Sunday, August 30, 2009

Doesn't it go by in a blink

Today is Elena's 1st Birthday and it has been purely bittersweet. I have had my eyes on the clock all day thinking back to last year and all that happened. At 6:30 this morning when the kids woke up I thought "last year at this time I was in labor with my wonderful husband and wonderful mother there to help me through it." At 10:00 when church started I thought "Now was when I was starting to feel a lot of painful pressure and getting some more drugs to make me nice and comfy" then at 11:30 my Mom looked at me and said "Elena was born just a little while ago" and yep, 12 minutes earlier Elena had been born and I was holding my beautiful baby girl in my arms with tears in my eyes. When we got home from church I looked at the clock and thought "Now the doctors and nurses were scrambling to save me and to keep me awake with blood transfusions and IV's and everything else they could think of." Tonight after we had birthday cake I looked at the clock at 7:30 and thought "Now I was being wheeled into surgery not knowing what the outcome would be" and soon it will be the time when I was out of surgery and waking up to hear the doctor tell me I was not going to be able to have any more children.

This was the bitter part of my day, remembering the hard parts. The sweet part was remembering seeing Elena for the first time, remembering when Jesús got the NICU nurse to bring Elena to me the day after my surgery so I could hold her and feed her, and remembering the wonderful feeling of bringing her home with us after almost a week in the hospital. And today I got to look at this beautiful little girl and be the most grateful person in the world for still being able to hold her and rock her to sleep and to be able to kiss her sweet cheeks.
Now For the Cake
My very first round cake and I think it turned out pretty well

Concentrating on the frosting

Elena practicing her walking


The finished product


Diving in (she was a little nervous at first but eventually got the hang of it)

The after"bath"

Her very first baby doll, Thanks again Steph!
Patrick and daddy doing a little bowling while the cake was being decorated

5 comments:

Tenille Gates said...

happy birthday sweet girl ♥ The cake turned out super cute! kudoz to you ;0)

The Fergy Bunch said...

Wow, a year aready - that did go fast! I never knew your story, that must have been frightening for you guys. I am glad you are still here to celebrate everyday of you children's lives. You are such a fun mom, they are blessed to have you! Happy Birthday Elena!

Devonn said...

I'm glad you're still around too Alison! It's a double good day- the day Elena was born and the day Alison lived to tell the tale.

PS- this is really Carla, not Devonn :)

KillmerFam said...

That was so sweet! You are so lucky to have 2 beautiful babies that love you so much! You are a great mommy, a great person, and a great friend! We're all glad you're around, too!

rmanduh said...

reading your recap made me soo sad, but like you said, you're so lucky to still be here and have your two beautiful kids and awesome hubby. ill see what we have going on sat. morning but maybe i can bring the kids by for the party. joe might have to help some friends move on that side of town anyways