Happy Birthday Sweet Sierra Bella

You're one!! I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday I was rushed to the hospital where you joined our little family nearly 2 months early. I remember being so scared that you would not be healthy being so premature. I remember that the doctors were afraid for me and my life, but I was just afraid for yours. I remember crying telling the doctor "no, please don't take her. It's not time." But the Lord provided. You came out, took a breath, and started crying. Powerful lungs. Especially for someone a bit under-developed. You have continued to put those lungs to good use!

You came out wrinkly and red. With soft hair all over your 5lbs body. You had no eyelashes. You had jaundice. You would forget to breathe or your heart would murmmer those first few weeks. Other than a quick kiss on the cheek when you were first born, I didn't get to meet you for nearly 3 days. I was too sick. C-suctions suck. You couldn't be moved from your incubator. Your dad stayed by me as much as he could. One time when he did have to go home to see your sister, he returned to the hospital to find me sneaking out of my room to go see you. I was on bed rest and wasn't supposed to walk. He found me in the hallway trying to walk to the elevator to go down 4 floors to see your sweet face. He scolded me briefly and then realized how sad I was and quickly put me in a wheelchair and helped me sneak to go see you. I couldn't stay away.

You slept in an incubator all hooked up to cords and wires. Alarms would sound every time you stopped breathing or your heart did a funky beat and it would send me into a mental tailspin. I hated those alarms. I hated not being able to snuggle on you without asking a nurse first. I hated trying to undress in front of strangers so that I could try to snuggle with you skin-to-skin or nurse you. I hated having to call a nurse and ask for an update on how my baby was doing. I hated leaving you when I was discharged from the hospital and you had to stay.

You were so tiny and seemed so frail. You had us fooled. You were strong in body and spirit and after dropping down into the 4lbs range you quickly started putting on the weight and getting stronger by the day. You never needed breathing treatment and you only had to stay in the NICU for 10 days. You were born at 33 weeks and you came home 10 days later on March 26, 2009.

Now one year later, your stats are impressive!

You weigh 21.6lbs (55%percentile)

You are 39 inches long (75%percentile)
Your head is 18 3/4 inches (97% percentile!!) MASSIVE...of course it has to be to hold that sweet, smart brain of yours.

You love cuddles with mom and dad, but your favorite person in the world may be your sister (moms a close second). You started crawling on Sunday, February 28th in the church foyer. You were determined to get to that cute little Liam Flynt and that motivation helped you take your first crawls forward. You crawled backwards for about 5 weeks before you were ready to go forward, but now that you started...there is no slowing you down. You crawl about 10 - 12 steps and them frog jump a few leaps, and then crawl some more. It's quite cute!

Your favorite game is peek-a-boo and you put anything you can get your hands on over your head to "hide" so we can play the game. You wave, clap, blow kisses (ie. slobber all over your hand), and dance on que. You carry pillows and blankets around with you so you can lounge around when ever your heart so desires. You love real food and are totally over baby food. You're still working at mastering the sippy cup and you still love your bottles. Although you stopped nursing about 4 months ago, you often try to have another helping by grabbing my shirt and searching for the promised land. Sorry kid---that ain't happening.

You are an absolute joy. You have what we call "happy hands." They spin in circles with your fingers spread every time you are excited or happy. You smile and wave your arms like you're trying to fly every time you get excited. It is simply delightful to watch. Your smile lights up the room. You have a killer dimple. I simply love it. You poop every change you get. Like every diaper change you crap your pants. That I don't love. You like to dance and love dancing with your sis during her afternoon dance parties. You love Riley. Unfortunately for Riley your favorite thing to do to her is try to rip her ears off. She's a good dog and doesn't do anything other than whine and run away. In fact, you often try to destruct everything in your path (including the faces of other little babies) which is why your nickname is Destructo.

Your dad is pretty much mush around you. You have him wrapped around your tiny, dirty, lint-filled fingers. You are so sweet. i LOVE LOVE LOVE that you are mine.

Happy Birthday Sweet Bella!

***below are some pics from your first b-day. We had your favorite for dinner...Spaghetti! Then we opened presents and had some cake. It was super fun! You were afraid of the bounc-back penguin toy and freaked out over the Zhu Zhu pet hamster. It was quite hillarious. When the hamster would scamper around the room you'd freak out and crawl as fast as lightening to your daddy.***