one year.

i've been thinking about what to say in this post for weeks now. yes, i'm one of those moms. i won't go into details about addi's actual birth day. if you want that, you can visit here. but i'm pretty sure that every mom feels the same way that i do, now that this milestone has finally happened - how is it possible for my little, tiny baby that i gave birth to what seems like yesterday, to be a year old? an entire year. 52 weeks. 365 days. 8,760 hours. 525,600 minutes. 31,536,000 seconds. i'm interested to know how many of those seconds, minutes, and hours were spent awake, trying to get the little bean to go to sleep, when i myself should be sleeping. i also wonder how many of those seconds, minutes, and hours have been spent giggling together, taking pictures to document just about everything, and simply staring in amazement that i have a child. all moms feel like this, right? the thing is, i've only ever heard about moms feeling like this. this is the first time i've ever felt like this myself.

i've had more than a handful of people tease me for how many pictures i'll probably take of adelaide and not of my future children. when thinking about why this is, i came to the conclusion that never in my life have i seen a person grow up right before my eyes like this. sure, i've seen nieces, nephews, cousins, friends' babies, etc. grow up, but only in an 'i see you every other week' kind of thing. it really is the most amazing thing ever to see a baby go from a tiny, helpless thing like this:

to this little bundle of joy:

it may have been a year, but i still have to stop myself sometimes and let it hit me all over again - the fact that i'm a mom.

i think if i said that this has been the best year ever, i would probably be lying to myself and to all of you. has this year brought some of the best moments ever? definitely. but, there were also, some not so good ones that i try really hard not to think about. my patience has been tested time and time again. i have felt more insecure and inadequate than i did as a 14 year old girl. and i lost more sleep than i'd like to even know. but, as cliche as it is, nothing has been more rewarding than getting to be a mom to this sweet girl.

here are some fun facts about my little one year old lady:

-she's turning into a little sassafras. she does this thing, that we affectionately call 'when babies attack' where she starts grabbing and pinching at the closest thing to her when she doesn't get her way. it's pure joy. #not
-she learned to go down the stairs on her own last week! i can't even tell you how much stress this has relieved. she would only do it if you put her halfway up the stairs for a while, but today, i set her at the top and she immediately turned around and went down every single step. booyah!
-she loves playing with the faucet in the kitchen sink. i'm tired of all the dirty clothes that come simply from just feeding her, so i've been stripping her down to her diaper lately and then spraying her off in the sink when i'm done and i think it's one of her favorite activities of the day. she loves it! {if you couldn't tell.}

{i promise i put clothes on my kid sometimes.}

-she has 5 teeth...i think. i haven't checked in a while. i don't want to jinx myself or anything, but we have had a pretty good run with teething. i'd heard horror stories before i had a baby and then when addi's first tooth came through is when she started taking longer than 40 minute naps, so i was in heaven! her second tooth was kind of a struggle, but since then, we haven't really noticed a difference when she's teething. i'll consider it a huge blessing!

-speaking of teeth, this girl loves to brush her teeth. she'll do anything she can to get to her toothbrush when she sees it and when i start to put toothpaste on it, she squeals. when i actually brush her teeth {and by brush, i mean try to wiggle it around when she doesn't have her teeth chomped down on it}, she laughs the entire time. glad to know she has such a good relationship with brushing her teeth already.

-she has turned into a full-blown daddy's girl. she's always gotten excited when zach is around, but for the first time a few weeks ago, he was holding her and when i went to take her from him, she burrowed into him and started to cry. it might have stung initially, but i must say that it's pretty much the cutest thing ever. you know when people say that they fall more in love with their spouse when they seem them love their kids? yeah. it's all true.

-she picks up on things and has copied things that we do for a while, but it hasn't been as apparent as it has been lately. she was tapping a pot with her hand at breakfast the other day and i hit it with the backside of my finger. immediately, she whipped out one finger and started laughing as she tapped the pot just like me. then the other day, zach, addi, and i were laying in the living room and zach patted me on the leg. addi crawled over to me as fast as she could and started tapping me exactly where zachary just had. it's amazing how much they notice and want to imitate.

my heart hurts to let this sweet baby turn one year old today, but i can't wait for the adventures in learning to walk, talk, ride a bike, tea parties, dress up, learning to drive, stay up late giggling over boys, and every other fun thing that comes with having a little girl. it's definitely true when they say that "making the decision to have a child is to forever decide to have your heart go walking around outside your body." you feel completely naked and vulnerable, but in the end, it's totally worth it!

-the mrs.