I know this much is true

My third baby. My sweet Ju Ju Bean. I know  that you don't have a baby book, but I started one, I had the best intentions. I realize your clothes rarely match, you never have shoes and you are frequently covered in dirt with yogurt crusted in your hair. It isn't that I don't care. No, we haven't taken a Music Together or Gymboree class, and we failed to get regular baby portraits, but it isn't because I do not love you. I do. Your naps are often interrupted or forgotten altogether, until we find you passed out in your stroller. I never made you homemade baby food, instead you get the bits and pieces of whatever your brothers leave behind, and a more than occasional french-fry. I turn a blind eye when I find you sucking on a (non -toxic) marker because at least you are not crying.

Oh Julian, you are just as sweet and adorable as your older siblings and I love you just as much, but your arrival has kicked my butt. This year has been the very hardest of my life, and thus I have less energy for making scrap books and pureed vegetables. Juggling play dates, soccer games and your brother's social calendars leaves less time for baby-focused activities but I swear,  I swear, that I have just as much room in my heart for you.

Julian covered in beets

Not blood. Just marker.

Julian covered in watermelon

So you are messy. So your clothes don't match, so  I haven't documented every second of your first year, but you are loved. That much I know is true.