Just as I did with Ally’s 7th birthday post, I’m going to take Natalie’s first birthday post and update it. 🙂

As some of you may already know, our family celebrates all our birthdays, five in total, between December 11th and January 30th. For two straight months we have balloons, cake, presents, parties, and then more presents and more parties and more cake. It certainly makes for an interesting and exciting time in our house (all the shopping in such a short amount of time may be the biggest challenge), and because we strategically planned (and hoped for) when our kids would be born (I know other wedding photographers can relate, ha!), I can’t complain. It also gives me an opportunity to share more personally via an overabundance of kiddo cuteness…which seems to get the most reaction out of you all on the world wide web. 🙂

On December 11th, we celebrated THREE birthdays. Myself, Brian and our oldest Ally all have the same birthday. It’s a birthday trifecta (my friend Bethany actually dubbed it #triFIKEta last year…and I dropped the ball when it came to using that hashtag this year, ha! ) and it really kickstarts our season of birthdays. But now it’s Miss Natalie Vella’s turn.

She’s turning TWO today, January 11th! (Yes another birthday on the 11th!) I said it went by fast last year on her first birthday and I’m pretty sure it went just as fast for this second year. We’re a lot busier with life in general…it’s really hard not to be with three kids. So maybe that’s what passes the time by so quickly? While it doesn’t feel like just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital, which is how I felt a year ago, it does feel like maybe she shouldn’t be as old as she is! She has gone from a 7 pound, head-of-little-hair, quiet babe to a 30 pound, long haired, smiley, talkative, baby doll lover. She still looks pretty in pastels (notice the light pink outfit below!) and can still be found wearing her sister’s hand-me-downs frequently. Just like she did when she was a year old, she still loves to eat (mac n cheese, applesauce, marshmallows and pickles seem to be favorites) and will holler if something isn’t going her way. She’s becoming so much more playful and can often be found moving her babies about the living room and sitting with Ally and Jack for some quality sibling time. She’s also found a special place in her heart for me and is a bit of a mama’s girl right now. But I don’t mind because I could squeeze and snuggle her all day. 🙂

She’s our third baby and she’s still my Bean (also my Snuggle Bug). Happy Birthday to my sweet Natalie! Here’s a look back at her first year and her two-year old portraits…

We also need to take a second and recognize how little Jack seems here! It was just weeks away from turning two and still a baby himself… 🙂

One of Natalie’s first official newborn portraits!

And here she is bright-eyed at one month old…

And one of my favorites at two months old!

 

Another good one at five months…

Looking like the Gerber baby at six months!

Nine months, ha. 🙂

10 months…definitely a fave!!

One year old…

And now she’s two! Goodness, her hair grew so much!!

There she is…The Bean!!! 🙂

Thankfully these two humored me and did a little photo shoot together…

And I had to bribe with marshmallows! You know what happens when you try to shove a fist full of marshmallows in your mouth while you have a runny nose? The marshmallows get stuck on your face. 🙂

Goodness, girlfriend likes her marshmallows!

Thanks for all the loves you all continue to show towards my kiddos. It warms my heart. 🙂