I am officially the mother of a one year old. I’m still trying to figure out exactly how this happened. How a year ago we welcomed this sweet girl into the world, and now she’s ready to explore it all.

The last year of my life has been better than I ever could have imagined, and if you’re a parent you get exactly what I’m saying. I’m convinced there’s nothing better in life than being a mom. Even through the sleepless newborn nights, and the teething…I’d do it over and over a hundred times.

I don’t think I understood what joy really meant until Em got here. More often than not we joke that her cheeks must hurt all the time from smiling because I’m not lying when I tell you she smiles all the time. My Instagram isn’t full of just perfectly timed photos, that’s how she is all the time. She is joy. She’s shown me that life is meant to be slow, taken one day one minute at a time so you don’t miss anything.

Because, and I’m speaking from experience here now, it goes by too damn quick.

I couldn’t have ever imagined a year ago, holding her for the first time that this is what life would turn out like. Sitting in that hospital, praying I didn’t have to ever leave, turned into a joke because of how wonderful she’s been as a baby. The fears we had all dissolved after that first snuggle.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I was made to be a mama. And I am so thankful that God has let me be this girls mama. Watching her grow over the last year has been the biggest gift we could have ever been given. From holding her head up, to sitting up, to army crawling, to pulling herself up, and now walking with help. Ya’ll it’s amazing.

Happy FIRST Birthday, Emmy Mae!

We love you more than you’ll ever know!