One Year Ago Today

I woke up a year ago today to a mild but unmistakable contraction. As they progressed throughout that rainy, fall Sunday, our little family of three just enjoyed our last few hours alone. We made pancakes, had a dance party (that was before dance party was a regular part of our days!), and we walked around the mall.

Finally, when some poor woman tried to hand me a perfume sample and I had to catch my breath before turning her down, we headed home from the mall (contractions 2 minutes apart!), and sent Joe out for a little KFC. What was I thinking? Well, a girl has got to eat before meeting her daughter!

As it turned out, I had to have the KFC left overs later. When I realized that I was pausing between bites to do a little yoga breathing, we put the greasy chicken away and stashed Maya at the neighbors to wait for Grandma and Grandpa.

Elliot made her way into the world only two hours later, in the most peaceful, natural way that the modern medical community would allow. And from that moment on, she has been this wise, observant, hilarious little person, snuggled in my left arm (seriously, you should see my left bicep after a year of toting her!).



In contrast, today is a gloriously sunny, still day. We had peanut butter banana chocolate chip muffins for the birthday breakfast, and though it may have been the sugar rush, Elliot has been dashing around with so much energy I swear she knows something is important about the day!