So my baby boy turns one today.  Here’s what I said about that over on instagram:

In less than one hour, this little man will have been rocking our worlds for one whole year. They say time flies when you’re having fun…I say it just flies when you have kids PERIOD. This fireball has challenged everything I thought I knew about mothering a baby and at the same time, has challenged my idea that I’d be done carrying babies after two. (Yep, I just said that out loud. 🙈😳) He is demanding and loud and absolutely exhausting. He is smooshy and beautiful and the center of our world. No baby brother has ever been more doted on, no face has ever seen more kisses, and no one could have ever warned me how wrapped I’d be around this baby boy’s fingers. It has been the fastest year of my life, the most tiresome, and the best of the best. Liam…ahem…Claude WilLiam Carraway V…we love you more than words could ever convey. Happy 1st birthday to our most favorite buddy.

We spent the day like any other day, with the exception that Cami and I serenaded Liam with the “Happy Birthday” song when we heard him start to stir in his room in the morning.  He seemed a little confused, but mostly happy, which is a rare thing in the morning for him, so I’ll consider it a win.  We knocked out some work and some chores then escaped the home/office for a super late lunch/ early dinner with the birthday boy.  Because he’s only one and because (why not?) we decided a stack of pancakes and scrambled eggs was the perfect treat for our favorite little man and we made a bee-line for I-Hop.  Big sister was blown away when she found out she could get a meal with chicken AND waffles on the same plate, which…I mean…that is pretty great, isn’t it?!

We came back home for a little siesta, more work-work, and some yard-work before I convinced daddy-o to follow me over to the local park before his softball game so that he could help me get some quick shots of Liam at sunset.  I haven’t taken “formal” portraits of Liam since he was a newborn (the old “cobbler’s children have no shoes” thing) and felt motivated to do it…so I grabbed an outfit I bought too big for him over the summer, crossed my fingers that his chubby belly would squeeze into it, and off we went.  It was a beautiful night at the park, so after Clay had to run, the kids and I stayed behind and enjoyed the playground.  That is…until Cam heard a squirrel in the woods, was convinced it was a bear, and demanded we leave RIGHT NOW.

It was a perfectly normal, awesome day celebrating just how neatly our little man fits into our world.

Picture time for my buddy!

Playtime with my nuggets.