One year ago today, Sean and I were enjoying the first days of our trip to Boston and Nantucket. We have taken many trips together, and seen many beautiful places. But there was something special about every moment of this particular trip. Change was in the air, and a new day was beginning.

This was the trip where Max joined our lives.

Every single second of that trip makes me smile. Thinking of the dinners that we shared with Mark and Tanya, the laughter and the evening adventures in Boston. Seeing Natalie and sharing our “remember when” stories of the time that we spent in the same college dorm in SLO. Checking out all of the sights in Boston, from Newbury Street to Faneuil Hall, to the Freedom Trail. We took a road trip with Mark and Tanya to Hyannis, stopping to admire Plymouth Rock along the way. After a night in Hyannis we said goodbye to Mark and Tanya, and took the ferry over to Nantucket. We had a beautiful third floor room at the Veranda House, and it was just as I imagined Nantucket would be.

We went on a 17 mile bike ride around the entire island. And then the next day we went on a shorter ride to the Triple 8 distillery. We took leisurely rides (and some walks) into town. We found new little coffee shops and cozy places for dinner. And when it was time to go home, we took the smallest plane I’ve ever seen (I’m not kidding. We could tap the pilot on the shoulder. And they asked our weight before we got on, because there were only 6 of us in there), and soared up into the bright blue sky, leaving Nantucket behind.

What we didn’t know then, when we were on mile 15 of that amazing bike ride, with the warm wind hitting our faces, was that Max was already with us. When I gripped Sean’s hand in an absolute panic as our tiny plane with the luggage tucked into each wing bounced and bobbled over the water, and my breath caught in my throat because looking out of the windows that surrounded us I could see one of the most gorgeous views I have ever seen…..Max was with us.

And so today, we celebrate our Max-aversary. Because even though Max has been in our arms for 3.5 months, he has been in our lives for an entire year. We imagined him when he was the size of a poppy seed, and willed him to grow big and strong. We laughed when the books said he was the size of an orange, an avocado, a grapefruit. We would lie awake in bed at night and feel him swish and bump in my belly. We would talk to him every day, and I knew his every little rhythm. And then he arrived, and his first yelp as he came from my belly was perhaps the sweetest sound that I will ever hear.

We love you little Max!