IT'S FUN TO BE ONE !!

You spend 9 months in agony, body aches, nausea, swollen feet and several other discomforts that I will not share in mixed company, and at least in my case pleading with the doctor to "just get this kid out as soon as possible!"

Then after usually a long and painful day you are swept into what some call the "honeymoon phase" and you are holding your gift from GOD and thinking that life itself could get no better.
So... 24 hours later, the honeymoon is so over with, and you no longer want a "baby manual" that we all know they don't come with. No, you now want a uniersal baby remote control with a fast forward button, pause button, and a record button.

You find your self saying things like "I just wish she would sleep through the night", hence, fast forward to when they will. And when the baby wakes from her nap and you haven't yet made it through all of your "to dos" to get your self to the bathroom "If I only had 5 more minutes". So... pause button.

Obviously you can't pause and fast forward your self through child rearing, at least not until I can figure out how to make a remote that works. But all kidding aside, not really, you do eventually wake up one morning and your sweet baby girl is a one year old. And not just kind of one, oh no, one does not come gradually at all. You put them into their crib and tuck them in for the night as your delightful and charming 11 month old baby girl, but wake up to a whole different ball game.

I was so excited to get up that morning ready to dart up the stairs, scoop up my, remember... delightful and charming, baby girl. I had planned it all in my head to snuggle and squeeze her while I sang her her very first "Happy Birthday" song and covered her with 1st Birthday kisses.

Little did I know that Miss Addison Michele had some very different thoughts of her own and she decided that 5:45 am the morning of her very first birthday was the appropriate time to share them with me. As you can imagine, my darting up the stairs became more of a reluctant stagger and the scooping up, snuggling, and squeezing never had a chance. I walked in to the room and plucked the howling dramatic child out of her crib. You would think that after saving her life, which must have been what I had just done by the way the tears were falling and snot was flowing as I got to the room, that I would have been accommodated with at least a kiss and a hug from the victim. But, with no kisses and nothing close to a hug from the little monster and the show of her dramatic skills not coming to an end, it was so very clear to me.

She woke up ONE. VERY ONE. And she was going to let me know it.

So need I say that she wasn't having the "Happy Birthday" song at all at that point and it wasn't until 3 tries, a bottle of milk and a bowl of cereal and fruit later that I could get the whole song out with out interruption from the peanut gallery.

The rest of the day followed suit and left me longing for that fast forward button again. Addisons dramatic beginning and her desire to be instantly independent boiling down to a overwhelming need for Momma. And well, I got my wish....about 30 minutes before bed time, exhausted and drained from her all day dilemma, the little monster snuggled and squeezed me as I covered her in kisses and sang her her "Happy Birthday" song, over and over again. Soon she had melted in my arms and though I could have stayed in that moment forever (record button)... I scooped her up and carried my once again delightful and charming little baby up stairs and tucked her in for the night.

MY PARTY !!

Every one was there!

Momma, Dadda, Hailey, JonJon,

Grandma & Jeff

Grandpa Larry & Linda

Papa Roger & Linda

Auntie Em

Auntie April, Unca Eric & Bella

Aunt Maegan, Unca Spencer & Teagan

Aunt Amy & Unca Pete (baby Jenna still in belly).

Nana and Auntie Jen & Unca Jeremy & Tatiana came later to bring me gifts. I LIKE gifts!

We ate pizza for supper and then I got to open all of my gifts. I really do LIKE gifts!! The big kids helped me with the tricky ones and it was a lot of fun to rip up the paper and crumple it in my hands. I got some really cute cloths, a dolly named Rosie, a big barn with animals in it, and a big pink pony! I let all of the kids have a turn on the pony. Even Dadda liked it but I told him he was silly!

After I opened all the gifts and I got to play for a while it was time for cake. I didn't know at first what was going on, everyone was staring at me and then they all sang to me and lit my cake on fire! I don't know about all that but it sure tasted good. I took my time at first just to see if everybody would be patient.

They all were except Momma, she pushed my hand rightinto the center of my cake making a big mess! So I figured, oh well, I'm already dirty! It was fun and it tasted good. When I was done I got a bath in the sink and went back to playing with all my new gifts.

I LIKE gifts.... But I LOVE PARTIES!!!!!