Our Village

The old adage, 'it takes a village to raise a child' has never been so true for us as it has been this past year. It was a long and sometimes rocky road to get from this:

to this:

On July 4, 2012 at 11:07am our little Lucy Lu turned 1. We had a party/ picnic to celebrate. This wasn't the huge party that we threw you, Nora. Only a few friends and family. Having a holiday for a birthday is a bit more difficult for party planning. But there was never any question what her first birthday theme would be... 

Lucy is not like you in so many ways, Nora.  Lucy is now taking steps by herself. I won't say walking because her prefered method of getting around is still crawling. She still nurses which I am trying to wean her and she will have nothing to do with it. She is a lover of the boob. She is cautious and watchful. She is a cuddler. She is an investigator and will sit and play and poke at something for 20-30 minutes. All of these things are almost the complete opposite of where you were at a year.

But still there are quite a few similarities that make me smile. She loves music and dancing like you. She says dog like you but likes "at" (cats) better. She loves ducks and will say "dut" and she says "momomomom" (its never just one mom) and "DA" is daddy. We are waiting to see what she will call you. She can do all the typical one year old things like follow directions, point, she knows whose who. She is aware of her home and her bed and her blankie. And most importantly, she loves you, Nora. She adores you and craves to be close to you. She knows

Still though some things about her remain a mystery to us. Her eye color will not settle. Starting off as blue and moving to gray to brown to green to yellowish flecks. She is shy and more reserved but man can this girl fight. She is much more aggressive and vocal about getting her way. She is quite determined and very motivated when she gets an idea. She WILL complete/get whatever she sets out to do. It just takes her a moment of watching, observing, thinking and processing what she WILL do. Sometimes she seems like such a juxtopositon to me. So reserved but so strong-willed.  

Our village helped me tackle becoming a mother of two little girls. It was much harder than I thought it would be. Juggling the needs and wants of two children. Putting my career on hold to spend time being a mom, full time. It's been difficult. It's been exhuasting. It's been a time I will never get back. Thank God for good family and friends to help us through this last year. Your relantionship with Ashley is now not of the proding of Jessica and I but of your own accord. Having a best friend to call and vent to and to take you out for your 30th birthday when everyone else is busy is truly priceless. I'm glad your friendship is going strong but Im even happier my friendship with Ashley's mom is strong.

  

So the party, the first year of Lu, our village. I am rambling. In short, I am so grateful to our family and friends who helped us transition into our new normal of a family of four. I think all of our hard work was worth it. It was quite a 4th of July party and although it was hot, we made sure to cool off with water balloons. We played, created tye dyed t-shirts, ate, sang happy birthday, debuted the most awesome birthday cake ever and set off illegal ground fireworks. Good times were had.

Lucy was enamored with the fireworks. Nora, you were more concerned with the noise so you sat down with Daddy. As the fireworks boomed and crackled and lit up the dusk sky, Lucy cuddled in and I couldn't stop thinking how far we had come since last year we sat in the hospital bed watching the fireworks on TV.

It boggles my mind that we went from this:

To this:

And two very special members of our village were integral parts of not only the party (making the most awesome birthday cake ever which took 5+ hours) but also of our daily lives. Thank you Marta and Mary for making room for our family in your lives and being a part of our village and helping me raise these crazy kids.