One Whole Year!!!

It is hard to believe that one whole year ago, at this time in the evening, I was holding my baby as we drifted in and out of sleep on our first night together. Anxious about not doing something right, and so overcome with the events of the day and replaying them through my mind, sleep was very little for me that first night.

Now here we are, one year later! Happy First Birthday to my sweet son, Steven Patrick! I still don't get a ton of sleep, and I still have anxious moments of thinking I'll screw something up. Yet, I would not trade for anything the joy of waking up each morning to cuddles,smiles and kisses from a sleepy-eyed bundle of cuteness and watching my little boy discover the world around him (even those things that might be not so good for him to discover, like eating tissues out of the trash...which happened this morning).

Nothing anyone has ever told me about "time flying" could ever have prepared me for how it truly did. There are moments I wish I could go back to the beginning and cuddle Steven as a little newborn again, or to the time when he was just starting to sit on his own and "play" with toys. How thankful I am for technology that allows us to capture through pictures and videos all these special moments!

Another part of me eagerly anticipates all the new things he is bound to discover each day, or the new milestones he reaches (like walking...hopefully soon???) . But I try not to dwell on what's coming too much because then I forget to focus on the moments I have here and now. If I could bottle every little babble he makes as he's having a little converstaion with me that I don't understand, I would. If I could seal every kiss and snuggle into my memory to never forget what they feel like, I would.

Instead, I stick to the old-fashioned methods used by generations to capture these all important memories. For instance, Steven got his first haircut (really a little trim around the ears) by Grandma today. Now I have  a little plastic baggy with a tissue enfolding a few locks of his baby hair. Gross?? No. Precious?? Yes!!

Tomorrow we will celebrate Steven's birthday with family and friends. The cupcakes are baked and awaiting frosting. The presents will hopefully get wrapped in time for him to open them. And hopefully my guests won't be sitting in the piles of laundry currently on my couch (sigh...I detest laundry!). I'm anticiapting a fantastic time watching Steven eat cake and open presents and get so overly tired he refuses his afternoon nap (okay, maybe not looking forward to that). In any case, it will be a blast.

So, now I must go to bed, to rest for tomorrow's festivities. But I had to just say a few words about this very special day! Pictures to come tomorrow night as well as a recap of our boy's birthday party!

Good night!