Joy in the Journey: The Big 1

365 days. 52 weeks. 12 months. 1 year. I can't believe that Ava's first birthday is here already. Everyone says that it goes by so quickly, and they were so right.

9/9/2010

9/9/2011

This birthday was so much more emotional for me than I ever imagined. My baby is now a toddler, running around the house, saying her first words, and sometimes showing her little attitude. I just can't believe that she has grown and learned so much in this last year. All of these emotions came not only from realizing how big she is getting, how much she has changed, and how she is going to be 16 in the blink of an eye, but also from remembering what we have been through and thanking God for what a blessing she is in our lives.

She has gone from being completely dependent on me for everything, to exploring everything around her. The cashier at the store said it best today, "She has very busy hands and feet, doesn't she?" Yes, yes she does.

Practicing climbing the stairs, while showing off her new shoes and socks.

She is learning so much and is constantly taking in everything around her. She has been like this since the hour she was born. Usually when a baby is born they have a very awake period for an hour after birth, then they sleep most of the time for the next 2 weeks or so. Not Ava. After she was born she was wide awake, with her big blue eyes looking around at everything, taking everything in, for hours after she was born. I never had to wake her to feed, as she was like an alarm clock - she would wake up from between 2 hours 54 minutes to 3 hours 7 minutes after her last feeding, ready to go. When she was awake she would look around, like she was trying to figure out what everything was that surrounded her. She loved to be held and talked to, and she hated to sleep unless she was in someone's arms. Now, at a year of age she is finally falling asleep on her own, taking naps that are over an hour long, and sleeping through the night (well, I consider waking at 5 am to eat and going right back to sleep through the night). She still loves to cuddle, and often stops to give Josh and I hugs when she plays. This morning when I went to get her from her crib, she looked up at me with those big blue eyes, stretched out her arms and said "Mama." Oh, that girl knows how to melt my heart.

Miss Sassy-pants herself, dancing in the kitchen while dad sings "Happy Birthday."

I think the part that really overwhelmed me today was thinking back on how I prayed for her, that I asked God every day for so long to bless us with a child. I knew He had a plan for us, although I couldn't see it and I often wondered what that plan was actually going to be. To see His plan fulfilled, this beautiful, perfect little girl that He has entrusted us with - it is so much better than I could have imagined. When I look at her I see how very much God loves me, and it overwhelms me.
Life is so different now than it was a year ago. Wonderful, amazing, and always an adventure, but not always perfect and sometimes just plain tough. But we survived, and I have so many amazing and beautiful memories (and hundreds of photos!) to prove it.