Mudgie Turns 1

This time last year, I was laying on the couch timing my contractions. I spent the afternoon thinking that I was in false labor, waiting for it to pass. Later that evening I realized that it was probably the real deal. I still remember driving to the hospital with Dave, filled with equal parts terror and joyful anticipation. I think my exact words were, "We're gonna have a baby...that's so grown-up!"

Though I didn't fully realize it yet, those words were spot on. I feel like we didn't really "grow up" until we had Mudgie. Before him, we could still lounge around on the weekends, act selfish and spontaneous, and Tiggy was the ruler of the house. Now, "lounging around" on the weekends means one of us gets to sleep until 8am, and poor Tiggy doesn't even get to sleep upstairs anymore (as he wakes up at 5am for breakfast, and we have enough night wakings with Mudgie).

This weekend was Mudgie's first birthday party. The weather gods were smiling on us, as the sun was shining all day! We had about 30 friends and family over to celebrate the big occasion. Daddy and Grampy got to display the new deck, and Mommy got to show off the birthday cake she made for Mudgie. Mudgie enjoyed playing with his friends Lauren, Collin, Grant, and Ryan, and was a really good sport for the first hour or so. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the cake he was overtired and cranky, and really not in the partying mood. He cried through most of the cake (though I do think he liked the taste), and presents, and we even had to cut the unwrapping short so that he could go take a nap. He woke up in a slightly better mood, but still didn't really get into the unwrapping. He did, however, enjoy walking around with the balloons we got him. That night, after Mudgie went to bed, we opened up all the cool stuff he go so that he could play with it in the morning. He loves everything he got! He's such a lucky boy to have such generous people in his life!

This past year has been amazing, enlightening, exhausting, exciting, terrible, wonderful, and different than I imagined. Mudgie has turned our world upside down and inside out, and I don't think we'd want it any other way. For all the waking and the screaming and the fussing, there are even more smiles, laughs, cuddles, and love. When that little boy (because that's what he is now...no more baby) looks at you with his big brown eyes, there is nowhere in the world you'd rather be.

It's hard to wrap my head around all that's changed. I feel like just yesterday we were driving to the hospital, and then we came home with this helpless baby, and we barely knew what to do with him. Now we have this independent boy who has very strong opinions and is capable of doing so much on his own. Mudgie has changed and grown, and so have we. I can't imagine not having him in our lives! We are so filled with love, and that love only grows stronger every day. I can't wait to see what the next year will bring.

Happy Birthday Mudgie!