Yesterday I put what medical application I remembered from when I was little to good use yesterday.  Natalie was playing upstairs while I was downstairs straightening up for at least a few minutes.  It is amusing what sounds you hear can predict what the next one will be.  I heard Natalie talking and playing with her dolls and then I heard a thump.  I knew the next sound wouldn't be good and sure enough from up above there came a loud cry.  Natalie was at the top of the stairs when I reached her and thought she hit her nose, but instead there was blood coming from the inside of her lip.  From what she was able to point and talk about through her tears and coughs, I made out that she bumped her lip on the corner of the bed.  She didn't want her princess ice pack nor her boo boo bunny, so I tried to remember what my mom did to me every time I bumped my mouth:  2 ice cubes and a washcloth.  It worked.  Natalie chewed on it until the ice was gone and the bleeding stopped.  Of course, if I was really smart I would have just given her a popscicle.

Father's day weekend turned out to be a bit hellacious for Jeff.  I think it's because she spent the night and day before out and away from her normal routine.  We're going to curtail that a bit and keep it to one or the other.  She seems a bit overwhelmed by the time she comes home and we have to bear the brunt of it.  On Sunday, when Natalie woke up she gave her daddy her hand print encased in cement and then we went to church.  That part turned out fine but after church was when it went downhill.  We stopped by the grocery store and as we were checking out Natalie had to go to the bathroom.  Did I say that we're potty training?  We're 3 weeks into it and she's doing great - woo hoo!!!  By the time we got to the car daddy was pulling out of the parking lot thinking to meet us at the front.  Natalie saw him and freaked out because she thought he was leaving us.  That took a long time to calm her down.  When she woke from her nap, she was better so daddy took her to the mall where they could go to the Leggo store and buy something for them to do together.  They rode the carousel, ate a pretzel, bought a tractor at the store, but on the way out of the mall, she saw a kayak she wanted to play in and daddy wouldn't let her.  She then started screaming "you're not my daddy" and tried to bite his hand so he would let go.  I know he was upset by this and it hurt me too.  I don't know if we're hitting the terrible two's at the end or what, but it was definitely not a happy memory for the day to go down in the books.

I'm going to apologize first off and say what a horrible blogger I am. So much has happened in 3-4 months time and I haven't documented a moment of it for Natalie to remember. I don't have any pictures for this entry, but going to try my best to remember all the details that have transpired as there have been a lot of significant events!

To begin with, mommy lost her job with EDS back in March. She had been there for almost 14 years. It's turned out to be a mixed blessing because although we have lost half of our income, we think we've worked the numbers where I can stay at home. As an added bonus, we became pregnant and are now expecting baby #2 in December! The baby has their own journal (of course) and you can view it at: http://phbaby2.livejournal.com. Notice a pattern? :) There is a lot of excitement about baby #2 in the family and Natalie is excited about it as well. She loves kissing mommy's belly and has already named her Sally if it's a girl. I just hope she'll feel the same when she actually arrives.

When I last left Natalie's journal, she was saying some pretty cute things like "straw-babies" and "I can't want to". She's still saying a few of those items and she's added so many more words to her vocabulary. She can say a few more Japanese words, can count to 10 in Spanish and is great with reading and telling stories just by looking at the pictures.

Natalie spent the night for the first time back in February. She stayed over at Nannee's house. Since then, she's stayed over there a couple more times and loved it since Nannee has Candy Land and Mr. Potato Head to play with.

Easter was very eventful. The easter bunny came to visit her in over 5 different locations! We also went to the grocery store where they had an egg hunt for the kids and she won a chicken dinner from the deli. Not too shabby for egg-hunting. Her favorite hunt was at the theatre where daddy worked. She went all over the set on the show they were working on at the time to search for eggs.

On Mother's day, Natalie was dedicated at the church. We were a bit delayed with that but I'm glad we were finally able to do it. She received a little bible and also a sealed note from the pastor.

The past couple of weeks have been very eventful as well. On the 5th, Natalie started wearing panties! This has been an exciting moment in the Stover household. We've had a couple of accidents, but they've mainly been just after she's relaxed and awakened from a nap.

