Millie's First Birthday

March 11, 2008: After nearly 24 hours of contractions, my water broke at 4am. We rushed to the hospital passing a cop along the way, thankfully we didn't see blue lights. Because it was so early, we could not find an unlocked door at the hospital. We finally entered in the door located on the most opposite side of the maternity ward. Matt wheeled me in with my legs straight out- opening all the double doors that came our way. I got the epidural at 8cm dilated, just in time. After 6 pushes and exactly 3 hours later, our first daughter Amelia Ryan Morris made her debut into this world. She weighed 6 lbs, 1 oz and was 19.5" long. She was the most petite little baby I'd ever seen. I don't think I could have pictured a better delivery. Fast forward 1 year and here we are.
March 11, 2009: Unlike last year, Matt and I got a good night's rest. Millie and I started our day at 7am (the exact time Millie was born). She gave a huge grin as I sang "Happy Birthday" to her first thing this morning. We've sang that song more times than I can count today and got a smile every time. We had big surprises planned for her on this day. #1 I was so anxious to see how she would react to her new forward-facing car seat. Oh man, what a reaction too! Every few minutes or so, I would sporadically hear giggles behind me as we drove to our first errand, Bella's yearly check-up. I looked back at her, and she would giggle at me. #2 Lunch at Chick-fil-a with her Aunt Leigh and three cousins. More fun times in her new car seat.
#3 Kids section at Barnes n' Noble bookstore. She flipped rapidly through all the books she could reach, discovered the Thomas' Train table and then rushed around as if she might miss something. I happily cleaned up behind her. This was her day after all.
#4 A fabulous ride in her new Radio Flyer wagon with her friend, Carli. My friend and Carli's mom, Lindsay, enjoyed taking turns pulling the wagon while we walked around the block... twice! Who knew that the wagon would keep the attention span of a 10 month old and 1 year old?! It was funny to hear them babbling back and forth with each other.

#5 We capped off the night with another wagon ride around the block with Daddy.I don't think that wagon will ever get old. Thank you to Dad, Pat, Lauren and Aunt DeDe for that gift!

I could not imagine a better year. Millie has truly been a blessing in our lives. We love you, Millie Moo!
Thank you to everyone who thought of Millie on her special day. It means so much to our family.