365 days.

It’s amazing what life can bring in just 365 days.

A year seems so long, but in actuality… it flies by.

Last night we took the boys to Bristol, RI to visit my parents and enjoy the festivities that the town puts on the week of the 4th of July. It’s a special time of year for the town because they have the oldest, continuously running parade in the country. Everything is red, white and blue. It’s a beautiful sight to see and one that we always look forward to each year.

Last July I remember being at my parents and just wishing, wishing, wishing my water would break. I was ready (beyond ready) to meet this little one in my belly.
There were a few things I still didn’t know yet:
1. If it was “really” a girl.
2. What she would look like.
3. If she would actually arrive on July 9th (I was praying she’d be a little early b/c it was a scorcher summer!)

I sat at my parents house exactly a year ago feeling VERY big, VERY uncomfortable and VERY ready to meet this Victoria. My mother took a photo of me standing in her backyard with my big belly shadow. It came to be one of the photos I cherished the most out of my pregnancy because it’s a peaceful photo to me. I was standing there just watching the boys, watching them playing with each other. I remember thinking how different it was going to be with the addition of a new baby, but how excited we all were for the adventure.

We went back to my parents last night, and the boys were playing exactly how they did a year ago together. This year we had Victoria running around after them and laughing as they hit the wiffle ball. I kept opening up my arms and she kept running to me, just a delight! I started lifting her up into the air and was playing with her… it was then that I noticed our shadow and remembered the photo from last year.

I asked my mom to come over and snap a photo.

I love the photos side by side.

I’m going to be honest, I don’t take the time always to take it all in.

I just don’t and I hate to admit that.

The last year has gone by too fast. It’s been a flash. It’s been tons of beautiful moments that I haven’t taken the time to really take in because we’ve been so busy.

I’m taking the time right now.

I’m taking it all in.

Last year I didn’t know just how much joy and happiness Victoria was going to bring us. I didn’t know the need and the true want that I had somewhere deep inside for yearning for a daughter. I didn’t know how funny and beautiful my little Victoria was just going to be. I didn’t know that she would have the most adorable voice and the bluest of eyes and the blondest of hair. I didn’t know she would have a special and beautiful birthmark on her perfect little head. I didn’t know she’d have a mouthful of teeth and little feet that were walking before she turned 1. I didn’t know how much her brothers would truly adore her and just melt at her every smile and word. I didn’t know that my husband would be total mush around her. I didn’t know the love, the love, the love that I would feel when she sees me coming and puts her arms out. I had forgotten how worried I used to get about first falls and first bites and first fevers. Everything has been in forward motion this year, but it’s been a year that I will cherish and love and remember forever.

Life is funny, we get so busy and so crazy and so caught up in work and activities, that sometimes… just sometimes… all we need to do is stop and just take it all in. Just take a mental check in on life and embrace the beauty and the love and the moments. My mom has always told me to embrace the ordinary moments. The moments that aren’t earth-shattering, but the ones that mean so much. It’s watching TV together on a Friday night. It’s looking into Victoria’s room and watching her taking a nap. It’s watching the boys doing their homework. It’s watching my husband watering his garden. Ordinary moments. They are the moments that make up life and bring so much love and joy.

I didn’t know what my life was going to be like exactly from a year ago today, but I’ll tell you what… I feel blessed for all the moments and all that has come.

Today… yup, today… I’m taking it all in.