Natalie's Birthday Party!

Today was the big day! Natalie's first birthday party! We had it at the church to accommodate our guests. Our theme was "Winter One-derland" with lots of snowflakes in shades of blue and purple. (Side note- it was an excellent theme to have right after Christmas because then I got all of our decorations 50% off!)
Our party began at 1 with some socializing and visiting. We then sang to Natalie and allowed her to have her first piece of cake! Natalie liked treating the cake like play-doh instead of food. She didn't attempt to eat any of it for the longest time and was quite content with smearing and smashing it between her fingers and hands. It wasn't til the end that she licked a bit from her fingers.
After that we opened all of the presents that people brought! Natalie is one lucky girl! She got so many things! (3 things of diapers, 5 outfits, a bib, sippy cups, 3 stuffed animals (one of which is interactive), 3 stacking toys, 2 bath toys, 6 books, and some monetary gifts!)
We also had all of our guests write messages to Natalie for her first birthday scrap book. We ended up with some amazingly touching messages, that have made me cry. I love that we will have a scrapbook of all of these memories for Natalie.
She was a great girl the entire time. She began battling quite the runny nose and the desire for a nap towards the end, but she was as pleasant as can be through it all!
She fell fast asleep as soon as she was in the car. When we got home, I was able to get her into the house, out of her coat, and onto her changing table without having her wake up. We decided to take advantage and get a picture of her with her dolly so we could actually have a comparison shot for her birthday.
I am still not ready to be reflective yet. That will still have to be another day.