happy first birthday wylder heath

My little Wylder Heath. Our wild card. Our fourth and final. How can it be that we’re celebrating your first full journey around the sun already?

In truth, I don’t think I could ever find the words to do justice to what a total gift you are in our lives. It impossible to explain how incredibly happy and full of love this past year has been. I dreamed when I was young, of having four babies one day; two girls and two boys, and you have been that dream come true and more. You’ve filled a space in my heart that I never knew was empty. You’ve completed our family. You’ve slotted into our gang like you were always meant to be here, and it feels impossible to imagine life before you were here.

But just because a time before you seems like a distant memory, doesn’t mean that this past year hasn’t flown. It has. So so fast. Your hasty arrival into Daddy arms on the bedroom floor seems like a month or two ago, not twelve. And it’s always so bittersweet... to be excited for what’s to come, proud of what you’ve achieved, but also sad that those baby days are behind us.

As the fourth one I often feel like people might think it’s less special somehow, because we’ve done all these milestones before. But it actually makes it more special. Because I’m so acutely aware of how precious each moment and milestone is. And for every first of yours, it is a last for me... so I hope you’ll forgive me if I squeeze you a little tighter, hold you a little longer, and breathe in every last second. There’s just no escaping it kiddo, I’ll be clinging onto you as my baby as long as I possibly can. 

This past years has been such a beautiful privilege. You’ve fitted into our crazy life, like the perfect piece of the puzzle. You love your siblings, you adore being outdoors in the fresh air, you light up and grin wide for your daddy, you have the cheekiest smile, the twinkliest blue eyes, and the most adorable giggle. You’re just an amazing little human being that we are all loving watch grow and learn. But your favourite place, favourite thing, comfort blanket, safe haven; is me, and it’s a badge I wear with honour. 

Happy first birthday Wylder!

Thank you for being mine. Thank you for letting me be yours. I love you wildly with my whole heart. 

x x x x

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happy eighth birthday dylan aiden

Eight years ago today, you came along Dylan and you made me a mama. You stole my heart. You rocked my world. You made a dream come true. And... all the other cliches, that are super cheesy but that everyone says with good reason. 

I’ve learnt so much in the 2922 days since then; lessons about nappies and breastfeeding, lessons about routines and weaning, many many MANY lessons about geography and maths and science that I’d didn’t think I’d ever be learning. You amaze me daily with the things you know and remember and understand; your brain really is amazing.

Our little Dylan, you've always had a big heart, a sensible head been a bit of an old soul. So clever that you blow me away regularly. You're a loyal friend, an incredible brother, and such an affectionate little character. And I know I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for you. 

So happy birthday, to my best brown eyed boy, my favourite eight year old. You rock my world little man... don't ever change. 

x x x x

0

happy third birthday ashlyn quinn

Oh Quinny Quinn, how is it possible? Our crazy, lovely, noisy little nutter is three years old. 

Three. 

THREE!!! 

It’s been a massive year for you; you've moved into a big girl bed, and into a bis girl shared room with your sister. You've potty trained like a total champ. You started preschool. And you became a big sister. And you've taken it all in your stride, with your signature cheeky smiles and playful nature. 

You are a total firecracker gorgeous girly. You keep us guessing, you keep us on your toes. You have more drama in your little finger than most people have in their whole bodies. You have a million different facial expressions, a wicked sense of humour and we couldn’t possibly love you more. You're a sunshine in our lives; keeping us all smiling and laughing.

You've had a quiet, but perfect for your birthday... The croissants for breaskfast, a Trolls scooter, copious amounts of Duplo, sunshine so you could play in the garden, a rainbow birthday cake, and the weather even meant we could fulfil your request for a BBQ for dinner. I can’t think of a more perfect way to celebrate our favourite three year old.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ashlyn Quinn. I love you with all my heart.

x x x x

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happy sixth birthday everly grace

Happy 6th Birthday Everly Grace... the little girl who has taught me so much about life, about motherhood and about myself in your six short years. I thank the heavens every day that I got to be your mama. Loving you is just the most beautiful thing. 

You're feisty and stubborn. You're caring and compassionate. You're chaos and noise. And you're cheekiness and sunshine... all in one package. You genuinely have the kind of empathy that the whole world could learn a lesson or two from, but you can also be SO very sassy. Sometimes you feel so much older than your six years, while at other times you are so adorably innocent and vulnerable and new, that it seems hard to believe that you've been here six minutes, let alone six years.

But you have enjoyed six journeys around the sun now. And I’m pretty sure that nobody has ever looked forward to their birthday with more anticipation and excitement than you have this year. And you have deserved every single celebratory second as the centre of attention. 

You're a total gem Everly and I don’t know what I’d be without you.

