"Time Flies" - Lincoln's 1st Birthday
Get outta town. Shut the front door. Talk to the hand. These were my responses over the past month or so when people kept saying, “He’s almost a year old!” Shut. Up.
Despite my best efforts to pause time and keep him little, my sweet baby boy is one year old! As his birthday approached, I couldn’t help but think over and over again how fast time flew by. That sentiment, along with our love for travel, is what inspired his 1st birthday theme, ‘Time Flies’ complete with vintage airplanes and clouds.
I love paper crafts and really enjoyed hand-crafting (almost all of) the décor for his party. My favorite project was this “Time Flies” photo display, (inspired by Hostess with the Mostess) which featured Lincoln’s first year of life in chronological order, from seconds after he was born to now. I love the way it turned out, but mostly I loved the process of creating it. 
Going through the trillions of photos, placing them in order, and deciding which ones to use may sound time-consuming and horrible (time consuming - yes) but it was so, so amazing. I may or may not have (translation: definitely did) cried my eyes out every single time I worked on it, but it was the good kind of cry. Being reminded of so many sweet moments throughout his first year as I sifted through the photos was both bittersweet and beautiful.
Getting to mentally go back through each of his first holidays, moments where he was clearly so loved by family and friends, and seeing his growth occur before my eyes was such a gift. And even recognizing the lack of pictures during the times that were hard, or remembering challenges we faced during different phases of his first year somehow brought me some peace about this whole ‘my baby is turning one’ thing.
Looking through the photos allowed me to think explicitly about our journey. When I think back to the overwhelming joy I felt the first time I looked into his eyes, the utter despair we experienced when we couldn’t make him happy (read about our colicky phase here), the challenges and successes, the exciting milestones and ‘firsts’, the long nights and frequent conversations with my husband that allow us to parent intentionally and together, my sadness about my baby growing up disappears. Because I know that all of these beautiful things are just the beginning.
We will continue to experience the joy, despair, challenges and successes, the milestones and firsts, and the intentional conversations, for many years to come - as this is a very small, yet incredibly significant, piece in what will be a lifetime of loving Lincoln with our whole hearts. The pictures will look different, and he will look different (Mitchell and I of course, won’t age at all) but the unparalleled, indescribable, out-of-this-world Heaven-inspired LOVE we have for our son will be the same.
Bring it on, future. We cannot wait to see what you have in store for us and for our sweet Lincoln.
