one year.

Just over one year ago, our lives changed forever.


I would like to say it's been an easy year, but that would be a big, fat lie.

It has by far been the hardest year of my life.

But.... never have I been more content in my entire life. Never have I been this satisfied. And never have I ever been so sure that what I'm doing right here in this second, is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.

My child is the light of my life. She makes me laugh no less than a 1,000 times a day. Watching her grow and change each day is the greatest gift I've ever been given. Mr. P will never understand just how grateful I am to him that he's worked so hard to give me the opportunity to stay home with her. I am very well aware that I'll never get this time back. I am loving it.

It's definitely not all sunshine and puppy kisses though. I spent the first three months trying to figure out what I'd done to my life by bringing this little monster into this world. I cried, I wandered around in a flat haze of exhaustion, and I looked at her a billion times a day and wondered if I'd made a huge mistake.

The next three months were bliss as she grew out of the constant screaming and started to smile, coo, and laugh more than cry. She napped, she held up her own head, and best part? she laid right where I put her when I put her there. It was awesome.

Then she threw a wrench in my happy little existence when she started moving and sprouting teeth and fighting me on sleep. Just when I thought I figured it out, she said "aww heck no!" and put me back on my toes. But, I would have to say that months 7-10 were AMAZING. The best hands down.


Months 11 & 12 have been a challenge to say the least. Every day her personality becomes a bit more defined, and God help her, she starts to act a bit more like me by the minute. We've dealt with saying "no" and temper tantrums and sleep strikes more in the last couple of months than the rest of the last year combined. She's clearly getting us prepared for toddlerhood. Yay crash course.


Never in my life have the days gone so fast, the nights been so long, the tears been more plentiful, and the laughs been so constant as in this past year. She is the best thing that Mr. P and I have ever been involved with. I can only hope that we continue to shower her with all the love and laughter that we have this year. My hope is that she continues to grow into a happy, healthy, young girl who loves the Lord and knows how much we adore her. I already see such a strong personality that I can't wait to watch develop into a strong, Godly young woman.

I can't believe it's been a year. We threw away our empty can of formula tonight. We packed away all but a couple of bottles. Birthday toys made for toddlers have replaced the rattles and Exersaucer. The bouncy chair has been replaced with a big kid chair. There's two gallons of milk in the fridge and the cabinets are empty of baby food ::I am now crying:: The burp cloths have been replaced with size 18 month bloomers for summer. Her 12 month clothes have been packed away. I think it's safe to say that we almost have a toddler....

It's been a year. Wow.

Hands down, best year ever. Bring it on year two.