If you ask me what’s made this last year one of my favorite ones yet I wouldn’t have to think for long. This time last year I was getting text updates that started out with “Baby update for Aunt Carol…” and had news like “Today we got to HEAR the heartbeat for the very first time and I bawled my eyes out…” and “I can’t believe he’s already the size of a PLUM!” and “He kicks and rolls around all the time and I love it. It’s just so amazingly mind-boggling to me that there is a BABY in my BELLY.” and as you can imagine, walking this journey alongside my friends has left me overjoyed time and time again. <3

It’s honestly a toss up which day was better: the day Beckett arrived safely into the world and I finally got to see a picture of his sweet face OR the day *I* arrived safely to Scottsdale and practically abandoned my suitcase on the sidewalk when I saw their car pull up… with Becks waiting to be snuggled in real life. <3  Dream come true. (Two days that will forever hold lifelong significance to Beckett: February 16th… the day he was born. April 7th… the day he met his Aunt Carol. Duh.)

It’s been four months since I spent some of the sweetest days in Scottsdale… days I know I won’t ever forget. Never have I anticipated a trip more than this one, meeting Beckett. <3 We spent our days sitting on the couch obsessing over how perfect he is, doing everything to make him smile for some of the first few times, going for evening walks around their desert neighborhood, and one day getting *really* adventurous and making a HomeGoods run. For as much as I wish Scottsdale was minutes down the road instead of across the entire country, these were some of the simplest, best days where moments felt nostalgic before they even ended. The kind I know wouldn’t be nearly as special if we did live minutes apart. The kind I’ll treasure forever!

Maybe that’s why Amy caught me teary-eyed just holding him (read: hogging all the baby snuggles) one afternoon. There’s nothing like seeing your friends over the moon happy and right where they’re meant to be. They were made for this.

Somehow in the blink of an eye, he’s six months old (today!!) and I fully recognize I am *that* Aunt Carol who comments on every picture and can’t help but rave, but FORGIVE ME because words just can’t express how much I love my Baby Becks! He’s changed so much since we took these “day in the life” pictures and looking through them already makes me feel all sappy and nostalgic. Bottling up these moments was our best decision ever. He’s just the greatest gift. Happy Half Birthday, Becksie!!

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