To start getting ready for baby #2 and having Natalie used to not sleeping in her crib anymore, she is now sleeping in a big girl bed. I originally had all these elaborate thoughts as to how I wanted her bed and room, but in the end, the simple $60 toddler bed from Walmart won. It's the perfect size for her and although we have had a little difficulty at the beginning of nap time, she does fine when going to bed and will sleep straight through the night. Now I'm waiting for the time when I look over the edge of my bed and find another set of eyes looking back at me.

Natalie went to the movie for the first time on Sunday. She went to see Up with Nannee and aunt Donna. This is somewhat tradition as Donna took me to see my first movie when I was Natalie's age (The Jungle Book) so I'm glad we could continue the tradition. According to reports she did really well and watched the whole movie. She was also quite hungry (since we didn't really eat anything before church.) She had a hot dog, popcorn, pink lemonade, and a sour patch straw. I hope this will be the first of many exciting trips to the movie that she will get to have with the family.

Natalie is getting so tall! She's in size 3-4 toddler clothes now and wears a size 10 for shoes. She is going to be taller than Jeff or myself if she keeps growing at this rate. My side of the family is tall so we'll see.

She is turning into such an independent little lady. She loves helping in the kitchen and can crack eggs, pour batter, make toast and mix most anything. We have enjoyed meeting up with friends and their kids, we love going to the park and playing in the splash pad or on the playground and she can ride her bike there and back without any problems. We also walk to Wal-Mart about once a week to get a little exercise and that's about a mile total. She enjoys the walk and although she wants to be picked up for the last half, I can convince her to walk for most of it. Her favorite show on TV right now is Dora the Explorer. Can you guess what the birthday theme will be this year? :)

I'll be updating soon with pictures but I hope this has given you a little idea of what has been going on with Natalie these past months.

Natalie is no longer shy about approaching people. Her favorite phrase is “What’s your name?” Talk about a great conversation-starter.

Natalie has been all about parties lately! A few weekends ago we went to our neighbor’s Ale and Roel’s b-day party at Peter Piper Pizza. This is the first time Natalie has ever been to a party outside of a house. Needless to say, she absolutely loved it! She had fun playing on the slide, learned how to Whac-a-Mole, ate pizza, sang happy birthday and even won prizes with the tickets from the games she played. Can you believe $20 worth of tokens got her a pair of glasses, a snap bracelet and a squishy purple toy? Looks like mommy is in the wrong business! Natalie loved the party hat. Even days after the party, she wanted to wear it.



The next weekend we went to Samantha’s birthday who’s daddy is a co-worker of mommy. Natalie enjoyed playing with the other little girls that were there and she did a great job of sharing the toys. She also sang “happy birthday” right along with everyone else!



Speaking of singing along, Natalie is doing great when it comes to participation. At story time in the library, she is jumping up on her own and doing the sing-along songs. When she is watching TV and the cartoon asks kids where a particular item is on the screen, she will point to it. Last night she was watching Caillou and he was playing with his cat Gilbert. Natalie started laughing two separate times at the game they were playing together. It’s a lot of fun seeing her interact with others. And makes me feel good that I can start to sit back and let her do her own thing.

In late January, we had a bit of an ice storm which causes everyone in Texas to panic. I stayed home for a day and Natalie had so much fun staying home. She even helped me with some of my work…



Natalie is having fun finding new hiding spots in the house. She has found her own secret place (which I introduced to her) under the pool table. She loves it so much, she brought her doll house and some of her kitchen toys upstairs to play with while she’s there.



She also loves playing with the pool balls. She is getting quite good rolling the balls across the way and having them land in a pocket. At first she was jumping up and down on her stool because she was so excited, but after falling off the stool a couple of times now, she has learned to step off first and then celebrate.



A couple of weekends ago was pretty decent weather-wise, so daddy and our neighbor Otis decided to fix a fence post that snapped a while back. Natalie wanted to join in and help.



One one of mommy’s rare days off, we met up with our friends Heather, Alex and Sara. Natalie had fun paling around and following Alex around the square.


