Happy Birthday Nathaniel!

I can't believe it is here - my baby's first birthday. The year has flown by, but I have enjoyed every minute of it. Here are the shots in chronological order from the past year. Yes, this is long, but I can't help it. I'm a mom.

Today we celebrated the joy that is Nathaniel and tried to do all of his favorite things. We went for a walk in the stroller this morning (he loves being outside). We played a lot, and read books. For lunch we went to Chick-fil-A, and Nathaniel ate a whole chicken strip and part of a fruit cup. He had such a great time people-watching and is such a social individual. The crazy little guy even reached out and grabbed a random little boy's t-shirt. He shrieked at other kids (he loves other kids). We had a nice relaxing afternoon, and for dinner had sweet potatoes (favorite veggie), turkey (favorite meat so far) and crescent rolls (any kind of bread is usually good with him). He has gotten so good at feeding himself now.

Nathaniel loves animals and almost any kind of activity (especially jumping in any kind of device he can). He's not walking yet, but probably will be soon. He's a very fast crawler and pulls up on everything. He goes to Mother's Day Out on Tuesday/Thursday and loves his friends in his class. They even made a little birthday card for him before the break.One of his teachers at school calls him "Smiley," which I think is a fitting nickname. He is almost always happy and loves to laugh. Will and I chose Nathaniel for his name way over a year ago, because it means "gift from God." I can't think of a more appropriate name for him! He is such a joy in our lives and we feel very blessed. We love you little guy!

The big Christmas post

What a wonderful Christmas we had! We enjoyed every minute of our first Christmas with Nathaniel. Getting to spend it with family was also terrific. I should have taken more pictures, but here are some highlights. We started out our trip in Amarillo with my family.

Love this family shot.

Yes, the weather was cold, so Nathaniel wore his coat for the first time!

You can see Uncle Les in the background - Nathaniel got to meet his great uncle for the first time. Note the beautiful hat Nathaniel is wearing - made by his teacher at school, Ms. Janice.

 We had the first of 3 birthday parties at my parent's house. I love this expression on his face. Otis is lurking in the background in hopes someone drops a cupcake.

Everyone singing "Happy Birthday."

Of course he loved his first cake. Downed the whole thing.

We opened presents Christmas Eve night. I have all of that on video along with shots of my family - need to post the video soon. Here are the shots of Nathaniel by the Christmas tree - right after his bath and in his Christmas pjs from Aunt Hillary.

Now we are at Will's parent's house in Midland. Nathaniel had a great time playing with the tractors here. You can see a look of sheer joy on his face.

He opened his stocking here.

The last night of our visit - we opened Christmas gifts together. Unfortunately cousin Brad and Aunt Wendy and Uncle Greg were all sick, so we missed seeing them. It wasn't the same without them.

 Cousin Laney in her new chair checking out her princess costumes.

I love this look on his face - it's like, "Why are we still opening these packages?"

Annie during the festivities.

Birthday party #2 - clearly he knows the cake is coming.

The train cake made by Nana - very cool.

Again, I wish I had taken more pictures. I'll try to post the video soon. Thanks again to both of our families for hosting us, and giving us such a wonderful first Christmas with Nathaniel. We love you!!