gardenstatesmiths: Birthday Fun

Here's a peek at Natalie's birthday fun over the past couple of days. Finally, some pictures of some of Natalie's friends that I often reference in the blog.

Brad and I got her a bean bag chair for her birthday. My parents have one at their house and she loves it. She didn't have quite the reaction we thought she'd have, but it was probably because we gave it to her first thing after she woke up in the morning and wasn't really interested in much of anything. Later in the day she settled in for a good read. Lily has also discovered that it's comfy.

In the afternoon I took Natalie to an indoor play area called Uptown Playaround. They had a big playhouse, a basketball hoop and lots of balls, and a huge jungle gym type thing (like what you see at McDonald's, but way bigger). She loved the jungle gym but was too short to climb into it by herself. You know what that means! I was up there with her...short of breath and a little claustrophobic. It was worth it hearing her squeals as we went down the twisty slide.

A couple of our friends joined us too. Here is Natalie with one of her favorite friends, Caitlin. These girls love to give each other hugs and snuggle on the couch. Notice that they are about the same height...Caitlin is 6 months younger than Natalie, who she calls "NatNat."

The day of the party! The ball pit was such a hit at Natalie's first birthday party that we decided to do it again, and it did not disappoint! Everyone loved it.

The grub. Thank you to Trader Joe's for making my life easy, providing yummy food that just needed to be done in the oven!

Natalie and Hosanna snacking together.

Hosanna's older brother, Ephraim, was the biggest kid at the party (5), and was so good with the little kids. Natalie thought he was so silly with the balls.

Caitlin loves the camera!

So does Lyla!

I figured since Natalie is not into cake, I'd get creative and make something a little different for dessert. These are cake balls, inspired by Bakerella. Mine are not nearly as perfect looking as hers, but equally delicious. They were a hit! The dark ones are chocolate cake with chocolate frosting dipped in semisweet chocolate. The light ones are red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting dipped in white chocolate. Yum!