Happy 1st Birthday, Peanut! :)

It's hard to believe that this time last year we were spending New Year's Eve in the hospital and had a little Peanut who was less than 12 hours old. At 11:07 AM in 2010, our lives were changed forever...and for the better. :) We were reminiscing this morning and kept saying, "This time last year..."

It started yesterday when we were remembering that when asked at my mom and sister's birthday party on Dec. 30 if I was ready to have this baby I responded, " Yes, I am...except I just need to vacuum first." :) And it was a true story. We had already put Christmas up, knowing that it would be out until April if we didn't take it down right after Christmas was over, and we had pine needles every where. Not to worry, I was able to vacuum and go out to a nice dinner to celebrate my mom and sister's birthdays before waking up on New Year's Eve morning at 6:30 to a rather sharp pain...followed by my water breaking...followed by a shower...followed by strong contractions...followed by a call to the on-call doctor who told me I should probably go ahead and come in because I told her it felt like my contractions were never stopping (um...'cause they weren't :))...we left for the hospital at 7:50, got there at 8:10, and by 8:20 we were being told that this baby was coming! (never mind that we hadn't told any of our family members that this thing was happening NOW!) After some pushing, an hour of just hanging out to "let him drop", and some more pushing, the Peanut made his appearance at 11:07! (Yup, it was that easy. ;)) The first thing I said when I saw him was, "Oh! He's SO cute!" (and he was!) :)

The next hour we just hung out as a family and then P got to meet his Grandma Judy, Grammy Share, and Gpa Ron, Aunt KiKi, and Aunt Debby while we were still in the delivery room. On our move to the recovery room we came across J's dad (who had a cold :() and my Grandma Claire in the hallway. We dropped the Peanut off in the nursery to get cleaned up, and we continued on to the recovery room. At 1:31 PM, we posted on Facebook that all was well...and all of 10 minutes later I was being rushed to the labor and delivery operating room. Needless to say, things didn't go quite as planned, but thankfully, everything turned out okay - we just all got a little scare...but even that little scare couldn't overshadow the joy that we all felt upon Peanut's arrival into the world.

There aren't words to describe how our lives have changed - and changed for the better. We can't imagine life without our Peanut (although we're sure that it would include more sleep. :)) His smile, his giggle, the funny sounds that he makes, his little extroverted personality that loves to work a crowd, his love of books, and grooving, and clapping, and cheerios...his baby blue eyes, his crazy white blonde hair that sticks up no matter how much water you put on it, his chubby cheeks, and chunky rolls, and sweet, soft, perfectly round little belly...his inquisitive mind, his obsession with opening and closing doors and drawers, and how he'll give you a smooch (if he's in the mood)...his love of the outdoors, and cheese, his dad, and the cats...his squeals, and "a-gee-gee-gees" and "uh-huhs," and how he likes to spin his pacifier like a top...how you can calm him down in all circumstances by singing him a song, how he feels when you hold him in your arms, and how he can melt our hearts with one look. The list could go on an on, but the joy that this little Peanut has brought us can't be captured in words.

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet boy! You are such an incredible blessing in our lives. We love you so much and can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Love,
Mom (A-Gee-Gee-Gee) and Dad

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1 year old!