730 Days of Spit & Vinegar....

730 days ago {I wrote this on July 27th but just posting now, so bear with me mathematicians} my entire world changed...I went to sleep that night, large, hot, probably irritated with Craig & and definitely not expecting a baby boy...

Noal's due date was August 17th but like all things Noal, he did what he wanted & he wanted out...21 bloody, excruciating hours of labour, passing out & almost needing a blood transfusion & rips & tears I squirm even now thinking about - and voila, my darling baby boy...

There really is nothing quite like the euphoria, I felt once he was in my arms...I'll never forget that feeling...Even now when I rock him to sleep or snuggle in with him, I try to capture those feelings of pure love, pure thankfulness that this beautiful baby boy is mine...

In a way it feels like he's been here forever, I have a hard time remembering life before Noal...He's such a part of me now its hard to separate what it felt like when he wasn't here...

I remember on his first birthday thinking more than anything, that I wish you could pause life...That right in that moment my world was so perfect...Little did I know what the next year would hold for me, for Noal, for us...On his first birthday all I knew was I had a beautiful baby boy, was 4.5 months pregnant with our second child & life was good...Never would I have guessed all that followed...

This past year has held some of the greatest challenges for me to date- Yet it also has yielded some of the greatest moments of happiness in my life...

Watching Noal grow into the little boy he is now, has been absolutely amazing, don't-know-what-day-it-is tiring & at times uncontrollably hilarious...Take yesterday at the park when he had some ladies gathered around listening to a "story" about "his slide"...

He is everything I hoped for in a child...He's spunky, loving, determined, courageous, kind, sassy, funny, confident, sweet & oh so happy...He's the child I dreamed about...He's the child I knew I'd have- right full of spit & vinegar- and I love him more than I even really understand...

Here's some of my absolute fav pics the last 730 days...