Gabriel Joseph

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Tonight I took a little time to soak up the memories of our past year with Gabriel. And yes, I mean soak. My mom has always said that doing dishes is therapeutic for her. I always knew that in many ways dishwashing did fall in to one of my ‘thinking places’ (right along with the shower and the car) but by far not my favorite and definitely not a chore I would seek out just to have some quality processing time…I think a bubble bath is more of my style.

But tonight after a ‘multiple-dish-cooking-dinner-night’ it was time to scrub…and think.

One year ago today I was immersed in a world of heartburn and little elbows jabbing out of my abdomen at whim. I hugged my 18 month old with a nice long distance between our bodies. I would feel tiny hiccups within while working with patients and struggle to maintain composure. I carried around the excitement and anxiety about the great change in my life that was about to take place at any moment. My goodness was it great.

In a world of Sesame, the letter G will always be the greatness that Gabriel has brought to our lives. It seems like just yesterday I was being told by Kelly that we had a son. He was finally here. And now, my little baby is quickly becoming a little boy right before my eyes. Everyday, he is learning new things and mastering some new developmental milestone. I want to remember every moment. For as much as I have been relishing in the past joys this year has brought with Gabriel I find myself thinking ahead to all the amazing new ‘firsts’ in the year to come. By this time next year, I will have a running, talking, energetic boy on my hands so excited to celebrate his birthday with his little friends. It will be here so fast.

I am not one of these people that dreads birthdays. In fact, the minute I buy a calendar I always flip ahead to write it in. I love birthdays, half birthdays and un-birthdays and yet, I really don’t like cake at all. Go figure! Tomorrow, I am so excited to celebrate Gabe’s big day! Molly has worked out some sort of deal with Gabriel that she will open all his presents and ‘show’ them to him. I told her we would discuss her plan in the morning. I’ll let you know how it all pans out.

The dynamic that those two have is amazing…many days it is a headache but I will take all the challenging times for those special moments when I catch them hugging in the other room or when Molly will whisper some special (probably devious) secret in Gabe’s ear and he just laughs (I think because it tickles). For all the struggles a year can bring… the warmth of happy moments can fill the year with such light.

So this weekend will be spent celebrating our always hungry, medium chunky, messy, kissing, groovy little pacifist as he turns one!

Happy Birthday Gabriel! The world is a better place because you are here.

* There are a few volume glitches with the second song so you may need to crank it up! Also, be sure to pause my music on the side...enjoy!

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