On the eve of the Birthday...

Last year at this time, I was nervous and anxious...really a whole bag of mixed emotions as I was about to become a mom. I was going to be in charge of a little person...and making sure that all of his needs were met. I wondered what life would be like with a baby and now I have a hard time remembering what life was like before Brayden...before I was a mom.

One year later, as I write this, my eyes are filled with tears. Not tears of sadness of course...but tears of bittersweet joy. The last year of my life has been AMAZING! We have watched Brayden grow so much....and I am sad that my baby is no longer truly a little baby....but a growing toddler which is exciting to witness.

In the beginning, when we brought Brayden home, life of course was so hard. The lack of sleep and experience, made parenting the hardest job that we had ever done. However, the most rewarding job too. And just when we thought, when will this get easier...it did (for now at least---I know that hard and easies come in spurts!!!). Brayden starting sleeping through the night, cooing and smiling. And that first time I saw his little smile...it warmed my heart. As the days passed, he continued doing even more---making each day more exciting than the last. Everyone told me, enjoy every second, it goes by so fast....and when he was wailing in his crib and getting up every 2 hours---I thought to myself---this is not going by fast enough. But...now as I look back at those days, they are a haze---and I cannot believe that a whole year has gone by.

Now every morning, we wake up to a little boy...that claps when we go to get him out of his crib--seriously---how could that not make you feel like the most special person in the world? And when I drop him off in the morning, he waves good bye and gives one more smile. Brayden seriously does brighten every day with his beaming smile and radiant blue eyes. We have listened to his cries turn into laughs and his noises turn into some-what words of mama and dada. We have watched him learn to roll over, crawl and now cruise the furniture...and all have been awesome. We have watched his personality develop over time---and he still remains the happiest little boy--who of course is strong willed and determined at times...but pretty easy going too. We have watched him go from barely drinking 2oz of formula to chugging milk while eating a 3 course meal. Brayden is more and more fun each day---and that is the joy of watching him age. But of course, I will never forget that moment, when I first got to hold him in my arms and look at his precious face---and I know that I will always get a little teary eye with each passing year. So Happy Birthday Baby!!! We LOVE you more and more each day!!!!