Natalie's First Birthday Party

 

Natalie hosted her first birthday party on Valentine's Day. She was quite happy and seemed to have fun despite a short afternoon nap. (However, she crashed just before bedtime and I had to whisk her off to bed before any of the other kids were ready). We had a small party with just one family of friends as guests, and my mom of course. I made a carrot cake with the usual substitutions to make it allergy-friendly for Trevor. We just ordered pizza for dinner and there were no organized games- the older kids just ran wild while Natalie sat with me and visited with everyone. Here are a few shots of the cake and Natalie with the cake:

She had no problem shoveling the whole cupcake in as fast as she could- I seem to remember a few of my kids being unsure what to do with such a sweet treat on their first birthday, but Natalie thoroughly enjoyed it :)

Perfectly ONEderful!

The time has passed in a blur and now our littlest babe is now one!
Natalie crawls all over the place exploring and getting into whatever she can find. She loves to babble, although we haven't quite heard an actual word out of her yet, its coming soon. She loves to sit up in her high chair with all the other kids, but she doesn't sit there long without making it well known that she expects someone to feed her. She'll eat mostly anything the rest of us are eating, although I've had to ban Trevor from feeding her much since he often gives her way too much or leaves a bowl sitting right next to her for her to knock on the floor.Natalie is now the proud owner of four teeth- with more coming any time now. She is a great sleeper at night and during nap times and is a delight during the day. She adds so much fun and happiness to our family and we are so glad to have her!
We had crepes for breakfast. I wasn't going to do anything, but the kids insisted, so we made crepes. Natalie only ate a few bites and some strawberries, but she had fun playing with it afterward. We only opened one present today- but that was enough fun for her and we can open up more through the week. I did a little photoshoot with her to capture her at one, but then my friend called and needed to take some Valentine's photos of a cute baby to use as a sample of her work, so she came over and did some more photos (she took the one at the beginning of this post). Austin wasn't able to join us  today because of a very busy day at work, so we will have a little party for her on Friday. Here are the photos from today: