1st Play Date!

A couple weeks ago Natalie had her 1st play date - Brynlee (and her parents) came over for the night!  Brynlee just turned 1 last week so she is just a little bit older than Natalie but they had a fun time playing together!

We tried to get a couple snapshots of the girls, eaiser said than done....

We gave Brynlee a cute little outfit w/matching sunglasses for her birthday,
we just had to get Natalie a pair too - they are just too darn cute!

Hey cute girls!

Our Anniversary

This is Nathan and I just 3 years ago....

In a way I can't believe it's been 3 years and on the other hand it seems longer!

Tonight we have a sitter coming to our house and we are trying out a new restaurant in Cedar Falls, looking forward to it!

I'm loving the sunshine today, unlike the snow we had 3 years ago - what a difference a couple years makes!  With a move and one baby later here we are celebrating our 3rd Anniversary together!

Silly Girl

This is what our "WILD" girl did  most of the night....

Outside Fun!

We've been loving this beautiful weather we've had these last couple of weeks.....

Here's Natalie outside for the 1st time this Spring,

nothing like little baby toes in the grass, she didn't mind at all!

Natalie got her 1st tractor/lawn mower ride this past weekend...

She also got an early Easter present this past weekend - a new swing!

We got it put up in the tree while she was napping on Saturday.

What a fun surprise to wake up to after a nice long nap!

She loves it!



Natalie also got to play on the "BIG" kid toys at Frannie's this past weekend!

What a fun weekend we had of playing outside, going on walks,

trying out Natalie's new swing and much more!

Hope you had a great weekend as well!

Good-Bye!

Just a week ago today we said "Good-Bye" to Nathan's Grandfather,

Lawrence Lansing.  He was 80 years old and a guy full of smiles all the time. 
I can't wait for Natalie to get older so Nathan can tell her all about the good times and funny stories he had with his grandfather. 

Here we are in the back room of the funeral home... 

     

It was a very nice service and I believe everybody in the family,

which included 7 kids with spouses, 19 grandkids, some with spouses and

18 great-grandkids made it back for the visitation and/or the funeral. 

This is a verse I found the other day that I think fits saying "good-bye" to a grandfather very well, it's so true!  "So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." John 16:22

This is one of the last pictures we have of Natalie and her Great-Grandfather - he loved kids, especially babies so much, we'll always remember his smile!

Good-bye Grandpa!

7 months old

Natalie is 7 months old today...

(It has been getting hard to get her picture these days, can you tell!)

....she currently weighs 19 lbs 4 ounces

(according to our bathroom scale, which must be off a little since at her Dr's Appt a week and half ago she was just over 17 lbs.)

....is around 29 inches long (according to our tape measurer)

.....still eating cereal but she now has that during the day, for lunch while she is at daycare and I've started veggies at night.  So far she has tried all the veggies, I haven't found a one she doesn't like.  The past couple of days we have also started giving her a fruit along with a veggie at night...she is a hungry little girl these past couple of days and eating both jars down with no problem, she must be having a growth sprout!

...isn't drooling at all anymore but no teeth yet!

....is a great sleeper still (sad moment for this Mommy happened last night as we had to lower her bed, she's not a "baby" anymore!)

....still loves her baths

....is wearing size 3 diapers

....is wearing some 9 month clothes still but we have started to break out the 12 month stuff as well, especially the cute spring/summer stuff since it's been so nice out lately!

....has become quiet the talker - full of stories all the time!

...has the cutest smile still and is showing it off all the time

....started at her new daycare just over a week ago and seems to be doing very well, loves all the kids.  Knock on wood the past two mornings she hasn't cried when I left her in the mornings, what a big girl! 

....Is on the move, watch out!  Has been crawling for a good week and a half now, she is a pro at it and getting rather quick!

....is still our cute little thumb sucker

....still loves her toys and is starting to explore more of them since she is on the move lately.  Is loving the fact that we can be outside lately - we've gone for walks, tried out Frannie's swing and next on the "to do" list is to try out the new bike trailer we got her!

....still doesn't like to be by herself in a room but is getting a little better now as she can follow me

....attended her 1st funeral, Nathan's grandfather (Carolyn's father) passed away just over a week ago so we headed to his parents' house for a couple of days to attend the wake and funeral. 

Happy 7 month birthday baby girl!

We love you!

