Bookends

“Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence. A time of confidences.

Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph.
Preserve your memories, they’re all that’s left of you.”

Those are the lyrics from one of my absolutely favorite Simon & Garfunkel songs, Bookends. One of my most loved songs ever, actually. Short, melodic and so, so sweet. If you haven’t listened to it, please do. You’ll thank me later.

And I share this with you because right now as I’m thinking about this story, I’m humming the few verses in my head. Because it pertains to something else in my life that is so, so sweet. My rapidly maturing little girl, Taylor. I’m very much in denial that she’s nearly one month away from turning Four. My goodness. That went WAY too fast.
A few months ago Chris’s mom, Sue, mentioned a photo shoot idea that her friend had done, which was having her daughter dress up in her wedding dress and taking a few pictures of her, then saving those adorable images as something to give to her on her wedding day. Yeah. All you mothers of daughters are gasping right now... Because it’s THAT WONDERFUL.

And not as if it was already slated to be the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, I have been blessed with the Girliest Girl in all Girlville for a daughter. One who throws tantrums if she can’t wear chiffon everyday, and hasn’t put on a pair of pants in two months. When she saw the big, white box that held my wedding dress propped on our bed, she gasped and squealed in delight, I CAN’T LOOK! I CAN’T LOOK! MAKE IT BE A SURPRISE! and then covered her eyes with her hands as she took deep breaths in the corner of the room until I was able to unwrap the dress. And then we let her try it on, securing the back with clothespins. And this is what she did:

For real. It was probably the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.

And the next morning we put it back on her and had my sister take the photos. And I would share them with you... But since this blog is Taylor’s babybook, and something that eventually she’ll read, I really want to preserve them until her big day. But just imagine the quality – Libba’s talent paired with my Toddlers & Tiaras-minded Princess. Yeah. Uh-MAY-Zeen. And in twenty years or so, we are going to have a pretty amazing mother-daughter moment. Chills, y’all. Major goosebumps.