HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, COLIN!!!

It is just after 4:00pm on Colin's very first birthday. I am a little overwhelmed to write a post at the moment...I am not completely sure how to put this weekend into words, much less today. We hosted Colin's birthday party yesterday afternoon at Jer's parents house. The day was bright, sunny, and very hot! We started the party at 4pm in order to give the little ones a chance to catch afternoon naps before the festivities began. Our families were there as well as our best friends. We had lots of Colin's little buddies over, all of whom were born within just a few months of each other. It was a wonderful day and the kiddos were all amazing. Colin was hysterical...this was the first time he had really gotten to spend a serious amount of time with little ones his age and he was brutal on the girls! He found every bow he could get his hands on and pulled with all his might! Luckily we caught him before too much damage was done, but there were enough tears to know that we need to work on Colin and "gentle" play! We had such a great time and our friends all gave Colin fun gifts that he has been playing with all day today. He took two VERY short naps before the party...I suspected that he was going to sense all the excitement and not nap well...I was right on that one! Since he had not had much sleep, he started to get a little tired and over stimulated after a couple of hours. My mom took him inside and cuddled him up to watch one of his movies, which helped out tremendously. He perked right up and went outside to share dinner with some of his friends. He ate hot dogs and chips for dinner and then opened presents in front of the crowd. We finally let him tear into his cake at 7pm...it got so late SO fast!! I was totally shocked at how gentle he was with the cake. I ended up breaking it up for him and he did not make near the mess that I was expecting. It may have been because he was pretty tired at that point! After the cake show, the party was winding down. Colin said goodbye to all his buddies and I whisked him home to take a quick bath and get into bed! He was fast asleep at 9pm and did not wake once until 7am!! That was one tired little man!!

Today is his actual birthday and Colin got the amazing present of getting to hang out with his favorite twins, Kate and Carson. My WONDERFUL friend Shannon and her husband Mark came all the way from Austin with the twins to attend Colin's party. They have family in our area, so they were able to make a trip out of it, and I am SO GLAD they did. I still can't believe that I finally got to play with those babies!! Shannon and I became close right before we both got pregnant and I love sharing all of this with her. It really felt like a gift to me to celebrate Colin's birthday with her. I feel so blessed this weekend!!

As I rocked Colin down for his nap today, I was overcome by how much more amazing my life is now. Having Colin has filled a gap in my soul that I never knew was there...he is my angel and the greatest gift God could ever have given me. This year has been more than I ever thought it could be...I have been scared, happy, tired, elated, blissful, and every other emotion in between . I spent so much of this year just waiting to make it to the next day...learning how to be a mother with each passing hour. I feel like we passed a threshold today, like I earned the ribbon...passed the torch...reached the top of the mountain. The view from up here is more beautiful than I could ever have imagined.