Happy Birthday Annie Bree!!

WOW! I can't believe Bree is ONE! It has gone by so fast! As I have been thinking about the past year I can't help but be emotional. I found this little excerpt from a little journal I had written in a year ago....

Bree-

when you were first born I got to hold you for about an hour and then they took you to the nursery. They ended up keeping you there so I didn't get to see you again until late that night (almost 20 hours later). they wheeled me down to the nursery in a wheelchair to see you. They had you under some oxygen and I reached out to take your tiny little hand adn you immediately wrapped your tiny fingers around mine and held on tight. It brought me to tears because I had been so worried about you and so anxious to hold you, and I knew that you knew I was there.

As I have been thinking about the day Bree was born, I have reflected on what a different feeling it is to look back now. We were so nervous and scared for what might lie ahead with this sweet little spirit and although I still don't know what is in store, I know that whatever it is it will be ok because of who she is! She has brought so much to our lives and to our home already in this short year and I can't imagine my life without her, and I can't imagine her any other way! She is just Bree! I feel so grateful for her incredibly good health! When she was born we were told that she would probably have to see ear and vision specialists, she would probably be sick more often, adn there was a 50/50 chance of heart defects, and she has proved them all wrong! She has only had one ear infection (which was last week) and she has been very healthy, she has not had to see any specialists for health concerns, and her heart turned out to be fine too. I know we have been blessed with her good health! She has also reached many milestones already- this year she learned to roll over, sit up on her own, eat baby food, take a bottle, hold little things in her fingers, reach for and grab toys, and now she is trying SO hard to figure out the crawling thing! She can get up on her hands and knees but she can't figure out how to make herself move from that position yet. I often think how grateful I am that our Father in Heaven is in charge and has a plan for each of us because if I was in charge I may have missed out on alot. Bree has brought a new spirit to our lives and I often feel inadequate to be her mother, but very grateful for the opportunity!

Things I love about Bree and what she has taught me:

1. Her contagious SMILE-you can't help but smile when she lights up! No matter what is going on in my day/life, a smile from Bree tells me we can make it.


2. Her laugh!


3. The way she makes this cute little sucking sound on her blanket, or your shirt when she is tired.


4. the way she wakes up-she never cries when she wakes up, she just lays there talking and then when I come in she just smiles her big smile!


5. she has taught me not to take little things for granted-as I watch her concentrate and try so hard to do little things like reach for a toy, or try to crawl I realize how much work these things take for her and each milestone is such an accomplishment.


6. Her cheesy smile!


7. Her "SO BIG"


8. Her spitting/tongue tricks


9. She has taught me to not to judge or poke fun at differences


10. She has shown me that she is not disabled, she is just differently-abled


11. The way she cuddles


12. The way her sisters adore her


13. How she plays with her feet and can bend herself in all sorts of directions


14. kyra said "i love her because she is nice, she likes to play with me, and I love her because she loves me."


15. Adrie said "i love her because she shares her toys with me and smiles at me"
16. Dad said "I love how she makes me smile even when I am in a bad mood!"


17. She has taught me that down syndrome is something she has-but is NOT who she is!


18. she is patient and easy going and I am trying to learn to be more like her in that way


19. Her bright blue eyes


20. the way she gets excited when she sees her bottle


21. Bree-we love you just the way you are

Bree in the hospitalBree spent her time in the nursery under this light and got to wear this sweet mask.Bree, mom and dad getting ready to take Bree home from the hospital.
Mom and Bree Bree- 1 month oldBree 2 months old and finally off her oxygen! YEAH!



3 months old

6 months old9 months old- her famous "superman" move.
ONE YEAR OLD!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET ANNIE BREE! WE LOVE YOU!