My Little One Year Old, Suffolk, VA Children's Photographer

Behind this blog post is a mix of frustration, gratitude, defeat, triumph, fear, faith, exhaustion, and overwhelming JOY.  I have a one year old!  Emerson... what on earth would life be like if we hadn't had this little Emerson on the journey with us this past year!?!  She has pushed me to my limits- physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually... at times producing a sense of failure in me and at other times a sense of accomplishment.  What a crazy and wonderful thing it has been for me to be a mom.

What I love most about Emerson:  Her SMILE and her bright and cheerful disposition!  She really is the happiest little thing and just loves to smile.  I love watching how happy she makes other people too- grandparents, strangers at the grocery store, babysitters, anybody really!  Her curiosity and energy are unmatched... this girl started walking at 10 months and I don't think she has slowed down since.

What has been the most challenging part of motherhood so far: 1- I had very high expectations for getting her on a good sleeping schedule.  My plan was to have her sleeping through the night by 10-12 weeks and napping well throughout the day... courtesy of Babywise (which I do still support, but in moderation), but her plan was to take 30-45 minute cat naps during the day and wake up at 1:00 am, 3:00 am, and then for good at 6:30-7:00 am until she was eight months old!!! Oh, I have never been so tired or felt more defeated in my life!  Thankfully, my expectations have mellowed and Emerson now sleeps through the night almost consistently. 2- Nursing was so not easy for us.  My goal was to nurse her to about 8-10 months old, but we only made it through four months.  Lots of lessons learned and hoping, given the chance, it will go better with child #2 (whenever that time comes).

I wish I could say that after sharing all this with you, I am now going to unveil these glorious one year photo session images of her.  Ha ha... as life and nature would have it, we just finally got about 30 minutes worth of an impromptu session last Saturday and I haven't even begun to go through those images yet.  The weather has either been FREEZING or raining or one of us has been sick, keeping us from a photo session,  and our house doesn't have great lighting or set up to do an indoor session.  However, I do have a few images to share from a lazy, Saturday morning recently.  More images to come very soon!

Enjoy!
Lindsey

So here are some recent Emerson tidbits:

-She will eat just about anything- food or non-food items : )
-She loves watching music videos with her daddy.
-She constantly says "da da" and has for several months now.
-She is just now starting to say "ma ma."
-She sleeps from about 7:30 - 7:00ish... praise the Lord!
-She LOVES her paci and this random little pink and brown soft mini blanket.
-She loves books, blocks, and baby dolls.
-She loves playing hide and seek and being chased.
-Anytime the fridge is open she runs over and steals mustard out of the side door.
-She practically runs everywhere and has been walking since 10 months old.
-She smiles 90% of the time.
-If she is upset or crying, all you have to do is sing the Veggie Tales theme song to her and she calms down.
-She growls, claps, and turns around in circles in the middle of the kitchen (sometimes all three at once : )
-She thinks her hair is a napkin because that is where her dirty hands go at the end of every meal... lovely.

She felt the need to take the shelf off and bring it over to me : )

curious little hands