Windy on a warm April day

The girl is officially one.

And by the looks of my blog you would think she is my only child. But I can't help it. She's the baby, and this whole birthday thing has taken on a life of its own. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the massive possibility that she is my last baby and this is the last one-year-old birthday party I will plan. Probably has something to do with that. So excuse me if pictures of the girl are all over the place and it doesn't seem like I have a life of my own at the moment. 

(Truth be told, she is my life----shhh.)

She is the only other human being I am with every single day, morning, noon, and night. It's been that way for an entire year now, so of course she's my life. And through every night of on-demand feedings, every diaper change, every road trip where she screamed for an hour straight, every smile she has ever blessed me with, I am still lucky enough to remember the day she was born like it happened this morning. 

Oh, but how time flies when an angel enters your life.

You go from this:

To this...

...in what seems like no time at all. The days get blurred and suddenly she is no longer able to stay in the middle of your bed for a minute while you grab the onesie you forgot on the dresser . She's crawling, all over the place, and then she starts to stand on her own, and that's when you realize that your baby, the one you got less than a year ago will soon be walking, and shortly after that, talking. Not the baby sort of talk, but REAL talking, like asking questions about the moon and how does a radio work? Then a lump fills your throat because you know that no matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to completely remember all the little details of this first year of knowing her, the ones that are still pretty clear right now, and that will break your heart a million times each time you remind yourself of that little flaw in your brain. 

But you'll get over it, because that's what mothers do. You'll accept the fact that nothing lasts forever, youth especially. You'll love your baby with every fiber of your being, because you love to, not because you have to, and you'll be so thankful that you're human and that's just how it goes.