Seven come ELEVEN, it's a winner!

We are four days shy of Presley's first birthday! Say it ain't so!  I felt like the months of my pregnancy had gone by extremely fast, I only had the best gift waiting for my at the end of April.  However, this first year with Presley has escaped me.  I wonder if I really took it all in?  Will I forget some of the most precious moments I have had with her?

I remember going to the hospital on Wednesday night around 8:45 and having to wait...wait?  I've been doing that for nine months!  I was thrilled to get this show on the road and I am not lying when I say I was excited to experience labor.  It was not all I thought it would be (the needle poked in my back three times I could have done without), but it was wonderful nonetheless and I was blessed to be able birth my healthy perfect daughter.  On the other hand I think Todd has been shaking in his boots since the night we went to the hospital.

It has been a learning curve for us both, but we have got this down.  She wants me in the mornings to sing and dance with her and daddy in the middle of the night (wink wink) to snuggle and bury down deep into his chest.  I know that she feels she is safe and protected in his arms and I hope that she always knows she will be.  A binky in the mouth does not make you a bad momma, it makes you compassionate enough to know when she has had enough and needs to soothe.  Safety 1st products only attract the baby to the unsafe place in your house, they would never now the edge of the credenza was sharp if you didn't plaster foam all around it.  The best toys are the ones in the kitchen drawer.  Grandparents are the best babysitter/nurse/playmates.  No amount of sanitizer and wipes will keep your baby from catching a virus, that's what insurance is for.  No matter how much of a fool you may feel like, she loves when you preform.  If your gut was a real person it would be a publisher, editor-in-chief, and be an MD, because the books, magazines and doctors don't know squat when it comes to "your" baby.  You'll loose the weight when you loose the weight.  No drop, pill, or DVD is going to make it come off; except your "new self." 

Yes, this year was a learning experience.  Todd and I never realized that our patience would be tested to all outer limits, that sleep deprivation actually gives you some crazy energy, that middle of the night cries mean big trouble with a baby that has slept through the night since two months (don't grumble we set out to have that baby sleep trained as soon as possible), that a dog was meant to mop the floor of a self-feeding infant, that bedtime routine is something to rock-paper-scissors for, and learning that your heart can double in capacity.  It takes a lot of love to get through the first year.  Love for your family, love for your baby, and love for your spouse.  There is not another man or lil' girl that I would rather love than these two.

Presley Ann, as your first birthday quickly approaches take it easy on momma and daddy.  Slow down just a little bit so that we can remember all the wonderful things you are today, let me look at you a little bit longer with avocado all over your face and banana in your hair, let me brush your golden strands of hair just one more time, and let me tell you for the 101th time today that you are my precious baby and I love you the most.