Musically Inclined



Yo Yo Yo



More Fun With Friends



Saturday was quite an eventful day for Natalie! She went to a hip new bookstore called Legacy Books where she met a award-winning author, Carrie Bebris. I was so proud of Natalie for behaving so well during the talkback. This was a first for both Natalie and myself and we had such a good time! It was also a real treat because after the book signing, we sent a note to Ms. Carrie and she replied back! How many people can say that an author has corresponded with them personally! We also played in the children’s section where Natalie had fun jumping into the cushions. There was another little girl there who was two as well and her mother was so impressed with how far advanced Natalie is! Those comments made me feel good to know that Natalie is doing so well.



We went to mommy’s office and played by the waterfall. If only she could have her desk outside…



Later that evening, we decided on an impromptu hair cut for Natalie. This was her first one ever (minus bang-cutting by Bachan). Natalie did great! While we were waiting for a jeep to clear, she had a manicure which she loved and then was very good while she was getting her hair cut. I was a bit worried when the stylist brought out the hairdryer but other than wincing for a bit, it didn’t bother her at all. True, the haircut doesn’t look like much, but it did get a lot of the wild ends tamed down which makes a big difference.



In the middle of the night, Mommy woke up due to pain in her side so we had to call Nannee to watch Natalie while daddy took me to the ER. Turns out that I have gall stones so it looks like there will be a scheduled appointment with a surgeon in the near future. The grandma’s tagged out and Bachan came over to the house at 7:30 in the morning to take care of Natalie so we could get a little rest. I’m so thankful for family! I don’t know what we’d do without them!

Have you been having Natalie withdrawl? Fear not! She's back and busier than ever!

Happy belated New Year! Natalie has had such a busy and wonderful holiday season that she’s been too busy to post. Mommy is finally setting her down for a few minutes to discuss all the fun activities that took place over these past several weeks.

Our first exciting holiday moment was watching daddy walk across the stage to get his diploma for his Master’s degree in Arts and Technology. Natalie was doing great in the cramped quarters until all the graduates came in. Once she saw daddy all she wanted to do was go down and see him and boy did she tell us with her crying and thrashing. Several times we had to go up the stairs and in the back to distract her and calm her down, but I think daddy enjoyed the fact that his little girl was proud of him and wanted to be there right there by his side.



We also had some sad moments during the holiday. Nana went into the hospital a couple of weeks before Christmas. She was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. She stayed in the hospital for several days and then was treated and sent home. Just a few days later, she had to go back into the hospital due to the flu and was there through Christmas. We did open some of the presents and stockings at Nana’s house on Christmas eve, and then Christmas morning we went to the hospital so Nana could open her stocking and a few gifts.

Christmas Eve, we went over to Nana and Donna’s house to have dinner and open presents.



The Official Mother-in-Law Underwear Present!


Christmas morning we was very busy! We had our family Christmas early in the morning so we could go back to Nana & Donna’s for breakfast strata and then over to the hospital to see Nana.





Christmas afternoon, daddy’s family came over for a potluck Christmas celebration and Natalie was showered with more gifts!



Speaking of gifts, Natalie made out like a bandit. She received lots of clothes books and novelties, but the big gifts that Natalie has migrated to most of all were her Caillou doll, digital camera (she has taken some pictures so those will be posted in the near future), a new tricycle, a doll house and two kitchens! Some of those items have gone over to Bachan’s house to play with during the day, but if there was any doubt that a little girl was living in our midst there should no longer be any questions now. She loves her kitchen set and after daddy assembled it Christmas eve, that was first item that she flocked to. She could care less what else was under the tree! She loves cutting the food in half with the play knife and puts them in the bowl for all to share. When Nana came home from the hospital after Christmas, she opened her dollhouse and fell in love with it instantly. We need to get some more accessories for the house, but it did come with a potty which she immediately put the baby on it and said “all done? Good job!” She also makes sure that the mommy and daddy doll kiss each other as well as kiss the baby.



