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!*

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

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

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!

Natalie Ran Off and Joined the Circus!

Well, not quite. We did get to go to our first circus, however! As it turned out, we only had to pay for one of the three tickets, too! Thanks to the generosity of the Clairs and the Wentz's, who each donated a ticket to us, we got quite the bargain! We went to see the Ansar-Shrine circus here in Springfield. It was quite a spectacle, and Natalie loved it! We were a bit nervous, however, when Natalie seemed somewhat terrified of the clowns camped outside of the convention center. She quickly got over her coulrophobia, and enjoyed the rest of the experience.

We saw elephants, trapeze artists, unicyclists, high wire acts, monkeys, and magicians, among others. It was quite a long affair, with a drawn-out intermission (easier to hawk your wares to a captive audience, presumably), but Natalie did great, even during the down-time. When asked what her favorite part was afterwards, she diplomatically stated "the circus!". My favorite part was the elephants, and Nickie said the same, which is no surprise. Overall, it was as terrific family experience!

Hakuna Matata!

Natalie had seen her first movie (Winnie the Pooh) with Nickie a while ago and I admit, I was jealous that I didn't get to experience it. So, we decided to go see Lion King together today- Natalie was very excited about this, as was I! Not only was I going to get to enjoy the theater experience with Natalie, but I was also going to see one of my favorite Disney films.

Natalie loved getting popcorn and seeing the movie on the big screen. She was well behaved and quiet throughout the film (with a few exceptions), but her curiosity got the best if her and she kept looking back at the projector, cutely telling me that "that's where the movie cones from!"

We had a great time, and now I've got "Hakuna Matata" stuck in my head!!

Just a Random Update

Well, we are back to school mode in the Harris household! Natalie has actually gotten much better with going to day care and no longer cries at drop offs. She isn't thrilled at the moment of leaving her, but she stays strong and then has a great day every day!
She seems to be fully potty trained at home (cannot think of the last time she had an accident) At day care, she is pretty much trained, except for #2. We for some reason cannot get that to happen there- which stinks because I would really like to graduate from pull ups, but do not want that daily mess! She also sometimes has accidents after nap, but I wonder if she is trying to be quiet (like they are trained to do) and doesn't think she should tell anyone)
I only made it through 3 days before I got to use my first sick day with Natalie. She woke up on Wednesday night at around 12:30 violently throwing up. She then got sick 6 more times from then until 5:30 in the morning. It was exhausting because our smart little girl associated the bucket that I was using with what was making her do this scary, horrible thing. So every time I put the bucket in front of her she would start screaming and shoving the bucket away, all while getting sick everywhere! UGH! It was terrible. Ironically I got my sub plans written, ran them to school, only to come home to a happy dancing Natalie who was completely over whatever that was (except for a smaller appetite that day) I was still happy that I took the day off though because I was exhausted and needed nap time even more than she did!
A few other random Natalie stories:
Natalie was putting together a puzzle that had a slice of cherry pie on it. We asked her what it was. Her response? Pizza fruit! She is so smart!
Natalie also continues to be her momma's girl and loves Cosby. We were watching it together and Cosby told Theo that he would get strawberry shortcake and they could eat strawberry shortcake together. Natalie's face suddenly had a look of confusion and disgust..She said, "Cosby, why eat Strawberry Shortcake?!?!?! No, that's gross!"

Natalie's favorite things

Mommy was asking Natalie what her favorite things were. Here are her answers:

Favorite color: Red
Favorite number: 3
Favorite letter: N
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite drink: Milk
Favorite show: Barney Circus
Favorite song: "Barney Circus song"
Favorite animal: Lion

To the PARK!!!

We had to go out and enjoy the beautiful weather today! We were torn between going to the park or to the zoo, but Natalie made the decision easy for us as she had her heart set on the park! She was excitedly saying "swing! slide! tunnel!" repeatedly on our way out the door and to the park. When we arrived, she said "there it is!!" as if we were driving aimlessly in hopes of spotting a park along the way.

She loved going back and forth from the swings to the slides and the tunnel. She developed a routine at one point, where she would climb up the stairs, play with a giant tic-tac-toe spinner, crawl through a tunnel and go down the slide leading right back to the stairs she started at. She would repeat this several times. I told Nickie it was like she was doing circuit training for a toddler-triathlon!

Natalie made a new friend along the way. He is seen following her in one the photos below. He was pretty much left to himself as his mom wasn't paying attention to him, so we kind of "adopted" him while we were there, including him in the things we were doing with Natalie. The best part is, when Natalie ran away from the slides they were on to go to the swings, he yelled "Baby! Baby! Baby!" as if she was a girlfriend that was leaving her man. Nickie and I cracked up at this. This little guy even tried following us to our car when we left, but luckily his mom finally saw him and got him. I would've taken him home with us! He was a cutie. Nickie said no. Something about it being a felony. Whatever.

20 months and counting...

It's hard to believe we will be celebrating Natalie's second birthday in a few months. She is, as always, learning new things every day, but it seems she is learning things minute by minute recently. It only takes her hearing us say a word once for her to repeat it, or seeing someone on Barney dance for a moment before she is imitating it (in a much cuter rendition, I assure you).

