"On the night you were born,
The moon smiled with such wonder
That the stars peeked in to see you
And the night wind whispered,
"Life will never be the same."
Because there had never been anyone like you... ever in the world."

OK, so to be fair, you were born at 7:43 AM. But let's get to the story of the day you were born.

We had a scheduled C-section for Monday, September 22nd. Daddy and I had to wake up very early to get checked in at the hospital. The night before we went to Grandma & Grandpa's house in Mukwonago for dinner and said our tearful goodbyes to your brother and our little family of 3.

They were tears of sadness at the thought of leaving your brother for a few days. Tears of anxiety for not knowing how much our lives were about to change. And, most importantly, tears of happiness for knowing that we were so much closer to meeting our little boy or girl and growing our amazing family.

As I said, we arrived at the hospital very early that morning. We got checked in, taken to our room and waited for the doctors and nurses to get everything prepped and ready in the operating room so that you could make your appearance.

Before we knew it, it was go time!

Momma walked to the operating room and daddy got suited up in his scrubs so that he could join me a little while later. The doctors and nurses prepped me for surgery and I remember the room being very cold and very bright. Daddy came in and held my hand and the doctor started the surgery.

As much as I was prepared to become a mom for the second time, nothing could truly prepare me for the amazement and love that I felt for you the instant you came into this world. And having your daddy tell me "It's a boy" is a moment I will never forget. Ever. I cried. There were no tears of sadness or anxiety. This time they were tears of pure joy and love.

And you cried, too. You made sure the world knew you were here from the moment you were born.

Daddy was the first one to hold you...

 And he brought you over to introduce us. And then I cried more.

And finally, momma got to hold you. And, you guessed it, I cried again.

We finished up in the operating room and made our way back to our room. While we were there we talked for a little while about your name. We had sort of decided on it before you were born but then my pregnancy hormones kept making me waffle over whether or not it was the one that would fit you best. Also, I was mostly convinced you'd be a girl so we had only a couple of boy names selected and a lot of girl names.

Ultimately we decided on a good, strong, traditional, family name. And it suits you perfectly.

John Edward. John after your daddy (Erik John) and your late great grandfather (Grandpa Joe's dad). And you have some great uncles with the name John as well. Edward is after your other great grandfather (Grandma Karen's dad) and, we found out later, that it was your other great grandfather's middle name. All in all there is a lot of strength and history to the name we chose for you.

The first day went by really fast. You nursed well. We slept (a little). And day 2 came.

You got to meet your brother.

 And then Grandma Karen & Grandpa Joe.

 And then Nana Mary and Papa Ralph.

Time flew by in the hospital and on Thursday, September 25, we got the go ahead to come home and start as a family of 4. Here was the last picture in the hospital of just the 3 of us before we went to pick up your brother and introduce you to your new home with us.

 We love you, John Edward. And we are so happy that you are a part of our family.

Today was a special day. Will and I went to lunch together and then went for his very first haircut.

I've been nervous about getting his haircut. Not sure why. I guess it just meant one of those milestones where he was becoming even more of a little boy and less of my baby.

But the mullet had gone long enough. The sweet, adorable, curly-after-his-bath baby mullet.

 I have no idea what was happening in the next picture. But whatever it was, it was hilarious.

He started getting antsy when the trimmers came out but luckily the comb helped get him through it.

And when he was done there were a bunch of ladies hanging out to ooh and ahh over his adorableness. Can you tell he liked the attention?

Good job little man.

PS - You look adorable.

We decided to take our little man to the pumpkin patch on his birthday to pick out his very own pumpkin.

Luckily it was a really nice evening (nice for WI at this time of year, anyway). And Erik was home from work a little earlier than usual.

So, off we went for a quick jaunt to the pumpkin patch!

Apparently pumpkins are funny.

Hanging out with his handsome dad.

 And checking out the big pumpkin with mom.

Check out this handsome little dude. Such a big boy that stands up all by himself.

We had to walk around to find the right pumpkin!