Natalie has learned a lot of new things lately. The biggest is learning her alphabet. She can recite all of the ABC’s, but recently E and Q-V have dropped off the list. Apparently those are optional letters. She can also say her days of the week and she has learned to give the thumbs up. She can stick out her thumb. She loves hiding under the covers and daddy has introduced the flashlight when you’re under the covers and she loves that! She has begun to do a little back-talking and a temper tantrum will soon follow if she doesn’t get her way, but it’s more fun to dwell on the positives so those times will be omitted for now.

We all went to see the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art over the holiday as well. Natalie loved all the statues and would say “that’s my favorite” to each one. We held her for the majority of the time since there were so many people and didn’t want her to get lost in the crowd, but we also saw the Eliasson light exhibit and we told Natalie to put her hands behind her back and not to touch. She did a great job of not touching the art, but there were a few times where she would try to touch it with her nose instead.



It’s really exciting to converse with Natalie as it does not feel like you are talking to a two-year old. She seems so mature in her phrasing and mannerisms that one can easily forget.

Mommy has been knitting for a while but she finally took the plunge late last year and made a sweater for Nannee’s Christmas present. She was so confident that she decided to make a jacket for Natalie too. Natalie continues to say “thank you for my sweater, mommy.” Melts a mommy’s heart.



Now that Natalie’s getting a bit older, she’s starting to lose some of her babyness. She’s called us mom and dad a few times rather than mommy and daddy, she can say her name and age, and she tells us to close our eyes when we get ready to say the blessing. Despite some of these evolving changes, she still loves to be rocked in our arms. I hope that never changes.

Natalie Loves her Aunt Snookie and Uncle Ben


A Lucky Little Girl With Her Nannee and Bachan


Fun With Friends


Learning to Ride the Tricycle


Dinner at Home – Aunt Marcia is in Town!


What A Mess!


Adorable

It’s been a while, hasn’t it! A lot has certainly happened between Thanksgiving and now. We have been to many holiday celebrations to get ready for the holiday cheer.

Natalie has learned, for the most part, to sing all of the A-B-C’s. A few of them are transposed here and there but I would say that’s not too shabby for a 2-year old! She also can recall things that have happened during the day. When I ask her at the end of the day what she did at Bachan’s house, she would say that she played in her room, talked with Mar Mar (family friend), watched Barney… I don’t know at what age they’re supposed to be able to go back into their memory database but I’m going to confirm it again that our daughter is a genius!

With her profound genius, there are also some opposite behaviors that come with the program. For example, “now” has been added to her vocabulary. “I want mommy NOW” and “Come here NOW”. That could be because we have told her to get her rear in gear several times and she’s emulating us but we’re trying to curtail that attitude very quickly.

Natalie has learned how to curl her tongue today! I’ll have to get a picture of it soon.

In the meantime, here are the goodies of the weeks past.

We went to Dickens on the Square for Thanksgiving weekend and kick-off the Christmas Spirit. We are not a fan of Santa this year needless to say…



She also stole mommy’s popcorn!



Playing the DS. One can’t stay in the same position for long when you’re popping balloons!


Becoming one with Nature. We saved a shoe from the mud and there was also a lot of washing when we got home.


Getting Together With Family and Friends.



Learning To Use Chopsticks!



Hanging Decorations.



Uh Oh. Someone Dropped Their Toothbrush Down the Sink.


Mommy and Daddy – don’t we make a cute couple being married for 10 years!


The Grand Finale Of All-Things Natalie!

I’m finally beginning to take some much needed vacation time from work and with that benefit comes more time to spend with Natalie! Thursday, we went over to Nana’s to keep her company as she made cupcakes in preparation for mommy’s family’s Thanksgiving on Saturday. Against her will (as you can tell), we made Natalie test the batter for quality control.



To get ready for Thanksgiving, Natalie wanted to get dressed and put on makeup like mommy. She’s almost there but may need just a little more practice.



We didn’t get any pictures of the delicious spread as everyone was enjoying the food rather than think about taking pictures, but we did play a little bit afterwards. Nana, Donna, Nannee, Fairy Godmother Jane, Ben, and Aunt Snookie were all here. It was a wonderful time to share with family.



