Winter Wonderland | Harper's 1st Birthday

Can we take a second and relish in the fact that I - me - has a one year old. I mean REALLY.

They say time flies when you're having fun, which is true - but I'm also sure time flies when you're flying by the seat of your pants on a daily basis trying to figure this whole parenting thing out. I went back and forth so much about Harper's theme for her party. And actually - I was completely against the Winter Wonderland concept because I felt like it was too seasonal. With a December birthday - it's hard around Christmas anyway - so I was trying to avoid it. But you know, when Hobby Lobby has those 50% off sales on winter decor, you stop worrying about being that basic parent and start being a thrifty parent. So. Winter Wonderland theme it was. And honestly - I loved how it turned it. After all, the girl is only one and will never remember this day to begin with.  It was cute and fun and since it was the week before Christmas, it was fitting with all our Christmas decorations in the house anyway. Harper was too funny - she really could have cared less who was there (we kept it small) - she really only noticed everybody when we all sang 'happy birthday' - twice (because my grandmother missed the first one). Pretty sure the song was her favorite part of the whole day. Presents, she could have cared less about. Funny how that works... :) Everybody who came was so sweet and kind for taking time to celebrate our sweet girl and her big milestone. We loved having everybody with us, especially our little one year old Harpie.

One Year Down

Ok. So this is kinda funny.

And that's really all we could do at the time - laugh.

Do you ever just get a vision?

A vision on how you want your family pictures to look and feel.

It'll be PERFECT - in your mind.

My vision for Harper's one year pictures were at a Christmas tree farm.

I saw a super cute one (not really in our area) that I wanted to go to.

I took off work. We drove two hours in rush hour traffic with a one year old.

Only to realize me and Ashley didn't communicate very well with our plans for these pictures.

We searched for her and searched - the people who worked there looked at us like we were crazy.

And finally, we realized that Ashley was at a different Christmas tree farm.

A Christmas tree farm right near our house - two hours away. Ha. Ha.

Instead of panicking, we laughed.

Me and Ashley are always on the same page, so this was just a crazy miscommunication.

Mostly on my part for not expressing my Christmas tree farm vision very clearly.

I thought about rescheduling, but you see - the problem with having a baby born in December, the weather kinda sucks. And our options were limited. 

So, we both rushed to common ground before the sun went down, and Ashley managed to snag some super cute pictures of Harper a couple weeks before she turned one. I'm pretty sure any other photographer in the world would have killed me. But she's my best friend for a reason.

And. Holy Christmas trees. My child is ONE.

 

One Year Old | Harper Bug

Cue the tears.

My baby - my six pound, thirteen ounce baby - is one.

All the sleepless nights, screams, dirty diapers have made this the most difficult year, but the best, most rewarding year of my entire life.

Blessed to be her mom is the understatement of the century.

I love that girl more than life itself.

Happy Birthday Harper Bug.

We love you.

Christmas Joy

Harper got to pick out her first Christmas tree! One day, I hope to go to a Christmas tree farm and make that a tradition - but our local hardware store was what worked this year. :) She was more excited about riding in a buggie that allowed her to face forward (she hates the backwards facing ones - go figure). And we ended up finding the perfect tree in the cold and drizzle.