What kind of Mom would I be if I didn’t write a blog post about my daughter’s 1st Birthday?!? Truth is, I don’t know how much of a blogger I am these days. Before Quinn was born, I think I had this vision I would be staying home for at least the first 3 months and have all this time to blog, if not about food, about the experience of being a mother. Ha. As it goes for most first-time parents, things turned out a little differently than I expected.
First and foremost, I used to spend 8 hours a day on a computer. I spent any breaks at work catching up on personal emails with friends and family and brainstorming things to do/stuff to make with the free time I would have on evenings and weekends. When Quinn came along, my computer time went from 8 hours to maybe 30 minutes a day, if that. Blogging, and just about everything else, became way less important and the only thing that mattered was what was best for her. And even though life became so much different, I have never been happier.
And of course, I’m already on a tangent. There hasn’t been much about Quinn’s 1st birthday yet, has there? I guess that’s another reason I have been pretty absent on here the last year. Even though I have so much to say and so many feelings about being a mom, I find it hard to put into words. I would much rather talk to someone about it who asked and wanted to know (also because adult interaction is more of a rarity these days).
I wrote Quinn’s birth story but it felt too personal to share with just anyone. Parenting in general just feels really personal, and not being able to write about it is agonizing because things are going by so fast and I feel like I can’t remember it all!
One thing Jordan and I do quite often is “Remember when…?” There are so many short-lived phases Quinn went through. At the time, it seemed like they would last forever, but now she’s a totally different baby…um, toddler. Some favorites:
“Remember when she slept in our room in the pack and play?”
“Remember when she would spit up all the time?”
“Remember the sleep sack? The Snuza days?!?”
“Remember when we would bring her to a restaurant and she would sleep the entire time? HA!”
“Remember when she went through that horrible sleep regression we thought would never end?”
“Remember our first flight when she was so easy and SO good?” I will NOT forget that one.
There are so many more “Remember Whens” – some are great, others we are glad to put behind us. I still ask my mom, “Do you remember if I did this?” She usually answers with a “kind of.” I didn’t get it at first, but more and more everyday I understand how she doesn’t exactly remember. Being a parent is hard, but ever-changing. Those sleepless nights seem like they will last forever, but eventually, they become a thing of the past. By the time your kid is sleeping a peaceful 10-12 hours you’ll likely be laying awake worrying about something else.
I learned a lot this year. I try not to sweat the small stuff. I got a little stressed out over the cake, since I knew we’d be taking pictures and my pastry art skills kind of suck, to put it bluntly. I used a box cake mix, and I don’t even need to make an excuse for that. It was easy, took less time, and I’m so happy with how Quinn’s perfectly imperfect birthday cake turned out. It was just going to get smashed anyways, right? I know some parents would never let their dog and cat get in on the cake smash action, but I’m glad we did. We all survived, and come on, look at these pictures…
We have had our fair share of ups and downs, but overall we have been so lucky to have this beautiful, sweet, and hilarious girl. This first year has been amazing. I am so thankful and I will try so hard not to forget a single moment. I guess this is where I start to have trouble writing about everything. I expected to be all emotional on the big day, but I got through it without any tears. Also, Quinn’s birthday was November 11th. It only took me 2.5 months to write this post. We love our girl tons and that seems to be the only thing I can ever put down on paper, er, internet?
All photos in this post are from the wonderful Sarah Jane Photography – we had so much fun working with her and she brought all of the awesome props that went along with our cake smash!
Happy Birthday, Quinn Marlo. Everyday with you is an adventure, a party, and a beautiful mess. We are so happy to call you ours.
Maybe I’ll get around to writing another post in another year or so. Cheers!
Baked Northwest 
very sweet post!