Happy Girls are the Prettiest Girls

but not even the happiest and prettiest girls can be happy and pretty all the time. I don't know why I thought taking a long walk far away from our house sounded like a good idea this morning. Natalie likes going on walks, but she has never once made it in her stroller for that long. I always end up carrying her home if I venture out too far. History has a way of repeating itself. This morning I lugged my twenty pound girl home on my hip just as the sun was starting to blaze. I don't have a picture of her crying and arching her back in the stroller, but somehow even when not-so-happy, this girl is still awfully pretty (or so says her slightly biased mother).

Mama's Little Helper

8 Months

Natalie turned eight months old yesterday and celebrated with four naps, lots of cuddling, two doses of Tylenol, and a trip to the doctor for a fever. She checked out fine, and she is back to her happy, playful self today. I didn't like that she was sick, but I didn't mind the extra cuddling. Sometimes a girl just needs her mama. 

At eight months old Natalie:

• weighs 20 pounds.
• finally has enough hair to clip a bow in, and so far she'll leave her bow in.
• has three teeth and a big smile to show them off with.
• loves bath time. She jumps up and down by the side of the tub as she watches it fill up.
• can stand without holding on to anything. She has even taken one step a few times, but she always falls down after that first step.
• loves to walk with her lion push toy. She smiles and laughs the whole time.
• likes to eat bananas, Cheerios, yogurt bites, sweet potatoes, and applesauce.
• likes to go grocery shopping. People in the grocery store are always commenting on how happy she is because she is almost always smiling. 
• has started to sleep on my shoulder again which I absolutely adore.
• is sweeter than ever.

Summer Girls

We met Mary and Lacy at the city pool this afternoon. Natalie didn't quite know what to think about being in such deep water at first, but she quickly warmed up to the idea and we had a fun time with the girls.

Natalie wore her sunglasses in the house this morning while we were getting ready for our morning walk, but she decided that she didn't need them once we got outside. At least she left them on long enough for me to snap this picture.

Happy Father's Day!

Who is wrapped around Natalie's little finger?

Or as she calls him

No, she still doesn't know what she is saying when she babbles "papapapapapa" but it's pretty sweet when she coincidentally says it while Chris is holding her.

Natalie and I are convinced that we are two of the luckiest girls in the world. 

2.1 Teeth

These may be some of the last pictures of Natalie's two-toothed smile. She has a third bottom tooth coming in that you might be able to see if you look really really closely.

No teeth in these last couple pictures. Just cute faces.

Bargain Hunting

Hesston's city-wide garage sale is this weekend. We are currently rummaging through our basement and closets to find things to add to our little sale. I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully we get some customers so we don't have to haul everything back inside.

On to the more exciting. Natalie and I went to a few garage sales this afternoon and came home with ballerina jammies, a clock for our entry way, and a lion that has already proven to be worth the $5. Watch Natalie and the lion in action below. I think we might have a walker soon!

 

(Turns out Natalie is one of many babies walking with the lion on YouTube!)