Then... and Now

Throughout the day, I kept thinking of Julia at daycare, hoping she was having fun, etc. Apparently another kid (boy) had his birthday today too... how fun!

Again, it is hard to wrap my brain around the fact that Julia is ONE now... but when I finally started going through pictures of the day she was born... well, THAT brought on the tears. Most especially because I remembered all that happened that day... replaying bits and pieces of it as the day went on...

... for instance, right now, Adam was home in bed after having been up for something like... 36 hours or something... and I was in my room waiting to say good bye to Julia so that they could take her to Des Moines to be in NICU. Remember that I had not even held her at this point.

Whew. Tear.

Here's two snapshots... I realized today that I don't think I ever posted the first picture (mere minutes after she was born)... and the second picture is from today... one year later.



Here is the picture from when I met Julia for the first time...


Wow... what a year! What a wonderful, amazing, awesome year. :)

erin

Cupcake

Also known as: Cake Part 2

Apparently there were three things missing that Julia required in order for her to get messy with some cake:

1. It needed to be her actual birthday.
2. She needed to be fully clothed.
3. Only mommy and daddy were allowed as audience.













Adam and I gave her a bath afterwards.


erin

I do love him...

... but there are days when I wonder why I've kept him for six years...

(just kidding!)

I'm a Cheesehead!

Sitting in the Cheesehead...


Where's daddy?

Check out These Leggings!

Julia loves to get into things... what kid doesn't?

When we're in the basement, her favorite "toys" are the washer (clothes) and stairs...





Of course, I really shared these pictures because I think these leggings and little dress are super cute together...! :)

erin

A Birthday Party for Julia: Gifts

After everyone started snacking on the goodies, we opened gifts. At first, Julia wasn't so into it, but then she really had fun (especially if it was a bagged gift that had tissue paper in it that she could pull out).

Some gifts included: a stuffed cat, at musical guitar, a counting / shapes cookie jar, clothes, a book, gift card to Wal-Mart, and a Walk & Ride.

















Thank you to everyone who attended the party! We had 19 people come to her party - it was great to see everyone and lots of fun!

Thank you to everyone who gave / sent a gift as well; mommy is in the process of documenting so that we remember what Julia received!

erin

A Birthday Party for Julia: Cake

Cake seems to be an important part of a child's first birthday party... and having seen another of first birthday party pictures, I wanted to be fully prepared for the onslaught.

We cloaked Julia's high chair with a towel, stripped her down, and after singing happy birthday and blowing out the candle, we gave Julia her cake.



Julia says, "Hmmm... no, I don't really want this."


"Daddy, I said, NO!"


"Okay... the frosting isn't so bad."


"Maybe I'll eat it if you stick Cheerios on top of it."


"Yup, tastes better."


"OOOH! A fork! Now THIS is the way to eat a cake!"


"

That's right, folks. She would not touch the cake unless it had Cheerios poked on top of it OR unless she had the fork. However, that is some slow eating when a baby has a fork.

The cake event was over soon after that; she was moved off to the side so that our guests could partake in cake balls, chips, dips, ice cream, and punch.

Cake balls:


After I took the cake away, I gave her a handful of Cheerios, and she was ALL OVER those!


(Note: The cake WAS enjoyed further by our little friend, Luke, who will be 2 in February. He was JUST tall enough to reach the cake on the table to which I had moved it, and next thing we knew, there was chocolate frosting all over his hands and face. Hee, hee.)

erin

Happy Birthday, Julia!

Julia is one (1) year old today!

Wow!

This date / time last year, I was being stitched up from my C-section and Julia has been whisked away to be attended to... she was born at 6:34 am.

Yesterday we joked that we should make a trip to Hy-vee and Theisen's around 5 pm to see what would happen. (Those are the last two stores I went to pre-baby - exciting stuff, I tell you!)

I didn't know how I would feel this morning when I woke up... well, for one, I was tired, because I got up to go work out at the gym at 4:45 am. But, beyond that, I guess it has not really hit me that my baby is one... I'm not really emotional about it... I mean, I love birthdays, so I am excited it is her birthday... but no tears, not yet.

Happy Birthday to my little girl...! It will be awesome and wonderful to see what the next year brings!

erin

A Birthday Party for Julia: Preview

Hi!

It is almost 9 pm, I need to head to bed, and I'm tired as all get out... but I wanted to write a quick post.

Today we had a birthday party for Julia from 3:30 - 5:00 pm. It was so much fun! She is turning one (1) tomorrow and I really wanted to have a party for her! So, yesterday I did the decorating and much of the prepwork (Adam was awesome help!), and today we had the party!

I will post more tomorrow regarding her party... but here's a preview:

1. The decorations -- simple, yet fun! Pink & Purple!


2. The (birthday girl) cake -- made by mommy!


3. The birthday girl -- cute as could be!


4. The presents -- so much fun!


I hope you all have a good night... I hope to be blogging more often and hopefully a lot more the next couple of days with regards to the party, more reflections, etc.

This time one year ago, I was in labor with Julia... and in for a LONG night!

Ciao... until tomorrow!

erin

Reflections: Part 1

I say 'Part 1' because I don't doubt I'll have a bit to say over the next few days.

It shouldn't be any surprise that on the verge of my first child's first birthday, I am reflecting a lot on the past year... but also reflecting a lot on my pregnancy with her, as fast approaching the annivesary of the day Julia was evicted from my womb.

It is hard not to think about what I was doing this day (or yesterday or the day before, etc.) last year... and I am truly looking on it with fond memories.

Last year, the 21st of November was a Wednesday; it was soon to be my last day of work until the new year. Who would have thought? My doctor had told me on Tuesday (the 20th) that he fully expected me to go into December with my pregnancy. And, I remember being okay with that... but at the same time, who doesn't want their pregnancy to be over and to be meeting their baby?

It is amazing to see how much has changed last year... in Julia growing from a very small baby to a one-year-old... in my own life and what I used to consider priorities "then" versus "now"... in my relationships with my husband, family, and friends... and in myself... who I am, who I was... who I want to be.

Anyway...

I didn't know how emotional I would get coming up to this date (Julia's 1st birthday is Monday). So far, so good. Truthfully, I'm quite excited for her party and cake and presents... I am looking forward to experiencing that with her. I'm excited to decorate the house tomorrow, bake and decorate her cake (hmm, better put that on my to do list - doh!), dress her in her party dress. I am excited!

So, what I did NOT expect was to bust out into tears while watching 'Juno' (movie) yesterday while the gal was giving birth to her baby. I furthermore didn't expect to continue wailing when the new 'mom' picked up her newborn for the first time... wow. I grabbed Julia and hugged her tight... I am so thankful for this blessing in my life!

Yesterday I took her for her one-year pictures as a local (but affordable) studio. They turned out wonderfully! While I was talking to the photographer (who gushed over Julia the whole time), I whipped out a picture of her we had taken when she was a mere 2 weeks old... and I was overwhelmed by the difference in her in the last 11 months or so... how much she has grown and developed. I grow more and more in love with her as each day passes.

And, I fall more and more in love with being a mom.

Bring on Number 2!

(Ha!)

erin