Dear Hailey,

You turned one year old yesterday.

It is unfathomable to me that one year has gone by already. I remember the day you were born like it was last week. It was just an ordinary January day. Not snowing but cold, the sun would peek out here and there so it was kind of bright out. I thought I was in labor but not sure because it did not seem so bad. And then I WAS sure because the pain WAS bad - and then you were in our lives crying your little lungs out. It was seriously that fast. Then that ordinary January day became one of the best in my life.

I never realized how much it would mean to me to have a daughter. A little girl to share all the mother/daughter stuff with. I love your brothers with all my heart but inevitably, they will soon head toward all things male. I thought I was destined to sit on the sidelines and watch them do their boy things - and then you came along. A little girl for me to dress up and bake cookies with. I look forward to doing "girlie" things with you, but I can wait. I want you to stay little as long as possible.

Your brothers are excited about your birthday. They love you so much. Yesterday we went to order the cake for your party this weekend and Evan told me as we were walking in the bakery I want Hay Bay to have a beautiful cake. Spencer loves to carry you around now. You can see in his face how much he loves you and the pride he feels about being able to help you. They have been making tunnels from couch cushions for you to crawl through and making cushion castles and pretending that you are the princess they have to rescue. You don't always like being trapped between couch cushions, but you LOVE playing with your brothers and being included in their games. I love to watch you all play together. They are so protective of you and will always tell me when you are headed for danger or they will tell you NO when you are putting something in your mouth - which is all the time.

You are starting to pull yourself up on the furniture and on us. You are so proud of yourself when you are cruising on the couch. You are starting to crawl in the traditional sense but still prefer your faster army crawl. You still have no teeth - I swear I can see some coming but they just won't pop through. You loved your birthday cupcake and will eat almost any "real" food that we give you. I am curious for your Dr. appointment tommorrow to see how big you are. You still look so tiny to me. We made it a year with nursing but I sense the end is near. You only nurse twice in the morning now and only for a few minutes each time. It almost seems more habit than necessity. I am proud of us for making it this long - the longest nurser and the third baby. And they said it couldn't be done...we showed them baby girl!

One year...I know the early baby days with you were sometimes tough but now I can't even remember the hard parts. Our brains are amazing how they do that - file the bad stuff way in the back so that only the good stands out. That way when we look back, we always remember the glass as half full. In my memories, the glass is not half full. In my memories, my cup runneth over. You are amazing and beautiful and I couldn't love you more!

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!

Love, Mommy