By the time I write this, Atti’s birthday is a few weeks gone by, but I have to say – it’s still pretty surreal to have a 1-year-old! People often comment about how the year has gone “so fast” and I couldn’t disagree more, haha! That’s not to say that I haven’t enjoyed my first year as a parent, but I will say it’s felt like the looooongest year if my life; and life before Atti seems like a million years ago, lol. That being said, when I look at how much changed has occurred in this little human in just 12 months, I am baffled. In 365 days, Atticus has gone from essentially a baby blob able to only breathe and poop, to a sitting, standing, kicking, laughing, clapping, dancing, walking, bottomless pit (he seriously CANNOT get enough food), who loves dogs and saying “mumumumum” (my current fave 😉).
I expected being a parent to be hard, and it is. I also assumed that there must be some pretty serious joy involved (hence people choosing to have multiple children, ha!), and I’m pleased to report that we have experienced moments of joy unlike anything I was prepared for or I’m able to explain. The best phrase I’ve heard to describe my time as a mom is “complicated joy” and we are in a constant flux of “push and pull” with our beloved Atticus.
Even though our daily life didn’t take a dramatic shift at 12 months (I have been working part-time and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future), Atti’s first birthday really did feel like a big milestone! Obviously I know Atticus won’t remember his first birthday party, but Chad and I will, and we wanted to celebrate with (and thank!) our close loved ones with a backyard pizza party. What I loved about #Attisfirstpizzaparty is that it really felt like us, as a family. As most of you know, Chad makes us homemade pizza every Sunday and all 3 of us love spending time in our backyard. This party was casual and all the food was made by us or a family member, with the exception of the cupcakes and gorgeous nearly nude cake baked and iced by From Scratch by Madi. I really tried not to go overboard (I think I succeeded…?). Chad brewed his own beer, which we served out of a keg in our quonset (if you don’t know what that is, google it – I didn’t know what it was until we bought this house 2.5 years ago, lol!) and I made custom labels for my favourite celebratory beverage of choice: prosecco (Ok, I admit this was one detail that was very “extra” of me, haha).
I love love LOVE the photos that Cedars Photography took for us… I was excited to have a few family photos and details of the day photographed, but when I look at the stunning gallery Alexandra provided to us, what really makes me sentimental is how well she captured this time and place in our lives. I love seeing the images of Atticus interacting with us and our guests, Chad living his best life making 16 pizzas, and our backyard – which we have been continually working on fixing up since we moved in, yet still have so many future plans for – filled with our closest family and friends.
Cheers to us surviving the first year of parenthood, our village, our little “Lovebug” and many, many pizza parties to come in Atti’s lifetime! We love you, Atticus James!
