One Year Ago...

One Year Ago today my life changed forever. One year ago today God sent us a miracle... Carsten. One Year Ago today I experienced more pain and joy than I had ever thought imaginable. I am not a fan of childbirth, let it be known. The whole experience for me was scaring, aside from Carsten coming into this world. Now that I look at the time right now as I write this, I realize that at this exact time last year I was still 43 minutes away from delivering Carsten. Probably right about now is when they were using the vacuum to try and "extract" him from the birth canal. I still don't know where I mustered the strength to push through the pain for the two hours and 21 minutes it took to deliver him. I guess right from the start, us mothers will go to any extreme for our offspring. When Carsten finally made his appearance, I thought he was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I know that most newborns are not that attractive right out of the womb, but I suppose I had my mommy goggles on. Despite all the tears of pain that I had cried for hours on end, my tears instantly turned to those of joy. I didn't and still can't believe that Danyel and I created such a perfect human being. I know that people do it everyday, but when you finally do it for yourself, you really realize what a miracle life is. Anyways, I am glad that it is January 17, 2006 instead of January 17, 2005. Today is a joyful day - just like last year - but with a few big differences - I am not in excruciating pain, I am not exhausted, AND most importantly, I can almost bet you that I will get a full, uninterrupted night of sleep tonight.

Today was Carsten's day. I tried to devote the entire day to just having fun with my son... No errands, no chores, etc. This morning I took Carsten to the mall to play at the play area - he loves to go there. Then, I bought him a new pair of big boy shoes. Now that he is "1" and a pretty good walker, it is time for him to graduate from his Robeez. This afternoon, Danyel took off the rest of the day from work and we took Carsten to the zoo. We kind of just let him lead us around. He just loves to be outside walking around. Then, we went out to dinner to celebrate... Todai Japanese buffet! Danyel and I mainly went for the sushi... Carsten feasted on baked fish, sweet potatoes, fried rice, and creme brule... he has a very refined palate for a one year old! Yep, today definitely one-upped this day last year...