Happy Birthday Little Buddy!

This time last year, I was being wheeled down for surgery after a long night of labor with nothing to show for it but a distressed little guy who was losing his patience with Pitocin. And at 7:35, our Joshua will be the big O-N-E! Jason and I both have found ourselves saying, "This time last year..." a lot over the past few days.

The birthday boy is still fast asleep, so I thought I'd take advantage of a few quiet minutes here this morning while cake #2 is baking in the oven to do a little remembering.

As I look back over the past year, what everyone has said about having kids has held true...that time flies...and that if you blink, they've gone from babies to toddlers to college-bound teenagers in no time. And that's how the past year has been. But I'll tell you- there's been so much happiness and laughter and joy and blessing shoved into the past 365 days that I am full to overflowing with it. And how a little bundle of blankets can do that to you is nothing short of God's perfect plan for the world.

In the past year, we've gone from a newly married couple working to navigate all of the intricacies of that arrangment to new parents with absolutely no idea what we were doing. It's awesome that Jason and I make the team that we do because this is, without a doubt, a job for two. I can't say we've always happily worked through the challenges, but we have done our best. I'm a little stubborn (gasp!) and he can be too, and that doesn't always make for peaceful conflict resolution, but I can say that at the end of Joshua's first year, we're as happy as we've ever been. I joke all the time about Joshua being a little mini-Jason, and I couldn't be happier about having two of them around here to love. I am a bit concerned about all of the "teasing Mommy" tricks daddy is lining up to teach the little guy, but hopefully I can hold my own.

I marvel at the things that Joshua has learned how to do in one short year. Last year at this time, we were struggling to get him to eat. He's now mastered that...and we can't wait to see him tear into his cake tonight. He's tripled his weight and grown at least 9-10 inches. Final report on new stats after our 1 year checkup next week. He's developed a personality and is turning into quite the jokester. Jason said it best the other night when we were playing. He said, "I think he's going to be a character." No doubt, he's 100% right. He's mastered rolling over, crawling, pulling up to stand, and now walking. He's starting to work on some words, although we mostly hear "dada" for everything...even "mama". He's figured out how to sleep mostly through the night but still reserves the right to disrupt our sleep when he sees fit. Last night, that was in his plan. But I really savored the hour that I sat and rocked with him, just reminiscing about how much has changed in the past year.

Big things in store for today. We'll be heading out to Trail of Treats where our birthday boy will get to sport his Halloween costume for the very first time. Then it'll be back here to get ready for some supper and cake and PRESENTS with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Sheri and Aunt Connie. We'll be headed to Lewistown for celebration #2 with Poppy, Nana, Aunt Libby, Uncle Zig and maybe even Stephanie if we're lucky tomorrow. No big extravagant parties here- we just want to be able to celebrate with family without overwhelming Joshua with this birthday business--- he's new to it, after all. I'll be sure to post pictures, but they probably won't be ready until after the weekend.

For now, enjoy a little look back at last year when we first got to meet Joshua...