John Turns One

This past year went by way too quickly. My boy is no longer my tiny little baby but a curious, crawling boy. The last year has had many ups and downs. There were a few months that were really hard when John wasn't sleeping well but for the most part it was been amazing.
Being a mom is way different than I imagined but in a good way. This little boy has my whole heart. I feel like each day he is learning, growing, and changing.
At each stage I want him to stay at that stage and am afraid that I will be sad when he grows out of it but it has been the opposite. Each stage is exciting and different.
John now weighs 22lb 14oz (51%), 29in long (33%), and his head is in the 94th percentile! He finally figured out crawling instead of army crawling a few days before is first birthday. He has eight teeth and loves to jabber away. He can say 'mama' and has his own little language.
His little cheeks are kissed constantly. My absolute favorite time is right before nap or bedtime. We spend a few minutes in the rocking chair. He puts his little hands around my neck and snuggles his head on my shoulder. It is pure heaven. Those moments are the moments that I dreamed about for years and sometimes it seems too good to be true. Those are the moments that I want life to freeze.
John's birthday was on a Sunday so we decided to do most of the celebrating in Saturday. We started off by running a 5K for Footsteps for Fertility which is a non-profit that funds local fertility grants. By running the race, we were put into a drawing for a fertility grant. We didn't win but it was an amazing experience to watch other couples win a grant to get a shot at growing their families.
That afternoon, we threw John a birthday party! So many wonderful friends and family came out to celebrate with us. One of the best parts was that two of my good friends from Seattle that now live in Utah were able to come. In Seattle, these two girls were my support. Their friendship was and is priceless. We didn't speak about our struggles with infertility that often but we all knew. We knew that we could hang out together and understand what it was like to be in each other's shoes. Fast forward, three years later and we all have our little miracle babies, all boys! It is a proof to me that miracles do happen. There wasn't a better time for us to be reunited than at John's birthday.