One year ago today, at this time, I was sitting in a bed in the local hospital, having been brought there, by ambulance, hours earlier with the newly-hatched Eliza. I think, at this point, I was still waiting for the trailer park faction occupying the other half of the room to leave -- WHY the woman was being discharged at 10:30 p.m. I have never figured out. Eliza was still in the nursery having her body temperature and blood sugar stabilized. I think it was closer to 11 p.m., possibly a bit after, when they brought her to me.

365 days, thousands of diapers, pathetically few hours of sleep and a million smiles later, here we are: a happy family of five who wouldn't know what to do without our littlest member. I'm so glad she chose us, and she seems to feel the same, for she followed me around all day today proclaiming, "Mama. Mama." repeatedly. She has been making that sound before today but I've never really been sure if she meant me or not. There's no denying it now, though.

Happy birthday, baby Eliza. You've got my heart and all my affection (and my good nights' sleeps, but we'll talk about that some other time).