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Three weeks ago, Hannah celebrated her first birthday.  Russell and I tried to pull every card in order to be released from the hospital a day early… but to no avail.  Therefore, I woke up on the morning of October 11th with a bit of a heartache knowing that my baby girl was waking up on her first birthday in somebody else’s house.  Fortunately, she was in better-than-sufficient hands and was celebrated well.

I woke up to this picture on my phone. Notice the birthday sign in the background!

A few hours later, we picked up one tuckered out (from a 48 hour marathon play date) little girl.  We brought her home and to our surprise, she slept most of the day and when she wasn’t sleeping, she was a bit of a mess.  She had come down with a nasty virus that knocked her out of her usual routine for a good week or two.  I’m happy to report that she is finally back to herself this week and therefore, I was finally able to sit down and write up a little update on the Bean.

One year ago, as we spent two weeks in the hospital, the thing that stuck out to me most about Hannah is that she was and is a fighter.  One year later, we can testify to this 100%.  Just try to make her sit down on your lap and you will see.  But seeping through her strong will and determination is a sweet little girl that I have fallen in love with.  She has filled our home with laughter (and a lot of tears) this past year.  On the rare occasion that she lets you hold her tight and she melts into your arms, we know that we are embracing a little girl who will grow up to be someone who sets the pace for those around her.  And with this understanding comes the weight of knowing that she is only ours on loan… to love and delight in, to teach and train.  This changes everything for us.  Most days, I simply don’t feel up for the challenge as she is everything but a textbook baby and I so often feel helpless and inadequate and completely in over my head.  But deep down, I know that for some reason, God chose me and He chose Russell to be the parents of this little fireball and that He will lead us as we try our best to listen to and trust Him.

So Hannah-Bean, here’s to you on your first birthday (3 weeks late).  You make our lives richer every single day and we love you to pieces.

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