This cake smash baby photography session was a celebration.  Not just of turning one.  Definitely not for the love of cake (turns out Azalea is definitely NOT a fan).  But a celebration of blessings.  What a blessing it is to have children.  What a blessing that after a year of growing and learning this little princess is so healthy and happy.  What a blessing she is to her family and in her home.  Babies absolutely 100% change our world.  We don’t know that they will, we might expect to make a few changes here and there.  But little by little they reinvent our worlds for us.  One of the magical things about having a baby is that we mothers start too see, as if we had been blind before, all of the blessings we have.  We see for the first time all the wonderful ways other people touch our lives.  It might be realizing just how much you love your own mother.  Maybe you finally see just how much you need your husband.  It might be something like learning how much a good friend can make a great difference.  Babies awaken our sleeping souls.

There are so many reasons to celebrate the birth and journey of this beautiful little girl.  For me it has been getting to know her mother.  You don’t expect that work will bring you friendships.  But it has and Afsi is one of them.  It has been a long time since I have had a baby in my home and I needed a reminder, someone to refresh my soul.  Afsi brought me her little princess and in doing so has changed me for the better.  Through knowing her (I know this is making her cry) I have remembered how wonderful it feels to step outside my little comfort zone and serve another.  I have learned to think and feel deeply about others.  There is a quote I love by George Eliot.  He says,”Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul to another.”  That about wraps it up.  I know I just hijacked Azalea’s post in order to share my feelings of admiration for her mother.  But someday I hope she sees this.  And that she will celebrate being the daughter of such a remarkable woman.