Pool! Pool! Swim! Swim!

Those are the words you screamed at me yesterday morning. :) It was our first trip to the community pool this season! You are like a little fish! Still love the water and all the fun that comes with it. Not a fan of your floating swim vest, but it keeps you safe and mommy feeling secure as well. I think your favorite is being in your raft! Its so fun seeing the look of excitement on your face. I think your dream is to not have any kind of floating device, but sorry honey, you will be wearing something for a long time.

We tried kicking and blowing bubbles in the water. The bubbles didn't work out too well, since you drank some water and that freaked you out...but you were so down with kicking. :) You kinda kick like a frog ;) and you seem to be learning to tread. I hope you are a natural born swimmer and from what I've seen already....you definitely could be!!

This Saturday we are going to a water park...your first time EVER! You are totally going to love it! Your cousins will be with you and I'm sure that will be the best part! ;)

Love ya puddy puddy. :)
XO
Mom

Getting SO big!!

Sweet Natalie, You are getting SO big! Recently you had a growth spurt and you are SO tall now! In fact you don't fit in your 2T ballerina bathing suit that I love so much! You got to wear it ONCE this warm season. :( I tried it on again and it was a no go. boooo.... So we went shopping with Gramma and found you another suite, but it's a tankini with a skirt. OMG...you look so grown up in it. I just couldn't believe my eyes!

Your vocabulary is so extensive! And you are like a parrot..repeating what we say most of the time :-\ It's cute to hear you say your colors and try to sing the alphabet song..so cute! You love singing and dancing more than ever.

One cool thing you like to do now is help mommy bake! We make your favorite homemade biscuits and you just love how fun that is. Not THAT fun for Mommy, but I enjoy watching you try.

We are gearing up for your Uncle J, Aunt Lynda and cousins to come for a visit this weekend! Yay! you ask every day where they are. :) We are going to a mini water park on Saturday and I can't wait to see your face when you see it! :)
Will be good times and good memories. :)

I love you my big girl! :) More and more every day!!!
xo
~Mom

Mommy's little cheerleader

Well, Sunday I did my second 5k run/race! It was SO hot, but I did really well! The terrain was not what I was used to nor was the heat...but push, push, push !

I'm happy that you and Daddy and Uncle Steven were there to cheer Mama on. :) You loved the action and excitement of the event but Daddy said you got hot fast.

We are really feeling the "terrible twos" coming on. :( I can tell by the expressions on your face that you are testing us...just to see what we will do. It's hard dealing with it all sometimes but one thing that will never change is how much I love you. :)

XO,
Mom

My heart is melting

We just spent 10 minutes having the silliest conversation, Natalie! I usually spend some time with you, singing, reading (or both) before I put you to bed for the night. But tonight seemed more special because we sat in your rocking chair and you snuggled up to me and started giggling, telling me "Baba stinky" lol...and I said, "Nooo, Natalie stinky"...this went back and forth for at least 10 minutes. We giggled the whole time and it is probably going down, for me, as one of the best moments we've had as mommy and daughter.

You and I bond a little more every day, honey...and our relationship is developing into an amazing friendship.

Yesterday we celebrated Mother's Day and it was great. I felt like we should've been celebrating you because YOU are the reason I am a mom and the reason why I feel so special every second of the day. :)

I love you to the moon and back, my little girl. Thank you for making me a mother, or better yet for making me your "Baba." :) I couldn't ask for anything/anyone better than you.

XOXO,
Mom

Wow...ok...

Hello to all the readers!! If you haven't given up on me yet! lol... :)

Natalie has done some growing and is talking up a storm these days! She had a great Christmas....was very surprised and I think kinda knew what was happening. :)

We've been spending the days outside playing in her sand box and going to her favorite place...the swing! The swing is her reward for being so good while mommy runs. She is my encouragement and tells me, "Go! Go! Go!" It's the best!

Natalie, you still can't say your M's very well, so Mama comes out Baba. I think it's cute, but how I long for the day you call me "Mommy" instead of "Bobby" :) You can count (sometimes) to 10! You've even started to try to sing the ABC song. When music or any of your favorite shows come on, you LOVE dancing and singing along. The best part of you growing up is all the new things you learn and the fact that you are getting a sense of humor! The worst thing about you growing up...is you growing up. :( You aren't a baby anymore, but you'll always be Baba's baby. :)

Natalie will be 2 in July! Can you believe it??? And I've already taught her:
"Natalie, how old are you?" She says....."TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Love it.

Happy Halloween!

