Three!? This kid is three!?? HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful little girl. This birthday has certainly hit me the hardest because I no longer see as much resemblance of the chunky little baby I met for the first time 3 years ago. This past year has been one of ups and downs for our family but through it all the constant beacon of hope and happiness has been Finley. This little girl is truly the sweetest kid and has such a pure and gentle soul. Somehow when things in the world don’t seem to make much sense she smiles and everything else fades away. I am the luckiest mama in the entire universe and I know her daddy feels the same about being her dad.
This year has been full of firsts for every family and with both of us working from home we have seen so much growth in every aspect of Fin’s personality and her interests. Everyone always says that things change so much that first year but never mention much about the following years. That is very true, but this year I have seen change and growth that has been night and day and it has been so exciting. While this year has been the most challenging, I think it also has become my favorite in that we have been able to watch her come into her own and learn something new everyday. Her independence and feisty spirit and her eagerness to be in the action as much as possible is truly awesome. I will never forget the first unprompted “I love you” or the first full movie we watched together snuggled up and cozy on the couch. I am thankful for a smooth potty training journey and transition to her big kid bed, and for finally being able to take a shower while she plays independently in her room. While she may have totally ditched her naps, we did get to take our first girls trip and spent a lot of fantastic nights in hotels and survived our longest road trip like a champ. I have also loved that while I see her every single second since birth, her daddy has also been able to witness the day to day growing up and am thankful that having both parents home has made vocab sky rocket. They call it threenager for a reason hahah!! Because this girl is a chatty one like her mommy! ;) But most of all this year has brought us both a mutual love for gardening and have spent hundreds of hours outside in the dirt planting and caring for our little plant babies and watching them grow together. I think our gardening hobby has really been my favorite part of this year. It has helped me heal and grieve the family we had once planned for and embrace the unbreakable bond that has developed between this little girl and I.
This year for photos I really tried to do them a few months early JUST in case I ran out of time. They were everything I had hoped for and some of my faves. BUT then she grew and started to look different and I was back to square one haha!! I am so lucky to have an amazing friend with a GORGEOUS garden who let us wander around and capture Fin in her element. I managed to capture both her tomboy side as well as her in a frilly dress. :) There is so much left to edit but hey who has time these days :) Thanks for following along this year! Happy Birthday Finley we love you!!
