1 Year and Nostalgic or Hormonal, One of the Two

This weekend we will be celebrating Miss Lillian Grace's first birthday. It has been an amazing year - becoming a mother, raising this little person, hoping she survives despite my craziness. And, even though I have smothered her with love and kisses, tried to hold her every minute of the day, she has learned to eat, talk, crawl, play and very soon walk. She's growing up and certainly becoming an independent toddler.

I have found myself getting very nostalgic thinking about this time last year when we went to the hospital to bring this little person into the world. What a struggle that 24 hour labor was and how much I went through to get her in my and her dad's arms. And, I think about how my mom must feel the same way about me every birthday year. If only we had this insight about our mothers when we're 13, 14, 20.

I'm not sure how I did it. And, I'm certainly not special, millions of mothers make it through the first year just as I did. But, what an amazing sense of accomplishment I have. A smiley, happy, healthy little girl who loves to say "cheese". What more could a girl ask for?