To my sweet Nathan,
Happy 1st Birthday! It is hard to believe you are already turning one year old! The time has gone by so incredibly fast, but I am so thankful that I am able to stay at home with you each day and experience all your changes, noises, smiles, laughter, and fun. As I reflect back on last year and where we were, I remember being completely terrified as your dad and I got in the car to head to the hospital. I didn't know what to expect and all I kept thinking about was meeting you and that I wish that moment could already be happening. We waited and prayed for a long time that God would bless us with a child, so to have it be so close to a reality was so exciting, yet scary. I just wanted you to be healthy and for everything to go smoothly and to be able to hold you and tell you how much I loved you. Well, the Lord's grace was evident that entire night as we waited for you, as there were a few complications; however, bright and early the next morning on December 31, we met you, our precious boy, for the first time. You were perfect in every way! Everyone kept saying how cute you were and how all your features were so perfect. It was the best gift we had ever received!
It is a complete joy to be your mother! From the time you were just a few weeks old and smiled for the first time, you have brightened our lives in every way. Everywhere you go, you bring a smile to people's faces. I have loved watching you experience all your "firsts." From laughing, rolling over, noticing Lacy,smiling, touching grass, sitting up, swimming in a pool, going to the beach, watching you try and crawl for about a month, then learn to scoot on your belly and rock on your hands and knees and then finally take off crawling, watching you kneel on your knees and look out the big window in the living room and bang on the window saying, "Hey" to everyone, to playing games with you, like "Where's mommy? while you go from room to room in the house looking for me or hiding behind the chair in the living room and you coming to find me, to enjoying walks around the neighborhood and hearing you test out your voice with little coos and "heys," to many day trips to Memphis and Jonesboro and enjoying shopping afternoons with you where you say "Hey" to every person you see and smile at every person who stops and talks to you, days at home playing with your kick and play piano gym, your motorcycle, your musical table, your little balls and other toys, seeing you explore all the new wonders of the house, including the floor, the carpet, the kitchen cabinets, the pots and pans, the Tupperware containers, drawers with clothes inside, the washer and dryer, books on the shelves, playing with Lacy and her paws and fur, looking over the edge of your crib, watching you eat cereal and all kinds of new foods, hearing you say, "Hey, Day" to Lacy when you see her, having you rest your head on my shoulder for a couple minutes every time I come and get you from a nap, watching you lock eyes with me for the first time and really looking at me, watching you clap your hands at random moments and when you are excited you did something, watching you watch Daddy and Lacy playing outside (you will be able to join them soon enough), stopping play to come and give me a hug, reading books from your basket and having you pick out books for mommy and daddy to read to you (your favorites are Hop on Pop, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, The Little Engine that Could, Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type, and a few others), listening to you belly laugh at coughs, sneezes, and other random things, singing to you when you are upset and having you calm down right away, reaching for me with your arms outstretched, crawling down the hall as fast as you can to come to me when I call, you bring excitement and wonder to each day. I have cherished all these times and the many others I have captured in pictures and videos. I would not trade these days at home with you for anything. You have brought a childlike joy to my life that makes every day special.
You, my sweet boy, are a blessing from the Lord in every way! It is hard to imagine what life was like before you came. Many nights when you are sleeping, I go into your room and just watch you sleep, so incredibly thankful for the gift I have in you and the opportunity I have to be your mom. My prayer for you is that you will one day love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, that you would understand the power of the Gospel, and that God's Word would lead, guide, and direct your steps as you journey through life. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 139:14-16, "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." Your life, Nathan, is a miracle and an answer to many, many prayers. You are a blessing. I love you to the moon and back.
Love forever,
Mommy
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