Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Nate! Checking on you last night before we went to bed, I just cried thinking about how much joy you have brought to your family this past year. You sure know how to make a mama's heart feel better. Do you have to grow up? Just not too fast, ok?

I guess I've "matured" in my own way over the years. I remember other first birthdays and doing big cakes and parties that took lots of time and energy. This year I made Nate's cake earlier in the week and through it in the freezer. We had a simple meal, and I spent the day on the floor with Nate, trying to soak in every bit of him that I could. I loved it.

Nate is so excited about his new tractor with farm animals. He loves to push it all around the room and stop once in a while to check on the animals. Thanks Karla!!

Sadie gave Nate a box of tissue. How cool for a baby to have a whole box and be allowed to take every tissue out, one at a time. Nate loved this! We had tissue and Nate's b-day toys all over the floor, and it made me smile so much that I wouldn't let anyone clean it up tonight. It just reminds me of a fun one-year-old life being excited about tissue and that wrapping paper is cooler than the present! I love to sit and watch Nate's face and try and wonder all that's going on in his little mind.

Oops- forgot to turn this one. And it's too late (meaning, I'm tired and need to go to bed) to go back and fix it. A while back, Ash bought Nate a cowboy gun with her own money. Nate kept sticking the gun in my mouth and Dave kept take pictures of that. Hmmm...

I love this boy...more than words.

And now for the fun. Nate was a bit shy of the cake at first. He hasn't had any treats yet (that I know of) in his long 1 year of life. He started by poking at it, and then just staring at it. But once he got going, he kept going. Although I don't know how much actually went in his mouth. He loves to feed us, so some of the cake went in our mouths, and Nate loves to send his food on rides to the ground through various cubby-holes in his high chair. It makes him so happy to look over the edge and see his food that landed on the ground.

By the way- this is one of our new favorite recipes! It's a chocolate-zucchini cake recipe that we got from Jamie - thank you for introducing it to us!

I better hurry and post this before I cry too much. I just enjoyed the day and tried to not think too much about my baby growing up. But looking at these pictures for too long is reminding me and making me sad.

Thank you Nate, for brightening our year! We all love you so very much!