Happy Birthday Layla

I can't believe my baby is one! I find myself thinking about the day she entered this world, exactly one year ago. The memory is already fading, but I remember being anxious, exhausted, excited and, finally, relieved. I remember being surprised at how big and purple she was, and feeling overwhelmed that this was MY baby. What a milestone of a day.

Here she is probably less than an hour old, looking quite confused...

Angel baby...

Brand new in the delivery room...

This year has been filled with milestones, sad times, late nights, frustrations, smiles, excitement and laughter. I have more pictures of this baby than I have of me in my 28 years. Everyday is something new. She is social. She loves everybody and everything. She loves water, will eat almost anything you feed her, is fascinated by dogs and kids, enjoys music, has a stubborn streak and temper, loves to laugh, is independent yet thrives on attention, looks like her Daddy, tougher than nails...I could go on and on.

Her birthday party was today with a "mod monkey" theme. I tried my hand at making my first cake, and it turned out pretty well. We had about 20 guests and Layla received tons of cool presents. Here she is checking them out...

She had her first taste of cake. She enjoyed mashing it in her hands, but wouldn't taste it until I fed her a bite. She seemed to like it o.k., but only took a couple more bites. Here's some cake pictures...

All in all, I think it was a great first birthday. As I rocked her tonight, I prayed for many, many more birthdays for Layla and just as many more years full of joy and life. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRECIOUS BABY GIRL!!