To Robbie

My dearest Robbie,

Today is your first birthday. It's gone by in a flash. I can barely believe that it was a full year ago that you joined the world, bringing with you more excitement and fear than I thought my heart could stand.

What an amazing year it has been. I won't lie to you, it started out rough. And there has been more than 1 bump in the road. But every moment has been amazing.

Your daddy and I struggled for a long time to have you. And then you came so early and scared us so much, so many times. I hope we convey to you just how much we love you and appreciate every moment with you.

We've learned so much in the last year. Some of it we wish we didn't need to know- medical terms and diagnosis and far too many doctor's names. But we've also learned how deep our love can go. We've learned how to set our own needs aside. We've learned how to make complete fools of ourselves just for a glimpse of your beautiful smile.

We've learned more about poop and pee than we ever could have imagine. And puke? Oh, the puke! We've learned that clean clothes are a luxury that we can really do without.

We've learned that so many things we thought were needs were wants, after all. We now know that all we really need is you and each other.

Thank you for the smiles, the laughs, the giggles. The err.. opportunity to see the sunrise a few extra times as we begged you to sleep. Thanks for the hair pulls and finger biting and pokes in the eye and nose.

Thank you for teaching us more than we've taught you.

Thank you for simply being you. And being ours.

I love you.

--Mom