Last week was Thanksgiving, but it was also Lucy Mae’s birthday! It happened to fall on Thanksgiving Day this year, and my in-laws were heading out for their year-long home assignment the next day, so we celebrated Thanksgiving early, and celebrated Lucy Mae on her actual birthday.
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An early Thanksgiving feast.
📷: @j_verdonck |
It has been so fun seeing her personality come out. I was going to write “her little personality” but let’s be real here — there ain’t nothing little about her personality. Lucy Mae has big opinions, a big attitude, and lots of stories which she loves to share in the cutest little voice. Two days before her birthday she started walking independently, and she ain’t got time for your help interference (just gas-and-go power-up hugs).
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| 📷: @erinkvdonck |
It has also been so sweet to see how people love her; I love that people love my baby! We have Josh’s parents that live on the same center, and that is something that we do not take for granted! We also have our good, good friends that love Lucy Mae, too.
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DIY decorations
📷: @erinkvdonck |
It's hard to imagine that it's been a whole year. We used to live day-to-day, literally telling each other "We can't break her in a day" when our routine was whacky. We used to celebrate every day that we survived one more day of parenthood. Some days it can still feel like that, overwhelming and exhausting; the days are sometimes still long, and the nights are sometimes even longer. But she gets more and more fun as she gets older, and even though we're still figuring out this whole parent thing, I think we're doing just fine.
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Cake smash!!
📷: @erinkvdonck |
Yes, it's been a long year with a steep learning curve, but I wouldn't change it. I'm loving spending my days with my little buddy.
Happy Birthday, baby.
Labels: celebrations, lucy mae, missionary life, papua new guinea, thanksgiving