My baby is ONE

One year ago, on January 22nd, I woke up to find that just two days after my due date I was in labor.  I had no idea what was going on, I was terrified and though we mostly had things ready for the hospital, we rushed around, found care for our pets and headed to OSU.

I never could have dreamed that the labor and delivery would be so crazy, that I would end up having a c-section at 4am on January 23rd, but all that mattered was that sweet baby girl was here and she was healthy.  We had three names picked out that we liked but decided to wait till we saw her to choose a name, and we chose Jeanette, after Andrew's very dear great aunt.  I had loved the name since we first heard it (also in the running were Eleanor and Amelia).  She was much bigger than I expected at 8lbs, 6oz and 21.5 inches long.

After four days in the hospital (it was more like 5 with the whole day of labor before she was born), we finally got to bring our baby girl home.  That's when life as parents really started.  We had alarms set to wake up and feed the baby, spent many nights rocking her and listening to her cry only to find out my nursing wasn't enough for her and I needed to supplement.  We had many visitors, people brought over meals and gifts and I spent my maternity leave trying to soak up every moment with my sweet girl.

The whole year has been a whirlwind and I've tried so hard to soak up each moment.  All of the milestones were so neat to watch, when she learned to roll over and then quickly figured out she could roll across a room, sitting up, standing, crawling and now she's nearly walking.  I remember thinking it wouldn't go by so fast, but it has and here I am on January 23rd with a ONE YEAR OLD!

To say that this little lady has stolen our hearts is an understatement.  She is so funny, sweet and cute.  Watching her personality develop has been amazing.  I love the sound of her laugh, the look she gets when she's frustrated, how her bottom lip sticks out when she cries, the sweet sounds she makes in the morning when she wakes up, her smile and the joy in her eyes when she sees my face.

Being a mom has changed me in ways I never imagined.  There is nothing more that I love now than a night at home, playing with Jeanette, giving her a bath and reading books and snuggling before bath time.

I've also come to terms with being a working mom and I find that I still enjoy both aspects of my life.  I love having my career and I love being a mom.  I think Andrew has also found that being a dad is amazing and Jeanette already has him wrapped around her little finger.  She gets a hug and kiss before me when he comes home now, but seeing the joy in her eyes when he walks through the door melts my heart enough that I don't even care!

We've been super lucky as first time parents to have a baby that sleeps through the night and has since she was about 4 months old.  She is sweet and friendly and doesn't really know a stranger, she's always smiling sweetly at people in the store and loves being the center of attention.

To my sweet girl - we love you so much baby Nette and you've brought joy, happiness and so many blessings into our life.  I can't wait to see how you grow and change over the next year!

Her one year appointment isn't until February 5th so I will post her stats then.