I can't believe this day is finally here. I have been thinking about it for months now-planning, shopping, preparing, and the day is finally here. Happy 1st Birthday, sweet Caden. You are one whole year old today.
This day has brought up many different emotions. We can't believe that our sweet boy is one year old already. We have been parents for one year! I gave birth one year ago! These thoughts have been racing through my mind and it all seems surreal. I never thought about how the parents felt on their child's birthday. We only think about the child and celebrating another year of life. But it is also a celebration for the family.
Dave and I have spent the last month recalling our every move-different places we were, pictures we took, Sounder's soccer games we went to and little did we know that our son would be arriving in just a few short weeks! Every time we see the TV show "Wipe Out", we think of me sitting on the yoga ball, eating salmon, mashed potatoes, and broccoli, drinking a strawberry milkshake and breathing through the contractions-all while "Wipe Out" was in the background trying to provide a few giggles between bites and contractions. Shortly after that, the really hard labor started, which seemed to last forever.All I could focus on was the fact that I desperately wanted to meet my son and hold him in my arms. He was our baby that we had fallen in love with before he was even conceived.
Thirty hours after this all started, we finally met our sweet son. He was the most beautiful boy we had ever seen. The emotion that overcame me was something I couldn't imagine. He was finally here. The boy we had cared for, sang to, talked to, dreamt of, was finally here and he was breathtaking; a true gift from God.
Today, as I watch Caden crawl all over the living room, pull himself up on the furniture, reach for a book and flash us a huge smile with those 6 teeth of his, I think back on a year, the best and toughest year of our lives. There was a day when I thought I had traded sleep for a son to love. He was four and a half weeks early, but has surely caught up to his peers! He is busy, inquisitive, silly, loving, curious and persistent. He loves his dog Sophie and both David and I. We are so excited to watch this little one grow and become the man that God has planned for him to be. This Journey will be exciting and we are so blessed to walk beside him. We love you very much, Caden.
At Caden's First Sounders Game on March 15.
At this point, I think we were still in shock! Labor was a piece of cake...or so I thought!
Watching Wipe Out and breathing through tough contractions! My hubby was amazing!
All that hard work paid off! It was love at first sight!
March 18, 2012
