Happy First Birthday NORA!

Nora Ligon Bass,

I can't believe you are one year already.  It's all going so fast and your first year has flown by to me.  I was looking at pictures from the day of your birth and I read the letters that people wrote to you in the waiting room as they were waiting for your arrival.  And I went back to that day, one year ago.  We were calm, we were excited, and we all wanted to know if you were a boy or a girl!   Keeping your sex a surprise was so much fun but it got really hard on us at the end.  We just couldn't wait to meet YOU! 

All of the letters I read had a similar theme and it was, You are so loved.  Before anyone had laid eyes on you, you were loved.  That love has just exploded and multiplied over and over throughout this year. My love for you will never stop growing, never.  I'm experiencing it with your brother also so I know it's true.  As I think of words to describe you Nora, they are; beautiful, joyful, affectionate, innocent, loving, loyal, fun, spunky, independent, adaptable, tough, determined, smart, adventurous, fearless, a true gift from above.

The world is a different, better place because you are here.  Just ask your daddy, he noticed yesterday that our hydrangea bush in the front yard has always produced blue flowers but for the first time this summer, it's blooming a couple of pink (purple) flowers.  He said that is because of you.  He is putty in your hands.    He can't even look at you without smiling, and the feeling is mutual.  You try to get to him as fast as you can when he gets home from work, and first thing in the morning.  You have special places in each other's hearts. You say DaDa all day long.  Most of the time it's Dada, but a lot of the time now it's turned to Day-Day and that is for your brother.  You go throughout the house trying to find him and when you do, you squeal.  You try to climb in his bed, get in his lap, play with his trucks and toys and he delights you.  He's pretty crazy about you too, and hugs you and just says your name in the sweetest voice.  He told me a couple days ago he's so happy to have a baby.  Your bond is a special one and one I hope to see strengthen over time.  I love and cherish my siblings, and I hope you do as well. 

Nora, all of your family love you. Your grandparents, great-grandmothers, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends adore you. I also love you more than you can imagine.  I'm so thankful for you.  Thankful you are exactly who you are.  Thankful the doctor shouted "It's a girl" in that delivery room one year ago. Thankful I get to try to make your life and your childhood the best it can be and watch you grow and blossom more each year.  Thankful God chose me. Being you and your brother's mother is the greatest honor of my life. 

Happy 1st Birthday to you, baby girl!! And MANY MORE!