525,600 minutes

(Oh come on...you had to have known I would start the post about her year with that title, right? )

525,600 minutes.
How do you measure a year?
Wow.

It's hard to find the words that accurately depict everything that one year means for us. How much joy we feel, how fast the year has gone, how many amazing things we've watched Miss C accomplish this first year of her life...how very much we love this little girl.

We spent the week leading up to her birthday planning, getting ready, looking through pictures of the year...remembering. I found myself listening to the "Baby Tunes" play list I had made for the birthing room, and welled up with tears numerous times on the way to work. I remember listening to those songs with such anticipation. What would it be like being a parent? What would she be like? Was it going to be hard? Are we ready?

The answer: it's the best thing in the world. She is our special treasure. And yes, there were challenging times over this year, but we were ready. And we did it. A successful first year with one pretty sweet girl to show for it.

Mother Nature decided to celebrate Charlotte's birthday with us as well and showed up for the dance in her finest attire.

First trip to the zoo with Grammie and Aunt Shelly.

And on Sunday for her party? It was a perfect afternoon.

If I closed my eyes and had imagined what I hoped her first birthday party would be, I could have opened them and it was our reality. It was everything I wanted for her.

It was a celebration. Surrounded by family and friends, we sat on blankets, chatted, ate, drank and celebrated our girl.

This picture cracks me up...it looks like Gracie girl is just having a convo with the big kids, ha!

As we gathered with everyone, I was once again reminded about how blessed and fortunate we are...to have all these amazing people show up, support and love on our girl is a pretty humbling and incredible feeling.

And let me tell you- yes, she was a fan of the cake.

Timid at first, after she tasted that sugar...she was all over it. Literally.

A tired little tootsie at the end of her day.

Her first year, and all years moving forward...how will they be measured?

In love of course.

Happy birthday my sweet girl. You are loved.

This time last year...

we were waiting....

and waiting...

and waiting some more.

This time last year she was already 10 days late.

Little did we know we'd continue waiting for 2 more days...

This time last year I was walking, eating spicy food, eating blueberry milkshakes, eating eggplant (there was a lot of eating going on)...anything anyone told us to try to get labor started, we tried it.

Because we were excited.

We were ready to meet our little girl.

This is such a special week for us. Remembering the days leading up to her arrival and reminiscing on our past year. And being a sentimental person to begin with, this week has been beautifully emotional, in all the right ways.

Because this time last year...we had no idea how perfectly our life would change.
All because of her.

Photo taken by my talented girl Erin Ewing.

Bienvenidos a Miami

It's more like "welcome back FROM Miami" at this point (however you say that in Spanish), but last week Miami welcomed us with open arms. And I was of course singing Will Smith's song each morning as I woke up. Bienvenidos indeed.

To say that the sun felt good on my arms would be a gross understatement...it was downright amazing. To wake up each day to sunshine, no rain in sight and the only plans for the day consisting of laying by the pool, running, reading, and delicious meals, (and the occasional work meeting)...we felt pretty spoiled.

Nick and I got to enjoy some much appreciated time together. We ventured to Little Havannah and had some incredible Cuban food and quite possibly the worlds best mojito's (or three), but who's counting. It was vacation.

Miami is a FUN city. Neither of us had ever been there so we weren't really sure what to expect, but we have returned as huge fans.

It certainly didn't hurt that we were there for a work incentive conference and were staying at the Ritz Carlton either. Everything would "be their pleasure".
Even blankie got special treatment!

Yes, I still travel with my blankie.

Why take a picture of us driving down the highway?

Oh, because "that block was dead yo...so we continued to A1A...BEACHFRONT AVENUE!"
We test drove some fancy BMW (another random perk of staying at the Ritz...cars at your disposal, for free!!) and I was just dying when our directions instructed us to turn onto A1A!

Oh Vanilla Ice...

Our last night there was a cruise around their bay area and some star-gazing/stalking of the most ridiculous homes on Star Island. Talk about excess-- these homes were unreal, absurd, and such fun to see.

*************************************************************************************

Back home...

Charlotte got to spend special time with both Grammie and Teta & Poppie.
Our PEPS group had a combined one-year birthday party for all the little kiddo's that we were so sad to miss, but so happy that Grammie took Charlotte so she could celebrate with all her little friends.

I roll at these pictures trying to line the babes up...

