Dear Amelia,

You are officially one year old; a toddler. My little munchkin is growing up. I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. I held you for the first time and just stared at the precious gift God had given me. The gift I’d waited all my life for. I couldn’t believe it had finally been given to me. A child. A daughter. I can’t believe it’s already been a year since you came into our lives. I sometimes wonder how I lived my life before you and can’t remember, you are so much a part of what makes me who I am today. I am a mother to a precious little girl.

You’ve changed so much from that tiny little baby I kissed in the delivery room. You looked so cute and pink and had the most adorable little face. Everyone was instantly smitten. I remember the days when I thought you’d never roll over. What was I thinking. Now you are constantly on the move. I remember the days when you were learning to crawl and would only go backwards. I would laugh at your silliness. Now you walk everywhere. I remember when it would take you an hour to drink 4oz of milk. Now you are finished with your whole meal (food and milk) in about 15 minutes. I remember the days when we would put you in the swing and you would look around contentedly while daddy and I played video games. Now you run around the living room playing with your own toys. I remember when you first laughed. Now you babble, screech, giggle and talk as if I could understand it all. I remember all those late night feedings when I’d be giving you a bottle and falling asleep. Now you sleep all night long (thankfully) and sometimes I have to go in and make sure you are okay. You are such a sweetheart. You love resting your head on our laps when you are tired.

You are growing up to be such a beautiful little girl. We get stopped in the store by strangers who find you so adorable they just have to tell me. I already know you are the most adorable little girl. But then I’m your mommy and of course I think so. But everyone else does.

When I smile at you, you smile back. Sometimes I wish I could hold you forever. Sometimes I wish you’d just take a nap and let me rest for just a bit. But never do I wish you weren’t a part of my life. The thought of not having you in my life suffocates me. I look forward to all the years ahead of watching you grow up from the sweet little baby I gave birth to one year ago to the wonderful woman you will one day become.

Happy 1st Birthday, Amelia

Love, Mommy

We drove to Florida last weekend (not yesterday weekend) and celebrated Amelia’s birthday at my mom’s house with tons of family. We grilled out and had lots of good food. I saw family I hadn’t seen in a while. It was a nice day I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Poor thing was not feeling good because of the medication she was on. So she was sort of crabby. Then, to our disappointment, the cake we got had marshmallow icing so it was horribly sticky. Not too fun to smash at a birthday party, so Amelia only got a few swipes at it and then started crying. She didn’t like being all sticky. She loved her toys. She kissed her new dolly and danced with her alphabet pal.

All in all it was a good party and it was nice that some family finally got to “meet” Amelia. But the drive was way too long and it was a challenge keeping her entertained and distracted so she wouldn’t cry and fuss too much.

More pictures can be found on the flickr set: 1st Birthday Party

Amelia will be ONE on Wednesday. She’s not one yet. And still we received our first plea from the school. We’ve been asked to do a fundraiser!! For the daycare! How nuts is that?!
We’ve been asked to sell cookie dough and cheesecake for our daughter’s daycare and she’s not even one year old yet. It’s absurd. Of course I’ll buy the obligatory package of cookie dough. I’ve even informed my office that she’s selling, in case they want some, so I’m doing my part, but I think it’s just crazy.

One day I happened to come across Parent Product Reviews and saw a post for free diapers. The mommy reviews products and gives away free stuff. She was giving away a 2 month supply of Luvs in size 3, so I thought what the heck, I’ll enter.

Sure enough I won!! a 2 month supply of Luvs diapers in the size Amelia is currently wearing!

A few days ago, I arrived home to see 6 big boxes on my doorstep. Diapers! Each of the 6 boxes contains 4 packs of Luvs. Each pack has 40 diapers. Do the math! That’s 960 diapers!! Holy crap. 2 months supply it is not. My husband figured that if we use on average 8-10 diapers a day, this will last us 3-4 months! Plus I had just bought an 84 pack of Huggies the night before because we were out.

So we now don’t have to worry about diapers for several months. That’s assuming she won’t outgrow size 3. But with her little tushy, I don’t think it’s likely. We definitely have oodles and oodles of diapers now.