We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and are counting the many blessings!

Natalie had a very exciting day yesterday! She went #2 in the potty. I think only other moms can truly appreciate the excitement of this announcement as this is one more step closer to being rid of diapers! I’m so proud of my little lady. She got two stickers for this achievement!

We’ve done a lot of fun things over the past couple of weeks. A couple of Saturday’s ago, we went to the indoor pool to swim. We found out from another lady swimming that they have life jackets available, so half-way through our swim time, she got a jacket and did great with it. She had so much fun, we were swimming and floating for over an hour and a half!



After the pool, we went over to Nannee’s house to play, then to Nana and Donna’s house to play some more, and then over to the lake to feed the ducks and play on the playground. She was so excited to feed the ducks that she walked right into the lake to give them some bread.



Natalie has always been interested in earrings and I found a pair of clip-ons the other day that she enjoyed playing with. She was so proud of them, she left them on all day.



Natalie and I are going to have a new routine Monday evenings: Story time at the library! We went last Monday and although she was doing everything but listen to the stories, I think she had a good time. The librarian read several books, sang a few songs, and even did a story on the felt board. Natalie went right up to the board and started peeling all the characters off to see how they stayed on. Last night she was a lot better and was able to interact more with the songs. We even watched a video: Harold and the Purple Crayon! I’m glad she is so inquisitive, however, I’m hoping over the course of attending, she’ll be a little more calm.



This past weekend, we met up with cousins Chris and Jaclyn for lunch. We had a lot of fun as we tried a new restaurant and it’s always nice to catch up with family.



No Pictures Please


Hiding


Putting on Makeup


Listening to Music with Daddy

Daddy had to work on Halloween so Natalie and I went to the square in downtown McKinney for Scare on the Square. Natalie was an absolutely fabulous trick-or-treater! She would open her bag, say “trick or treat” and then would say “thank you” afterwards. A lot of the store owners were very impressed with how adorable she was an how well-mannered she was. Towards the end of the journey, she was more bold and started to reach for the candy herself.



After the square, we went to friends and families homes. We went to Nannee’s friend Ms. Jackie’s house for a candy apple, Nannee’s house and to Nana and Donna’s house. By the time we got home and I was only able to take Natalie around to a couple of neighbors houses before she said she was ready to go home.

My goodness how the weeks are flying by! We’ve had so much fun recently we’re forgetting to post!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

First off, look at Natalie’s potty chart (15-day difference between the two!) And as a did you know, Natalie knows all of the letters she put on her chart and knows how do sign several of those as well!



She’s really doing good with going to the potty. I tried to get her to go #2 but that freaked her out a bit so I didn’t push it.

Natalie had so much fun with her Uncle Bob and Aunt Marcia while they were in town! Natalie was completely smitten with Uncle Bob and wanted him to go everywhere with her. We tried to spend as much time with them as we could. We went to several dinners together but we also were able to spend some one-on-one time with them ourselves by going to the Texas State Fair. Despite the rain (the only day it rained during the run of the state fair, mind you) we had a wonderful time! Natalie loved the cars and so did her Uncle Bob! We met Elsie the Cow and her son “Beau”. We also spent a lot of time at the petting zoo. Natalie has now seen a giraffe which she enjoyed and she also loved spending time with the goats and ostriches. Also, have you ever seen a 4-horned sheep? Well, now you have.





Natalie also went pumpkin huntin’ a couple of weeks ago. She picked out two good pumpkins which have now decorated our house. This is a tradition Aunt Donna is wanting to have with Natalie, but Nannee and Aunt Marcia went along as well. Mommy on the other hand enjoyed a bit of free time!



Natalie is learning to say the blessing. She is also learning to hold hands, be silent, and close her eyes during the prayer. She has said the prayer a couple of times which goes something like this: “Thanks again for lunch. Amen.” Short, simple and to the point. Speaking of prayer, Nannee has been taking her to Sunday School. She still gets upset, so this past weekend she sat with Nannee and Nana in big church. She was very well behaved and enjoyed clapping when songs were sung. Mommy and daddy will make it to church again soon!



