My sweet Hannah Elizabeth is ONE today.
I am always emotional when my babies turn one, because one is a BIG DEAL. Those first 12 months are a big deal for the babies because they go from a little lump of helpless flesh, to, in our case, a 20 lb ball of nonstop movement, curiosity, and personality. It is incredible to watch all that change happen before your eyes in a quick 365 days. That first year in a baby's life is also a really big deal for the parents, because WE DID IT...alright, mostly I did it, but my husband had to be married to me while I lived through all that those first 12 months take out of a mother. The first twelve months are suuuuuuuper challenging (more on that in the next post)...but the first year is also absolutely positively wonderful.
Despite the challenges and adjustments, I ADORE the first year, and I love the baby stage. Sure it takes a while to get them sleeping properly, sure they need you for everything, sure they are messy and can be fussy, and life with a baby is high-maintenance, but to me, babies are a little bit magical. When my children are babies the mystery and preciousness of them makes me feel connected to their maker, and mine. To me, babies seem to still have a foot in heaven, like they are holding on to that place they came from for a little while longer...it is nice to be near that. The snuggles, the kisses, the comforting, the giggles, the innocence, the purity...loving a baby is a taste of what love can be and should be when it is without agenda and full of thankfulness and joy. Loving my babies reminds me of how much I am loved by the one who gave me life.
Here are a few tidbits about my baby girl on her first birthday. Miss Hannah is smiley and happy, just about all of the time. Church nursery workers and babysitters have nick-named her "Happy Hannah", and describe her as "a little ray of sunshine" and "pure joy." She loves to wave at everyone and her latest thing is to make kissing sounds, sometimes throughout the entire day. Hannah is flexible (because she has to be) and tolerates a lot of love from her sisters, mostly her biggest sister who believes that Hannah is her very own real-life doll. Hannah-banana, or Hanny as Abby calls her, is independent, active, tough, funny, smart (of course she is), and patient.
It is hard to imagine that the first time I learned about Hannah I cried. I cried because she was a surprise, not unwanted AT ALL, just earlier than this planner had planned for. Oh THANK GOD for my early Hannah! She has thrown me off since I learned she was growing inside me and through my imbalance I have been stretched and grown in deeper and wider ways than I thought possible. I am exhausted after year one with three children, but what a gift that it is my blessings that exhaust me and not something else.
Happy birthday little girl.
You complete our family and you make us all so incredibly happy.
