Bryce is 1!

Our dear Bryce Forrest turned 1 on July 1. He is one of the happiest, most easy-going people I’ve ever met and has been a lovable cuddle-bug since minute one. He’s so attached to me that it took a couple months for Brian to be able to hold him without him crying. He regularly crawls over to me for hugs and, busy as he is, sometimes still takes a moment to rest his head on my shoulder before moving onto his next task.

He loves the water, putting things in his mouth, laughs and squeals often, and looks up so adoringly to big brother Landon. Although Landon sometimes pesters Bryce in the car, he more often tries to make him laugh. Just yesterday I drove them home to the sounds of squealing, laughing and giggles, and when I looked in the mirror to see what was going on saw them looking and laughing at each other.

At only 1, Bryce already exhibits so much of his father’s personality and I think is going to have Brian’s uniquely colored eyes.

I spent so much of Bryce’s birthday reflecting on the day he was born – how my doctor told me that morning no baby was coming anytime soon, how Brian and I worked a full day before picking up Landon and running errands, how Brian had to pull off the road to get a mouse out of his car, how by the time I realized I was in labor it became almost an emergency to get to the hospital and how Bryce was born just a couple hours after arriving.

Those couple days in the hospital with just the three of us, then bringing Bryce home and having time as a family of four was exhausting, but in hindsight, joyful and wonderful. It is truly life’s greatest tragedy we had less than 9 months as a family of four.

Although my original idea was to have a small party for Bryce, it quickly morphed into a larger event. Brian and I always enjoyed entertaining here and Bryce’s birthday was the last opportunity to do so before we move in a few weeks. Bryce was originally not super impressed with his cupcake, but realized it was pretty fun to squeeze and even put a little bit in his mouth.