The Voices Within Me

Today is the day- it is for real now. In just under 3 hours, my little girl will officially be one year old. Our little 8 lb 4 oz, 20 inch long baby is now almost a 20 lb 29 inch little girl. She still has a full head of hair, though it is much lighter and has lost most of the curl. I can't even believe the year has flown by so fast- one side my heart is sad b/c she is no longer a baby, but yet I am so excited to see all that is ahead for her.
A year ago at this time, I was getting ready to drop Micah off at Grandma's house, I was crying off and on but trying not to let it show. I didn't know how my heart would have room to love another child like I loved him and I felt guilty for having to leave him and turn his world upside down. I was scared, excited, nervous- all in one. I didn't know what to expect and didn't know if I had the energy needed to be a good Mommy to two.
The delivery was actually such a smooth process- I can't even believe the difference between the two. It was wonderful to have it all scheduled and know that by noon, I was going to be a Mommy again :) The c-section went smoothly and Ms. Addison was born as perfect as could be. We didn't have to deal with the fear of the unknown as we did with Micah and were able to have our little girl right with us as soon as I was in recovery. Those first hours were the most precious time to me.
I was so excited for Micah to come and meet his little sister- I had brought him a present and had him pick out something for her- I had a perfect little scenario in my mind- unfortunately it didn't play out that way. When Micah came to visit, he wanted nothing to do with me. He ran out of the room, wouldn't look at me or Addison. It broke my heart. I tried to hold back tears, but they came hard and strong. I felt as if I had already failed my first task of mothering two- and that hurt my heart more than anything.
Thankfully when he came back a day later, even though it took awhile for him to warm up, he finally did want to see Addie and even climbed up on the bed with me and snuggled just a bit. I knew then that things would be just fine and I was ready to go home and be with my family so we could all learn to adjust.

That was all one year ago- today you would never know there was a time when Micah didn't want to see Addie- they are almost inseperable. I absolutely LOVE how much they LOVE one another and I can't wait to see that grow in the years to come. Addie is a sweet (albeit ornery) little girl that just melts our heart with her sweet smile and mannerisms. We are all going to be in trouble as she gets older if she keeps up how she is going. Watch out world- she already has Daddy wrapped around her little finger ;)
Although not walking yet, she has no problem getting around. Whether it be pushing a toy and walking with that (and that is usually something other than her walking toy- lol) , crawling, or her bear walk- she has no trouble getting into whatever she desires. She loves to climb (esp. the stairs) and thinks it is funny to start to do something and stop and wait for someone to come say something to her. This always brings a fit of giggles and mischeivious twinkle to her eye.
In the past two weeks, she has really started to say quite a few words. Her favorites are, "all gone", "Tank u", "No" (said in the most sweet and unconvincing manner possible), "bad" (again- said so sweetly it takes all the sting out of the word), "Momma", "Dadda", "Love you" and mnay sound affects- such as blowing raspberries, imitating someone blowing their nose, and a car noise and she drives around Micah's cars.
Her favorite things to do include, watching litle einstein with micah (she just LOVES classical music), playing cars with Micah, being sang to by Micah, Dancing to music, playing with her kitchen, playing on her ride on toys, climbing on her chair and table, playing "peek a boo", climbing the stairs, and getting into everything possible. She definitely keeps us on our toes.

Since I have already written a novel, I will leave you with a few pictures :) Thanks for all being a part of our lives and helping us celebrate all her accomplishments this past year- we look forward to the many more that are to come.

THEN


















NOW