Brace yourself. Be warned. You are about to witness the cutest. child. ever. Who apparently only needed one mitten on in the car since he is one now.

And that was our trip to the pumpkin patch on Will's first birthday!

Our little man turned one last week. And I seriously cannot believe how fast a whole year went by.

He started crawling just shy of 8 months.

Then, after becoming mobile, learned how to sit up at about 9 months.

Took his first official step just a couple of days before 10 months.

And started full on walking just a few days shy of his first birthday.

To say the last few months have been full of milestones and excitement for our family would be a huge understatement.

I sort of fell off the blogging bandwagon with my monthly letters to our little sweetheart because I've been mildly busy chasing him around the house these last 4 months!

He is the sweetest, funniest, cutest little dude I have ever met. He fills my life with smiles and belly laughs just about every single day. And that's in between the crying from the constant teeth cutting and falling down he does as of late. Let's just say that we should have bought stock in Motrin. And should write thank you letters to the company that makes it for helping all of us sleep better at night!

We celebrated Will's first birthday in South Carolina on Sunday, October 6 with our family down there and then again on Sunday, October 27 with family and some friends. We are humbled by the love and generosity of our family and friends and want to say thank you so much for sharing in this special time with us.

And now for some pictures!!

Dinosaur cupcakes in Rock Hill, SC. I had the best helper for frosting and putting on the dinosaurs. Miss Ella (Will's big girl cousin!)

Our little dinosaur in his special birthday onesie.

Family picture time! And it just happened to be Packer Sunday.

He didn't really understand why we were singing to him. And apparently thought I was weird for being so happy.

That didn't stop him from digging right in to his birthday cupcake. Banana muffin with cream cheese frosting. Home made of course. From a box and a can of frosting.

We opened presents. Enjoyed time with family. Watched the Packers game. And flew home the next day. All in all an awesome weekend.

Then, we celebrated Monster style at our house a few weeks later.

I found a picture on Pinterest and my mom made it happen by ordering these adorable cakes from a local cake maker. Holy frosting, batman!

We had to have a smash cake for the occasion. You will see why in a few pictures. Oh, and I wrapped plastic ware with cute napkins and little monster tags. Just call me Crafty Kristin.

I also made some monster door decorations out of card stock and string. We had one here and one on the front door to greet our guests.

A last minute idea that came together with some more of those cute little monster tags, a can, some string and some flowers from the grocery store. Thanks to my nephew for putting them together about 2 minutes before guests arrived!

I hung a wall of balloons and streamers the night before as a backdrop for the birthday boy. Again, thank you Pinterest! One word of advice if you do this? Painter's tape holds up the streamers, but not the balloons. Luckily I learned that and was able to use some clear packing tape after some of my balloons fell of the wall. Such a cute and simple idea that looked nice in the pictures of Will demolishing his cake.

Here he was getting ready to dig in. This kid has no problem with food. And it was cute watching him eat it because he was very slow and systematic about it and wanted to make sure he enjoyed every last bite of frosting and cake.

His cousins had to help him get dirty. He was much more focused on actually eating it. But I'd say he did a pretty darn good job!

These next 2 pictures make me smile. It may have been the sugar. Or it may have been that he just really loves his grandparents. Or it may be because he is such a little ham bone when he has his picture taken. Regardless, his smile in these 2 pictures absolutely melts my heart. I just love this kid so darn much.

After monster cake eating it was bath time and our guests started to make their way home. We didn't open presents at his birthday party in WI and decided to wait until his actual birthday.

But, on his birthday we took him to the pumpkin patch and had pancakes for dinner and before we knew it, it was time for our little birthday boy to go to bed. So then he opened his presents the next night. Luckily he is one and didn't know the difference!

We bought him a radio flyer scooter and let's just say he was a little excited about it. It didn't take him long to get the hang of it. He now pretty much runs around the house with it. And we've only had a few scooter related injuries. I guess we should have gotten him a helmet to go with it! I'm sure we will need one once the weather gets nice and he takes it outside.

Well, that's that! Our monster is one. And he is just the cutest little man in the whole world if you ask me.