Payton’s Winter ONEderland

 All of the stress and party planning that consumed my life for nearly six months has come and gone. Payton’s first birthday on the eighteenth was more than we could have ever asked for. Jim and I are more than thankful for everyone that made her day even more magical than expected. Going into the days before her birthday I was emotional; I was in a juxtaposition of being overjoyed and sad that my baby was no longer a “baby”. My nerves, emotions, or, how I put it, adrenaline had set in on her birthday. At every minute from 4:30 pm on the seventeenth I recalled every emotion as if it were last year all over again. At 9 pm, I recalled Carla, my admitting RN, and our conversations. We joked how my only fear of child birth was getting my IV. Or, how at 12:10 am I was 7 cm and just got my epidural and an hour later I was fully dilated. I was ready to meet my baby and just as my adrenaline had set in then while I pushed for three hours I never gave up even when they told me I was going to have an emergency c-section. My life from December 18, 2009 at 9:46 am has left me obsessing about my perfect angel. Her every move, sound, milestone and smile has kept me going. The adrenaline has never stopped. It has gotten me through sleepless nights, not from a baby that does not sleep through the night, but for the days where I have worked so hard to make her days better. I have balanced being a: first time mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, a full-time working woman and an entrepreneur. I never thought that a year later I would sit back and say out loud that this past year has been easy. I will never look back and say it was hard, because everyday has been a miracle, a miracle from God that he and the ones around me have given me the strength to make it. My angel has given me more in the short amount of time she has been here than I could have ever imagined and for her first birthday I could not do anything short of perfection. Many may say she will not remember it, but I will, her Daddy will. We celebrated the day our lives changed for the good and like I stated one year ago, I have fallen in love all over again. 

Dearest Payton Rylee, Happy 1st Birthday! 

Her party was a Winter ONEderland theme with red, aqua and polka dots everywhere.  The day of the party it was raining so it forced all sixty guests inside. It was a little crazy since almost all of my friends have children, most of which are infants. It was intimate and very memorable! I cannot thank everyone enough that attended! You are all more than generous and now we must build a room addition to house all of her new goodies! Payton had started off the party by sneaking a mini red velvet cupcake off of her dessert table and then ran red-handed into the kitchen where we caught her with frosting all over her. I guess she couldn’t wait to get the party started!