Think about what you have done in the last 365 days. Who have you met that has impacted your life? What have you learned? Where have you gone? How many things have you accomplished?
One year can drag on and seem like a bleeping eternity! I remember feeling like four years of school was forever, like I wasn't ever getting out of there. In February of 2011 my husband popped the question and the year and a half of planning for our big day never seemed quite as long as it did during that time period. And when I was pregnant, nine months of pregnancy felt more like nine years of bleeping misery!
A year, to most, most of the time, seems to be fairly long and drawn out. As adults, we seem to live our lives on repeat. We tend to hit that snooze button {twice} a little earlier than we would like to every morning, roll out of bed and get ready to do the same thing we did the day before and if we are lucky, we spend evenings and weekends away exploring or nights out doing things we enjoy with those that we love. This was my life every year leading up to this one.
365 days ago actually feels just like it was only last week. One year ago I was deep cleaning my house, perfecting my baby's room, packing a hospital bag and mentally preparing for the gorgeous little human that would forever change my life. In one bleeping week, that insanely adorable little 7lb1oz baby that came out of my bleeping body 358 days ago, will be one. She will be bleeping one! In the last 358 days I have watched this itty bitty human learn more things than I ever even thought she would have in such a small window.
A week shy of one year ago, Birdie couldn't move, not voluntarily anyways. Her eyes barely opened and when they did, they weren't open for more than a few minutes. She ate just enough food to fill her marble sized tummy and she slept all day long. Today though, Birdie wouldn't sit still if my life depended on it! She {bear} crawls everywhere, she scoots off of the bed, gets up and down the stairs, and is walking with the assistance of just my pinky finger. She now eats real food {that she manages to devour with only two teeth}, mostly cheese... So much bleeping cheese! Sleeping all day left her far too soon, now we fight {against each other} naps and bedtime. Her little infant whale bath wasn't the only thing we have said goodbye to over the passing months.
This crawling, eating, screaming, laughing monster has also developed quite the personality! She's the busiest, silliest little thing I've ever met. She tells you, by shaking her closed fists and scowling, when she's "SO MAD", she laughs when you laugh and claps when you clap. We have dance parties and she never misses an opportunity to jump around when we sing to her, "Don't this hit make my Birdie wanna jump, jump"! She screams and books it when she thinks you're "gonna get her" and she hits your bleeping face when she "gets you"... So don't ever let her get you... because her blows to your face bleeping hurt!
This last year flew by too quickly. Way, way, way too bleeping quickly! I wish my last 365 days would have dragged on the way my engagement did. I wish each moment could double in time, but it can't and I think these next few years will continue to fly by and seem to last much shorter than I hope them to. There is a beautiful movie that I love so much called About Time and it is about time travel. In the movie, Tim finally figures out the perfect way to live his life, and I won't tell you what his secret is because I think everyone should see this movie {and Heaven forbid I wreck it for you} but this part {along with five other scenes} brought me to tears. I have been trying to remind myself everyday, and will continue to do so, to remember Tim's secret and live it.
Cheers to another best year of my life and to my beautiful little Bird turning one in one week!
Being a parent is bleeping hard. It's exhausting, it's trying and it's emotional. Being a parent is hard because you put your child's needs before your own. If your child is awake in the middle of the night, you sacrifice your sleep. You put off your showers to bathe them, your favorite tv shows to read them books, and your naps to do their dishes. When your child is sick or sad, you feel it too. When you become a parent you {should} make the decision to come second... Or third... Or fourth.
I try to be the best parent that I can be, and I know a ton of really incredible parents, but this blog today isn't about me being the best parent or even about the best parents I know, this is about the STRONGEST parents I know, this blog is about my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. They have this strength in them that I don't know that I would be able to find within myself if I needed to.
When my beautiful niece, Falynn, was seven months old, she was diagnosed with type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy ({SMA}. SMA is a genetic disease that causes progressive muscle degeneration. The doctors didn't give them much hope after delivering this news, they were basically told to take Falynn home and give her all of their love. The life expectancy of a baby with type 1 SMA is two years. Being the strong willed fighters that they are, they took it upon themselves to research this more and as a result of their determination and will to fight, this upcoming October Falynn will be four years old.
This is and always will be a very sensitive subject, because no matter how much sympathy I have, I will never be able to empathize. I recently read an article my sister-in-law posted about people making the comment that we all just want a "healthy baby". And while we don't realize it, we are saying that we don't want unhealthy children. I am guilty of saying this and after reading it put into perspective, I feel really terrible. I also feel terrible that by making such a comment, I sent the message that there is something wrong with being disabled. I believe and would like to teach my daughter to believe that everyone is equal and everyone is beautiful.
I am guilty of complaining of being tired, and still, my day does not compare to the day that Rian and Gonzalo live. I get upset when my baby hits her head or has a cold, I cannot imagine the feelings they have knowing the things that the little love of their lives is enduring every day.
I say I cannot imagine their life, because I truly can't. We are lucky enough to spend weekends with them sometimes, but we don't live their day to day. And I'll never know how truly exhausting, trying, and emotional it is for them because of the simple fact that ... they are the strongest parents I know- I've never heard them complain, I've never heard them play the victim, and I've definitely never heard them wish Falynn was different than who she is. They are, Falynn included, stronger than anyone I know. They are fighters and the things they've done in the last three and a half years trump what most people do in a lifetime.
Your "typical" parent gives up showers, naps, and our favorite tv shows... These two have given up those things in addition to date nights and social outings because a babysitter just doesn't cut it. They've given up jobs to be home. They have given up the comfort of sleeping in their own bed, just the two of them, every single night, or even in their own home because they sleep {or don't sleep} in a shitty hospital chair. They've done it all and so much more, but I've never heard them complain about it.
August is SMA awareness month, so I wanted to share a little bit about the little lady that I love who has SMA. To learn more about Spinal Muscular Atrophy {SMA} and Falynn, visit their website: falynnswings.org
