My Baby's Turning One

photo credit//Ken Bruggeman

In one week my baby will be ONE. One. Year. Old. Can you imagine?? Where has this year gone?? I'm sort of in denial and also excited about her celebration. It's the strangest thing how it feels like it sneaked up on me as I was planning it the entire time. But it's here. It's inevitable. And I couldn't be more in love with my sweet baby girl.

photo credit//Ken Bruggeman

I'm finally getting around to making a book of the beautiful images we have from Violet's birth. At the suggestion of a photog friend, I'm using Blurb to make a hardbound book for us. But I'm also planning on making a paperback book using Artifact Uprising to give to the wonderful nurses at the hospital and also to my midwife. Artifact Uprising has a sweet {and free} mobile app that allows you to make amazing books from your phone. I really can't wait to try it out. I thought it would be nice to let my nurses and midwife see the images that were taken that day and also to see the beautiful little one-year-old girl that Violet has become. My doctors' walls are plastered with images of infants, but rarely do you see the older kids they become. So ever since I first looked at the images from Violet's birth, I knew this was what I wanted to do.

It has been so emotional and wonderful reminiscing on the magical day that Violet was born. I loved re-reading her birth story and remembering our day through the beautiful images Ken was able to capture for us. I'm so grateful to have them. And most of all, I'm so grateful to have her. She's the perfect addition to our family and we can't imagine life without her.

Traditions

This past Sunday, we picked out and chopped down our Christmas tree. Burke is now at an age where these adventures are exciting and he looks forward to these special moments with gusto. I loved being together as a family and watching him drink in the whole experience. He's at a very special age where events start becoming memories and he cracks me up every time he starts a sentence with "Mama, you remember…?" So many of the conversations between my hubby and me center around the traditions we want to start with our family. We talk about the traditions that were important to us over the years and talk about how we want to incorporate or change or make new ones with our kids. Traditions are important for so many reasons. They build relationship within our family. They foster identity and purpose and they give us reason to celebrate. And perhaps the most special part of traditions is that they give us cause to remember. As Burke was helping Ben string the lights on our tree last night, I overheard the sweetest thing. Ben was telling Burke about his grandparents whom Burke never had the opportunity to meet. And he was fondly recalling traditions and relationships and memories that he held close to his heart. And as he "helped" string the lights, Burke listened and absorbed and created a memory that will become a tradition.

What are some of the traditions your family shares?