For the Record: A Letter to my youngest daughter on her 1st birthday.

My dearest daughter,

Happy Birthday! I love you!

Words cannot express how wonderful the last 365 days have been for me. You have brought me so much joy, so much love, and so much laughter into my life! Having you join our family has been so beautiful for all of us, and we feel that you are the final piece to the puzzle of our party of 5. God saved His best for last.

From the very beginning of your little life, we knew that you were going to be different. You had your own way of doing things right from the start. We were not expecting to become pregnant with you, we were actually waiting for our transfer to Louisiana to be over before we thought about expanding our family, and yet God chose for you to enter our lives and announced to us that you would be born around your older sister's birthday. We were shocked and overjoyed!

I will never forget the moment that I first suspected that I was pregnant with you. I had just made a big bowl of oatmeal with fresh blueberries to eat for breakfast. I sat down to eat it, when suddenly, I couldn't bear to even look at it, let alone eat it. And then I remembered that I had been feeling tired the last couple of weeks...needing naps sometimes 3 times a day. All the puzzle pieces fell into place, and a big smile came across my face. I told your Daddy and he went out for a pregnancy test. Of course, it was positive, and you were well on your way into our lives.

The months of my pregnancy were great. The morning sickness passed quickly, and the fatigue that I had for a couple of weeks went away. You were such an active little baby in my tummy, kicking the table when I sat down, or reacting to your Daddy's voice.

I can't forget the day of your birth....how we had scheduled you to be born on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, making you our little lucky charm. The doctor's had said that it would be best to take you out a week earlier from your due date so we scheduled you for that particular day. You announced to us that it was the right time to be born when my water broke on the elevator to the hospital, soaking my favorite shoes and creating a general stir to the people around us.

Just a couple of hours later, you were born and completely captured our hearts. Your Daddy announced that you were a girl, and the doctor announced with a laugh that you bit him. And that you were mad! Your cry was so strong and lovely...I loved you completely from that very second.

And each day after that has become more and more wonderful. The first time you smiled at me when you were 5 weeks old just melted my heart. I was singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" and clapping your tiny hands for you when you burst out in a huge smile. You were very opinionated as a tiny baby as well. You didn't like to sleep in your crib, you preferred sleeping at the foot of our bed in your carseat, or sleeping in my arms. You didn't like to be put on your tummy at all, and plainly told us so. You didn't roll over until you were almost 5 months old, but once you learned, you could not be kept on your tummy at all!

You make me laugh every day with your silliness. You learned to sit up when you were 6 months old, and learned how to throw a ball. Playing ball became one of your favorite games to play with your sisters. They would roll the ball to you, and you would pick it up and throw it as far as your little arms could throw....anywhere from 2 inches to 3 feet across the room. Your very first word was Dada... And I cry when I mention that you usually said it during the only times that you got to see him, during the webcam calls that we made during his time away from us. Your second word spoken was Mama, and when you say it, it makes me so proud to be your mama. And you have surprised us to no end this year, as you have learned the names of your sisters, and call to them when you can't see them, or when you want them to give you their attention.

What else is different about you? You haven't been interested in crawling all this time. You prefer getting around your own way...rolling. Rolling over and over to get to wherever you want to go. You actually find alot of places to get stuck simply by rolling. You have even rolled yourself into a laundry basket that was laying sideways and managed to turn it upright, trapping you inside of it, and you laughed when we looked at you inside. You love playing in the grass, and feeling the wind blow through your hair. You smile up at me every morning in your crib, and eagerly greet each and every day with all of it's adventures in store for you. You love watching Elmo's World, and dancing to music. You always smile when you hear your daddy whistle. You love eating cheese, pasta, pears, and broccoli. You make funny faces at people to try to make them laugh. You hold your feet out to people when you want them to tickle you or play "This little piggy." You like taking naps, and let people know when it's time to have one. You do not like having your diaper changed, but you love splashing in your bathtub.

My darling baby, it has been a joy watching you grow this year. It almost doesn't seem fair that this year has flown buy in a whirlwind...but I am happy that you have blessed us simply by being with us. You are so beautiful and full of joy. I am so blessed to be your Mama, and rejoice that I have all of your days of your life to watch you grow up and discover this wonderful world. I am in awe of you, this beautiful gift of sugar and spice and everything nice, that God has placed in our family.

I love you.

Love forever,
Mama.