Happy 8th month (5 moc) birthday to our sweet Nicholas! We spent the day above the Mason-Dixon line (always an experience for me – and somewhat of a change for the 1st timer birthday boy!) visiting with Andy’s family in eastern PA, most of whom had not yet met Nicholas! It was a wonderful trip.

When I look back on where we started and how far we’ve come, I am left speechless (not an easy task Andy will tell you!). My dad summed it up when he saw these photos by saying “You’ve come a long way baby!”. So true.

Nicholas is really coming into his own these days – and it is such an joy to watch and an honor to be a part of. He sleeps through the night (hallelujah!), wakes up quietly and greets you with his contagious bashful smile, “talks” every chance he gets (he ‘gets it from his mama’ Andy likes to tell me), and fills his days with happy curiosity at the world around him. He loves holding books while you read, bath time, smiling, and looking at himself in the mirror (another thing he gets from me in the world according to my husband).

So, as we do on all birthdays, we sang the “happy birthday” song over and over again (this time though, in a quiet whisper as he had fallen hard asleep after a full day of meeting family). Happy 8 months, Nicholas!