But as good as that sun felt, I missed my girl. Four days was enough (more than enough really) and I was aching to get back home to her. Back to our routines and normal life. It was the longest we've been away from her, and as lovely as everything was...it was really difficult to be away.

Bienvenidos home.

Holy smokes...

is tomorrow really Friday?

and are we really leaving for 5 nights?! to a sunny, 86 degree, relaxing destination?

This week has been a blur getting ready for our longest stint away from miss squish. Getting the laundry washed, folded, put away...getting instructions and tips written up for Grammie and Teta...getting ourselves packed...trying to fit in runs...getting spray tanned (I WILL still make this happen before I get on a plane tomorrow. There is no WAY I am exposing Floridians to my white Northwest skin)...getting a certain almost one-year-olds birthday invitations in the mail...planning for said birthday...spending every extra second with little squish knowing I won't get to kiss her cheeks for a few days (oh yeeks, how will I survive?!)...whew. It's been a busy week.

Which followed a previously busy weekend.

We enjoyed a wonderful, quick Walla Walla weekend with the Loviks. It is always such a treat to share my town with friends for the first time. And yes...I do still call it my town. I think I always will. Part of me belongs there.

Sadly I forgot my camera, but thankfully Amy had her iphone with her. We tasted some delicious wine while Charlotte got some QT with Grammie.

My favorite stop of the trip was to a winery I hadn't been to before: Slight of Hand. Much different than many of the gorgeous, picturesque wineries of the little valley. This one was more edgy, a bit rocker-ish, and all the wine labels looked like old magic show posters. We enjoyed dancing around to vinyl records of Fleetwood Mac and Def Leopard.

Consequently, my old "Vault" Def Leopard album has been on repeat in my car this week. It has paired quite nicely with our sunshine.

In other news...

Our little girl is growing up. Even just in these past two weeks it seems she has changed so much. I can hardly believe she will be one in just a few short weeks. People say it all the time, but literally time flies. At warp speed in fact.

It's getting increasingly difficult to take her monthly pictures with her calendar...

She's a girl on the move!

Her latest favorite spot in the house is the front window that she pulls herself up to and looks out at the world.

I wonder where she learned it from?

Closets and it's contents are no longer safe.

Our explorer has discovered that many the treasure hides behind those closet doors.

Don't worry honey...you don't need to worry about those for a looooooong time!

Next week she's moving from the Ark Room to the Garden Room at school. And even though it's just across the hall, and many of her teachers will be the same, it was a tangible reminder that she is becoming a big girl.

My big sweet girl...who owns my heart.

Mothers.

Mother's Day is just a bit more special this year.

It's my first time on this side of the fence...and it's pretty fantastic.

We enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day brunch, some time outside (Nick got the raised bed for my garden made!)...

And lots of time for snuggles with my girl.

Thank you honey bee for making me a mama....your mama.
It's better than I ever could have dreamed.

And a special Happy Mother's Day to these two special ladies...thank you for shaping our lives and showering us with love. You are amazing.

All we need is love.

Well, love and a little perserverance.

And a sense of humor.

And the ability to admit a mistake.

And trust.

And kindness.

And patience.

Okay, we need a lot of stuff to keep our marriage strong.

And look at us. We've got it all.

Thanks for marrying me three years ago love...cheers to forever!

PEPS fun.

Our PEPS group is awesome. I love them all. It's been such a treat for us to watch Charlotte grow through her first year with these kiddos.

Our latest adventure has been swimming "lessons".
I'm sure you understand why lessons is in quotes.

Though our squish doesn't look quite sure of things in this picture...once we found her that water toy, she was happy as could be.

Babes with their daddys.

I think we've got a water baby on our hands.

Things have been good.

Like most things, life has its ebbs and flows. Good weeks, and hard weeks. Joyful times, and challenging times.

Lately, our flow has been pretty sweet.

Maybe it's the spurts of good weather we've been having...maybe it's the fun new things Charlotte is doing each day...maybe it's because work/life balance has felt more balanced. Or maybe it's a combination of all those things.

Whatever it is, it feels good.

We enjoyed a weekend at home that was sprinkled with so many of those things that make up "a good weekend". No rushing, no real schedule...just time.

Time to do things like swing at the park, and go on runs, and work in the yard, and golf...and relax.

Oh, and enjoy a delicious Royal Wedding brunch with girlfriends. The perfect topping to any weekend.

We didn't really have Chambord with our mimosa's and coffee. We just thought it looked quite regal, wouldn't you agree?

Yes, things have indeed been good.