One year ago tonight...

It was one year ago tonight that I had checked into Seton Southwest hospital to be induced. I was 9 days overdue and could have kept waiting for our baby to arrive on his/her own. I really felt great and wanted to give him/her as much time as possible to get strong and healthy. But with there being NO signs of anything happening on its own anytime soon, I figured I might as well evict him/her! At that point we didn't know if the baby we would bring home would be wearing the pink outfit or the blue outfit that I had bought. It was very exciting that night knowing that we would be finding out the answer to that question VERY soon!!

Checking into the hospital I had NO idea just how wonderful my life was about to become. Sure, you can hear from other moms how great it is but you just can't possibly know until you have been there. It is a-mazing. Words really can't even describe it but us moms can all try. If I died tomorrow, I would be 100% fulfilled having been given the opportunity to be a wife and now a mom for the last year. With God and Will and Claire in my life, my heart is full.

I remember when Will and I left our house to head to the hospital, I was thinking the next time we walked through that front door, we'd be a FAMILY. The nursery we spent so much time making cozy for our little one was sitting there all ready to go. I remember the last shower I took, the last meal I ate, the last morning I slept in. The next time I did those things I'd be doing them under a new title: Mom. (Not to mention the fact that never again would I be able to do those things as I pleased. Sometimes being a Mom would take precedent over me doing those things at the time I might have wanted, or precendent over me doing them at all!)

I have so many feelings and memories running through my head tonight. I am sad that in 13 1/2 hours, my baby will be ONE. I am happy thinking how life with Claire has gotten better every day this last year so I know this next year will be even more fun! I feel blessed knowing we have made it through an entire year with a healthy, happy baby girl. I am grateful that God has chosen me to be Claire's mommy and I can't wait to watch her continue to grow into a sweet, beautiful little lady.

Here we are the night before we met our little Claire Ella. We were happy that night and could not have anticipated that we would be one hundred million times MORE happy the following day...

And finally, here is the last picture I took of my belly just 6 days before I was induced. (Sorry to all of you who get grossed out by these pics! I forgot to take a picture of myself in the hospital with my belly covered up - I've made a note to myself not to forget that with the next one if I can help it!)

Well, I am off to bed now. I am wondering if I will even sleep well tonight because it is going to be hard to turn my brain off from all these thoughts and feelings and emotions about Little's big birthday!