Our Year....

SO as most of you know tomorrow (Dec 10) is my baby girl's first birthday... I know I know, its impossible but I have consulted many calendars and even some Mayans and it has actually been 365 days since I gave birth to the most beautiful, smartest baby girl ever!

Over the course of the year I have caught myself on more than a few occasions saying "wow! I really am a mom!" and then thinking yes, this time last year i was so uncomfortable because a human was growing inside me which still I don't believe! Anyway, this year has been one of the most amazing years in my life! I have watched this perfect little baby grow into a beautiful little girl... I have been amazed on a daily basis some days hourly! I remember the first time she smiled at me and the first laugh she shared- the first time she rolled over I remember thinking we had better baby proof now because she will be getting into things soon, little did I know it would months before she could really get to anything... I remember her not being able to really move around at all and we would strap her into everything and our parents would laugh because they knew she wasn't going anywhere but still we were scared! I remember when she started teething and didn't get a tooth until 7 months of teething had gone by (when I say teething i'm talking, red gums, flushed cheeks, drool city) so of course we had a few sleepless nights however our little angel was a natural sleeper we were getting a full nights sleep 7 hours when she was about 2 months old and getting 10 hours at night out of her by the time she was 4.5 months... for the most part she has been giving us 12 hours at night since she was about 6 months.... I know we've been blessed by the sleep fairy this time around which makes me a little apprehensive to go for a second kid...

When Nora first started saying mama and dada it made me excited at everything we get to teach her! She has added to her vocabulary and her personality is pretty feisty.... I can't think of anything she has done that hasn't amazed me! I have been so blessed to be there to see her crawl, pull up, take her first steps without holding on to anything and just take off walking (and then fall down-we are close to mastering it though).... watching her eat is even amazing... She calls my mom nana and has for some time but now when we offer her a banana she calls that a nana too lol.... She makes me laugh everyday.

She recently has found her best friend... It is an Alvin that sings a christmas song (from alvin and the chipmunks) it is so cute, she just holds him, rocks him, kisses and dances with him. Speaking of dancing, the girl is a natural born dancer! She loves all types of music as long as it has a good beat, she really likes hip-hop and rap thanks to her daddy! She will stop and dance to almost everything as soon as she hears it!

This year has been wonderful and tonight I have found myself thinking back on the year past and what I like to call the "last 48" leading up to our new life with our beautiful baby....

In the last 48 I was miserable.... I had been having contractions but not dilating for weeks at this point, I was over due and more than ready to get the show on the road! I had been basically sleeping in a reclining chair because it hurt so bad to sleep laying down, so I really wasn't sleeping at all.... I was up most of the night Saturday Dec 8, playing on pintrest, candy crush, the usual suspects. I had already packed our bags and they were in the car because we had already done a trip to the hospital for false labor... That night I tried to sleep which I failed at, and into the next morning we made sure dishes were done, the house was picked up and the baby stuff was ready for when we came home. I was supposed to go into the hospital to induce labor at 9pm Sunday Dec 9th... All day was a blur, we were way too excited to get going. We met my parents in Middletown (where the hospital was) at applebees for my last meal before having a baby... Since I only craved Applebee's spicy cheese and BBQ that is where we went! My parents got a room in town so they would be close by when the baby was ready...

I was so silly, I thought I would be induced at 9pm and have the baby by about noon the next day... WRONG! By about 10 am the next day nothing was happening,(I was having contractions, they were hurting but not dilating much) so they tried something different... Later that afternoon I was getting my epidural and they broke my water... That evening my epidural was wearing off and I my friends was still stuck at about 3.5-4cm(where I had been since before 10am).... by 7pm(Still stuck at 4cm) on the Dec 10th I was begging for a c-section which they ended up giving me! She was delivered at 9:16PM (Just over 24 hours) So finally me all doped up, barely seeing my baby (they wont let your hold the baby til you're all sewn back up) and only knowing the baby was a girl (we waited til she came to find out) I got to hold my baby at around 11pm on Dec 10th.....

I was so blessed to have family there... That night Nora Jane Steele got to meet her Aunts Courtney & Jessica, Nana & Papa Crabtree, Great Grandpa Jones, and Uncle Ryan! The very next day she seen even more family(Aunt Bree, Sissy and Pops) and the next few weeks she was meeting most of her family(Grandma Barbara and Auntie Erika got to fly in and then Cousin Ali)...She still has a few uncles to meet, a grandpa and a couple great grandparents that she hasn't met yet....

I am so excited to see where the rest of her life will take us.... I still wish time would stop and let me hold her a bit longer but I am just so very blessed to spend what time we do have, together....