First Birthday!

Today was my sweet girl's 1st Birthday! This milestone has come and passed with many smiles, lots of giggles, and a few tears (most of them mine). It is with a happy, but also somewhat heavy heart that I put to bed an exhausted girl, as we had a full day filled with discovery. I am slightly weepy as I close the chapter on her first year of life. A year that has been filled with amazing changes and accomplishments. A year that has evolved me into the mother I have become. A year that I will never get back.

However, I am also so excited to move forward in our lives as each day I get to know the joyful and gregarious little girl my baby is becoming. A little girl that brightens my days with each passing moment we spend togehter. A little girl that has left the most amazing impact on my heart. I am so grateful to God for blessing me with her. Here are a few of my favorite photos from Mollie's first year of life. I tried to condense so it wouldn't be a slideshow of 50! ;)















Here are pictures of her 1st Birthday fun!


6:57 AM- June 23, 2009: Exactly
one year since birth

Enjoying blueberry pancakes. Yum! Yum!


So happy looking at ducks at the "Wetlands"

Fun at the Discovery Center

Wow! Checking out the water works.

Ignore the mismatched candle to the cake. I made the cake.
Josh picked out the candle without me. ;)


She loved the fondant. Who would've thought?

Smashed cake (with the help of Daddy).

Summer Fun

Lots of summer fun to enjoy now that Mommy is on Summer Break. Enjoy!

6/3/06

Mollie talks!

Super cute video of my precious girl saying "Hi, Daddy!"

The best part of today....

May 11, 2009
The best part of today was at the end of the day when it was time to put Mollie to bed. Normally, she fights sleep as if it is her mortal enemy. However, today was slightly different. We followed our same routine of bath, nurse, brush teeth, books, and slow dance. I always close our evening with a little slow dance while I sing, "Slow dancing and swaying with my Mollie...slow dancing... just me and my girl". Typically, Mollie sits in my arms and stares at me while I do this. Sometimes she flails her body around and screams- already gearing up for her nightly battle. However, tonight she serenely laid her head on my chest and held onto my shoulders as I danced and sang. It was one of the most endearing and tender moments of my life. Being her mother is truly the most special gift God could ever give. It is as though I was drowning in the mundane of my life and having her has resuscitated it. I have never been happier.

I also end every night with Robert Munsch's heart-warming line, "I love you forever, I like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be". Truer words have never been spoken.

Photography Project

I have fallen in love with my new camera! It is a Canon Rebel XSi and now that I am actually figuring out how to use it I think it is the best thing since sliced bread!

Due to this newfangled interest in my camera I have joined a photography forum. Upon joining this forum I discovered that many of the photographer amateurs have decided to participate in a little project entitled "365". For this project you must take one photo of the same subject each day for 365 days. The idea is to become more accustomed with your camera, its settings, and begin exploring your creativity.

Well...I'll give you one guess who my subject is going to be for this project. ;) Mollie Cakes! The amazing aspect about using her as my subject is the GROWTH we'll all be witnessing through my photos. I hope you'll take the time to visit my little blog every once in a while and enjoy this endeavor as much as I know I will.

Day One



Day Two: Just waking up from a nap in her crib




Day Three:




Day Four: Hanging out with Daddy



Day Five: In the Valentine's dress and hair bow Momma made


Day Six: At the park!


Day Seven: In another dress I made


Day Eight


Day Nine: My pretty Valentine



Day Ten:



Day Eleven:



Day Twelve:



Day Thirteen:



Day Fourteen:



Day Fifteen: Another Valentine photo shoot!



I'M STILL DOING THIS PROJECT- BUT A MODIFIED VERSION OF IT. As a working mom, it is hard to shoot photos everyday. Sometimes Mollie is sick or didn't nap and is in no mood to be my little model. Therefore, I am continuing this project; however, not requiring myself to do one a day for a year. Just shooting as I find the time.

We can break it down by months:
Favorites from March-

Favorites from April-

Wow! 7 months old!

Mollie Cakes is 7 months old! I can not believe it has been 7 months since she joined our lives. She has changed absolutely everything about me. I do not feel like the person I used to be, but I do not miss my old life at all. She has given my life the greatest purpose and I am thankful I get to be her mother. I'm feeling a little nostalgic, so here are two pictures. One of her at 1 month old and her recent 7 month old one. She is now 28 inches long and weighs 24 lbs. She loves crawling all over the place. What a grown up girl!