Anna's 1st Birthday

Our little Anna Pea turned ONE on Monday.  I'm a little bit in denial that she's so big already.  I have enjoyed looking back over pictures from her first year and reading posts about how she came into the world and brightened our lives so profoundly.  When I think back to life a year and two days ago, I can hardly believe the redeeming work God has done in our hearts through Anna.  Anna has been an agent of healing in ways I never dreamed possible.  God has used her to mend parts of my heart that I thought would always be broken.  She has eased the pain in our souls, and though no one can erase our longing for Samuel, she has softened the sorrow and soothed the ache in miraculous ways.

It is so easy to delight in Anna, in her smile, her dimple, her fun-loving nature, her teasing ways, her from-the-gut giggle, her four little teeth, her love for her brothers, her gleeful exclamations of "Da-DAH!" when Bryan comes home, her "Mom-MEE" when she wants something, her adoration of Bunny, her happy claps, her sign language "all done" and "more," the way she devours food in epic proportions, and the way she takes her left sock off at the end of every meal.  I love everything about Anna, our little birthday girl.  She is an incredible gift from God, and there is no way I could ever thank Him enough for entrusting her to us.

Momma and the Birthday Girl

The Birthday Girl with her daddy

Anna finding out what Daddy's nose says

Bryan's owl cake.  It's the Anna owl from Bryan's painting but with her eyes open now.

Cake hands

She loves cake.

Getting every last morsel in