14 more days.

That is all that stands between us having a baby instead of a toddler. The nostalgia is starting to hit me like a freight train. 

I am knee deep in birthday decorating and crafting hell, but all I want to do is curl up in bed and stare at the nearly 5,000 pictures that chronicle every minute of Hadley's first 351 days. And you know what... it's still not enough. I haven't taken nearly enough pictures, recorded as many videos, or written all of the blog posts that I wish I had. 

I don't want to forget a single second of this first year. Sadly, it's inevitable. Time passes, memories fade. Not to mention we were only half-awake for a good portion of this first year. I've been entertaining myself reading older posts about the early days. Some things have changed so drastically since then, and others remain the same. 

We now enjoy full nights of sleep, Hadley feeds herself the majority of the time, and I have much longer stretches of ME time to get things done or even to *gasp* relax occasionally! Motherhood has gotten easier in some ways and poses new challenges in others. Long gone are the days of being unable to set Hadley down for fear of her crying out in protest. Now I'm just scared she'll somersault down the staircase! 

There are still plenty of moments of frustration and others of sheer physical exhaustion. But that smile. It has changed our whole world. We would do absolutely anything for this girl. This journey has been the most enjoyable and educational one we've ever taken. But it's been far too short. How is it possible that she will be ONE in only two weeks???

As much as I'd love to bottle up her baby days and have her never grow up, I will keep looking forward to all of the "I can't wait to do this with her" moments! There are too many of those to count. Mainly I just feel blessed to be your Mama, Miss Hadley! 

So glad that you won't just be my baby for only 14 more days...