Completely unrelated photos!

The first one has a cute story behind it. Pumba hasn't been getting as much attention lately, so while I (Joel) was holding Natalie in the rocker with her pink vibrating seat in front of me, Pumba took it upon himself to climb up in there and make himself at home. I figured putting it on vibrate would get him out, but it turns out he liked it even more!

The second one is Natalie during tummy time, but getting distracted by her favorite thing ever- the TV screen!

Discovery

We just love all the little (or not so little, really) moments of cognitive realization and development that Natalie shows every day. This was taken by Nickie last week. That expression is priceless.

Update

So I was bad and skipped another week last week- sorry! We have just continued to enjoy our little Natalie. The biggest moments have been the following:
-a great school co-worker and friend gave us an exosaucer and a jumperoo. Natalie loves the jumperoo. She just dangles in it because she is too short still, but she doesn't mind. She loves watching the lights and hearing the music. I even got great video where she was all smiles at me then suddenly realizes that she is in her jumperoo and she makes this "oh my goodness" face. It is so adorable!
-We had our Easter family gathering at my aunt Jennifer's. Natalie did great and showed everyone how she loves to chat while sitting in the bumbo
-Natalie is completely sleeping in her crib now. This is mainly because she is now able to move herself around while lying on her back (if she was in her bassinet, this just makes her face go into the side which makes her quite upset). She seems to be in the early stages of learning to roll over. She can turn her upper body, but cannot get the lower half to finish the job. However, with this movement, she can completely reposition herself from her original spot.
-Natalie had her first morning of garage sales this morning. We did really great with finding a pack n play, lots of clothes (including some beautiful dresses) and an infant carrier which I immediately started using as soon as we bought it (thanks Mom/Grandma!!) She loves the carrier, so I even used it when we went to the grocery store today as well.
-Today Natalie has been giggling several times. My mom (grandma) was the first to really get some good giggles out of her. I was able to get some this evening. That sound is something that can truly melt your heart. I can't wait until we can get that on film. It may take awhile because we never know what will crack her up and it is very brief. However, we still love it!
- And finally, Natalie has a new set of wheels to enjoy! Joel's car was beginning to act up, including having bad tires, so we decided that we better trade it in while it still was decent. We bought an 04 Honda Pilot. It is really nice and I love it a lot. I say that it officially makes me a mommy since I have the stereotypical SUV now to cart my Natalie around in. We love the extra space. Natalie seems to enjoy the smooth ride and the tinted side windows that minimizes the sun in her eyes.

Our next typed update will probably be her big 4 month birthday! We can't wait to do another comparison shot with her doll! She will also have another doctor appt so we will get an official weigh in to see how she is doing as well!

Oh my...

She has never been accused of not eating enough. Bathtime and another cute outfit!
The one photo looks like she is testing the water with her toes.

Photo Dump

Love the jumper! And some great smiles!

Weekly Update

This week has been a wonderful, whirlwind experience. I loved being home with Natalie and I can't believe that our week is already ending. I have been planning on taking her to day care tomorrow so I can actually do all of the chores that I wanted to do this week, but at the moment I hate the thought of giving up my last moments with her.

Today, especially she has been extremely vocal and adorable. She has now discovered that she can use her voice when she is not pleased as well. It is hilarious to hear her use her sounds to let us know that she is not happy.

We have been reading more and more books together, enjoying our floor gym, and she has now discovered how to hold her pacifier in her mouth with her fist. Now, if the pacifier doesn't make it back into her mouth, she doesn't quite understand that continuing that same movement will not work. However, I have noticed her using her arm to try and get the pacifier back up toward her mouth. She is also sitting up more on her own (not completely, but getting better and better)

Dressing Natalie up in her Easter dress was fun as well. She was so beautiful (as you can see in the pictures). It was also fun for Natalie to meet more of her family members and share her cuteness with them as well.

This week has made me really look forward to watching Natalie change and grow more and more. Joel and I were just talking about how fast it all seems to be going and how wonderful, yet almost sad it is that everything is going this quickly. It just makes you want to freeze time and enjoy, really enjoy, every precious moment! The good news is I have 37 more school days before I have a lot more time to be with my beautiful girl.

Happy Easter!!!

Natalie's first Easter!! She did great in church, only got a little fussy once, but very briefly and has been very happy all day. And just look how pretty she looked in her Easter dress!

Big girl!

It's so hard to believe she is almost completely ready to sit in her Bumbo (thanks Katie!). Here she is for the first time completely holding her own (head up, that is) in the Bumbo. It's such a piece of cake, she gets bored and yawns!

Hmm...

Strolling along

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!! Nickie's mom and dad made it possible for us to take Natalie out in her swanky new stroller, just in time for the nicer weather that comes with Spring! Here we are going for our very first walk!

Somewhat weekly update

So there was no update last week because I had strep for the first time in my life. Thankfully it is extremely rare for infants to catch strep, so I didn't have to worry about Natalie getting it too much. Natalie continues to grow up so fast in front of our eyes. She is staying awake now more during the day and taking shorter naps (except for in the evenings after day care, that still wipes her out and she sleeps all evening).

She is babbling a lot more, smiling a lot more, and once she even seemed to laugh. We have not been able to get her to do it since, but it has been fun trying! She still isn't sleeping through the night, but on average, we are only up once in the night...and sadly, I am pretty much use to getting up at that time, so it doesn't seem so bad.

Natalie still loves to suck and chew on her hands- quite noisily at times. She is wearing mostly 3-6 month sized clothes. It seems so weird to get out clothes that I remember thinking that it was going to be such a long time before she could wear them, and now she can! I figured out that it isn't public restrooms that she hates- it is places that are prone to echoes. When she cries, she really doesn't like for it to echo back at her and only upsets her more. We have discovered this in public restrooms and in the back bay at church.

This weekend, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, we have our stroller so we went for our first walk. Natalie seemed to enjoy it until she got fussy at the end because she was sleepy. As soon as we came into the house, she fell asleep for a couple of hours. I can't wait til I go shopping again with my mom and wlll be able to use the stroller instead of lugging the car seat or trying to hold her myself.

This next week is going to be such a joy and blessing because I am off for Spring Break. So Natalie and I are going to have lots of time together and I already know that going back to work will be oh so difficult!

Our Beautiful Growing Girl!

Today is Natalie's three month birthday! Daddy made this comparison photo with today's birthday shot...Look at how she has grown! She looks so beautiful!! We love her sooooo much!