Happy Birthday, AliBug!

Tomorrow is my girl's first birthday. Yes, folks, it has been a year since my precious baby girl was born. On the one hand, it seems like she was just born, on the other, it seems like she's been in our family forever. So for your viewing pleasure, here are some moments of the wonder that is Ali.

I love that she sticks everything in her mouth, including the half of a plastic Easter egg. I love how she loves ice cream and gets it all over herself. I love how she flaps her arms and
screeches like a bird until we feed her more.

I love how she loves her brother and thinks he's the coolest thing ever. I love how she follows him and his friends around the house, afraid they'll do something exciting that she'll miss. I love how she just sits and watches the boys, as if studying some rare and strange species.

I love her curly hair and her big blue eyes, which she got from her Daddy and his family. I love how, when her hair is wet, I can form it into some crazy styles, ranging from the Jimmy Neutron icecreamcone head to Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.

I love how she just wants to be a part of it all and be the center of attention. I love when my husband asks her, "Do you have to be in the middle of everything?", and she gives him a look like, "Of course I do!"

I love how everything goes in her mouth, from the tiniest piece of lint to the biggest toy she can cram in there. I love the layer of drool that has coated everything in my house for the last few months.And I love how she dives for me whenever someone else is holding her and I come back into the room. I love the way she puts her hands on both sides of my face, opens her mouth as big as she can, and comes after my lips to give me a big, wet, slobbery kiss by rubbing her face back and forth across mine.
And I love the look on her face when she gets caught doing something that she knows she shouldn't.But most of all, I love that God in His mercy and wisdom gave us a baby girl to complete our family and make us all better people than we were before.

Alison, I love you so much and want to thank you for making this last year of my life one of the best I have ever had. Just by you being here, you have shown me that I had more love, patience, and capacity for joy than I ever thought possible. I will do my best to be a good mom to you, and show you what is truly important in life. I will listen to you, from your first ABC attempt to your first heartache and beyond. I will be your greatest supporter and your most vigilant defender. I will be the one who teaches you how to make your favorite cookies and blow bubbles and dance and sing. And I will enjoy you every day, watching you grow and change from my precious little punkin into the woman that God has designed you to be. You make my heart happy and my soul sing. You are one of the three REALLY GREAT THINGS that have ever happened to me. And hopefully one day, you will meet a man as great as Daddy, who will love you and care for you and listen to you and encourage you, and someday give you babies of your own so that you can understand some of what Daddy and I feel for you and your brother.Happy First Birthday, my NuNuBeaner.Love, Mama