Swinging Away....

Last week a night we stopped by Grandpa Gary's & Frannie's to try out their new swing in the garage - out of the wind, it was awesome!  Here's our happy girl enjoying her 1st swing ride, I think we need to get one at our house now!

I just love the sounds she makes, here's Frannie & Carson pushing Natalie on her 1st swing ride!  Thanks for inviting us over Frannie, Natalie loved it!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's wear "GREEN" day!  This is who I get to hang out with today/tonight!

She is Daddy's "eating ice cream" buddy!

All smiles when she gets the spoon!

Hope you're having a great St. Patrick's Day as well,

isn't this weather is amazing?

Veggies Anyone?

We started veggies a couple weeks ago and so far Natalie is a big fan of peas...

Sweet Potatoes...

Green Beans....

Carrots...

and Squash!

Well she has mastered veggies now onto the fruits....

Couple's Baby Shower

Sunday night we (Ang, Mom & I) hosted a Couple's Baby Shower for

Chris & Kasey, the parents to-be come May.  We had a great turn out

and I think everybody had a good time!

Here's a quick snapshot of one of the tables...

Monkey Cupcake anyone?

Grandpa Gary & Natalie...

Yummy, a cookie!  Am I even supposed to have this?  Thanks Frannie!

Nothing like a little monkey bingo to get this party started!

Natalie hanging out with Grandpa Mike...

Some of the guests...

more...

and more...

Playing the "Price is Right" Game...

Onto the gifts...

Us girls...

What a fun night celebrating with these parents to be, they went home with a lot of nice gifts for their little princess.....she will be here before you know it!

Look who's crawling...

This is how it all started - it was last Friday Night and Natalie finally figured out that she can go forward.  For the last couple of weeks she would get up

on all 4's but end up going backwards!  Watch out here she comes!

It's not the best video but it works!

1st day of a new daycare....

Today Natalie started a new daycare, at a real daycare center!

Here she is all bundled ready for a day of fun...

The report after daycare was that she had a great day,

was very happy and played like a big girl with all the other kids!

Visiting the Larsons

We had a change of plans over the weekend, Nathan's grandpa isn't doing very well so he traveled to Waukon on Saturday to visit him.  We ended up having a nice relaxing weekend at home, especially since it was a 3-day weekend for me and Natalie.  Friday we did our running around/errands which included a visit to the Larsons.  We had to check out their new place, we hadn't visited them since they moved to Ravenwood a couple weeks ago.  It's a nice little cozy room for the two of them!  I also think they were surprised at how big Natalie has gotten!

We've also enjoyed being outside this weekend/going on a walk and getting a few things done around the house.  Onto a baby shower tonight!

Thursday - March 8th

Today marks the last day of in-home daycare the place Natalie has gone every day since she was 6 weeks old.  She is leaving behind her 1st friends but starting Monday, when she starts at her new daycare I know she'll have new friends to play with.

I wanted to get a picture of Natalie and Amanda but of course forgot my camera this morning when I dropped her off.  Amanda did say she is going to email me some of the pictures she has taken since Natalie 1st started, once she does I'll post them!

Tomorrow (Friday) Natalie and I are hanging out together....cleaning, working on some laundry, running a few errands, one of the stops is dropping off all her stuff at her new daycare.  Besides all of that fun we need to finish packing as we're heading out of town for the weekend once Nathan gets home from work.
We are headed off to a hotel/water park for the weekend, meeting up with Nathan's family.  I'm sure we'll have a great weekend....I'll post after the weekend details of the fun, Natalie's 1st water park experience!

Hope you have a great weekend as well!

The Box!

Who needs toys when you have a diaper box?

Weekend Trick!

Natalie's Weekend Trick...

Blocked Tear Duct

Knock on wood I think Natalie's blocked tear duct has opened - FINALLY! 

It's been a long 6 months.  Both Nathan and I have noticed that the last couple of days we haven't had to clean it and/or open her eye in the morning, sometimes when she wakes up it's "glued" shut...poor baby!  Plus it hasn't been watering or gooping up at night either!  I also asked the sitter this morning if she has noticed it getting better and she is yes!  I didn't think it would ever be "normal" without having surgery when she is a year old......no surgery for our baby girl!
I'm so happy.....best news all week!

Sorry to report, no picture tonight.....sleeping beauty is in bed already!