Be Ready to Be Flipped!!!

Today we purchased a flip video camera.  If you have never heard of these, you really need to look into them, especially if you have little kids and want to capture every cute little thing they do!  Here are two videos that Nickie took of Natalie this afternoon.  Enjoy!

A Whale of a Time!!

I decided to take Natalie to the backyard for her first fun water experience. I set up this whale that I got for a dollar last year (which was also cute because Natalie tried to help me blow it up by getting her mouth as close to mine and blowing as hard as she could) Natalie loved it! She giggled the entire time! We had a whale of a time!

Happy Father's Day!

I feel like a bad mommy because I didn't actually get a picture of Natalie with her daddy today...but let me say that Natalie loves her daddy so very much!! She is very lucky to have such a great daddy in her life! Natalie gave her daddy a letter to say how much she loves him. I think he liked it. :)

To celebrate Father's Day we had lunch with PawPaw, Ba, and Nuh (today was the first day that Natalie said Nathan- which sounds like Nuh- but still exciting!) PawPaw sure loves his lil Natalie! To prove this amazing love, Natalie accidentally bumped PawPaw's glasses and he just smiled!!! Anyone who knows PawPaw knows that this is huge! Here are some pictures from our lunch and some extras to show how cute Natalie was today! (and in the pictures where she is smiling- that is after being told to "smile!"- too cute and oh-so-cheesy!!!

Washing Dishes!

Grandma discovered that Natalie loves to wash her dishes!  So I got out some soapy water, her play dishes, and some towels so we could have fun too!  Natalie gets soaked with her methods, but she has so much fun!!

First Play Date of the Summer!

Today Natalie and I went over to my cousin Cara's house, so Natalie and her second cousin, Jack could have a play date together. Jack is nine months younger than Natalie and allll boy, so seeing the two very much opposites is quite humorous. They both are still at the stage where they still parallel play instead of actually playing with one another, but I think they still had a good time. When we were getting ready to go, I told Natalie to give Jack a hug. I honestly didn't think she would even attempt to do it, but to my surprise, she went over to Jack and stood closely by him. At that point, I laughed realizing that with any other person that is all that she has had to do because the other person will always grab her up and hug her tight, so since Jack is too young to take that initiative, that was the best Natalie could do! She did go over and get a good hug from Cara though.

We look forward to more play dates and watching these two grow up together!

More video from Kentucky

Here are two cute videos from Kentucky. Natalie was so good when we were in restaurants down there. One of the videos is of her cheering herself on as she accomplishes putting crayons back into the box...ahh the joys of being a toddler!

The second video is some awesome giggles we got from her as Ba was playing a peekaboo game with her doll in the van.

More Pictures from Kentucky

These are a few more pictures from Kentucky. They are actually in reverse order- the sleeping pictures are when we were driving back home. Natalie's Barneys provided a nice headrest and support that was as adorable as it was functional. The next picture is Natalie enjoying her Ba's awesome banana bread. And the last picture is one of Natalie's favorite things about this trip- the swings on the porch of our cabin. She loved swinging!

Kentucky=Lots of Paw-Paw and Ba Time

We have lots of pictures that still needs to be uploaded onto our cameras, but these are the few that we already had on my computer.  (Not to mention that I know "Ba" will be upset if there still aren't pictures up to see, and Grammie has been waiting for pictures in PA as well.  These pictures show a sample of the quality Paw-Paw and Ba time that Natalie got while in Kentucky.  I contribute Natalie finally walking full time to this weekend because she loved walking with all of her family members.  The picture of Paw-Paw touching the animal exhibit cracks me up because there is a sign below that clearly states to not touch the exhibit.  However, we have quickly learned that rules do not apply to Natalie when she is with her Paw-Paw.

Happy 17 month birthday and finally an update!

Our big girl turned 17 months today!  I was looking back through the blog and could not believe that the last time I did an overall update was in March!  So I am going to attempt to recall all of the awesome things that Natalie does now...
*We haven't really mentioned it in the blog, but Natalie has been doing great in the toddler room at day care.  Just within the past week, she has stopped crying when we drop her off (please note that the previous tears almost always stopped the moment we left the room, so she really was just trying to break our hearts...or make us feel like she cared when she really didn't)  There have been some staffing issues that have caused some bumps along the way, but we love all of the teachers in her room and she seems to do great each day.
*Natalie is finally practically a full-time walker.  She still moves pretty cautiously, but she chooses to walk almost all of the time now and doesn't fall as much as she did when she first started out.  If she has the choice though, she would still love to hold your hand if you are within reach.
*She is a great eater.  She loves pretty much all food, except for eggs.  She has recently developed a liking of cherry tomatoes and cucumbers, which is kind of surprising.  She loves all fruit and was quite adorable as she ate her first strawberry a few weeks ago.  Her dessert weakness is ice cream, which her grandpa is thrilled about.
*She has come up with her own names for her family members that she has been using consistently.  She calls her daddy "Dada" which is not surprising.  She calls her grandpa "Paw-Paw"- which is a bit more creative but even more adorable.  Finally, it took the longest time for her to call her mommy or grandma anything, especially since she seems to not be able to make the "m" sound. So grandma is usually "Ba" and mommy has been "BaBa"very consistently and emphatically for about a week.
*Natalie does not have a very large full vocabulary, but she does say her own version of several things-
shu-shoes
sawk-sock
kak-duck/quack
wuf-dog/woof
boooo- cow/moo
BAA- her favorite animal sound for sheep
hap-hop
tee- teeth
beesh-brush (for brush her teeth)
wa- water or anything in a cup
mba-Pumba
Bah-nee-Barney
Bah-both BJ and Baby Bop
Woah!
yeah
buu slight k sound- book
boah-more
uh oh
hi
byebye
baf- bath

*She can sign: more, please, eat, all done, help, and shake her head no
*Natalie can point to her head, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, tummy, toes
*She looooovveessss to read! She chooses reading books over everything else except for watching Barney which is still her favorite thing in the world.
*She has like 10 Barneys, but the very first one she chose that we bought first is her security item that she loves, sleeps with, and likes to take in the car with her all the time.
*Natalie knows how to dance/do movements to The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Flying in an Airplane, Your Love (sweetest to see because this is a song they sing at church during kidstuf), and Mr. Sun
*She still loves bath time and will drop whatever she is doing to walk to the bathroom when asked if she would like to take a bath.
*She can take off her own shoes, socks, and with some help her shirt and pants.

Every day is more and more fun with our sweet little girl.  We are so very blessed and love her with all of our hearts!

Photos 6-4-10

Well, it's hard to believe Natalie is 17 months old today. Time is going too quickly! She is a joy to us, and watching her learn new ways to express herself is an amazing blessing. Sorry it's been so long since an update- Here are the most recent photos I took (from last night in fact!)...with more from our Kentucky trip to come.