Happy Birthday, baby boy...

A year ago tonight, I was fast asleep in my bed.  Okay....probably not fast asleep as I was big and fat and uncomfortably pregnant with Samuel Parker!  I had no idea that in just a couple of short hours, I would wake up and think I had peed my pants....go back to sleep and wake up again....still thinking I had peed my pants a second time but deep down really knowing better.  We called my mother-in-law and off we went at 12:30 a.m. to St. Mary's Hospital.  There, the nurses confirmed that indeed it was not a case of a weak bladder, but rather my water had broken! 

At 9:37 a.m., March 22, 2010, we welcomed Samuel Parker Armsworthy into this world.  He was out within a push and a half.  I just remember thinking he was so tiny.  7 lb isn't really THAT tiny but he was such a little peanut!  I just remember looking at his wide little nose and thinking....."Man, he looks just like Dad!"

And a year later, that pretty much still stands true.  You'll be hell bent to find someone who DOESN'T say that he looks just like my dad or my brother.  And when you hear someone say that, you'll never get a bigger smile out of me.

I can't believe that I want to cry while sitting here writing this.  My little boy will be 1....ONE!  There is something so special about a Mommy and her little boy, and I never would've believed it until I had my son.  The best thing is that now he walks around saying, "Momma, momma."  Oh, talk about melting your heart! 

This year has been filled with the greatest sadness I have ever known....and the greatest happiness.  I find it hard to grasp the fact that my dad only got to see the first six months of Parker's life here on earth.  He missed Halloween...Christmas...his first birthday.  He was able to experience all of those things with Gracen and Gracen was able to experience them all with him.  I can't help but to think that Samuel Parker has been cheated out of one of the greatest blessings ever....getting to know his Poppy. 

And then I glance over at him....two little bottom teeth and a smile that would light up the room, and I think....I know that Dad lives on IN Samuel Parker.  I realize what a special thing it is that my little boy carries on the name of his grandfather AND great-grandfather.  I know that people smile when they see Sammy Parker because he reminds them of dad....he is gentle and approachable...and has a chuckle that would melt anyone's heart. 

Thank you, Samuel Parker Armsworthy, for being such a joyous, sweet, kind, loving, and handsome little boy.  You are loved soooooooooooo very much!