1st Year in Pictures!

Me VERY Pregnant... Waiting and waiting!

Me getting loaded onto the ambulance stretcher at Selkirk. That oxygen mask should have been on my face.

Hours old... not exactly as planned but very loved!

Healthy an no longer a bionic baby!

Almost 3 weeks old

Jump, jump, juming!

First food at around 5 months old.

Daddy is already teaching me how to curl!

Sliding down my slide at 1 year old

I will walk there myself!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

My Dearest Baby Boy,

Today is your 1st birthday! This first 12 months of your life has flown by. Wasn't it only yesterday I held your foot and prayed for you to be off those machines and breathing better? Wasn't it just this morning that I finger fed you milk and brought you home from the hospital? I am sure it was just this afternoon I fed you your first solid food, rice cereal, you loved it. You have grown so quickly! Every day I see you becoming more and more a little kid, and less and less a baby!

You are walking pretty much full-time now. At least once a week the daycare writes us a note telling us how you bumped some part of your body and got a bruise; most of the time you don't cry and stand right back up! You are excellent at shaking your head to say "NO", maybe we could learn how to say 'yes' soon too? "Momomomomom" and "HUG" come from you pretty regularly. You like to read books, play with toys and generally have a blast. You have your two front bottom teeth, and just this past week you "fangs" started to appear. You still don't have your top front teeth so you might have a silly smile for a little while yet!

For your birthday we bought you a slide and you have been enjoying more and more time outside exploring the world you live in. I am sure you woudl spend even more time out there if we didn't make you sleep! You are ticklish and so easy to make smile and laugh. I enjoy watching you sleep, smile, laugh and play, you bring me joy and laughter with every minute I spend with you!

Now that I am back to work I miss you like crazy all day. I miss our sleepy cuddles, giggle fits, and play time. Every evening we spend many hours together, playing, nursing, reading, tickling, and singing silly songs. You still love mommy and daddy the best, but you are loving spending time with other kids at daycare. In fact you love it so much that you tackle them, maybe we could stop that soon?!

You first year, although different then I expected, has been a most amazing year. Who knew that you would become this adorable, sweet, loving, and playful little boy?! I loved you before we officially met, but on this day one year ago my heart became yours, and my world changed. For every little thing we have given up you have given us so much more. I look forward to seeing who you grow and develop into over the next years. For now though I will enjoy every second I have with you, there seem to be too few!

Love you forever and ever my Dude!!
~Mommy

Excited and Sad... Torn!

So torn! Today is my last day of Maternity Leave. On one hand I am so sad to be leaving Dude, he is such a joy, and I have spent almost every minute with him over the last 11 months. On the other hand I am super excited for my new adventure. I am anxious to get back into a classroom and teach. So tonight I am torn and am pretty sure this is how I will feel, only more so, tomorrow morning!

Dude spent his first full day at daycare last Tuesday, Jay picked him up and didn't ask many questions but apparently it went alright. I got a ton of work done, work that would have taken me two years if he was home with me! On Friday I went to work and Dude stayed home with daddy, so nice to get stuff done and not really worry about him. This afternoon I went back to work while the boys did some grocery shopping, and I am feeling mostly prepared for tomorrow. Really though I am nervous to start a new job, and nervous about how Griffin will do without me!

Now if only Dude would wake up so we could play this evening!