Play date with mommy!

Natalie and I enjoyed a play date together today. We rode the merry-go-round, made a Kipper dog at build-a-bear, and stopped to pick up a happy meal. I will always be thankful for my breaks with my girl!

Quote of the Day

We're watching Lion King for the umpteenth time, and Natalie says "Simba loves his dad, but... He can't stay awake."

Spoiler alert

She's referencing the scene where Mufasa is dead and Simba can't revive him.

Natalie's photo of the day

Well, Natalie got a kid-tough digital camera for Christmas, so I will be posting photos that she's taken with it under the "Natalie's photo of the day" heading. Here's the first one!

Quote of the day

"I like Oscar, but he looks so angry!"

Merry Christmas!!

Wow, what a Christmas!! This was, by far, the most fun one yet, as Natalie "gets" it so much more than she did last year. From the paper chain Nickie made with her to count down the days 'til Christmas, to writing Santa a letter and leaving him cookies, to calling Santa (thanks to an iPhone app) and telling him what she wished for this year, to going to sleep on Christmas eve with the anticipation of Santa coming to our house to fill her stocking, it was a joy to see Natalie fully experience the magic of Christmas for the first time.

We went to Grandma and Paw Paw's house yesterday to celebrate, and had a great time! We had lots of great food and fun opening presents together. Natalie made out like a bandit! She absolutely loved the kid-tough digital camera that Grandma and Paw Paw got her, as well as the clothes and marker sets, doll and watch, but the apple of Natalie's eye was the Power Wheel "convertible" car that was waiting for her in the driveway after we opened the other presents! Natalie LOVED her first driving experience, even if it did take a while to get the hang of that whole steering thing.

After all that excitement, Natalie and Grandma put on their new, matching aprons (that Mommy gave to Grandma) and made cookies for Santa! Santa must've liked the cookies, because he took giant bites out of both cookies and left Natalie some gifts in her stocking! Natalie got a hair brush, two Dora bath scrubs, a toy cell phone and Squinkies from Santa. Mommy and Daddy gave her a Baby Alive doll, Play-Dough set, and Disney princess dress-up trunk.

Natalie and Grandma making cookies for Santa!

Natalie's letter to Santa (bonus crazy eyes)

The excitement takes it's toll.

Our Little Hoarder

Such fun. Now for her big Cosby-themed birthday party in two weeks!! *Whew!*

More Gingerbread photos

Natalie's Favorite things part 2

I asked these same questions on August 13. Four months later, here are her answers:

Favorite color:Pink
Favorite number: 6
Favorite letter: QRS
Favorite food: Oranges
Favorite drink: Milk
Favorite show: Cosby Show
Favorite song: ABCs
Favorite animal: Sheep

Our Second Annual Gingerbread House!

We decided to make the decorating of the gingerbread house an annual Harris event. This year Daddy was healthy and helped us decorate. With Daddy's presence, another year of growth, and the fact that the icing actually came with a tip this year- we did a much better job! I think it will actually stay together for a day or two unlike last year!

God is So Amazing to Our Family!

Sometimes you just have to stop and give God the glory for all of the blessings and amazing timing that He always provides!

Last week, I was having a casual conversation with a coworker and she happened to ask about us having another child. I said that mentally I was ready, but financially we were not quite there yet. I went on to say that spending $160 a week for day care for one was enough- that I couldn't imagine paying over double that with two. She looked shocked at the cost and began to tell me about her daughter's preschool. The preschool is literally two blocks from our school. Their hours are 8:10-3:10pm and it costs around $84 a week! I really think that I almost cried at this possibility!

 We took Natalie for a tour yesterday. The preschool is a part of a Catholic K-8 school, but has separate tuition and not as many regulations (with church membership and such). We were very pleased with the warm, friendly environment. We got to meet the teacher, Mrs. Powers, and see her in action with the class. She talked to us for a long time explaining the day and being very positive and welcoming. There were only a few girls there at the time because Tuesdays and Thursdays are lower attendance days because you can do part time as well. Natalie would be with Mrs. Powers for over a year so that she would be in the right group for her future kindergarten grouping. Even that is a positive since Natalie doesn't handle change well.

At that is another piece of God's amazing timing. Natalie is suppose to be changing rooms with her birthday coming up. This means that she will have a completely different teacher at day care, different room, and different kids. This has usually meant that Natalie completely starts over with her ability to calmly and happily go to day care (which honestly. she hasn't been too happy going period lately) The preschool starts on January 5th. Natalie's birthday is Jan 4th, so she can start the first day of school! Also her current day care states that you have to give two weeks notice if you are leaving the program. Today is exactly two weeks from her last day (birthday)!

Another amazing thing is that I am going to be starting an afterschool job at my school and my new boss over the program is willing to let me have Natalie with me at least in the beginning instead of having her stay for their after care program. Amazing!

Also, there are several days that this preschool gets out early, due to Teacher Workshops. Almost all of them fall on Thursdays which is the day of the week that Grandma is off and could come pick her up!

Natalie's Birthday Party Invitation Video

Santa Growth Chart

We have lucked out the last three years by having the same Santa in each of Natalie's Christmas photos, which is good for consistency, as he is really only there as a prop to assist in measuring Natalie's annual growth. (Please don't put coal in my stocking, Santa). My, my- look how our girl has grown over the last three years!!

Holiday Crafts

Today Natalie and I did two little holiday crafts. We made our annual paper chain countdown (much smaller this year due to my tardiness) and a Santa craft with cotton balls. The Santa is very Picasso-like and did not hold her attention for long. The paper chain was more of a hit because she loved shaking it.

No!!

Natalie's new favorite word is "no". Whether it's contextually correct or not, everything lately is "no!". A moment ago she just nailed her head against the coffee table. I asked if it hurt, and of course, she said no. We could ask her if her name is Natalie, and she'd probably say no.







Otherwise, it's just amazing to watch Natalie grow. She is tall- Nickie was the same height at her age, so it's likely that Natalie will be 6' tall or more! I can't even imagine. Hopefully by that time, she will at least have hair that comes past her ears.

Natalie is going to have an exciting few weeks coming up, with Santa Claus visiting her on Christmas, then her birthday party two weeks later! We're planning a Cosby themed birthday party this year, as Natalie still loves her Cosby! We're hoping to see a lot of Cosby-esque sweaters being worn, as that is the requested attire!