We're Celebrating Baby

I don't even know how to begin this post. There are so many things I want to say and I just can't find the words to express how I am feeling. I have started this post and erased what I typed three times. I just cannot get my thoughts together so this is my warning to you that this post could be rather long with many rambling moments because I'm just going to roll with it.

Madison turned one on Thursday. One week ago, I gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She was 8 lbs and 10 ozs of baby magic. Today she is a healthy 24 pounds and 31 1/2 inches tall. Proof that she is in fact growing up.



I have had a wonderful life. I've always been around people who care about me and I've always had everything I needed, or felt I needed. I married a wonderful man and we are a great team. I never knew that we were missing something. Until Madison Olivia entered our world.



I have shared time and time again how wonderful it is to have Madison. I've shared how blessed I am and how thankful we are for her. It's all true and this year has been the best year of my life so far. My days and nights are filled with loving our baby girl and wondering what the future holds for her. But right now we celebrate her. We are celebrating her birth.

Her actual birthday was Thursday, November 11th. We spent the day with my sister and prepared for her party.



We spent the evening with daddy. It was just the three of us celebrating our family.





At exactly 9:26 pm, I sneaked into her room and took a peek at my tiny toddler. She looked much different from the tiny newborn that we met exactly one year ago.

Today, on her birthday, Madison learned something new. Here she is in action...



We celebrated Madison's birthday on Saturday with our friends and family. This is the event I have been planning for months. Lots of sleep was lost while I planned, created and crafted things for this big day. And it was worth every minute.



I spent days setting up the house and making sure everything was perfect.





There were games and crafts for the kids.













And the girls played...



with only a minor meltdown.



Madison rocked out the thighs I gave her.



Our family visited with each other and looked back on our year with Maddie O.











The highlight of all 1st birthday parties is the eating of the cake. I can't say that she ate much of the cake but she sure did enjoy the icing, once she realized that it wasn't lotion and stopped rubbing it under her arm and put it in her mouth.











Madison wasn't too interested in opening her gifts. Sure, she loved playing with them once they were out but she couldn't quite grasp the concept of unwrapping them. We tried though...



Eventually, it just came down to me opening while she played and that worked out just fine too.













First of all I need to thank the girl behind the lens...



Traci, pictured here holding her niece, Emerson. Thank you Traci for taking these gorgeous pictures on Madison's special day. It meant so much knowing that you were there and documenting her day.



And to everyone else....thank you. I know I have repeated these two words over and over this past week but it's the only thing I can think of to say. I wish there was something more to express how I feel. I want to thank everyone for being there for us over the last year. Thank you to those that helped us out with "Is this normal?" questions and to those that were there sharing in moments of joy. Thank you to our parents for showing us how to be parents. We have made it through this first year with success and it is because of you. I have to give an extra special thank you to my sister. She has been my savior when I became overwhelmed, she's helped me through the hard stuff and is also always right there with us to celebrate the good stuff. Thank you Christy!

Ryan and I are incredibly grateful for our family. We've got one year down and many, many more to go. I anticipate living what the future has in store for us but right now we are celebrating today.