Twas the night before.....

Madeline's 1st Birthday!

Madeline was a special gift to this world one year ago tomorrow.

No pictures tonight, just needed to jot this down. This day last year, I was at home getting ready for Madeline, my mom came to town and Ben, my mom and I headed to Herman's for our last meal before we brought our beautiful baby girl into this world. I was so excited at dinner I could not eat! The girls, Pucci and Lulu, went to the beauty shop to get ready for their sister's arrival. I can remember all the details about the night before and the day of her birth so vividly.

I remember setting our alarms for 3:45 am to get up in order to report to the hospital by 5:30 am. We were getting our camera and getting the FLIP video ready for the Big Day! I made sure the book "On The Night Your Were Born" book was packed for your first bedtime story.

It's amazing a year ago we were getting the cameras ready for Madeline's big debut and at this time, we have the cameras waiting to catch her first steps. 

This has been an emotional day for me and I have not cried since she turned one week old, but the tears are starting to flow down my cheeks right now. All day today I kept thinking tomorrow, I will be giving a nighttime bath to a one year old and tomorrow night I will be putting a one year old to sleep, etc.... I am so excited for her and look forward to celebrating her life in this world, but my baby is growing up. I also wonder if all of her birthdays will be this hard for me. Oh Lord, I know I will be in trouble when she begins elementary school.There are tons of parents that would love to celebrate their child's 1st birthday and do not have that opportunity so I am so, so, so thankful and blessed that we are able to celebrate Madeline's first year of life!

A year ago tonight was the last night of our old lives. People always ask me if we remember our days as a married couple with no children. Truly, I  do not. I have great memories and we were always going and doing, but our life with Madeline seems so right and I guess the life before was not complete. I know I have become a better person since she was born. Something about becoming a mother has allowed me to grow spiritually and emotionally and she makes me want to continue down this path. She has made me want to simplify my life and allowed me to slow down. I am always on the floor with her and the other day I was thinking to myself, man the floor is a great place to be, I've been missing out all these years. I will miss being on that floor with her once she is old enough to want more privacy and not want mom around all the time. Sometimes I do my own thing on the floor(try to read a book, fold clothes, etc) while she is playing, but I am close to her.

Well that is enough for tonight, I just wanted to set the stage for tomorrow!
As I type, my precious little Angel is asleep next to me and I think I am going to cuddle up to her and enjoy my last night cuddled with an 11 month old!

Sweet Dreams!!