Happy Birthday, Emery!

Emery's first birthday is here! It's crazy to think that a year has already gone by since I was feeling her movements inside of me. She has grown and changed so much already, and I know so much more is to come. We had her birthday party on Saturday, and it turned out to be so beautiful. (I was reminded of something about myself during this process, I can come up with an idea, but I'm not always great at implementing it. Something I need to get better at.) I had help from our family in order for it to turn out how I wanted. When we were planning the party, Jason and I agreed that we wanted to have just a color theme...pink and brown. That's pretty much been her colors for her whole life so far. But she was great, the decorations were great, and just the whole day was a good success! Here are some great pictures that my brother-in-law took. I think the last one is one of my favorites :)

This Time Last Year #5...

My due date, September 22, had passed, and I had a doctor appointment on the 23rd to see how close we were now. I still was not much closer, and Emery had not dropped that much, but when I left that day, we had scheduled for me to be induced on September 28. Jason and I decided to go see a movie, and then grabbed some dinner at Red Lobster. Later that night, things did feel a lot more uncomfortable, and I remember thinking I didn't know if I could handle 5 more days of that feeling. But sure enough, as we were heading to bed around 10 or 10:30, my water broke, and everything for Emery's birth was put into motion. It's so hard to believe that it's been a year since all of that.

This Time Last Year #4

It was the day before my due date and I was freaking everyone out by still being at work. I had gone to the doctor and knew that Emery hadn't really dropped and I wasn't "inducible" so I didn't really expect her to be born soon, but I was hoping.

I'm going to stray from last year for a while to focus on Emery's birthday party tomorrow. I read a blog recently that talked about how the first birthday party is a celebration of the parents, too. Just acknowledging everything that was accomplished in the first year, moving from the novice parent not really knowing what they're doing, to the much-preferred feeling that you've got more of a handle on things. I'm just so excited that her first birthday is coming. It's just such a special milestone. And I can't wait to celebrate at the party tomorrow!


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This Time Last Year #3...

On this weekend last year, I had finally finished the work at school that I wanted to before I went out on maternity leave. Jason had taken a test that he had at school, so we both were ready for Emery to be born. Although, truly, for the amount of time I could take off and where it fell, I really did want to go past my due date, but something about being through with the work made me mentally done. We started doing all of those recommended things, including eating spicy food and taking long walks. I remember several walks down to Lowry Park or walking along the Hillsborough River near us, and wondering if this would be the day. That anticipation was really cool, and is a good memory.

This Time Last Year #2...

Last year, once I hit 37 weeks on September 1 and knew that Emery technically could be born any day, I started thinking of which dates I would or wouldn't want her to be born on. (Like I had any control.) I actually really liked her due date, September 22, because of LOST. But I would think, I'd be ok with this date because of this, or I really wouldn't like this date, because it's also so-and-so's birthday. Ha! But it was fun to anticipate what day she would actually come. Here is a recent picture...

This Time Last Year...

I recently said that in the month leading up to Emery's birthday, I knew I would start reminiscing about this time last year, so here goes the first memory. Last year when September rolled around, I remember thinking it was so surreal that the month I had been anticipating all year was finally here (Emery's due date was Sept 22). Then later that day I had a slight scare when the doctor's office told me to come in early after I called about a concern I had. I immediately thought I could be having the baby that day, and I was NOT ready! Of course, I didn't have her then, but I certainly got myself prepared!

Now, a year later, it's September again, Emery's "birthday month"! I guess from now on, I'll look forward to September with some anticipation. It's so hard to believe that in just over 3 weeks she'll be 1.



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Random Thoughts

So far, back to school has been not too bad. I've had to make a list of things to get done at night so I'm not so rushed in the mornings, and that's really helped. I'm also pretty motivated right now, which is good, since last year at this time I knew I was about to give birth, so I wasn't into school yet.

Emery is growing a lot. She's walking now, and she's only 10 months old. She's also starting to try to repeat things, which is too cute. I really enjoyed getting to be home with her all summer. I can't believe she'll be 1 soon. It's gone by so fast.

Here are some recent pics...












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