First Birthday Party

Mia actually had two birthday parties. They were both on Saturday. We drove up to Heavener so that our families could be with us to celebrate. Mia's first party was at Nanny and Papa's house. There were lots of family and friends there. I knew that Mia wouldn't remember any of it, but I decorated just the same. It was a pink explosion! I tried not to go overboard, but I just had to put up the wall decorations, banner, centerpieces, etc. Mia had a Winnie the Pooh cake. We also had ice cream as well as chips and dips and other snacks. It was so adorable to watch her with her own little cake that the bakery threw in for free. She was a little hesitant as to what exactly it was for. She got the hang of dipping her fingers in and flinging icing over her shoulder onto the wall and on one of Nanny's plants. Mia doesn't especially like sugar yet, so I opted for yellow cake with whipped icing. It's not as sweet as traditional icing, and I must admit that I prefer it. Mia liked it, too. By the time she was done, she had icing in her hair, eyebrows, in her ears, up her nose,...I'm glad I stripped her down to her diaper first. She even gave me a bite! She got lots of cute clothes and toys, also. For Mia's second party, we went out to dinner that night. Nana and Keith were there as well as several other family members. We had a good meal, another yummy cake, and gifts. I think it's safe to say that she has a favorite birthday present. She loves all of them, but there is one that makes her squeal with delight each time she crawls in her room and sees it. That would be her Elmo chair that Uncle Darvey got her. I'm not sure if she recognizes Elmo from daycare or if she likes the color red or what. All I know is that she LOVES that chair. She doesn't even usually sit in it, yet. She likes to get down on her knees in front of it and giggle or give it a kiss. I'm so glad that we got to celebrate her first birthday with so many people we love! Thank you everyone for making it so special!

Mia's little cake before...
Mia all nice and clean before...
Amelia, this is what we call cake...
Offering Momma her fingers to lick.
Mia's little cake after...
Mia covered in icing after...
Getting some help unwrapping presents from Shayna.

Birthday Girl

Amelia Korynn is one year old today! What a fast year. All day, I've been thinking, "What was I doing at this exact time one year ago?" This morning, I was thinking about when we first got to the hospital. I had an awesome corner room that overlooked the Dallas skyline and the Trinity River. I couldn't have picked a room with a better view. As the first hours ticked by, I thought, "This isn't so bad. Piece of cake!" Wesley was there with me. My friend Jill and her boyfriend Greg were there also. As the day went on, Mom, Preston, Carol Ann, Marcus, Dad, and Bev all arrived. My memory gets a little hazy after about twelve hours in when they gave me the pitocin. Holy cow! No, no, no! I associate pitocin with the onset of back labor, so I don't want that again if possible. If anyone would like a graphic description of what it feels like to have your spine ripped out, I got ya covered. It's about 9:3o this evening, and at this point I was pushing. I don't really remember what I said to most anyone else, but I remember talking to the baby in my belly. I kept thinking, "Come on baby girl, we can do this!" At one point, the epidural ran out. Generally, they just let the medicine run out and you keep pushing so that you can feel how to do it. My back labor was severe enough that the doctor had to have the anesthesiologist hook up another pack of medicine for the epidural. One of the nurses commented that she had never seen back labor like that. Sheesh. Back labor sucks, and don't let anyone tell ya different! The doctor told me that she usually lets moms push for two hours. If there isn't sufficient progress at that time, she would want to do a C-section. No! I knew that if I went into the OR too late at night, Mia wouldn't be born on my brother Tyler's birthday. I figured that if Mia broke my water a week early on his birthday, then she must want to have a birthday buddy. The doctor allowed me to keep going, and I did it! 21.5 hours after the water broke (including three hours of pushing) and with the help of "the vacuum", my beautiful girl made her debut into the world at 11:39pm. Whew! It was hard work, but the result is so worth it!

I took Mia for her one year checkup with Dr. Curry today. All of her measurements are good. She was 21 lb. 8 oz. and 29 1/2" long. She's right at 50% for both measurements. Dr. Curry checked her all over and asked a few questions. He was pleased with her progress, and said she is doing great! We go back for the next checkup at 15 months.

Amelia on the day we brought her home from the hospital.
Amelia at 1 year old (52 weeks)

Reflections...

Mia's birthday is a week from tomorrow. I've been thinking about how much she has changed in the last year. I've never considered myself a sap before becoming a mom. I scoffed at people who cried at movies and was able to see the practical side of any depressing situation. Now...oh boy...just give me a box of tissues and leave me alone. I knew that mothers are normally classified as "worrywarts" if you will, but I'd never thought about the fear that drives them. I worry about Mia all of the time. Is she healthy? Am I feeding her a well-rounded diet? What's that bruise from? And the list goes on and on. I try to tone down my fears and just enjoy spending time with her. I know she's happy. I know she's healthy. Wesley keeps me balanced. Just the other day, he told me that I'm a great mom. Wow. I don't know if he realized what that meant to me. He's a pretty awesome dad, too. His heart seems to swell as big as his smile when he gets home and sees Mia.

