12 Months - Happy FIRST Birthday, Finn!

One year old. 

Throughout the day I found myself thinking how happy I am that I'm not in labor, but instead having fun celebrating our baby boy.

My plan all along was to take these pics on the chair up to when he turns 12 months, then I'm going to compile all these into one print and frame it somewhere in our home. I thought for this last shoot that Rob and I should join in...

We then let Finn open his gift...

A drum with a whole lotta shakers and noisemakers...

So for a few weeks now I've had the idea to go to the park on his birthday. Have a picnic lunch, go down some slides, swing. Turned out to be a bit chilly (seriously, the days that Florida doesn't reach at least high 60's or 70's for a high is pretty rare) and this was one of those rare days. High 50's and windy. So instead of eating on a blanket like I imagined, we went under a pavilion because it was kinda misting out. 

Little did we know that we were going to have to fight off an estimated 20 park squirrels (I promise, I'm NOT exaggerating!) that kept trying to steal our food. I'm just happy that I'm not a celebrity with paparazzi following me because I could only imagine the shots they'd get of me angrily shooing off the squirrels from our table...I'd be on the cover of Star magazine looking like a maniac. 

The park was completely empty. Everyone at school or just bundled up inside somewhere.

He LOVED the slide once he got the hang of it...

Rob joked that he's ready for Adventure Island (our local water park) where you have to lay down flat for the big slides. Weeeeeeeee...

Yep, and was a fan of the swing as well...giggles were definitely present...

I have to admit, I was pretty scared about this slide...it just felt so open like we were going to fall off...parent of the year! Spoiler though, we made it safely... :D

We almost made it out of the park unscathed, but the little buddy tripped while walking and fell just right where he scraped a little spot on his nose. I picked him up and he cuddled right up...nap time quickly ensued.

It was a sweet day...I've been reflecting a lot lately. With nursing wrapping up, and thinking back to those more difficult early months and everything that we've experienced, I think to myself that it's so very wise to live one day at a time. Not to jump ahead too fast, but to revel in the day. Cause it can be overwhelming and it can also be tempting to look too far ahead. But knowing that each day is new and that you only get to live it once is something I want to remember each day I wake.

And just so Rob and I can look back on this and say aw, here's some of his latest likes (I'm excluding dislikes because I can't think of any):

Likes:

• Playing with the recycle - We keep our recycle on the floor by the kitchen cabinets, he really gets a kick out of picking the plastic bottles up and throwing them...it's a normal thing at night after he's in bed for me to go around the house and gather it all up. My sister the other day asked why there was a coke bottle sitting on top of the toilet, lol.
• Books - He loves to bring a book and sit and turn all the pages really fast, I've just memorized the story and say it while he turns the pages
• Bath Time - He little legs get an extra spring in his step when I tell him it's bath time
• Bananas, Grapes and Blueberries - His favorites right now
• Dancin - He's starting to dance...he seriously had some fancy footwork going on, gotta get that on video

Happy First Birthday, Finn. Our sweet baby boy.

We love. love. love. you.