Happy sixth birthday. I love you so much my little sunshine. 

x x x x

0

dear beautiful wylder {one month old}

Dear Wylder,

Oh baby boy, this has been the fastest month ever. It doesn't seem possible that so much time has past already, since you came crashing into the world in such a hurry on April 25th. I feel like we've just about recovered emotionally from the craziness of your wild arrival; although I think you'd better prepare to have to hear that story a lot as you grow up. There aren't many people who can boast being delivered at home by their daddy though. It's something that parents tend to say a lot but it feels like yesterday you arrived, while at the same time it feels like you've been a part of our family forever. It seems impossible to imagine our lives without you in it now.

0

you're twelve months old {dear beautiful little lady}

dear Ashlyn,

Well I can't believe it my little Quinny girl... where did that year fly off too? And now you are whole year old. It really does seem like yesterday that I sat down to write you a letter at the end of your first month; I spent ages flicking through all your photos picking out my favourites, trying to put into words how much you amazing you were. And now here I am, eleven months later... I'm still not sure I've quite managed to put your amazingness into words, and every month you seem to get better. 

6

happy first birthday ashlyn quinn

Oh baby girl, how is it possible that you are one? It feels like you were only just born. And then at the same time it feels like I've always known you, like you've always been a part of our family. You honestly have been the perfect addition to our little gang, and you've made the transition from a four to a five far smoother than any of us expected it to be.

You are just such a total delight. From that very first day you have been the happiest, most chilled out, contented little person. People meet you and fall in love with you. There is just something so cute and irresistible about your smile and that twinkle in your eye. I'm just so beyond proud of you and the little ray of sunshine that you are.

Every parent will talk about how fast the time flies, especially that first year, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that it's bittersweet that we got here so quickly. It feels like in the time it took to breathe a year passed. But you've come so far in that time; from the curled up little baby with the downy brown hair, to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, bundle of giggles you are now.

It's been an amazing year. A beautiful year of learning, and growth, of getting to know one another, and of so many smiles and so much love. I can't wait to see what the years to come will bring, and to see you grow into a little girl with each passing day.

Happy first birthday Quinny Quinn.

We love you so very very much.

xxx

6

happy fourth birthday beautiful girl

YOU ARE FOUR!!! Four!?! Four sounds so much more grown up than three somehow I think. Maybe because a three year old is still a little bit toddler, but a four year old is a proper child. You're 100% little girl now. You are so ready to be four. 

8

you're eleven months old {dear beautiful little lady}

Dear Little Quinn

Where on earth is the time going? In one months time you will be one, and I feel totally unprepared to be leaving your first year behind us. It seems to have all flown by so quickly. I know I said the same thing with both Dylan and Everly too, but I swear that you seem to be growing up even faster. Maybe it's because you're just so chilled out an easy going and have made life with a baby so easy, or maybe it's just where we are always so busy with life that the time just flies by.

3

you're ten months old {dear beautiful little lady}

Dear Quinny

Into double figures now baby girl... I'm not going to deny that it pulls at my heart a little bit that you're ten months old now. This time last year I was eagerly waiting to meet you for the first time, but also apprehensive about what life held in store with a newborn baby and two other children to look after... those feelings; the worry and the excitement, they feel like they were last week, and it just doesn't seem possible you can be ten months old already. 

2

you are nine months old {dear beautiful little lady}

dear Ashlyn,

Nine months old...! It's a milestone age I think, a bit like when you turned three months and left the "newborn" days behind, or at six months where you marked half a year; nine months is that point where you have been out in the world as long as you were baking in my tummy. And much like that nine months that I was pregnant with you now seems like a distant memory, this first nine months with you has simply flown by. Nine months ago you came crashing into the world, a little bundle of tufty hair and big eyes. We waited for you to totally rock our worlds and turn everything upside down... but you just seamlessly slotted into our family and into our hearts like you were always supposed to be there.

6

you are eight months old {dear beautiful little lady}

dear little Quinny,

It is crazy to think you're eight months old already... in another months time you will have been out in the world longer than you lived in my tummy, and that's such a mega milestone! But that's a month away, so I'm not going to let myself think about that too much. It actually feels like ages ago that I wrote your last monthly letter, so maybe life is finally listening to my requests for time to slow down a little. In actual fact it's probably just that we seem to have crammed quite a lot into the past month.

12

you are seven months old {dear beautiful little lady}

Dear Ashlyn Quinn

I'm going to bypass the bit where I talk about how quickly time seems to be flying and that you seem to be growing up so fast before our very eyes. I'm pretty sure that I'll get those same feelings with every passing month... and passing year. And this month has been so full of exciting developments for you, new milestones to tick off and things you've learned. 

