My Evelynn Rose, 11 Months | Muncie, Indiana Baby and Child Photography

Is my little girl going seriously going to be one year old in less than two weeks?

One of the most profound things I've gained from having, not just a daughter, or a baby, but *this* baby - having Evelynn Rose - is the fact that she looks so much like me.

And you want to know something very personal, and maybe a little sad?

I prayed that my children wouldn't look like me. I really did. I didn't care who their father would be, I just wanted them to look like him. I have never really thought myself to be very pretty at all. I struggled for years with body image and self image and in the end I resigned myself to the fact that there is nothing wrong with me, and that many people through the years have considered me pretty or attractive, so I just have to accept that I'll look like what I look like to me, and I'll look like what I look like to them.

I've never liked my nose. I've definitely never liked my eyes ... small, nothing special to them. I nitpick and nitpick and nitpick. For many years, it was a sad obsession.

And then I would just hope and pray that my children would look like their dad so they wouldn't have to live with my face and my issues.

Especially after I met Austin ... the guy is gorgeous!

I even remember when Evey was born and the first thing I said when I saw her - "...I just gave birth to my father."

Don't hate me. I was on a LOT of drugs. A lot. And I had pre-eclampsia so my brain was total jello.

The irony of it all? And I'm sure you know where this is going...

I'm almost positive I have never seen a child as gorgeous as my own. Objectively and subjectively speaking.

I love her features. I love her little nose. I love the depth of her deep, dark brown eyes. I love her little rosebud lips.

I am forced to look at myself every day when I look at her. There's no escaping the mirror. And this little girl has made me eat my words. Every last one of them.

I do wonder sometimes if it's just that her dad has softened my features for her. She's got those gorgeous eyebrow arches and the most subtle of cheek dimples when she laughs.

But then I see these pictures. Nope. That's me.

I'm not so bad.