I’ve always been a person who splurges on things that have no measurable value. Things like photographs, experiences and people. This image is an excerpt from a photo book of my “baby’s” 1st birthday session.
There’s not a dollar amount in the world that would be worth the trade for me to give you that book.
This one page brings back memories of so many details, so many memories of that precious boy. I see his big slobbery open-mouth kiss (the one he still gives, a modified version of to this day!). I see his chubby arms that wrinkled up around his wrists. It reminds me of his curiosity of that growing bump in my belly. I’d forgotten about his determination to eat my necklaces… but this image reminds me. It helps me remember his love for our first-born kiddos the Cavalier pups we adopted years before he was born.
This image holds so much joy.
It’s a moment in time of his pure, precious joy. His smile that reach both sides of his face and collapsed his eyes completely. He is still full of so much joy, but it’s not the same.
Today, this baby turns 10.
He’s no longer a baby and it shows. He’s almost five feet tall. He weighs over eighty pounds, there’s no way I could lift him over my head to see that precious smile. That smile… it’s relaxed quite a bit as he’s more aware of what looks cool. Most days, he wears a flat-billed hat, to the side, that mostly covers up his eyes.
He’s becoming a teenager.
And all I have left are the images in my mind, that are becoming harder and harder to recall, and these precious ones on paper, to remind me of the boy he used to be. It’s all I have to remember. Today, it doesn’t feel like nearly enough.
So in honor of my baby’s birthday, I give you this gift:
Make memories and take pictures!
Make memories that are worth taking pictures of. Splurge on the people you love. Splurge with kindness. Splurge with laughter. Splurge on Love.
And take pictures. . . of even the small things.
It’s funny how the small things turn into the big things.
These are the splurges you won’t regret.
to more love,
Crystal
