Natalie turns 1 year old!!

What an exciting day we had - Natalie turned one years old!!! As I'm typing this I can't believe how quickly this year has come and gone by. Andy and I were so excited about this special day that we were actually up before Ms. Nat-Nat. We were so anxious to tell her Happy Birthday for the very first time!!! We celebrated by having a birthday breakfast. It was a decorated pancake which Natalie loved!! After breakfast we all got ready for the day and hung around the house for a while. We left later on in the afternoon as we had plans for Natalie to meet up with an old friend - Rainbow Babe Bear. Natalie and several of her little friends took Rainbow Babe Classes when they were all around 5 months old. These classes were great for our babies. We connected with our babies through music, movement and manipulatives. These classes were taught by Karen who had a lovely voice and very peaceful demeanor. Earlier this year I received an email from Don who was Karen's husband who had some sad news, Karen had passed away. It was a shock to me and I immediately phoned some of the other mommies to see if they received the email. I never responsed to Don's initial email. I think I just didn't know what to say. Well Natalie and I attended Leah's party in late March at Gymboree. While we were at the party Martha (mommy friend) and I looked at each other and both said this so reminds us of Karen. So luckily I had kept the original email Don had sent in January and responded to it in early April. He was such a nice man and was very happy to hear from one of Karen's Rainbow Babe customers. We met with Don today on Natalie's birthday and his special gift to Natalie was Rainbow Babe Bear. Not only was it Natalie's 1st birthday but someone we had never met wanted to give her a gift, a very special gift. In the original email Don had sent sharing the news of Karen's departure he said to take care and always appreciate our loved ones and that life is so very, very fragile. So as I'm sitting here past midnight and winding down from our exciting day I'm able to post this message and absorb Don's message. My heart is full of so much joy! It's funny how life is and I'm happy to share it with you through Natalie's blog. Here are some pictures of our exciting day and the celebration of Natalie's 1st birthday.