i know that the first birthday is a really big deal. a REALLY big deal. but i didn't know i would have so many emotions around it. i have been talking about it for weeks. "can you believe it?" and "our baby is all grown up!" and "can you believe it?" but today, when i started actually planning, it really hit me that my baby girl is about to be an antire year old. this was the most difficult year of my life. it was amazing and intense and beautiful and wild and...hard. getting to know Harlow has been the most amazing thing in my life but also the most challenging and painful. it's hard to explain the amount of love one feels for these little monsters. and it's shocking at the level in which you can love another. truly shocking. this year of knowing Harlow has found me shocked and amazed by capacity for love but also in awe of the little human she is. she is funny - beautiful - thoughtful - amazed - loving - joyful - and i think even witty (funny to say that but i believe it to be true). we have plans to plant a tree and pull the placenta out of the deep freeze for a little ceremony. we will most likely do that alone as a family together. then we are going to have a very small family/friends gathering to celebrate. in preparation for her first birthday today:
- i planned on making invites but then i found ones that i can print on paper that GROWS into wildflowers. can't beat that.
- i bought a teal 7" cake stand with glass dome because she is that special.
- i have been researching infant friendly cakes to bake.
- planning a menu.
- thinking about ceremonies and things we can't plant together in celebration of Harlow.
- asking her most loved to write her letters about her first year.
more to come in this journey to the end of year one. our first family photo...taken just about a year ago.
