Over the past several months I’ve come to understand the insurmountable love and sacrifice required to raise a child, a humbling lesson I’m certain I will continue to appreciate as the years fly by.

Today marks one year of marriage for Alex and me — an incredible year that has turned our lives upside down and inside out in all the best ways. In honor of our anniversary, we wanted to share some photos from our small backyard wedding.

Just before Easter we took our first little family trip to Deep Creek Lake. Alex had a meeting nearby and I can work from anywhere, so we figured we’d make a long (working) weekend out of it.

Half a year old and this girl is keeping us on our toes! Since last month, Dakota has begun to sit up fairly well, but still assisted. We have a feeling she’ll get the hang of it in no time. She is constantly exploring new sounds she can make, spitting and yelling all day long. Her absolute favorite right now is to squinch up her face and snort like a little piggy.

Just over six weeks ago we welcomed Jaxon Taylor Dove into the world. My sister-in-law Julianne found out she was pregnant just a few months after I did. With all the uncertainty and excitement that comes with first-time pregnancies, going through this together was truly a godsend.

We absolutely cannot get enough of this wiggly, giggly little monkey.

Dakota is rolling over (from back to belly) all day long. Everything she manages to grasp with her chubby little fingers immediately becomes a chew toy. She cannot. Stop. Wiggling.

Month four was brimming with excitement and curiosity. Dakota’s interest in the world around her has become more assertive. She insists on grabbing everything in sight and flings her little body around to position herself so that she never misses a beat.

She’s also become even more vocal squealing and squawking in reaction to all the things that make her happy (overflowing kisses, belly rubs, swinging high in her BabyBjorn bouncer, her favorite owl toy, and most recently playing peek-a-boo). Oh, and she’s discovered her toes!

Mere months into this thing and we can both say that parenthood has been absolutely remarkable. We couldn’t be more elated about our budding little family.

We’re so grateful to my younger brother for capturing our earliest moments as a new family of three while he was home for the holidays.

Sweet babe has become quite a chatty little thing, gurgling and cooing and sometimes even yelling for attention!

The world has become much more colorful in her third month of life. Her eyes widen with a slow-blinking gaze of wonder as we take walks around the backyard. You can’t help but squeeze those puffy cheeks when she looks at you inquisitively, asking “what is that, mama?”

Our favorite part of the day is when Dakota wakes. Her gleeful, gaping smile is wider than ever the first time she lays eyes on mama and papa each day! Of course her happy moods have progressed just as much as her unhappy moods, and that quivering pout never hesitates to let us know when something is amiss.