A Look Back

As we approach Jocelyn's first birthday, which consists of a busy weekend of parties, I am doing a lot of reflecting on the last year. It is so amazing the amount of growth that is squeezed into one short year!

Gracie holding her new baby cousin...

Everyone said from the moment of her birth (literally...it was the first thing the Dr. said after pulling her out) that she looks just like Levon. Honestly, I didn't see it when she was this small. There is no denying it now though! She is definetly a little Levon!

2 new members of the family! God is good!

She was only about 1 week old in this shot. I would just sit there with the camera ready in one hand with her in the other arm, waiting for her to smile! I don't believe for a minute that this was due to gas! Levon and I love this picture.

She would sit in her bouncy seat for such a long time, just so content. I have way too many pictures with this yellow and white duckie/lamb background! Speaking of pictures...I averaged about 100 pictures a month of Jocelyn! And I developed almost all of them. I have tons of albums in her room....It's becoming an addiction I can't control. Seriously, how could I delete that sweet face?

This was the perfect shot for our Christmas card last year. Levon loved to brag that she was smiling at him!

We learned so much this year becoming parents for the first time. I managed to narrow it down to some lessons that really stick out in my mind:

• God is an amazing creator and provider. He answers prayers, calms our worries, and feels closer to us than ever each day that we experience this precious gift given to us.
• Having patience with our own child is SO much easier than with other people’s kids!
• Everything we thought we would never do is exactly what we are doing with our own baby!
• You have to come to a point when you don’t care what other people think; you just have to do what’s best for your family.
• There is NOTHING worse than driving with a screaming baby!
• When they are sick in the middle of the night, you are so conveniently given a burst of energy out of nowhere to take care of them.
• Privacy just isn’t an option anymore!
• People have much worse potty mouths than we thought ...or we just notice them more now.
• People who never seemed to be much of “baby-people” become sucked in by her charm!
• No other baby is quite as beautiful as your own.
• Daydreaming about the future…Disney World, softball games, vacations, Christmas… has become our favorite past time.
• Dangerous scenarios can consume your every thought if you let them. Parenthood makes the world look like a much scarier place.
• Small children have no concept of germs. Flip flops and hairballs must be tasty!
• It is never okay to feed children junk without asking the parents first! Or without clean hands!
• Doctors give you their opinions on childrearing along with their medical advice… you have to filter it out sometimes.
• Jocelyn is much more musically inclined than either of her parents.
• Babies are like puppies…they chew everything!
• Each new thing she learns is absolutely thrilling…we want to tell everyone!
• She is growing up so fast, but it only becomes more fun!
• Happiness is this: receiving slobbery kisses, waking up to sleepy smiles, hearing mama and dada with arms reaching out for us, uncontrollable giggles, and knowing that God made this child especially for us and we have the opportunity to give her the kind of life that would honor Him.