2

you are six months old {dear beautiful little lady}

dear beautiful little lady

Wow... where did those six months go? It feels a little like you were born, I blinked, and now you're half way to your first birthday already. I think those baby days always fly by quite fast, I know that they did with your big brother and sister too, but your's seem to be going at warp speed. I guess its because we are always so busy with things, and we all know time flies when you're having fun. I'm desperately trying to hold on to every second of baby-ness with you, because I know that growing up just happens far too quickly, but you seem pretty determined to grow up however much I may want you to stay a teeny baby just a little bit longer.

6

you are five months old {dear beautiful little lady}

dear beautiful little lady,

So what has your fifth month brought? Not any massive changes, but a lot of settling more and more into life as a five. Seeing you with your brother and sister is my favourite thing ever! You light up when you see them, and they'll do anything to make you laugh and smile. I sometimes think it can be a raw deal being the third one; because you spend your life getting dragged around to all the things that the older two do, so often you have to wait for a feed or a nappy change or a nap because they need to be somewhere urgently. But the trade off is that you have two little entertainers living in your house and they will bounce your bouncer, sing you songs, and pass you toys with unwavering enthusiasm all day long in exchange for a grin from you. 

5

you are four months old {dear beautiful little lady}

dear beautiful little lady

Well there went another month... it's mad how fast the time is going. This month has been a relatively quiet one in the scheme of things. Just all of us plodding along with life, a life that we simply can't imagine without you in it now.

5

happy fifth birthday beautiful boy

Well Mr Five-Year-Old,

you've grown up so much this past year that it's crazy.

When I wrote your last birthday letter a year ago,

you had just really begun your first independent steps out into the world;

but this year, you are running around in that world,

with so much confidence, so independently, so happily.

I'm sure I've said it every single year,

but you really really aren't a baby anymore kiddo.

You love school.

And my god are you a bright little spark,

you continue to amaze us and your teachers 

with your drive to learn

and your clever brain. 

You'll move mountains kid, I just know you will. 

You have so many friends.

It seems like every single child at school knows your name

and you know all of theirs too,

and you have a smile and a laugh for every one.

I'm so proud of the friendly, confident and kind little man you are.

You are simply the very best big brother on earth.

And you got promoted this year, 

to big brother of not one, but two little sisters.

They both totally adore you and absolutely idolise you.

And it's pretty easy to see why when we watch you with them both.

Those girls are so so lucky to have you.

And how lucky are we?

Daddy and I still pinch ourselves on occasion

when we think about the fact that you are ours.

You are such a little mixture of us both,

and also totally becoming your own person more and more each day.

You make us beyond proud!

It's simply impossible to put into words just how amazing it is to be your mummy,

and I think I could spend the rest of my life trying to find those words,

and they would still fall short.

You rock my world,

my best boy,

my bright shiny star.

Thank-you for being mine.

I love you lots.

I love you more.

I love you most.

Happy fifth birthday beautiful boy!

xxx

You can read his first, second, third and fourth birthday letters and compare his birthday photos too.

9

you are three months old {dear beautiful little lady}

dear beautiful little lady

It feels like yet another month has flown by, but this past month you seem to have changed quite a bit. It feels like you really aren't a newborn anymore; you have a personality which seems to be coming out more and more with each passing day. It feels like I really know you now, in fact I've said to Daddy that I just feel so close to you - so in tune with you - that I know what you want before you want it. It's a magical thing. And I just love our bond; how nobody else has quite the effect on you that I do, and how I just feel so much happier and more relaxed with you in my arms.

11

you are two months old {dear beautiful little lady}

dear beautiful little lady

As I sit writing you this letter you are sitting in your chair by my side. The change in you this past month has been remarkable, and totally magical, with your personality coming out more and more. While I write this I can see out of the corner of my eye that you are staring at me intently, willing me to look your way, and as soon as I do your little face lights up in the biggest smile.

5

you are one month old {dear beautiful little lady}

dear beautiful little lady,

You've clicked into our family like a piece of the puzzle that we didn't know was even missing. I say it all the time that you are so loved... I'm quite frankly obsessed with you; cuddling you and breathing. In your intoxicating baby smell is just about my favourite way to spend time. Your daddy is so so protective of you and I just know that you are going to have him wrapped around your little finger like no one else. And your older brother and sister simply adore you; they have embraced you into the gang right from the start and they love to be near you, to hold you, and to lie either side of you on the bed whenever we change you. Changing time always descends into them giggling like total nutters and you looking from one to the other like they are the best, funniest and most insane things you've ever seen. We all feel so lucky to think that in the not too distant future there will be three gorgeous crazy little giggles at changing time, and I know they cannot wait to have you interacting with them more. 

7