Chase is SIX | Loudoun County Family Photographer
My children's birthdays are always a time of reflection for me. Time is such a funny thing. On the one hand, watching my son grow up has been the single best thing in my life. I love watching him learn, discover and experience new things. But, I hate that time moves so fast. Six years ago, I became a mother. It will always be a day that changed my life. It changed who I am today. It is hard for me to imagine my time before I was his mother. And I'm ok with that. Because becoming his mother has given me so much purpose, it has taught me so much about love, about patience, even about myself more than anything else could.
But six years has gone by way too fast. It seems like yesterday that I held him in my arms for the first time. I now even look back fondly on all those middle of the nights rocking him back to sleep with a colicky baby who wouldn't sleep. All I have to hear is "To make you feel my love" or certain songs by Plumb, and I immediately go back to sitting in my gray rocking chair looking down at the most perfect baby I have ever seen. He grew into my little chunky monkey who loved Curious George and all things construction. I watched him become a big brother twice, I watched him graduate from Preschool, and now about to finish Kindergarten and he is the one reading the bedtime stories.
Today, my sweet boy loves all things Mario. It's amazing to see how happy he is even just seeing something Mario themed in a store or a shirt someone else is wearing. He gets so excited. For his birthday this year, we even threw him an epic Mario birthday bash- complete with a Yoshi Egg Hunt, Pin the Mustache on Mario, and an elaborate scavenger hunt to rescue Princess Peach from the evil Bowser. All the kids had a blast and Chase just kept repeating "I never want my birthday to end, this is the best day". Which, of course, made my mama heart smile.
Chase's 5th year was a big one. After an amazing trip home to Maine, my friend & I surprised Chase and his best friend, Tristan, with a trip to Disney World, as a last hoorah before Kindergarten. Chase continues to talk about this almost everyday. He loved it so much, and I never had more fun at Disney than to go see it through my child's eyes.
This year, Chase also started Kindergarten. It is amazing to me how much he learns. He has grown so much since August when he began his new school adventure.
As much as I want to freeze time, I am so excited to see what year 6 has in store for this boy.
As we do, every year, I took Chase to do his yearly pictures. He looks so big to me this year. But I know I will always cherish these precious images of him. For there is a loose tooth in his mouth, so I know that soon, his smile will never look this way again. He is changing before my eyes. He no longer resembles a baby, he's a kid now, a big boy.
Happy Birthday, Chase! You are loved more than you will ever know.
Quiet Side Photography specializes in simple, organic and timeless maternity, newborn, family and child portraiture in Loudoun County and throughout Northern Virginia. Including the cities of Purcellville, Round Hill, Ashburn, Leesburg, Hamilton, Berryville, Aldie, Fairfax, Reston, Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax County and Washington DC.
I would love to create a custom portrait experience for you and your family. Contact me to begin planning your session.