When I think of my favorite physical characteristics of Mia, four main things spring to mind. She's the most beautiful baby, so I won't list all of her body parts one by one, but the first thing is her smile. It's so full of unrestrained joy. I hope as she gets older, she retains the ability to be that happy. Her blue eyes are the feature that it seems everyone comments on. Her baby blues are so pretty. I see my dad in those eyes. His are blue, too. Also, belly buttons have taken on a whole new meaning since I've had Mia. I think only a mom could fully understand what I mean by that. When I see her's, I feel a strong, almost palpable, connection to her. We are inextricably linked forever. The other thing I think of is not something most people would notice. Mia has only one freckle on her body so far, and it's on her left pinky finger. It's just a little smaller than a kiwi seed. Laugh if you want, but it's cute!

Mia at 11 1/2 months old (51 weeks)

Walking Tall

The biggest news around here lately is that Mia can now take 3 or 4 (or sometimes 5) steps by herself. She's so proud of herself when she does it and giggles as she walks. It's adorable! She's become more comfortable holding onto someone and walking, and she zips along the furniture like it's no big deal. I tried to get some video of her doing it this evening, but I'll have to wait until Wesley is here to help me. Most of what I taped was her unfolding clean washcloths and throwing them in the floor one by one.

I've been trying to get Mia on more finger foods and less of the pureed food. That's harder than I thought. It's so easy to just bake a butternut squash, puree, and freeze. Voila! Several servings right at hand in the freezer. Each time she moves on to another stage of eating, it's an adjustment for all of us. That's because each time it's a new process that we aren't familiar with. We'll figure it out, and I'll continue to do what's needed to keep it healthy. She's never had jarred baby food yet, and I figure it's too late to mess with that stuff now. She likes the real deal. I highly doubt she would even eat the jarred food. Last week we started her on zucchini and then cantalope. She loved them both, so there's some finger food right there. I was excited this week to give her some scrambled eggs so that she'll have some protein in her diet, but...she was less than impressed with the eggs. That's okay. We'll try again in a few days. Next will be black-eyed peas. I've never prepared them on the stove before, just open a can and microwave. I avoid canned food for Mia because of the sodium content, so I bought a bag of dried black-eyed peas to make. We'll see...

Big changes coming with her birthday approaching in a week and a half. We have to do more baby-proofing around the house. This weekend we're going to look at new carseats. Formula will be on its way out to make way for delicious whole milk! So many changes in so little time. I still love every moment with her. I know Wesley feels the same. She brings such joy to our lives! (Sigh) I love my little family.

Mia at 11 1/2 months old (50 weeks)
Why is she always sticking her tongue out at me and laughing?
We may have a Miss Sassy Pants on our hands!

Mia with Her Princess Rider

Taking a Stroll

Nana and Keith came to visit Mia this weekend. We had a great time! We had dinner at Vitto's in Bishop Arts. It's an Italian restaurant that Wesley and I have been wanting to try. I don't know about everybody else, but I loved it! I rate Italian restaurants by their fettuccine alfredo, and Vitto's aced it. Next time, we're going to try their pizza. We had lots of fun playing Chicken Foot dominoes and Scattergories, too. Nana and Keith brought Christmas gifts since we didn't get to see them last weekend. We had all been talking about renting a cabin somewhere this summer for a vacation. Their gift to Wesley and I was that they are going to pay for the cabin. It will be so much fun...Mia will be walking, we'll get to swim and do stuff outside...I can't wait! Mia got some cute clothes, and her big present was a Disney princess riding toy. Now, she has two riding toys, but they are totally different. She loves both of them. She was playing with her princess rider today. Instead of sitting on it to ride, she was standing up and trying to push the steering wheel. I turned it around so that she could hold onto the backrest because that part is taller. As soon as she got ahold of it, she took off! She was holding onto it and walking so fast that I could hardly keep up with her. I brought her into the living room to show Wesley. We were both laughing so hard that Mia kept ramming the rider into furniture before we could stop her. You'd think someone had lit a fire under her. I'm hoping that pushing the rider will show her that she can walk on her own. So far, she's been too nervous to let go of the furniture as she walks along beside it.

Mia at 11 months old (49 weeks)
Daddy and Keith putting together the princess rider.
Nana and Mia are supervising.
Mia with her princess rider.