Birthday Week

It is a big week in the Baum household: birthday week for Miss Lillian Grace!  Her actual birthday is Thursday, and her party is on Saturday, so this week has been a busy one to say the least.  I did not want this party to be a big deal since she of course is not old enough to care, but somehow when it comes to me and planning "events," things always escalate into a bigger deal than I intended!  In my defense, I come by it honest - thanks, Mom (if only I could be as laid-back about things as she is, though!)! 

It is such a bittersweet week, too, for so many reasons.  On Monday of this week we cut out yet another feeding (read:  nursing), so we are down to once/day - at night, before bed time.  Lilly is taking the whole thing in stride and doesn't seem to be bothered in the least.  I, on the other hand, am having a pretty hard time doing away with the single most rewarding experience I've had to date.  I am so proud that we made it this long, and very excited about the prospect of having my body back after a year, but I am also devastated that my baby is no longer a baby, and I'm trying to figure out where the past year of my life has gone.  I know the point is to raise our babies to be strong and independent, but I would really love for time to slow down a little! 

I have spent the past few weeks reflecting on this past year.  For any of you who have been following Steph's blog for a while, you may remember when she blogged about the 365 days of photos.  Essentially, she took one photo of Hadley every day for her first year, and then at the end of the year she and Jon put together a 365 Days of Hadley slideshow of all of the photos they had taken and showed it at Hadley's first birthday party (they even added some videos, too!).  The slideshow was SO good - you should def take a few minutes to watch.  Anyway, when I read the original post, I thought it was such a cute idea. I knew there was no way I'd take a photo/day - I know myself - but I thought I could easily commit to at least once/week.  And I've been proud of myself for doing a good job of keeping up with monthly photos!  Long story short, I stole borrowed their idea have been working on a slideshow of Lilly's first year, and it has made me feel even more grateful and blessed (and tearful - I swear I can't work on it without crying every single time!).  It has been such a wonderful year, and our beautiful baby girl has grown and changed so much.  It's hard to believe that it's been a whole year since we were heading to the hospital.  Gosh, this post is all over the place. Can you tell I am an emotional wreck?!

I will be really surprised if I can get to the Christmas post I've been promising between now and Thursday, but I will try my hardest.  Between all of the crafting, cooking, cleaning, etc. happening at home in addition to a pretty full work week, I'll be surprised if I can find time to sleep between now and then!  I mainly just wanted to drop in and say that we're still alive, and I am still trying to find time to keep up with the blog!  More on my big girl's first birthday and festivities in the next week or four.

Because no post is complete without a picture, here's one of my favorites from a weekend trip to Pullen Park (thanks Katy for taking it!):

Until...next time/sometime in the near future!  :-)

Sarah