a baby bag + a niece

today i have a cold. i have a cold as i try to finish a baby bag as a gift for a friend in Germany. i am so grateful that i still have friends all over the world who think my stuff is nice. thats nice. the cold not so much.

another nice thing, and a little unbelievable, is that my oldest niece turned 17 today. 17! i remember 17 and it makes me want to say "you can't be that old because that makes me old!"

i met Kelsey when she was 5yrs old. from the beginning i loved her like i had know her from birth. to this day she is one of the sweetest, coolest, creative + loving people i know. thats hard to find too when you are talking about a teenager. but Kelsey has always been so beautiful on the inside and out. even though we live far apart i have been able to keep in touch with her and let her know i still care.

  

i love her so much partly because she laughs at my stupid jokes. behaves goofy when i ask. and is interested in photography like her mother and i so we always have something to talk about.

 

Kelsey and her uncle, my husband, have always had a special bond. being that Adam was a teen when Kelsey was born they sort of grew up together more like bro. and sis. than uncle and niece. i could immediately see the bond the first night i met Kelsey. it was while we were in college and we were throwing Adam a surprise b-day party (which he hates by the way) and Kelsey and my MIL had come down for the surprise. Kelsey was very quite and shy but i immediately wanted to make her my new friend and put her in my pocket. 

Kelsey and i have had lots of great times together including her visit to Europe and the occasional impromptu photo shoot. she is always patient to listen to what i say and comfortable enough to ask questions. 

I am very blessed to have lots of very cool, loving and sweet people in my life and Kelsey is no exception. Happy birthday Kiddo!