Norah's First Birthday (Part 3).

Here are some family shots from Norah's party!

Keaton says that Jana (my MIL) is his best friend. They like to pull jokes on each other. :)

My girl!

So cute! Her outfit was adorable. My friend, who owns The Dotted Duck, made it!

Family shot.

Aunt Karlie and Aunt Rose!

Schut family shot.

Party action shots. We had a really nice turn out- lots of people!

De Jong family shot.

(See more about Norah's birthday here.)

Norah's First Birthday (Part 2).

Saturday we had Norah's first birthday party! It was so much fun to plan. We did a "You Are My Sunshine" theme because that's what we sing to her before bed each night (and my mom used to sing it to me!). I thought suns and orange/yellow would be so cute.

Drinks.

Norah's decorated high chair.

Kley just learned that the term "smash cake" was a real thing and thought it was so funny.

I tried to make her cake look like a sun. It wasn't perfect, but it was okay!

This was my favorite decoration to make- favorite pictures of the year board!

Food table.

We had orange/yellow cupcakes, lemon bars, white chocolate/sprinkle pretzels, cheddar popcorn, candy corn, butterscotch candy, orange slice candy, lemon drops, peach rings, bananas, oranges, pineapple, and cantaloupe- all orange and yellow foods!

I love the sun balloon!

I am so thankful we had nice weather outside. We had tables for people to sit and talk, and a mini pumpkin decorating table for the kids- it was a hit!

I also loved making these two signs! So fun!

And Uncle Keaton had to get in on it, of course!

(See more about Norah's birthday here.)

Norah's First Birthday (Part 1).

Norah is one! We had such a great weekend celebrating with friends and family. I know all parents say this, but Norah is the best baby in the world! This year flew by, in ways, but in other ways it feels like this is how it has always been and that we have always had her with us. 

My mom was able to come up a few days early, which was so nice for her to spend time with Norah and help get ready for the party. My sister goes to college here, so she was able to come over often too! Kley and I gave her our presents the night before, because we wanted to do it before there were tons of people, and to space out the gift openings. (One-year-olds can only handle so much!)

Norah really enjoyed ripping the paper off!

She opened a couple books and a geometric stacker (from Melissa and Doug)- she loves stacking rings/cups, so we thought she would really like this jumbo one!

Kley and I also each picked a bigger gift to give her, something that we wanted to do with her the next year. Kley chose a Little Tikes basketball hoop for the basement. I love this picture- it's like she doesn't know what to think, but she loves balls so it must be okay. 

This is a new favorite daddy-daughter picture!

I gave her a baby/stroller (from V-Tech). You can flip the seat around into a bed, high chair, and stroller. Norah didn't really care about the baby (yet anyway), but enjoyed pushing it and trying to drink out of the bottle herself. Ha.

She also loved the box and paper too, of course.

Norah took a moment to just sit and look at everything that just happened. 

Friday night was also senior night at NWC- go Aunt Karlie! It was their last home game.

Uncle Keaton and Aunt Rose made it from Des Moines in time for the game too!

After the game.

I love it when all my siblings are together!

(See more about Norah's birthday here.)

Norah's 1-Year Birthday Video.

Norah's 1-Year Birthday Video

Here is a link to Norah's 1-year birthday video that Kley made! I absolutely love it. It's 12 minutes, so prepare yourself for lots of Norah's cuteness. (I know everyone thinks their baby is the cutest, and we are no exception- it was so hard to even edit it down to 12 minutes!)

Enjoy! I know we did!

Norah- Twelve Months.

Norah is twelve months; we have a one year old! We are sad to see your baby days go, but overall this day is filled with huge celebration and thankfulness. We are so glad that you are healthy, growing, and happy. You are such a joyful little girl and being with you every day this past year has been the greatest blessing.

Right at the beginning of the month, Norah started walking with her walker toy, and has gotten progressively faster! On October 11 she took her first two steps. She has taken a couple more since then, but isn’t really showing interest. She will stand by herself and walk along furniture, but would much rather crawl. Norah got her 8^th tooth this month, her bottom right lateral incisor, on September 25. Norah started wearing size 4 diapers at 11.5 months. She also had her second cold at the beginning of the month, but it wasn’t too bad, just a runny nose.

Another happening this month is that I quit making baby food and Norah is on complete solids! I sometimes still blend things up, mainly because it’s faster. It definitely takes her longer to eat now. It’s interesting to see what she chooses to eat now, since she is feeding herself. She still eats almost everything, but she is a grains girl. She will always eat first any sort of noodles, bread, or crackers. At the end of the month, I also started introducing whole milk and began phasing out nursing. It’s bittersweet! I was still nursing her 4 times a day (along with three meals), but now I am substituting one of her afternoon feedings with whole milk instead of nursing. She is taking it well and likes milk! Norah is still taking two good naps a day and we love it!

It’s funny to see the particular things Norah does or likes, the older she gets. For instance, she still always sucks her right thumb, and uses her left hand to reach behind her head and play with the neckline of her shirt when she gets tired. Another example is with her foam letters in the tub- she always chooses the O to chew on, out of all the letters! Norah really likes emptying the silverware out of the dishwasher, looking out the window, playing with daddy’s guitar cords, baths, walks, swings, giving “zerbits,” feeling people’s zippers and necklaces, following mom around the house, dancing whenever music comes on, and flipping through books (especially touch and feel books!). Norah colored her first picture this month, a pumpkin, and it was so adorable! Mom’s teacher heart was so happy. Norah also learned how to say “hi” this month and says it often! Her most common words are dada and hi. We have heard wow a few times, but mainly just lots of babbling!

We spent a lot of time this month looking through pictures and videos of Norah’s first year and getting ready for her birthday party- what a fun time! Norah, we love you so incredibly much and being your parents is the best. You are the most wonderful daughter and we are so thankful for you. Happy first birthday, Norah!

I also had to include pictures of Norah's first time trying whole milk, because they are just too cute!

Reading her Happy Birthday! book from Grandma!