12 months!

Happy Birthday to ME!

12 Month Stats:

Height: 31 in (90%)
Weight: 24 lbs (75%)

Have we really made it, friends?!  The O-N-E year mark?  My, does the time fly! 
One year ago today (February 14th), I was waiting anxiously in a hospital bed preparing for your arrival!  We did not know whether you were a boy or girl...or how our lives would truly change forever!

Excited and ready!

soon-to-be Mommy and Daddy!

Striking a sassy pose...as best I could!

 After a peaceful labor (aren't those two words supposed to be oxymorons?!), you finally took your first breath...and subsequent first cry.  I was so overwhelmed when the doctor held you up and James announced, "It's a Girl!"  My heart burst with love for you!  Then, they took you out of my line of sight for a bit as they cleaned us both up.  I had a moment of panic as I realized for the first time since your creation, I couldn't protect you.  You were no longer nestled just within my arms reach and while I, of course, wanted to truly see you and meet you, I knew I now had to put you fully into God's hands of protection.

Our first glimpse of YOU, precious girl!

Oh, a mother's love! 

Your skin was so perfect and soft.  I had never seen such NEW life!  What an amazing blessing and gift!

a little wink for the camera, maybe?

It was soon time to head home and I had another panic moment!  I felt so comfortable in the hospital where I received wonderful help and advice; where I knew you'd be safe.  What if I did something wrong?  What if I'm no good at this mothering thing? 
But, away we went into the wild blue yonder!  Truly excited for the journey that awaited us, but truly knowing we could not do it alone!

Fast forward a year, my love, and you are a sassy, stubborn, loving, silly, smiley, curious, flirty, smart, and CUTE little girl! 

It has been one of the most challenging, yet wonderful years of my life!  I have been stretched, pushed, pulled, excited, disheartened, joyful, exhausted, delirious, emotional, sad, lonely, anxious, and at peace.  Through all the many changes in our lives this past year-- related to your birth or not--God has given me such JOY, PEACE, and LOVE that far exceed any negative emotion!  I often don't feel worthy of such a precious life as yours, but, if nothing else, that feeling causes me to fall at the feet of our Lord Jesus in humble gratitude and praise! 
Motherhood has been my greatest challenge and my greatest joy!  Though the journey is far (so far!) from being over, I pray I will always be able to testify to words of James, brother of Jesus, when he said,

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Isn't that what this whole 'Earth Experiment' is all about?!  To learn to glorify God in every situation...to bring glory to His name...to be good stewards of all He has given us- great or small...to continually prepare our hearts, minds, and souls for the forever after of Heaven?? 

For me, motherhood is obviously a big part of my life and testimony.  It has been a way for God to refine and renew me.  I am so grateful God gives us the opportunity to serve Him in this way!

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Alrighty, now if we can move past the mushy-gushy stuff and get to the fun part---what you've been up to this month!

EAT: Well, about a week before your birthday, we began the process of transitioning you to whole milk and no more formula (money in the bank, people)!  At first, you weren't so sure about the milk, but within a day or two, you were sucking it down and looking forward to it at each mealtime.  At the same time, we offered the milk mostly in your sippy cup and, within a week, completely stopped using bottles.  You didn't seem to notice at all!  Bottle-free has been so much better for mommy!  Dr. Brown's were great bottles, but a pain to clean!  Now, you have 3 meals of whole foods, 1-2 snacks, and about 16 oz of whole milk a day.

SLEEP:  Your sleep at night is still pretty consistent at 11 or so hours (7pm-6:30 or 7am), though I will admit it's hard to always know exactly how long you are sleeping!  In our tiny apartment, we don't really need a monitor and you are often content to play quietly in your crib for a while before starting to fuss.  But, since I do check on you at different points, I doubt you sleep any less than 10.5 hours a night.

Your naps have changed from three 45 min naps to 2 naps at 1.5- 2 hours a piece...with your morning one being longest!  This started in the last 3 weeks and made me so nervous at first!  I wasn't used to having so much time to kill!  I'm not complaining at all, but for a while it seemed like you were asleep forever!  The doctor said there was nothing wrong with it as long as you were still sleeping at night, so I get some mommy-time for a while until you go to the dreaded ONE nap a day!  :(

PLAY: You've always been a little explorer, but now that you can walk, nothing stops you!  You are a very proficient walker, often squatting to pick something up and then standing back up and moving along.  You still walk a bit like a drunken sailor and I often wonder how you don't fall more often, but I think you look less stable than you really are.  You like to walk on your own and don't like holding my hand.  You are quite independent, which is nothing new!  When we were at the park this past weekend with Marmee, Granddad, and Aunt Katie, we let you just walk around the fields next to the park and you were just walking around exploring for over 20 minutes!  If the sun wasn't setting, you probably could have been out there another hour! 

As independent as you may be, you are still in your clingy phase as I drop you off at the nursery on Sundays and Tuesdays.  I see some signs of that letting up a bit, so maybe you'll handle it better soon.  For now, I'll keep enjoying it just a little bit... ;)
You now know how to not only press the home button on my iphone, but also how to slide the bar to unlock it!  When I added a password, you kept making emergency calls, so now I can't let you play with it!  If I try to put you in a safer program (so you won't delete/alter apps), you know to press the home button to get to something else you want.  Maybe I can find some good apps that you will enjoy playing.

You love to mimic sounds and such.  Even learning the 'sssss' sound from Aunt Katie this weekend.  Marmee gave you your first haircut this weekend, since it was falling into your eyes and was growing unevenly in the back.  Now, it looks super cute-- whether you have a bow or not!  I love it!

Current Obsessions: digging around in kitchen cabinets, reading books, hugging your baby doll, clapping your hands, food, iphone, walking, exploring, climbing, water-- whether in a bath, sink, or toilet!, jewelry, anything electronic with buttons, hair, throwing things on the ground, and opening/closing doors

Current Dislikes: Being tired/hungry, being told 'no', being dropped off at the nursery.

Here are some pictures from her 12 month photo shoot:

 

Love this girl!