Archer turned 2 on Thursday and naturally I was a wonky ball of emotion. So many feels as I survey the road behind us that got us here.

Specifically I thought about all the people who’ve had a part in getting us here. I thought about the doctors at Mayo Clinic seven years ago who helped me overcome that terrible illness through surgery. I thought about my precious OB who walked with me through several miscarriages and finally to Archer’s triumphant delivery. I thought about the girlfriends who held my hand while I cried, wanting a baby so bad it hurt. My mom, who bought me an obscene amount of new underwear for my 33rd birthday (ahem – it worked, Mom!). And the friends who texted all throughout my pregnancy to encourage me and pray for me while I grew that tiny baby in my belly and struggled with the fear that it might all go away like it had so many times before. The family members, the grandparents, the cousins. It’s the nursery workers at church, his Mother’s Day Out teachers, his brother’s class at school who love on him. The sleep consultant who literally saved our lives this past summer. It’s all these people and so many more I know I’m forgetting to get us where we are. And as cornball as it sounds, it really does take a village. We aren’t meant to do this alone.

I look at that rambunctious squawky now-two-year-old and I am convinced of the miracle that each life is.

Archer’s favorite things: Disney Cars, sippy cups of milk first thing in the morning, new shoes, Jude, Daddy, basketball, riding his bike and his little tikes car, Nickels, dogs in general.

Things Archer says: dog, mommy, daddy, Ju-Ju, school, Archie, bye-bye daddy, baby, please, hi, MORE!MORE!MORE!, MINE(!)