Year One

Ellie got a lot a wonderful things for her birthday. I mean this girl is crazy loved by our family and friends. One of my favorites is a sentimental item that I wont even Ellie touch it... Cause lets be real, Ellie's one year sticky fingers are still learning what gentle means. Mike gave Ellie a book of her first year seen through the eyes of this blog. Oh, I cant tell you how much I love this book. When I first looked at it, it was odd. It was my words, my images...but I was looking at it as a outsider looking in. It was weird and magical all at the same time. 

Editor's Note:

Elliott,  

One Month after you were born, I traveled to the other side of the world for almost two months. I thought that one day, when you were older, I would tell you all about the time I had when you were just a tiny baby.  

What I realized is this: I regret not spending those two months with you. Watching you grow bigger. Watching your eyes get big with wonder and your eyebrow raise with excitement. Or seeing your face squinch up with your first taste of a lemon. I would have completely missed it, had it not been for your mother.  

Your mother kept a blog that allowed me to share in these moments from around the world. The love I felt simply reading her words and seeing her photos made my day, everyday, both abroad and at home for an entire year. This book is to help memorialize the love your mother has for you, which she graciously allowed me the share 

So say we all. 

Love, Uncle Charles Michael

Don't I have the greatest little bro? He brought back everyone gifts from Uganda. And I personally think Ellie got the best one. He paid a local seamstress in the small town he was staying in to make Ellie a dress similar to what a young girl in Uganda would wear. She wore the dress for her one year old pictures. (Pictures taken by Brooke Kelly Photography)