About a year late

My dear sweet Xander,

I (your mommy) decided I wanted to write letters to you as you grow and let you know how happy your dad and I are to have you and let you know how fun it is to have you.

I started almost a year late! You were born on November 21, 2008 and I just now decided to do this. I think the way I will do this is start with recounting things that have happened over the last 10 1/2 months and then write you letters going forward.

Lets start with before you were born.

Dad and I weren't actually planning on having you when we did. We wanted kids at some point but didn't really know when we would be ready. Even though we weren't expecting you, when we found out I was pregnant we were super excited! From the very beginning we knew how much we wanted you and loved you already!

The pregnancy wasn't too bad overall, but the anticipation about killed me! We found out that you were a boy at about 20 weeks, but we already knew you were a boy in our minds. We just had a feeling about you. We had your name picked out before we knew that you were a boy, and you if you would have been a girl, we probably would have named you Piper Elizabeth.

You were born about 3 weeks early on a Friday. When we left for the hospital, it was only about 15 degrees outside - super cold! I still wore flip flops though since my feet were so swollen that I couldn't fit them in normal shoes.

I had a c-section and you were born pretty quick! You needed a little help with oxygen when you first came out but you were a chunky little monkey and healthy otherwise!

The first day or two was a blur just because I was so tired and was on medication for the pain. It was amazing just to have you here and we were so in love with you right away.

We brought you home on Monday but ended up taking you back to the hospital the next day because you had jaundice. You had to stay overnight and then we left on Wednesday and were home for good. Thanksgiving was Thursday of that week and that was a blur too because I was still in a fog a little bit and in pain.

As the weeks went on things came into focus more and more and we fell into a routine and I loved having you! There were times that we were frustrated with how much you cried at night and a few times you even made me cry because I was frustrated, but we loved you no matter what and still do.

It is so fun seeing you grow and change and we can't believe that you are almost a year old! It is almost sad how quick you have grown but we just love every minute we get to spend with you and cherish your little life more than you know!

I am excited to write to you and let you know how you are changing and growing and becoming more and more fun every day! This post is about the past but all of the posts in the future will be about the present!

I love you!

Love, Mommy :)