Natalie's birthday party

Natalie had a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese:

At first, Natalie was a little shy...

... But the games quickly made her warm up!

Natalie wasn't too sure about the "ticket blaster" experience. That's where she got into a booth where the tickets were blown all around her and she had to catch them. She quickly opted out of that one.

Natalie loved being the Birthday Girl!

And being the center of the big show they put on was a hit, too.

The party was a big hit!

Natalie's birthday

Natalie's birthday is in December. I think she had a pretty good day:

Natalie's birthday breakfast table.

Of course, her birthday card was a musical princess one!

The birthday girl!

Later in the day, we had ice cream cupcakes - yummi!

Decorating the Christmas tree

Per our tradition, we decorated our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving Day. Natalie had been looking forward to it for weeks.

As always, Natalie put the star on the top - with a little help from Daddy

Hmm, is that a little crocked?

Natalie's own pictures

On a beautiful fall day, Natalie decided to bring her own camera to school and daycare. It was really interesting to see her day from her own perspective:

The playground.

What an interesting view from the playground.

Other kids coming back to daycare after a fieldtrip.

I think she has a real eye for the photography thing!

The Holiday Parade

Natalie and I went to the Christmas parade Downtown. It was nice and warm (much better than last year):

Waiting for the parade to start.

The parade was great, and Natalie loved it. The best part was that she brought her own camera:

Natalie, the photographer.

24 hour blog-a-thon

I've been falling a little behind on the blogging thing, so I figured I'd try something new: A personal 24 hour blog-a-thon! That way, I can catch up on all the fun little pictures etc. that I have in my draft folder - most of it including Natalie, of course.

So, buckle up, and let the fun begin. For the next 24 hours, I'll be putting up a new post every hour!


 Here's a quick picture to get started:

Natalie and her "Christmas calendar". An old family tradition. Every day from the first to the twenty-fourth of December, she gets a small present.

Best of 2011

We now return to our normally scheduled programming...

Here's a bit of a tradition: The best of (the pictures of) 2011! As with the posts from the last two years, I picked my favorite picture from each month. Some are funny, some are goofy, some are cute, and a few might even be called beautiful. Enjoy.

January.
Our pretty princess.

February
Having a special snack in her playhouse.

March.
Happy Birthday, Daddy!

April.
Happy Easter.

May.
What a beauty.

June.
Such a goofball.

July.
Ready for fireworks.

August.
At the beach.

September.
First day of school.

October.
A picture walk. Such an explorer.

November.
Photographing the Holiday Parade.

December.
It may be a grainy cellphone picture, but I can just hear the giggles!