Penelope's 4th Birthday

A blog post 4 months in the making! Not really, but that is how far behind I have fallen. 

I was super excited to post about this months ago and then life got in the way. A strew of hospital stays, vacation, and other family emergencies put blogging on the back burner. But things have leveled, and now I'm ready to present to you: Penny's Frozen Birthday. 

I'm not one to throw lavish and extravagant birthday parties. I don't judge those that do, I attend enough of them to know how fantastic they are and appreciate how much work is involved. I just prefer low key celebrations. Particularly because Penny's birthday falls a week after New Years, and everyone is usually a little tapped out, socially, mentally, and financially. 

I'm also not one for making things simple on myself. I still like to make things look terrific, taste great, and be memorable. The disposable table wear was from my favorite party goods maker, Meri Meri. I created a full half balloon garland and hung snowflakes from the chandeliers. I also baked the Elsa "inspired" cake modeled after those popular unicorn cakes you see all over the place. 

My favorite moment was blowing out the candles and shooting off confetti. Everyone thinks I'm nuts but it is those tiny details, those temporary messes, that make such beautiful memories. 

But I did vacuum up confetti for like 3 weeks. 

So here is my big girls birthday from January. She's already planning her 5th.

Little Cayden

I had the pleasure of photographing this little man a few months back. He was just days old and slept the ENTIRE time. I emphasize that because my kids were awake, I mean awake-awake, through all of their newborn photos. He was so tiny and snuggley and precious.

I feel so lucky to have these opportunities. Congratulations to the mom and dad.

The Fall

Not a post about Autumn.

When my son first started walking, he would take a step, maybe another, and then fall, flat on his face.

As he practiced, and time went by, he grew stronger. He would take several steps- then fall flat on his face.

Even though he was bigger, older, wiser, it still took a while to realize that he could brace himself. He could extend his hands and hold up his head when things went wrong.

He didn't learn not to fall, but instead how to not get hurt.

That's life. The falls are unavoidable. It's all in the landing and how you get back up. Sometimes you may need a hug or a helping hand. Or you can get back up like nothing ever happened. 

Harry still falls down a lot, and so do I. As his mom it's my duty to show him that it's ok, and I'll always be here with that hug.