newborn nat nat!!
Natalie Muse,
Happy first birthday, baby girl!!
We were so excited to celebrate your first birthday!! We chose your name
Natalie because it means "born of Christ" or "born on Christmas", and what a special and most important time of the year this is for us to celebrate the birth of Christ our Savior and the birth of our precious, precious little girl. We chose your middle name
Muse after my great-grandmother, Audie Corrine Nixon Muse, who is about to turn 100 in January!! She is a woman of strength and faith, and you are the fifth generation
Muse.
This past year has been so amazing, Natalie. You are the most special blessing in our lives. You bring us SO MUCH JOY!!!
It's hard to believe what we were doing this time last year. I wanted to write down your birth story, so I don't forget!! I haven't done this yet...Your due date was December 18th, 2007, and I thought that I would surely have you in my arms by Christmas last year. I had early labor signs for several weeks, but the weeks and days went by and by with no sure sign that you were coming. On December 26th, we went into Northside Hospital to begin the "induction" process. They placed the cervadil at about 7:00 p.m. Then, your dad went to Chipotle to get me my "last supper" because I couldn't eat after midnight. They started the IV pitocin at about 6:30 a.m. the next morning. Your dad was so sweet, because he thought he was going to have to share his birthday, 12/27, with you. The contractions were rough, but I still wasn't progressing. At about 1:00 in the afternoon, Dr. Marshall decided to break my water to see if things progressed. After that I continued to dilate about 1 cm per hour. I was eventually able to get the epidural, which was so helpful! Throughout the day, so many of those that loved you arrived to anxiously await your arrival. Gam and Pappy, Grandma Carolyn and Grandpa Bob, Katy and Lonnie, Steve and Tom, and Whitney all came to cheer you on. And troopers they were...as they had to wait a LONG TIME!! At about 10:30 p.m., Dr. Marshall said, "it's time to start pushing"!!! I was so glad that you were almost here. You remained the stubborn and independent little girl that you are, and kept me pushing until 12:14 a.m. the next morning! We were sure that you wanted YOUR OWN birthday and didn't want to share a birthday with your daddy. And there you were, the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. Absolutely precious. Eight pounds of you. 20.5 inches of perfection.
And the past year has been wonderful, amazing, perfect, and everything that I had ever dreamed of and more. You bring us sheer joy, miss priss, and we love you more than you will ever know. Looking forward to many fun times in your second year!!
Love,
us
mom and i had such a fun time taking care of precious elis and cohen for nancy on monday! elis was so glad to get out of the toddlers' way and get some food in her little tummy!
natalie and cohen playing so sweetly!
"Ooohhh...maybe I want that too," says Nat.
giving a hug...so sweet!
natalie is peeking around the corner at her boyfriend...
we tried a photo opp of these two while elis took a nap...we tried!
max milligan and haley!!!
diving into the very cool cake that her daddy made for her!
we were so excited that katie and max milligan made a surprise visit!
sweet friends...the Marist crew and their loved ones, including one of Nat's boyfriends...Liam!
I was so excited to see Katie!!
This girl loves her new wagon that Gam and Pappy gave her...she points to it all the time!
birthday bib
we gave her a little riding toy pony. she likes the book a lot better ;).
sharing with mommy
the best cheeks. ever.
loved the singing!
nat loves miss kate!
sweet friends...kim and kacey and baby finley!!
nat loves her new stacking blocks that grandma and grandpa gave her!
newborn nat nat!!
somehow, these pictures got in reverse order, so i'll tell the story backwards!
so glad to be in mommy's arms, and not santa's!
"i don't like that santa claus!"
"get me out of here!!!!!!!"
more tears!
this is natalie, just seconds before daddy walked her up to santa...
pointing out the ornaments on the big phipps tree :)
"what are you doing with that camera again?"
Our first attempt at a pic for the Christmas card didn't go so well. We'll have to try again!
Stylin in her new boots!
My little punkin!
I got to meet precious Zoe today!!!! She is just beautiful!
Natalie and Sadie watching Nat's favorite, "Eebee baby!"
Natalie and Cosette at baby Harper's welcoming party!
Going to look for her first Christmas tree!
She LOVES getting into the baskets!
Going for a walk with Gam and Pappy!
