9 Months

Happy nine months, little Natalie. How you keep getting sweeter is beyond me.

At nine months old Natalie:

• weighs 20 pounds, 13 ounces (80th percentile) and is 29 inches long (92nd percentile).
• prefers walking to crawling. And she prefers to be carrying something while walking. The bigger and more awkward, the better.
• loves bananas, grapes, blueberries, cheese, and yogurt. She doesn't eat baby food very well anymore, so we've been having fun giving her table food. 
• likes to read books. Up until now she wouldn't sit still long enough to listen to a story, but now she cuddles up for books. So sweet.
• gives kisses, but she's pretty selective about who gets a kiss and when.
• blows raspberries on my shoulders and legs.
• has five teeth that you can see and seven teeth that you can feel. She has two on the top that have poked through but just barely.
• has the sweetest, most playful personality.

July 23

Two years ago July 23 looked like this:

This year July 23 is not only our second anniversary, but it's also my first day at my dream job. Starting today I'm staying home with Natalie full-time. 

It was probably in college when I started thinking that "some day" I'd love to be a stay-at-home mom. When Natalie was born and I started working part-time, I still thought that it might happen "some day". A month or so ago I started wondering if maybe "some day" could come sooner rather than later. 

Everyone at work was so supportive and excited for me. It was a little hard to leave, but there will be time for work later in life. Right now I'm following my heart and soaking up as much of Natalie's childhood as I can. So this year July 23 looks like this:

Jamie and Miranda's Wedding

Congratulations to our friends Jamie and Miranda who got married this afternoon! Jamie was a groomsman in our wedding two years ago, and today Chris was one of Jamie's groomsmen. Natalie and I spent most of the ceremony walking in the lobby, but from what we could see and hear, it was beautiful. Welcome to married life you two!

Walking!

That's right. Natalie is walking! She has been taking a few steps for a couple weeks now, but this week she has really taken off. Watching her walk makes me equal parts proud and sad. How on earth is my baby old enough for this?

Chris' 24th Birthday

I'm always excited when Chris' birthday rolls around because it means that I am no longer two years older than he is. I am almost exactly one and a half years his senior, so I spend the first half of the year in denial of my old age, but once July 12 rolls around we celebrate Chris' birth and the return of my youth!

We had pizza, cake, and ice cream with the Hesston O'Hallorans and Lacy's parents tonight to celebrate. We were also celebrating Chris' brother Steve's birthday which happens to be tomorrow. Lacy and I were tossing around cake ideas earlier this week when we came up with the idea to somehow depict Chris and Steve's (friendly) feud over Apple vs. PC. We kind of let the Dillon's cake lady run with the idea, and I think it turned out really pretty good.

Chris' Birthday Eve

 They're brownies, not an unfrosted cake.

1st 4th

We spent Natalie's first 4th of July in Wamego with Mark, Shawna, Jordan, and Alex. We had a full day with a parade, cookout, and fireworks show. Natalie enjoyed most of the parade, but it was a little long for her attention span, so we ended up walking home before it was over. I just knew that she would miss the fireworks since they started at 10:00 pm, but she was too excited to go to bed and ended up loving the show. She sat on my lap mesmerized by the lights and noise. I've always liked watching fireworks, but cuddling with my sleepy girl made this year's show the best one yet.
 

Cheese!

Natalie's newest favorite thing is cheese (that, and insulting my housekeeping skills by finding and trying to eat every single crumb and piece of dirt on the floor). She spit out the cheese that I offered her last week which made me question whether she was switched at birth. This week her cheese-loving genes surfaced as she kicked and laughed while eating. That's my girl.