Happy Birthday!!!

Wow, I can hardly believe that Gio's first birthday is here! With much joy we celebrated one of the last firsts that our little guy will celebrate this past week! In preparing for his big day I became mixed with much excitement and, honestly, some sadness that our little baby is now -sigh-a little boy! I certainly relived every moment(including the castor oil) of October 31-November 5, 2007 as we prepared to become parents, never knowing the crazy ride of our life were were about to begin. I can now understand why mothers call their children every year at the exact hour of their birth-it changed my life forever-why shouldn't I celebrate? Lucky for John Paul, his 8:23 pm is not too inconvenient of a time). I cannot believe how much he has developed since that day Carolyn (our midwife not my sister) told us "it's a boy"! I look at him today and see the baby I welcomed into my arms that day but I also see a little boy who has every day developed a little bit more, grown a little bit more, achieved a little bit more and made my heart grow a little bit more. In addition to his first, second, and third cupcakes, he had a wonderful Mickey Mouse birthday party that he will never remember but we have taken enough photos so he will never be able to forget. He has also officially taken his first steps. Now, I cannot say that he is officially walking but on Sunday after my dad took Carrie to the airport he took 1-2-3 itty bitty steps and you would have thought he won the Nobel Peace Prize I was so excited and so proud of him. It was fantastic because he did it for an audience and I'm glad others were able to be a part of this big moment. Before having him, I never knew how much this little boy could amaze me on a daily basis but it is true-there is no love like the love for your child.