Well, Natalie's 2nd Halloween has come and gone...but she had a GREAT time!
Nat, you were sooo cute in your ballerina costume! It was a total last minute idea because you no longer fit into the original (lady bug fairy) costume. I'm not complaining because you looked ADORABLE as a little pink ballerina! Funny thing is that it is a swimsuit!! Tutu and all! So hopefully you will get some good use out of it (and still fit into it) during the spring/summer months. :)
I really thought that you would be scared of the trick-or-treaters, but you loved it. You had a look of amazement and didn't say much at first, but then you started talking back to them (saying "trick-or-treat" in your own language) then as they were leaving you waved way up high and said "BYE BYE!" it was so cute. :) You are definitely a social butterfly and love people. I still can't get over you blowing kisses at the little kids....like they were your babies or something. Too cute.
You are saying so many words now. Pumpkin (Bop-pop), Flower (oh-wower) butterfly (bop-buf), Mama (Baba) are just to name the few and most popular....of course you have been saying Dadda for a long time.....and since the beginning it has been very accurate. :)
As of Oct. 29th you started out walking on your own. No help from mommy, daddy or the furniture. I was sitting in the family room and saw you going around the couch...but noticed you weren't touching anything! I quietly got up to watch you go into the kitchen and around again and I jumped for joy! You've been taking independent steps through the furniture and you have become a pro at walking holding mom's hand since you were 12 months, but you decided on your own that it would be fun to walk. :) I don't see any difference in your activity other than it's upright :) so I don't get it when people used to say "be glad she's not walking" you have gotten into things for many months now ;). The only issue I have now is that you just learned how to open and shut doors...ayyyyyeeee. :( That's what daddy and I get for being 'fancy' with the lever door knobs! Who knew we'd have a child one day back when we were designing the house! Oh well....it's an adventure. ;)
I'm looking forward to the holiday season and seeing you run to the tree on christmas morning even though you still don't really know what's happening...we will still encourage you. I love Halloween just as much as Christmas so even though it's over and it makes me sad, I'm glad we are that much closer to a beautiful christmas season with our big girl!
Daddy and I are planning a surprise that we are hoping will pan out to be the best gift of your life.
We love you, monkey-do! More and more every day....
XO,
Mom "Baba" :)

Welcome Fall!

Been all too long since I posted, but with a very mobile 14 month old, life barely ever has any breaks! Natalie is doing SOOO well! She is cruising around the house, only once in a while will she break free and walk on her own. I'm glad she isn't doing more, because right now, she does enough! She can step up and climb up the stairs (under Eric's or my supervision of course)...this child's fear is minimal!
There are so many things she's learning including animal sounds. The funny thing is that her M's are B's. If I say, "what does a cow say?" Natalie says..."BOOOO!" LOL! And, "what does a cat say?" she says, "Booo-OW!" It's adorable. I've been singing the itsy bitsy spider and the alphabet song (doing sign language as I sing it) and she tries to do all the hand movements to both songs.
More words she says are "Dadda" and instead of "Mama" she says "Baba" :) She's definitely in love with her daddy! We went to our friend's wedding last weekend and she was such a trooper! We were out until about 11:00pm (her bedtime is around 7:30pm) and she didn't even cry...just was obviously tired. She kept wanting her daddy to lay on. Just seeing her snuggle him warmed my heart. I'm so proud of their relationship.
I think the reason why it is even stronger now is because Eric took care of her 24/7 after I had my gall bladder surgery. I had been sick, and having attacks for about a month and eventually had it taken out. They discovered it was inflamed and I had over 50 stones! Crazy. It was an outpatient/lapriscopic surgery so I was only in he hospital for one day...and got to come home in the afternoon. I was out of comission for about 4 days. I'm so proud of Eric for taking care of me and our little one. I'm sooo lucky to have him in my life! Natalie didn't understand why I couldn't pick her up, and it was so hard on me....but I knew I would pull through and get back to my job ASAP!
Fall is here! I can't believe we got our first cold front on the first day of Fall! I love this time of year and am hoping for a wet and chilly Fall and Winter. Natalie is such a warm temperature baby and I think she will love it! I'm hoping to get her new wardrobe within the next couple of weeks. She has slowed down a lot as far as her size goes. I think she's been wearing 12-18month clothes since she was 10 months old! All of it is summer stuff, so she needs a new season. She's getting close to growing out of a lot of it too....so, it's good incentive. :) I've already pulled together what I want on websites and it's awaiting it's purchase :)
My birthday is tomorrow and I'm actually happy about it. Going through what I did made me realize how lucky I am and that I need to be more optimistic about life. And, 33, for some reason...sounds good. Who knew? :)
I hope to write more blogs now that the crazy summer is over!
Nat-the-Cat....I love you more than words can say and I enjoy every minute we spend together. You are truly a gift that your dad and I cherish. I just can't wait for all the holidays heading our way this year! You will look at stuff a whole new way and I can't wait to see the look of wonderment in those big blue eyes! :)
XO
Mom (aka--Baba) ;)