Baby Steps

We are on the downhill to Preston's first birthday and my mama heart is in complete and total denial.  It's as true as it is cliche that they grow up so fast.  One day last week I was able to set him anywhere, the next he was opening doors and pulling himself up on everything while hauling things out of the baskets or drawers.  We are on the move folks!  The first birthday means a few big things.  We survived a year of being a family of four.  Our newborn, turned infant, is almost a toddler who will be walking.  Is it just me or is it a little cruel that they turn one and walk around the same time? Oh my Heart!

Ever the shoe addict and overly sentimental mama, I had to find the perfect pair of shoes for those first steps to be taken in.  Never one to value function over style I settled on these Cactus moccasins from Freshly Picked.  They are the sweetest little moccasins, and as stylish as they are functional so he adores them too!  The elastic opening means easy on and off for mama, and they stay on all day.  The soft leather bottoms are my absolute favorite part.  He can easily feel the floor making it easier to learn to walk for him, and once those little feet are on  the move his footprint will be worn into the bottom for me to keep forever.  I cannot explain the feeling I had when I was going through Leavitt's old shoes to use for Preston when I stumbled on the moccasins Leavitt walked in for the first time.  Seeing his little footprint worn into the sole felt so bittersweet but they are a treasure I will forever keep.

I can't lie it stings a little that he is pushing for independence lately.  I have traveled this road once before with his big brother only this time I know what to expect.  Less concerned with meeting the milestones, and more concerned with burning them into my memory.  I have watched these boys bond with each other, Preston just adores his big brother.  So I know he is trying his hardest to get those feet under him and take off.  When he does I will be there cheering him on, dying a little inside, and when he's on to his next pair of shoes I will have these moccasins with his footprints worn into them to remind me of these days I'm desperate to live over and over again.  

To help celebrate Preston's first birthday Freshly Picked & I are giving a pair away to one lucky reader!  The giveaway is being hosted on my Facebook page to enter head over there to enter!

Bringing up Leavitt is a Freshly Picked partner and I was provided with a pair of moccasins for this post.  All opinions are and always will be my own!