What a year...

What a year it has been. 365 days ago, Josh and I were setting off for a walk with the puppies. My stomach was beyond the point of "can't see your feet." But I was feeling okay. I'd been having mild contractions for a few hours, but being a first-timer, had no idea if it was the real deal. Little did I know, that less than 12 hours later I'd be holding my little love in my arms. What a year it has been.

It has gone so quickly. Yet, I feel like Heidi has always been a part of our lives. She has challenged me in so many ways. Two super-laidback, go-with-the-flow people, somehow got this feisty, stubborn, impatient (okay, she comes by that honestly) little girl. And I wouldn't trade her for all of the calm, quiet babies in the world. So many days I am exhausted from the attention that she craves, and then she looks at me and zooms in for a baby open-mouthed kiss, or slaps my leg, or cuddles in and I think that this baby is the perfect one for me. Lord knows there have been many posts in the past about terrible days we've had, and I'm sure there will be more in the future. But heaven help me if I'm not still head-over-heels in love with this little girl. If I wouldn't move Heaven and Earth for her. The last year has changed my life in so many ways, and all of them good. Every. Single. One.

And now, a timeline. How the heck did we get here?

We started here...



Spent many days here:


But so much more time here:




And then one day, we woke up here:



My tiny baby girl, who had to be bounced every night, who hated eating, who we thought would never crawl...turned into a toddler. She turned into a little girl who's crawling 90 miles an hour (across gravel no less). Who's babbling and shrieking. Still impatient and stubborn. But still so sweet and amazing.

And still with crazy crazy hair:



Happy birthday eve, Heidi Jean. Thanks for the best year of my life.