the birthday party post

I don't want to use the word cursed, because it is getting better each year.. but Natasha got the swine flu for her birthday, and it was pouring buckets all day long the day of her backyard bbq 1st birthday party. Thankfully, she was feeling much better (Dan was over it too, and I just stayed away from the food and tried to not cough on people). When we finally came to terms with the fact that it was not going to be a sunshiny day, we cleaned up the garage as the biggest room in the house to have a party.

Dan picked up some streamers and balloons to try to camouflage the fact that the party was in the garage and, as naturally he would, picked up a glittery blinky tiara for Princess Natasha to wear. Unlike hats, which only last a couple seconds before being ripped off, she loved the tiara and left it on all day. Our tiara expert Uncle Chip kept it perfectly positioned for her photo ops all day.

Natasha loved her party favor - good girl going for the duct tape!

Dan spent hours getting all the food ready, a good chunk of it outside in the rain at the bbq. The garlic mashed potatoes got cleared out! Natasha loved them as much as everyone else. Good girl going for the garlic!

And her first taste of cake! Except for she didn't actually get any cake.. but she enjoyed it all the same:

<-- Princess Natasha and her first birthday cake

She loved all her pressies, especially the ribbons

And to top it all off, at her babysitter Aster's coaching, Natasha thanks everyone for coming out in the storm to share her special day: