My little lady bug turns one!

We celebrated Nattie's 1st birthday on Saturday at our house with mostly family and a few good friends. It was a lady bug theme and it was so much fun making girly cakes (much easier than a monster truck or Scooby Doo...I can tell you that much!). It was a fun afternoon of eating Mexican food, opening presents, and eating cake. I am just so in love with my little lady. She makes me smile.

Nattie received some very nice gifts...lots of cute clothes, a few toys, and some money to put away for later. My mom and dad gave her a hand-painted, wooden cradle that I got when I was one-year-old. The cradle has my name painted on the side and my mom had Natalie's name and birth date painted, as well. It's so fun to have some girly stuff in the house!

Some of the party people...I don't really know how the great-grandparents managed to escape this photo opp?! The ladybug party hats are so flattering (especially on the men)...don't you think?

Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday dear Nattie...Happy Birthday to you!

She LOVED the cake. She ate a whole lot. I think this explains why she was wide awake until 11 pm...sugar high!

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to..." All good things must come to an end, right? It really was a fun day...and this year has been extra special because she's a part of our family!

Carrie and Maggie...

I got to visit with one of my good friends from college today and her precious baby. Carrie and Maggie stopped by on their drive home from visiting Carrie's sister. I hadn't seen her in a long time, so it was good to visit and finally meet Maggie. Maggie was born just one month before Nattie, but my little chunker has probably seven pounds on her! She is such a cute, little peanut! It was great to visit with you, Carrie. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Too bad our babes didn't feel like smiling...

Sweet thing...

I know some of you thought I fell off the face of the earth given my record breaking hiatus from blogging (I knew it was time to post something when I started getting random emails and voice mails asking if everything was alright! :)). I was really busy and stressed this month, but I'm better now and will have much to post about in the next couple of days.

Tomorrow, my sweet baby girl turns one year old! I can't believe it! She is just so precious! She is getting feistier by the day, loves hugging on her baby dolls (while making a grunt sound...you know like you would if you give someone a big squeeze...so cute!) and is now walking all over the house unprompted (just in the last week or two). We have been affectionately referring to her as "Na Na Baby" ever since Christmas. My niece Emma called her "Na Na" when we saw her last and it stuck. :) Benny has been really cute with her as she's been learning to walk. He claps for her and talks to her in this high pitched voice telling her "Good job, Sissy!" He can't wait for her big b-day party this weekend. Although I've had to tell him 20 times we are not having a pinata?! I guess I'll have to be sure to get one for his b-day?!

"Hi, Mom!"

"My finger tastes good, but will you give me some real food already?" She's a little piggy most of the time. It is a WELCOME change from her big brother's eating habits!

Snowmen...

Benny and Dad had fun playing in the mounds of snow outside tonight. Ok, well Dad had fun until Ben decided to not only bury his body in the snow but also his face. :) Brrrrrrr......

:)

Sometimes we stay in our pajamas all day and take crazy family pictures...

Ben created an entire village with all our Little People stuff...Nattie terrorized the village and ate the Little People...Ben calls her "The Terrorizer" :)

Smiley people I love...

The baby girl taking some of her first steps!

Lots of the white stuff...

Checking it out...

My little snowman...

Pretty blue eyes...

Helping Daddy shovel...

I thought our tree out front looked kind of neat covered in snow and colored lights...

Mike took this picture on a trail run last week.  I still can't believe he runs in that. :)

Special gifts...

Our families are always so kind and generous at Christmas and, of course, we LOVED all of the presents we received, but I wanted to post about a few, specifically, because they are really special!

Mike's parents really surprised me this year by giving me a book made from my blog. Anyone who faithfully updates a blog should look into this. I know my kids are going to love looking at it and reading what I thought of them someday! It's like a yearbook...hardbound, thick glossy pages and every one of my posts, from the beginning, up through mid-December, was included! It was such a thoughtful gift. I included the website on the collage below if you are interested in checking out the consultant's site. My mother-in-law said she was great to work with. :)

So, Mike walked into the house this evening to find me sitting in the living room (kids were in bed) dressing and undressing Natalie's new Bitty Baby and taking pictures of her. He was laughing and said I was weird...I didn't deny it. :) My mom MADE all of these cute little doll clothes to fit the doll baby she bought Natalie for Christmas. Aren't they so cute? I just love that they are handmade by her. They will be so fun for Nattie to play with! I did tell my mom that I was mad at her for not passing on her awesome sewing skills to her daughter.

I told my mom recently that Nattie will NOT leave a bib on. As soon as you put it on her, she rips it off. The velcro kind just haven't worked for my little Houdini. Anyway, my mom always had cloth bibs that tie around the neck for us growing up, and I knew Nattie couldn't get that kind off, so I asked her if she would make me some for Christmas. I know many people don't like cloth bibs because they don't wipe clean as easily and they don't have the little pouch for catching food, but I love them and I'm just glad she can't get them off!