Happy Birthday Leah!

I can't believe it has been one year since my precious baby was born! I can still remember every second of giving birth to her and our hospital stay...and every day, week, and month following that. Leah was born at 1:17 pm so in about 2 hours we will say it's official! I remember thinking that 1 year seemed like so long and I couldn't imagine what she would be like. Well, it went so fast, now I want it to slow down! Leah is already talking and walking. It is absolutely amazing how much a little human being can grow in just one year. I've never experienced a birthday of one of my children before, it is definitely different. I feel happy, sad, proud, hopeful and crazy all at the same time! Now I can say I know how a parent feels...kind of like I want to cry! boo hooo. This whole past week has been emotion as every day I think "last year at this time I was...". Since I was a week overdue, I remember I was starting to get depressed and SO anxious to meet my baby. I was looking back at my blog posts from that time and I was soooo over being pregnant. I was about to give up! I guess that wasn't really a possibility but it's crazy that this time brings back those memories. Then, of course there are the memories of the first time I laid eyes on her. I can safely say that was THE most amazing moment of my life. Craaaazy. Anyways, today I think we are going to head to the wading pool so Leah can take a dip, swimming is one of her favorite things! Here is a picture of the birthday girl I took today. One of her new things is putting everything on her head, taking it off, and then bringing it to me so I can put it back on her head. Silly kid! I also made her a birthday cake, of course she loved it, haha!

Eclipse!

I am switching gears for a moment and using my blog to write down some of my thoughts on the new movie in the Twilight Saga. I know you are probably sick of hearing about it, but I saw Eclipse last night and I loved it! I am going to be one of those Twilight dorks for a minute! I know a lot of you will understand and many of you may also be rolling your eyes. Hey, I always say, don't knock it til you try it haters! Anyway, as a person who has read the books and loved them, I was not too impressed with the first Twilight movie. I thought a lot of character development, plot development, and acting talent was missing. The second in the series, New Moon, was a little better in terms of story development and actors. I was impressed this time! Here are a few reasons why...

1. The cast (especially Kristin Stewart) must have been taking some acting lessons recently. Much less hair pulling and lip biting. Good job kiddo. I actually wasn't distracted by horrible acting. She was much more relatable and actually seemed a little sweet, which is not usual.

2. The producers did a much better job of not leaving out important character stories and other plot lines that are important to the story. I didn't feel the urge to yell out "but what about ____?!" (some important plot point in the book). They crammed a lot into this movie!

3. I love the wolves...that is all

4. Even though I can only handle so much love cheesiness, the "lovey" moments between Edward and Bella are essential to the story, I guess I can do.

5. The actor that plays Bella's dad, Charlie, really captures the essence of his personality in the book and brings some humor to the story. Good job guy.

6. I'm throwing in something I don't like... there is one character who shares the name of my baby, Leah. I decided to name my baby that BEFORE I read the book. They didn't go into real detail of her character but basically, no one really likes her. Way to go me.

7. In the book, the "fight" scene is much longer and actually got a little boring to read. They cut it way shorter in the movie and left in the good stuff, like breaking off the heads of vampires. Thank you.

8. Another thing that I don't like. Dakota Fanning. Really? She is supposed to be scary and intimidating. When I think scary and intimidating, the LAST person I think of is Dakota Fanning. I think of annoying, precocious young girl. There are many other actors that I think would have played that part better, sorry Dakota.

9. And lastly, the lady sitting next to us with the 3 year old AND nursing her newborn at a 9:15 showing is way braver than I.

That's all for now, call me dork if you will. I'm secure with myself. Add more if you would like!