April 24, 2007
To Anna on your first birthday,

Today you are one year old. It is a Tuesday and your dad and I have been eating nothing but chocolate cake and macaroni salad since Sunday. We had a little party for you and we have leftovers. Your Uncles, cousins, and Mimi came over to watch you rip the wrapping paper off your presents and squish your hands into a big piece of cake (the one I made for you was lemon with blueberry filling and whipped cream for frosting). Once you figured out how messy it was you only used one hand, being very careful not to get the other one covered with squish and goo. You definitely did not stick your face into it like some kids. You are very good at eating. However, when we finally took the cake off your high-chair tray we found that you had dropped a large mound of soggy cake in between your bare legs. You were taken immediately from your chair to the bathtub.

A year ago today I was lying in a hospital bed all drugged up watching your dad lay next to me on a couch, snoring. When the nurses came in to put in my catheter (I'll explain that one later) I was afraid he would wake up and be grossed out so we put a pillow over his head. He didn't notice or wake up. We left for the hospital around 2 am and you weren't born until 1:30 in the afternoon. It was a beautiful sunny day and I had a view from my hospital room of the sunrise peaking out over the Husky Stadium. It was so bright I had to have someone close the blinds. I also remember while laying there essentially alone, aside from your sleeping father, Walker Texas Ranger was on T.V. and I couldn't move any of my important parts so I couldn't change the channel. What a crappy show.

We didn't know if you would be a boy or a girl. Not because we wanted the surprise, you were just so healthy inside there that we didn't need to do more than one ultrasound. We spent a really long time trying to think of names. At first I wanted to call you Olivia but it was the third most popular girls name at the time. I would go shopping and every mother I saw pushing around a stroller would say "Look over here Olivia," "Olivia Isn't it pretty" and etc. It made me want to throw up into my coffee cup and so I decided I would not name you Olivia. We didn't have any names for you if you were a boy. Not any serious ones. So, a couple days before you were born I asked your dad if he like the name Anna Elizabeth, and he said yes. So, when we got to the hospital the first thing they ask

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