Baby turns one!

Today is Sebastian's first birthday...how is this possible?? I can't believe that at 10:01 a.m. a year ago, he made his much anticipated arrival! I really can't believe he's been a part of our family for an entire year, even though sometimes it feels longer! And I definitely can't imagine life without him!

This week, I have enjoyed looking back at the (literally) hundreds of photos I took during Sebastian's first year, and couldn't help but smile at the last picture I took on June 18, 2014:

And the very next one...taken on June 19, 2014!

I love all of my kids' birth stories, but it's hard to top my mom arriving from Virginia at 4:30 p.m., spending time at the pool with her and the kids, enjoying a salmon and cous cous dinner, getting a little sleep, going into labor around 4:30 a.m., and then holding a beautiful new baby shortly after breakfast time. What joy!

We arrived at the hospital knowing that our baby boy would be named Sebastian--a classic, but not overused international name that we've loved for years, but his middle name (James) was not official until hours after he was born. He was our biggest baby of the three (nearly a full pound bigger than Sammy!). And we loved our first 48 hours with him in the hospital...soaking up our new little person AND watching World Cup soccer! How fun to think back...

One minute after Sebastian arrived, my friend Lauren sent me an e-mail that read, "How are you? Checking in!" She is seriously psychic. Auntie B actually hitchhiked from Dayton Airport to the hospital (thanks to a kind resident of Madeira, Ohio) just so she could get to her new nephew more quickly. (She has promised never to do this again!) And we're happy to report that there were no errors on Sebastian's birth certificate...Brie's had countless mistakes that we had to pay to fix, even though it was the hospital's fault! Ah...great memories...

When they put Sebastian in my arms, he immediately stopped crying. This has been the case pretty much every time since. He smiles with his eyes, and is scared of large furry animals and anyone wearing a Halloween mask (like his big brother!)...but what's the difference when you're a baby?! His mashed up banana each morning is never big enough; Sebastian would be interested in the endless banana, if anybody knows of one!

It's no secret that Sebastian has been the icing on the cake for me and Tony as parents. He's sweet and snuggly. laid-back and kind, ready to play and ready to eat, and always looking for someone to smile at. Knowing that he's our last baby has made this year that much more delicious for us, and watching the big kids spoil him and vice versa has only made parenthood sweeter.

In honor of our little guy turning one, I put together a slideshow of photos from his first year. I've included the pictures I snapped on his "monthly birthday"...always in his crib alongside the first official gift we received for "Baby Sebastian": a stuffed lion from my parents good friends Sue and Bert Ross. (I seem to have missed the first month...no surprise given that I was most certainly suffering from New Mom (again) Delirium.) Enjoy!

To my sweet son who crawls over to me just so he can rest his head on my body; to the little brother who generates smiles and laughter simply by being in the room; and to the little man who always reaches for his dad when he sees him, we say, "Happy 1st Birthday, Sebastian!"

P.S.  Today is also the three-year anniversary of us being in our Montgomery home. Time really does fly!