Party Animals

We had Natalie's birthday party at the King Park shelter house Sunday afternoon. We had a great turn out, the weather was beautiful, and the birthday girl even stayed happy the whole time despite needing a nap. I figure the pictures speak for themselves, so here you have it - picture overload.

Birthday Fun

Natalie had quite the birthday yesterday. Chris took the day off work, and we spent the entire day celebrating.

We started the day with presents and donuts.

Then we headed to Wichita for lunch at Chipotle and Natalie's first trip to the zoo. She loved both.

Then we finished off the day with birthday cupcakes.

What a fun day!

12 Months

October 24, 2012:

October 24, 2013:

Twelve months? How are we here already? But in the same breath I could also say that I can't quite remember a time when Natalie wasn't a part of our family. The last twelve months have been filled to the brim with blessings. They've been the best twelve months of our lives for sure. 

At twelve months old Natalie:

• sings along with the songs at church.
• plays with books more than any other toys. 
• is a much better eater than before. Her favorite foods are bananas, scrambled eggs, pasta, green beans, cheese, grapes, and yogurt.
• weighs around 23 pounds according to our scale. 
• holds our cell phones up to her ear to "talk".
• gives the sweetest hugs and kisses. 
• says "mama", "dada", "bath", "tickle tickle", and "duck".
• knows what the sheep, cow, and cat say although "moo" is just a low hum and "meow meow" sounds more like "yah yah". We know what she means :)
• has nine teeth with another molar on its way.
• signs for "more" and smiles and claps for herself after she does it.
• is starting to become more timid and scared in big groups of people. 
• clicks her tongue immediately when I start singing "The Wheels on the Bus" because her favorite verse is the one where the "money goes click click click".

I've been afraid for quite a while that this day, the day my baby is no longer technically a baby, would come, but I am so much more excited today than I am sad. I guess I don't technically have a baby anymore, but I have a sweet, playful, snuggly, quirky little girl, and if you ask me, I think that's even better.    

Birthday Prep

Prepare yourself for an onslaught of birthday posts over the next few days.

We're in full birthday prep mode at our house this week. Today was cupcake day. I made cupcakes to have for Natalie's real birthday tomorrow that also served as practice cupcakes for her big party on Sunday.

One year ago today I emailed Chris over lunch about how excited I was that we had leftover Abuelo's food in the break room at work, and I added on to the email as a side note that I was starting to feel a little bit different but that I still thought it would be a while before we met our baby. Less than 24 hours later Natalie was born. I had even scheduled a meeting with my boss for the next day (Natalie's birthday) because, I told him, I was almost certain I'd be in the office. Maybe 12 hours later Chris was emailing him from the hospital letting him know that actually I wouldn't be in the office that day.

We had a little girl to meet. We had lives that were about to change forever.

Rainy (Snowy) Day

I'm sure I'll be singing a much different tune here in a few months, but right now I'm loving this weather. I'm not sure what has gotten into me though because cold, rainy, and snowy usually isn't my thing. Even this morning, I was less than excited about the promise of the cold, dreary day ahead.

But this little day-brightener and I have been having the best time cooped up inside today.

This was supposed to be a picture of her looking out the window at the snow, but she gets too excited when she sees the camera.

We've spent our day cuddling, baking, making messes (including one broken glass bowl filled with egg all over the kitchen floor), reading stories, singing songs, and making more messes. Who knew gloomy days could be so much fun?

Raising Her Right

We got to take Natalie to our alma mater for the first time this weekend. She has been to Manhattan a handful of times, but this was her first time on the K-State campus. We had been looking forward to this game for a long time because we went with a big group of my family to watch my cousin, Ashley, dance. Ashley is a Classy Cat this year, so she is helping us introduce our somewhat hesitant family to all things purple!

 

The game started at 2:30 which is right about when Natalie usually goes down for her afternoon nap. I was a little worried that our little Wildcat wouldn't make it very long, but she was happy the whole game! How could she not be happy in a sea of purple in Manhattan, though?

All the excitement finally got the best of her once the game was over. She fell asleep on my shoulder as we were walking across the stadium to meet up with Ashley.

One last picture. Here is the whole crew. Don't they look great in purple?

What a fun day! We can't wait to go back!

Coming April 2014!

I think everyone who reads the blog already knows the news, but some may not have seen the announcement.

I'll be 13 weeks along on Wednesday. I've been so fortunate this time around in that I haven't felt sick at all. I have been somewhat tired, but I'm not so sure that that is related to the pregnancy as much as it is to the fact that Natalie is still FAR from sleeping through the night. My biggest pregnancy symptom so far (other than my already protruding tummy) has been my need to eat all. the. time.

We are so excited! I get more excited with each day. I think it is just now starting to sink in that this is really happening.We're going to be busy with two under two, that's for sure. Busy and happy. Just the way it should be.