Birthday Celebration #2

The family came out after church on Sunday to celebrate Natalie's birthday.  PawPaw, Nana, Grandmother, Granddaddy, Nanny, Aunt Tonya, Trinity and Janice all came out.  Of course, Nana spoiled Natalie. That's her love language, gifts. 

 Dylan, Trinity and Natalie playing in Natalie's princess tent.  (Dylan plays in this a lot)

 Cousins

 Happy Birthday Natalie

Look Whoooo's 1

At first, I wasn't going to do a theme for Natalie's birthday, just colors.  Thanks to pinterest and the abundance of ideas, I decided to go with a cute little owl theme (also a little Chi Omega shout out).  Every year, I try to say, I am not going to do anything big. I am really going to scale back. I know it's not like they remember, but there are always pictures. Plus, I really can't help myself. 

This will  be my new way of doing balloons.  It was so easy, very festive and a lot cheaper than helium balloons.  

 "Look Whooo's Grown"  --- I made a little tree with pictures of Natalie from Newborn to 1 year.

 I found a cute idea of making paper lanterns into owls, so they were scattered throughout the downstairs.

 Thanks to my friend, Kirsten, I had this cute little banner for Natalie.

 I love me some T@rget cupcakes, but for Natalie's party, I put some trimmings on the cupcakes to make a little owl.  This was such a cute idea.

 Then there's the cute little birthday girl.  

 She's so excited to be 1 finally!

 I did not go all out on games, that's for sure...but we did have one game....."whooo can get back into the nest"  Yes, I thought of this one all on my own.  One of the original ideas....although I am sure I was not the first.

 We had a little craft for the kiddos...what was I thinking opening up paint inside. Thankfully there were no accidents and my couches did not get painted.

After they finished the craft, they could hang to dry. 

 Natalie had cake a few times by the time her birthday rolled around.  I knew she wouldn't cry like Dylan, but I also knew that she wouldn't dig in.

 We had lots of sweet friends come to celebrate Natalie's first year.  I cannot wait to see what the next year has in store for us.

Valentines Party

I got to Dylan's school early to set up and got a sneak peek of the kids outside the bathroom saying their prayer before lunch.  Damien mentioned how he will miss this when he goes to public school...so will I. 

 Here he is sneaking a peek himself.

 After lunch, we had craft time. The kids got to decorate their very own heart mailbox so they could exchange valentines.  Dylan was ecstatic...okay maybe he's just a goof all the time.

 I don't know if the teachers sat them this way, but all boys at this table. Working so manly like with their dainty little hearts and tissue paper.

 Uh oh, someone snuck in the shot. While it is her birthday week, she has not been partying that hard as though it appears she has.

 Showing off their valentines mailbox

 After exchanging valentines, dessert was to be had.  Ice Cream Sundaes always hit the spot.

I love helping out with his school parties. I am so grateful that God has allowed me the opportunity to be a stay at home mom.  I once said I would never be one, but now I couldn't imagine not being one.

Zinghoppers

Zinghoppers were at a local play area today filming for a new music video for PBS.  I did a little bribing after getting there as Dylan was not into being in the shots.  Jellybeans were the bribe. Can't wait to see if he makes the cut.  Will post a link when they put the video out.

Dylan is in the blue under the blue window

 In between shoots

 Waiting for the next song and Natalie popped in on this one, but I doubt she makes it. 

 Standing proud

Swallow Study and Feeding Evaluation

Natalie has been having so many issues with gagging and throwing up her feedings, I wanted to find out if there was something physical going on.  To put my mind at ease, the doctor scheduled Natalie for a swallow study at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.  We got there early one morning, on an empty stomach and proceeded with the swallow study. It was really painless. I was expecting more.  They basically put her in a chair and put her in an xray of sorts.  The gave her food with this marshmallow cream like substance that shows up in the xrays. First, I gave her a bottle and right away, the therapist saw it.  I don't know the techinical terms, but basicaly, Natalie has a little pocket at the top of her throat. If she tilts her head back, it opens the pocket even more, so the liquid goes in the pocket.  With the feeding from a spoon, it was has pronounced.  They said we would be a good candidate for a feeding evaluation if we wanted to, so they scheduled it for us. 

A few weeks later we went back to VCH and had a 2 hour session with a speech therapist.  They gave her different textures and cups to see how she reacted to things.  They did say that at 1 year old, that Natalie was a little delayed developmentatlly and was more like a 6-9 month old.  (see I knew I wasn't crazy) That suggested we buy some different tools like a honey bear straw cup to help get her off a bottle. Sippy cups would require her to tilt her head back to drink until she learned the motor skill of flipping her wrists.  I was really proud of Natalie and I have seen so much improvement just in the past month. 

waiting for her evaluation to begin

playing in the room

Natalie's 1 Year and Family Photo Shoot

Big Thanks to Rebecca Kelley at http://www.rebeccakellyphotography.com/

Here are some of my favorites.

 We had a tough time getting big smiles from Natalie outside. It was really windy and cold.