My baby girl will turn 1 year old on Tuesday, Nov 20th!!! We had her first b-day party yesterday and it was a lot of fun! A very good friend of mine that I went to the rainbow gathering with a couple of years ago ( see Spirit Revival- 7/16/04) ran into me 2 summers ago upon his return home to Buffalo. I was 6 months pregnant and having trouble finding a job, so he introduced me to his dad who owned 2 printing/mailing businesses. His dad hired me to do some telemarketing, calling non-profit organizations and asking them if they needed help with their newsletters, appeal letters.. things of that nature. Also stuffing and sealing and stamping thousands of letters at a time!!. It worked out well, and when I was put on bed rest in the beginning of last November he got a computer and a phone for me to set up my office at home. ( which has been a huge blessing so I didn't have to pay for child care for my newborn. Because of that I have had the most gracious opportunity to be with my child and watch her grow. I can't describe how amazing this has been- those of you with with children probably already know. ( I had never envisioned myself as a mother of my own children. I figured I would adopt some child that had already been dealt a shitty hand on this planet and fix it for them. but even at that I was pretty annoyed by infants- i hated those ppl that take babies to movie theaters, when my friends baby would wake me up in the middle of the night i would wish in my head that someone would just shut that thing up! Up until Hannah I had never even held an infant. I was great with kids ages 3 and up- but NO experience with babies. watching her over this last year has been a whole new side of life for me-( by the time I was 23 I had 8 people who were very close to me pass away.starting at 12 years old 5 of them had been close freinds my own age at the times of their deaths. 3 of my natural grandparents are still living today- and 1 of them died before I was even born.) so having this little love has been so refreshing!!! Take into consideration that she really is a total angel! SHe has her moments, and when she was very young she went through a 2 week period of total colic, but so many people keep telling me they've never seen a baby as easy as her- and that I have no idea how blessed I am. ( now I can't even pass a baby in a grocery store without thinking " oh the precious little baby"!!!) So I also have been blessed with so many people that love and care about us! My friends parents have been a great part of that blessing over this last year. They have pretty much adopted us into their wonderful family, and my heart was overwhelmingly thankful when they decided they'd like to have this birthday party to share with us the celebration of her 1st year. My mother has also been a huge blessing in this past year- as we have bonded in a way that we haven't been able to in a very long time. It's truly amazing the side of ourselves that we meet when we have our own children. Watching them grow is truly a miracle- new sounds, new faces, first teeth, big smiles ( and tears that just break your heart into pieces!!!)
Thank you for letting me share this all with you! Hopefully I will have the pictures posted up here soon!