1st of December, and you still weren't coming! So I was on my way to schedule a date for induction. My mom came with me to the appointment...your dad was at school. As the doctor checked me...he decided to strip my membranes, which extremely uncomfortable. This immediately put me into labor...and later that night you entered this world!! And to think, that morning I was sitting in my English class, with your daddy, on our very last day of school. Little did I know, I would be holding you in my arms that very night. The first two nights we stayed at the hospital with you. Daddy was a big help. I didn't change one diaper until we were getting ready to go home. I remember how nervous I was to take you home. What a responsibility!! But Daddy was more than ready to take you home, and start living our lives once again. From the day we brought you home, you slept in your own crib, in your own room. We put you to bed at 8:00pm each night (but now you can't make it passed 7:00). You looked so tiny laying there, like a little burrito, in the middle of your enormous crib! We were so nervous leaving you alone...you seemed extremely fragile. Your dad was constantly checking on you to make sure you were breathing! Those first weeks...months...were very surreal to me. One moment we were living our lives, day to day, with the idea that you would be coming into our home. The next moment, there you were! I felt so scared...how on earth did anyone know how to be a mother!? What was I supposed to do?? The smallest details made me panic. Was I supposed to put lotion on you? Did it matter if I couldn't hold you for a minute? What were you supposed to wear? Haha...it's so silly now that I think about how crazy I felt. I remember taking turns with Daddy, pacing back and forth with you, all hours of the night. You screamed like you wanted the world to know your frustration. You screamed so loud!! And you screamed SO OFTEN!!! I nursed you 3-4 times at night...sitting up in bed looking out the window at the snow sparkling underneath the street lights. I sat there wondering if anyone else out there was awake with me...the world seemed so still! It was eerie. Running on very little sleep, I struggled in the day to make sure my house was clean. I even invited my parents over for dinner. Was I nuts!? I didn't think so at the time! When you were only 3 weeks old, we took you to Moses Lake for Christmas, and for your baby blessing. You were so small...and fussy!! I was such a nervous mommy, and everyone had to reassure me that everything was going to be alright. That was the time when you first slept until 3 am. WOW! What an amazing feeling!! I felt so rejuvenated!! From that moment on, you began sleeping longer and longer, until you slept through the night very nicely. This is when things became more manageable, we began to feel like ourselves again, and we became a bit more confident in being parents! We took you on lots of walks. We listened to Christmas music day in, day out. You loved the Christmas tree, you would just stare at it in awe! What a perfect time of year to enter the world. :) The months continued to just fly by. Each stage you've gone through has made you a happier baby! Now you are still quite the character, and pretty bossy...but you are a very happy girl. I feel so lucky to have you in my life. 12 months and a BILLION pictures later, here we are!! You have grown and learned so much, and I am so proud of you!! Happy Birthday, Emma Lynn!! I love you! Love, Mommy