One year on

A couple of weeks ago, N & I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We had a fantastic day - we dropped the baby off with her grandparents and then legged it into town for the matinee of Monty Python's Spamalot in the West End. We were originally going to see this on Broadway on our honeymoon, but as I was 10 weeks pregnant, I thought that the 7 hour flight to NY would be a bad idea, as I would either have had to be drugged to the eyeballs or I would be in full panic mode for the entire time!

After the show (which was EXCELLENT - if we can find an excuse/babysitter to see it again, we will) we went back to a local hotel; in fact the one we had our wedding reception in. As part of our wedding package, they gave us a free anniversary meal, so we stayed the night as well. This is no doubt the marketing ploy they are hoping for, but a night out is so rare, and last year we were (well, I was) too exhausted to enjoy being in a swanky suite.

The following morning we had a lie-in - we only got up at 8am! After a lovely breakfast, we opened our cards and presents in the hotel room and then went shopping without the baby. We went to pick her up in the late morning, stayed for lunch and then headed home mid-afternoon as the other grandparents were popping over. All in all, we had a fabulous weekend.

It was lovely; not only getting the "time off" to ourselves, but looking back over the year, remembering the fantastic wedding day we had and realising how lucky we are in our lives. After the huge changes that have happened to us, we are so aware of how much we value the support we have from our wonderful friends and family. And for two people who are incredibly shy and find new social situations very difficult, we have a great deal of people who care for us - we are truly rich in the only way that matters to us.

I know that this sounds wishy-washy, but I honestly believe that we can give our daughter no greater gift than the loving and supportive environment we live in.