One of the hardest things about being her Daddy at this stage is seeing her take so many bumps, bruises, scrapes and hard knocks as she is learning the principles of physics (such as "you can't run on one leg" or the hard-to-learn "your head cannot pass through solid objects harmlessly"). I know it's part of the process, but man, I understand why parents want to wrap their kids in three layers of bubble wrap  first thing in the morning.

Ok, enough rambling. Here are a few recent photos!

Feeling good (finally)!

Well, all three of us have been sick lately, but that still doesn’t excuse our lack of posting on the blog! Having said that, Nickie is feeling sick again with a fever. I’m finally almost 100%, and Natalie seems to be completely better.

It’s been an exciting few weeks as Natalie continue to discover new ways of impressing us and endearing us.  She’s added quite a few “words” to her vocabulary. She regularly says book (booh), dada (coincidentally, most likely), mama, yeah (clear as day), bye (buh) and hi.  I haven’t heard her say “booyah!” for a while.

She is SO close to walking. I believe she is capable, but needs to overcome her fear of doing it solo without that tangible support from us. But it’s so adorable to see her strolling quickly across the living room floor with her shopping cart.

Natalie is loving “real” food- she always wants what we have, and sometimes throws a little tantrum if she doesn’t get her way. She is definitely communicating what she wants more clearly, for better or for worse!

Natalie got to make up for last weekend and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Saturday night and Sunday morning. Nickie and I had fun at Baby E (Elliot Lanter)’s 1st birthday party and then went out to eat at an…interesting restaurant, then hung out with Jason at home.

 

I promise I will post some photos soon. Speaking of which, we need to get Natalie’s photo into the Beatiful Babies contest that the Regis and Kelly show are running!  In the meantime, here’s a cute one to tide you over. You can see her teeth peeking through her coy smile.

Two months old...

I can't believe my baby's two months old! These past two months have been such a whirlwind. She's been in my heart for so much longer, it's hard to remember life before her, and I certainly can't imagine life without her now. She and her mommy are the two most beautiful gals I've ever known, and how blessed am I that they happen to be my wife and daughter?

I'm disappointed that I won't be able to make it to Natalie's Dr. Appt tomorrow. It will be the first one that I've missed, and with one exception, that even includes prenatal visits. Then again, a part of me is glad I don't have to see her get her 2 month shots. I hated seeing the doctors and nurses draw blood from her heel when she was a newborn. I hate the thought of anyone causing her pain, no matter how good the cause is. Ah, the joys of parenthood.


"Shots?? WHAT!?!"

What a Week!

This was a huge week for all of us at the Harris Household. On Monday, I had to go back to work for the first time. We were lucky that since it was President's Day, Grandma was able to come over and babysit Natalie. From Grandma's report, Natalie could have been happier, but overall the day was not bad.
On Tuesday, Natalie went to day care for the first time in her life. I had no idea how long it would take me to get myself ready and Natalie ready for the day and get her to day care. I am very lucky that I do not have a strict clock-in process at work and that I don't have a classroom anymore because I was almost 30 minutes late! I am including a picture that shows the massive amount of stuff that I had to load for our big first day. According to Miss Kathy and Miss Karen (her two teachers in the infant room) she had a great day, which was nice to hear. Joel was even able to go and visit Natalie on his lunch break to check in, and that made us both feel better as well. I will admit though that there were a lot of tears that morning!
Wed and Thurs were two days that Natalie got to stay home with Joel because he did not have to go to work until 11. That made for nicer shorter days for Natalie at day care. Each day she received a positive report (although we did laugh and ask ourselves if they would have told us differently since it was our first week!!)
Friday was another average day (or so we thought). Natalie wore an adorable overall outfit (picture included) Sadly she had a blow-out at some point in the day so she was no longer in the cute outfit when I picked her up! Before I left school for the day, I decided to check the newspaper online because I had a few extra minutes. I am including the link http://www.sj-r.com/news/x426337127/Wanted-man-apprehended-on-roof-of-Scope-building So yes, in my baby's first week at day care, she had a lock-down situation where a wanted man (for a sexual assault no less) was on the building's roof! Thankfully the rest of the week had gone so well, because otherwise I think this would have caused me to quit my job and lock us in our safe little house!!
Today was our weekly visit from Grandma. Grandpa usually comes on Friday, but Natalie has been exhausted from day care (she doesn't sleep very well there) so he decided to come today as well. Poor Grandpa usually gets Natalie when she is fussy for some reason, so I was really going to try hard to make sure she was pleasant for him. Right before he came, she woke up fussy, so I gave her a bottle. In the middle of the bottle, she filled her diaper, so I wanted to change that as well. Joel began that process, but she was so fussy that it became a two person job. As we were working together, I had just taken the diaper off when Natalie decided to have a torpedo-poo that shot out in an arch and flew across the room and hit the wall! We both screamed and then I began to laugh so hard I could hardly breathe! That took quite a bit to clean up, but it was a memory that I don't think we will ever forget. So unfortunately when Grandpa first arrived Natalie was screaming because of all of the commotion and wardrobe changes she was having to go through. Thankfully she calmed down and Grandpa even got to see a few smiles.
Hopefully as we get into our new routines our weeks will not always be this eventful, but it makes for a great blog. Enjoy the pictures!