Dear Avery (birthday edition),

Dear Avery,

My birthday girl. One year ago today your Daddy and I were in the hospital waiting for you to join our family. We waited... and waited... and waited. You did not want to come out! Daddy took great care of me and helped me focus on happy things (having a baby hurts!) while Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, and Papa waited down the hall. It was a very long day, but finally at 11:48pm you arrived. When I heard your tiny little cry I thought it was the most beautiful sound in the whole world. They laid you on my chest and my heart melted. That was it. I was hooked. You were only a few seconds old, but I felt like I'd known you my entire life. Then the nurses took you to get you cleaned up and weighed. From my bed, I watched my husband become your daddy. He followed you around, taking pictures and video, and carefully watching every move those nurses made. It was easy to see that from the moment you took your first breath, he wanted to protect you. He wanted to take care of you. He fell head over heels in love with you. We both did. Everyone who meets you does. You are one captivating little lady.

The past year has been so much fun! For the most part, you have been a VERY easy baby. Everybody tells us how lucky we are. We are blessed, it's true. You are happy most of the time. You are very smiley and you laugh a lot. You have been a good eater from day one. You mastered nursing in a matter of minutes and when we started feeding you solid foods you gobbled down almost everything we put in front of you. You are not picky at all and everyone says your belly is a bottomless pit. You eat and eat and eat, but you are such a tiny little girl! I love your big appetite. You love Nellie the cat. In fact, she was your motivation for learning how to crawl. You loved to yank and pull on Nellie's fur. She liked to be around you (who doesn't?) but she didn't like being beat up, so she would lay just beyond the reach of your little hands. Well, soon you decided you'd had enough of that and you put all your might into scooting towards her. Eventually you took off crawling and poor Nellie's life was never the same. I hope some day you'll appreciate what a sweet and friendly cat you have for a pet. Most cats wouldn't put up with your crazy antics.

Other than crankiness due to teething or an occasional cold, the only difficulty you really gave us early on was your sleeping (or lack there of). For the first few months of your life you slept every night swaddled in your car seat. Eventually we got you to sleep in your crib, but not without several nights of stress and sleep deprivation. You woke a few times a night to eat which means I only got to sleep for a couple hours at a time. You didn't start sleeping through the night consistently until you were 8 months old. From what I'm told, you were a late bloomer in that regard. But I'm also told that I didn't sleep through the night until I was a couple years old so I guess what goes around comes around. Seriously though Avery, other than taking a couple years off my life due to exhaustion, you were an easy peasy baby girl. Everyone is constantly telling us how beautiful you are. People comment on your calm and peaceful demeanor and your sweet little voice. They say you look just like your Daddy and strangers at the grocery store will even stop to comment on your long gorgeous eyelashes. You are the cutest little girl in the world (even if you didn't win Regis and Kelly's beautiful baby photo contest. It was rigged, I swear).

Over the past couple of months as you've learned to walk and say a few words, your personality is really starting to shine. You are hilarious. You love attention. You can also be a bit of a stinker. I wrote you a separate letter about that a while ago. I think you listened, because you are getting a little better in some ways. You know what you want and you refuse to be deterred from your goal, whatever it happens to be at that moment. It's usually an electrical cord you aren't allowed to touch or a drawer you aren't supposed to open. You love to sit and look through your books. You love bath time. You love to tear apart magazines and coupons. This wasn't always the case, but lately you love to cuddle (oh my, how I'm enjoying that!). Your favorite toys are rather unconventional... a toilet paper roll, a cardboard box, cat toys, your dirty laundry, an old cell phone, a blank cd... I think you are going to have a great imagination. It's so fun to watch you play. You love Elmo. You call him, "Melmo".

Avery, you have taught us so much in the last year. Your Daddy and I realize that having you in our family has strengthened our marriage. It's made us better people. Your Dad has become more laid back. I have become more responsible. We've both learned about sacrifice and selflessness. We've wiped your tears, cleaned up your puke, changed hundreds of your diapers, and loved every minute of it. We've been on our knees praying, thanking God for the gift of YOU. We've prayed that someday you'll choose to know Jesus as your Savior. Our hearts literally explode with love for you. All this in just a year? I can't wait to see what the next year holds... how you'll change, how you'll grow, what you'll learn, what I'll learn. Thanks for going easy on me in this first year. I know you don't always understand everything that's going on around you these days, but I hope you can feel how much I love you. I hope you think I'm doing an okay job. I'm trying really hard. Happy Birthday sweet girl.