Mmmm, Pizza


Mirrors are becoming more of a novelty for Natalie. She likes sticking her tongue out and making funny faces. I have NO IDEA who she’s getting that behavior from…



Sleeping Beauties



A couple of weekends ago, our neighborhood had their fall fest. We had carnival games, bounce houses and lots of pumpkins, and snacks! Jeff manned the popcorn booth and I got to man the games. Natalie had fun playing at all the stations.



Later that evening, we went to one of our friend’s birthday party where we played Mexican Bingo and Natalie got to hit a piñata!



Last Saturday we went to a Halloween party at the Leonards. Natalie is dressing up as Old MacDonald this year for Halloween since she enjoys singing the song. Jeff dressed as a commando and I went as the chicken pox, thanks to the wonderful idea from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s pretend Dr. Daisy episode. See, cartoons can be educational! The big costume theme this year was Sarah Palin and her “hockey husband.”



A Girl, A Boy and Their Dogs


Earlier that day, we went to a store opening where they had a bounce house. We walked over there which was about a half mile one way (good exercise). It was just Natalie and I only for a long time so we both jumped around in the bounce house. I think from now on, I’m going to join her. I’ve forgotten how fun they are!



Natalie is still enjoying watching the 3 Stooges. She asks to watch it in the evening. During the day at Bachan’s house, she watches pretty much everything on PBS: Caillou, Clifford, Curious George, Barney, Jay Jay, Super Why… I started to record a couple of the shows at home so she can watch it. She said to me the other day that she wanted to watch Barney. I told her that we didn’t have it recorded. You know what she said to me: “Bachan has Barney.” So now every time I don’t have something in particular, she will tell me who does have it. I don’t have the song Pop Goes the Weasel in the car. “Daddy has Pop Goes the Weasel.” She’s going to have to learn to get over that and quickly!

She’s beginning to get a bit more possessive with items. She’ll take something away from you and say “that’s mine!” I haven’t really seen her act around other kids yet, but we’re continually having to “stress” the importance of sharing and taking turns.

Natalie impressed me the other day with how smart she is. I’m always asking Natalie questions about what she sees when we’re out and about or reading a book or with pretty much anything. A person was holding up a sign that included the #6 and I asked her what number she saw. She paused for a moment and then said 6! I’m sure I’m biased, but how can one not acknowledge that there is a bit of genius in that mind of hers!

In the past two weeks, Natalie has grown by leaps and bounds. If you thought she was smart then, just listen now!

Natalie can say the alphabet up to L. She can pick out letters when you point to them, like K and Q. She can say the days of the week. She can sing Old McDonald Had a Farm. She has gone potty in the toilet four times total. When going to bed, she doesn’t have to be held first; she can lay down in her crib, arrange her toys and all we need to do is stay in the room for a few minutes with her.

Her bedtime as now gone from 8:00 to 9:00. It makes it a little nicer because we don’t have to rush so quickly to get dinner on the table and then put Natalie to bed, but on the other hand, we don’t get as much mommy and daddy time in the evenings either.

Natalie’s new favorite phrase has been “There ya go.”


Natalie has done so many fun things since we’ve last updated!

We went to Bryce’s birthday party and Natalie enjoyed playing on the obstacle course. Her favorite was the tunnel.



We went to her friend Audrey’s house where she had a wonderful time playing with all kinds of new toys.



We also found a new horse to visit near our house. There are also two chickens in the front yard which followed Natalie around like little puppies.



This past weekend, we went to Calloway’s Nursery where they did a fall fest for the kids. Natalie decorated a pumpkin, bounced in a bounce house and ate popcorn. She had a fun time.



Later that afternoon, we went to the mall, rode on the carousel and went to a golf store where Natalie showed daddy a thing or two.



Natalie’s great Aunt and Uncle, Marcia and Bob have come down from Spokane and are visiting for a few weeks. She has already taken an immediate liking to uncle Bob and has taken him everywhere. Stay tuned for picture updates!