My littlest, Eden Keziah, you just turned 1! Here is a picture of you and I just a minute after you were born, and a picture of us a year later. What a year we've had!
You came into this world just two weeks after we uprooted our lives and moved thousands of miles away from everything familiar to us and the people we love, to start a life in Waco, TX. You came while we were still high off of the exhilaration of moving to a new place and exploring and seeing everything through rose colored glasses, but over the last 12 months, the glasses came off, we suffered much loneliness and isolation, melancholy during holidays, and intense homesickness for friends, family, mountains, church, and familiarity. But you...you've been this bright spot for the rest of us five in the family! We could only feel a little sorry for ourselves because there was no time for wallowing...we were too enamored with "our baby" (as your sisters call you), watching you as you made your first cooing noises, learned to roll over, laugh, sit up, eat solid food, crawl, and now walk. You must've decided it would be cute to learn to walk the week of your first birthday, and you are pretty proud of yourself!
You have brought this family so much joy! Each baby has been a joy of course, but there is something about watching your older siblings find joy in their baby sister, and it's so fun for us to watch as parents. To see one of our girls having a crummy afternoon for one reason or another, but then you wake up from your nap, and that girl's eyes light up and she forgets all her troubles as she races down the hall to be the first to scoop you out of your crib and snuggle you...well, it's priceless.
You had a rough start...6 hours stuck but ready to come out and greet the world, then a tough time learning to nurse (darn the tongue tie!!), and then a terrible UTI that put you in the hospital for five days when you were a tiny little five week old. You stayed small (off the charts small) for so long, but we knew you were healthy and fine, and you were! You weighed in at your one-year appointment this week at 18 pounds, which puts you in the 10th percentile. You've earned the nickname "Peanut" from your Papa, and you may be small, but your personality is anything but! You're a hoot! You've got a big, happy personality and you know how to brighten anyone's day, from one of us to a perfect stranger at the grocery store.
I have to admit, I had an emotional day on your birthday. I don't know if you're my last, only God knows for sure, but in my mind, I'm pretty sure you're my last baby, and so every birthday might make me emotional, as my littlest grows older and older. But it's exciting to watch you grow, none the less. I pray that God blesses this second year of your life, that you continue to grow healthy and strong, and that you keep your happy, spunky personality, bringing much joy to those around you.
Words cannot express how much I love you! You're one of my blessings, and I thank God for you every single day! Happy Birthday sweet girl!
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