Happy 1st Birthday Princesa!

Happy First Birthday my beautiful girl! I can’t begin to describe how much you’ve changed my life. It seems as if you’ve always been with me, if only in my heart. You’re the perfect daughter for your daddy-o and me, and the greatest little sister to your big bro. I love having you in my life, sweet girl, and I hope you love being here just as much.

What a year it’s been! Here are the latest, greatest happenings in the life of the world’s newest one year old:

This little wild woman is standing alone quite a bit, and will “cruise” around anything she can pull up on. And, she took her first tiny steps alone last night! Woo hoo! There's no stopping her now! She has a fiery temper if she doesn’t get what she wants, but is also the sweetest little snuggle bunny. She loves to play peek-a-boo and make all kinds of silly noises with her mouth. She says dada pretty often, and will occasionally say mama, but it’s more like mamamamamama, but it counts in my book! She still loves to pull every book off the shelf and sit in the pile of them while she analyzes every page. She loves to play in bubba’s room, since that’s where all the fun boy toys are. She is as rough and tumble as her big brother, and often wrestles him (and mommy and daddy!) to the ground in a fit of giggles. She has one volume: LOUD! J Still no teeth, but just as before, it doesn’t stop this little eater from packing away the food! She moved up to the “creeper” room at daycare, and has amazing teachers who dote on her all day long. They love to fix her hair, and they say they are always excited to see what she’ll be wearing every day, especially the hair bows! It’s been so wonderful to watch her grow and progress these last six months (can you believe she’s been home for 6 months on the 29th of this month?!). She is truly a gift from God and I consider our family blessed beyond words to have her part of the fun.

Today, with all of the happiness and sheer joy I feel to have been chosen to raise such an amazing, beautiful, smart, and perfect baby girl, I know that my sweet baby’s birth mom is feeling something far less joyful. I pray that she can feel, across the miles, just how much her baby girl is loved and find peace and happiness in that. It’s bittersweet, really. I can’t begin to imagine what memories this day holds for her first mom. I think about her often, but especially today. I will be forever grateful to her for creating this amazing baby girl I call my daughter.

Feliz cumpleanos mi amor. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us this year!