When your best friend gives birth to her daughter on your birthday

When your best friend gives birth to her daughter on your birthday, you know one thing for certain: you’re going to spend the first year matching her monthly photos, and the rest of your life celebrating the greatest gift you’ve ever received.

It was difficult at times to find matching outfits (Carter’s really needs to be more size inclusive to accommodate this bit), but I made it work with fun stripes, bright patterns, and bows the size of my face. Grabbing my toes was another milestone, and something I didn’t think I could still do at 34 years and five months, but baby Annie believed in me and, with her encouragement, anything is possible.

I have to admit, it was a little embarrassing showing up to my own birthday party only to find someone else - a baby - was wearing almost the exact same dress as me. I held it together, because I am a grown woman, but little baby Annie was less than thrilled. She gave me the once over before bursting into tears for barging into HER party without calling first to let her know I would be wearing mustard yellow. We’ve since made up over the whole debacle, thanks to her mother’s mediation.

Which brings me to my final reflection. As the year of monthly milestone photos comes to an end, I think the greatest lesson I’ve learned is the power of friendship. If you don’t have a best friend who is willing to go into labor X days (early/late) to have a baby on your birthday, I feel sorry for you. Sarah Adams is top notch friend, and I am so lucky to call her and Annie my besties.