Big Wardrobe Upgrade!

Natalie is wearing big girl undies today!  It feels a bit soon since we have just started having completely dry days (with a few accidents here and there).  However, the pull ups have started causing some irritation at the elastic areas, so here we are!  As you can see from the picture, someone is extremely excited about this!  We even went out to the store with our dora pants on!  I am not sure I can tell you how many times I have asked Natalie if she needed to use the potty, but so far, we have still had a perfectly dry day!

Funny comment made by Daddy:  I'm just praying this is the only time in her life that photos of her like this are posted on the Internet. haha!

Natalie's First Carnival Rides!

A couple of weeks ago, I heard that our fairgrounds was having a fundraiser for a local charity where if you brought three canned goods you could ride all of the permanent carnival rides for only $5. So we thought this would be a good time to have Natalie try some rides to see if she liked them. She not only liked them, she loved them and she was one brave little two year old!
We started on the boats and cars that simply go around and around. She loved those, but I guess they didn't satisfy her sense of adventure. She spotted the bunny ferris wheel. It was meant for younger kids, but it still went very high in the air and adults could not ride with a child. She pointed and said, "Ride that one!" Joel and I were very hesitant for several reasons, so I tried to make sure that she understood that she would be by herself and she would go very high. She said, "YES! Ride that one!" So we put her on it. The first ride was stopped several times (which resulted in her being stuck up at the top!) due to other kids freaking out and crying. Natalie was never one of those kids! While riding it, we could not really tell how she felt about it, but that was the ride that she requested and rode the most! The operator was shocked at how many times she came back! So I guess we have a little daredevil on our hands when it comes to carnival rides!

A Slight Resemblance

Most of our friends and family have seen these pictures, but I decided to put them here so they will end up in Natalie's book. Everyone says how much Natalie looks like me, but here are some pictures that prove how much she is just like her momma. (Disclaimer: Natalie does have her Daddy's ears, cheeks, and overall head shape, so Daddy is represented too!)

I Think We Have...

A Pretty Much Potty Trained Girl!
For any other mom reading this and struggling with potty training, what they say is really true- they will become trained when they are ready!
I had kind of promised myself and day care that Natalie would be potty trained while home over the summer. But for the first almost two months, no matter what I did, Natalie was not successful. And for my perfectionist side, it was driving me crazy! I hated hearing about other kids easily becoming trained while my daughter was being so stubborn! I felt like a failure each time we went back to diapers and I laid off of her for awhile. A little over a week ago, I slowly tried to get Natalie to go and I swear a light bulb just came on! The first day she had one success, but every other time just kind of announced that she just went, which was progress! The next couple of days we had 2-3 successes and in the past 3 days we have had 2 out of 3 be a complete 24 hour success! Number 2 is still kinda scary for her and I think she is holding it more than she normally would. I also have to do more encouraging of her to stay and keep trying to get 2s to happen, but I know that is normal too.
I am not sure if she would tell me on her own when she has to go yet though. Right now, I am asking her pretty regularly if she needs to go. She is good about knowing if she needs to say yes or no to that question, but she has never told me on her own. I think I am too excited about all of the successes right now that I don't want to try anything new that would jeopardize that right now.
We are so excited and proud of our little girl who is growing up way too fast! (However our budget is quite excited about this development! :)

Natalie's First Movie in the Theaters!

Last week, Natalie went to her first movie theater movie with me, Winnie the Pooh! It was a perfect first movie because it was a cartoon, it was short, and it was filled with characters that Natalie knows.
I was a little weary of having this first experience because I wasn't sure if Natalie was old enough, but I told myself that we would just try and if it wasn't going well, we could easily leave.
I asked Natalie if she wanted to see Winnie the Pooh on a really big screen. She paused for a really long time and then said, "I guess so" (new phrase that I had never heard!)
When we got there, of course we had to get popcorn (something Natalie loves) Unfortunately soon after sitting down, she did spill a nice handful. I have taught her quite well to clean up spills as soon as they happen...well, that came back to haunt me because she was determined to immediately start cleaning up the movie theater floor. Thankfully I convinced her to leave the mess. It was adorable to see her in the movie theater seat because without my hand holding the seat down, it would consume her so that her knees were at her mouth. Very funny!
Overall, she did great with actually watching the movie. She did get a bit restless towards the end and kept moving from my lap to her seat. And then she was a bit distracted when she discovered how the movie was being projected onto the screen. But she clapped when it was over and said, "Good Movie!" Here is her first movie review!

An Apology for Our Followers

So I have been getting some disgruntled followers of the blog that I have not been updating the blog much. And they are right. I really have no good excuse....we have just been enjoying life and not catching everyone else up to it! So I will try and do better! This post is just going to be some random photos of our adorable girl!

The Only Good Dirty Fun Allowed

Natalie typically hates to get dirty. Actually she hates if even something small spills on or around her. However there is one thing that Natalie actually loves to do that gets her quite dirty. That is Grandma and Paw Paw's trampoline. Here are some pictures and video!

Potty time!

Natalie has been quite stubborn about going potty IN the potty, but we think she has made a breakthrough of sorts! She has put her pee in the potty three times in the last 24 hours, which is so exciting for Mommy and I! Natalie seems to be pretty proud of herself as well, and repeatedly says "I did it!" with her fair share of excitement!

Trip to the Ozarks!

Natalie and her cousin Andrea bonded and became instant best friends on their trip to Osage, MO. Nickie's Aunt Jennifer was nice enough to invite us (along with Grandma and Paw Paw) to a week long getaway that she earned through work. I didn't make the trip but after these photos, I sure was jealous and wishing I'd have been there! It was beautiful and fun-filled from all accounts. Natalie loved the infinity pool, feeding fish and eating corn on the cob! Mommy enjoyed shopping with hermom and Aunt Jennifer, riding horses, swimming, and playing tennis with her dad.