One year ago tomorrow, I entertained my hunch and took the fateful test…two pink lines and the thought of being “Mommy” suddenly at my fingertips. I put the evidence away and went back to bed, wanting to share the news with Jason at the exact right moment. I still remember my anticipation that morning as we sat in church together–all of the hope I’d ever carried about our someday family welling up inside of me like a balloon waiting to burst! I don’t know how I didn’t say a word about it ALL day long.

The next morning, I called the Dr’s. office. When the nurse came on the line, I think I said something like, “Well, I took a test yesterday and it was positive. I think I’m pregnant. What do I do next?” It felt like such a relief to tell someone, although I never even caught her name. She scheduled a few appointments, called in a prenatal script and gave me a preliminary due date over the phone (I still laugh at that part a little now). And then I headed off to work with plans to make a few stops on the way home before dinner.

That night, as we sat down to eat, I was completely emotional and trying to hide it. I didn’t last long. Instead, I brought out the wrapped box and card I’d gotten for J earlier that afternoon and set them on the table. “Just a little something, you know. For because.” I’d been plotting the gift since our time in Africa. Everywhere we went, I’d seen them sitting on shelves, waiting to be purchased for families with three, four, five, six members. I knew we’d need one someday, and “someday” had finally arrived:

With the sculpture, a card:

...a work of grace...

And on the inside, it read:

“Jason Michael, What are your plans for September 27th at 4pm? How about Tulip Time 2011?”

Those few minutes at the dining room table are etched in my memory for a lifetime.

And so we began the journey. All of the preparations. The excitement. The planning. The nausea. The announcement. What a wild ride!

Tonight, we sit at the same dining room table before bed, eating bowls of Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream with a four month old sound asleep upstairs. From two pink lines to two pink cheeks and two perfect hands and two tiny feet. So much love has grown in this space since then, and so much baby, too:

He is everything we dreamed about…and so much more!

changed by 365 days. one at a time.

mm