Oh this boy

This third boy.  The one we weren’t sure if we should have.  The one I desperately wanted to be a girl.

And the one that is absolutely a perfect gift from above.

We celebrated his first birthday just eight days after moving to Charlotte – Eight Days Y’all!  I had such a party planned for him full of friends and children and cake and balloons and the big studio cake smash ~ in my head.  I had been planning it since he was so little.  With the boys being a bit older we had so many friends with lots of kids and it was summer and it was going to be wonderful!

And then we moved.

I barely got a cake.  My amazing in-laws were here to help with the move.  But to be honest, we were all exhausted!  We stuck him in his high chair, put a banner on the wall and I think we gave him a cupcake…  There was definitely no perfect blue cake smash photo shoot!

Fast Forward…

But fast forward a month or so.  The boxes were disappearing, routine was establishing, and suddenly, I realized, I could not let life get in the way of marking this time.  I had no studio (it was floor to ceiling boxes!!).  So I hauled the kitchen table across the floor one morning while the big boys were at school.  Set up a mini studio in my kitchen while Jacob took his morning nap.  I had ordered a cake from our newfound favorite bakery (don’t try it – you’ll have to spend every waking hour in the gym working off their delicious goodness!!).  And voila! I shot his cake smash session.

Oh My Heart!

And oh my heart is so happy I did.  He wasn’t too sure about the mess at first – but once he got a taste of that Suarez Buttercream, he was hooked ~ and there is no looking back, he learned the word “cake” rather quickly and don’t even think about putting one on the counter without letting this guy dig in!!

Life is busy.

Life is messy.  But when I take the time to celebrate those special occasions, to capture those fleeting times on film, I absolutely never regret it.