More Holiday Festivities!

December 23rd 

Friday was a very busy day for us all. While Natalie napped, Gabriel and I made cinnamon ornaments using applesauce, cinnamon, cloves, and glue. We then shaped the dough using cookie cutters. The ornaments smelled delicious but took a little longer than expected to dry so we weren't able to decorate them.

We also started to get our Christmas morning Hot Cocoa Bar ingredients ready. Gabriel and I dipped marshmallows, candy canes, and stirring spoons into melted chocolate. We topped the spoons with mini marshmallows, butterscotch chips, and candy cane pieces. It was so much fun and tasty too!

That evening Nathan put up our new living room shelves so we could hang our stockings from them. Natalie got in on the fun too and played with the box! I hope Santa brings boxes for Christmas!!

Making Goodies

December 21st 

On Wednesday, Gabriel, Natalie, and I went over to my mom's house for some annual holiday baking. Natalie took a great nap so we were actually able to get a lot done! Gabriel made a special treat with pretzels, kisses, and M&M's, and we made Chex Mix for Nathan's work and chocolate chip cookies! It was a great day!

Gabriel's treat that he made

A ton of Chex Mix for Nathan's work!

Natalie enjoying the tree

Eight Months!

December 21st

I don't even know where the time has gone! It's hard to believe another month has passed and here we are taking the next picture. Natalie is eight months old! She is able to pull up on the coffee table and wants to stand constantly. She is so close to crawling! Even though she's not quite there, she manages to get around just fine. She can roll, squirm, scoot, and hop to get where she wants to go. She loves to crawl on top of you, but this is just her way of saying "pick me up"!!

 She is extremely vocal and loves having conversations with the kitty. We think she is trying to get him to smile at her, but instead he usually just runs off. Natalie hasn't really figured the kitty out. She is used to everyone smiling and talking to her all the time- family, friends, and at least a couple of people when we go out shopping. The kitty just ignores her, so she smiles and grunts at him trying to get him to pay attention and smile back.

We are getting so excited about Natalie's first Christmas and being able to celebrate with Gabriel here too! Our baby girl is growing up right before our very eyes!

Trying to rock right out of the chair!

A great picture of her two front teeth

Our sweet 8 month old!

Natalie's big accomplishments this month:

12/1 Natalie said "dada" and daddy even caught it on camera!

12/3 Natalie "clapped" for the first time. GG has been working on this with her and she finally took her fists and tapped them together!

Natalie's Angel

December 20th

Since this Christmas is Natalie's first, we started many new traditions. One tradition that I wanted to start is adopting an angel. I wanted Natalie to understand that it is more important to give than to receive. We adopted a baby girl who is about the same age as Natalie. I plan to do this every Christmas so Natalie can pick out items that she would enjoy since the child is around her same age. Even though Natalie is too little to tell us what she likes, it is obvious by how she acts around certain toys. This year, Nathan chose an octopus bath toy because we know how much Natalie enjoys bath time. Natalie loved it and didn't want to give it up!

Natalie saying goodbye to her angel's toy

Natalie's Special Visitor

December 9th, 10th, 14th, and 18th

Natalie had a very special visitor this Christmas. An elf came from the North Pole to make sure she was being nice. Natalie looked forward to finding her elf in the mornings and discovered him in so many different places.



Elf in the exersaucer




Natalie discovering her elf in her toy!





The elf drinking from her sippy





The elf getting a piggy back ride on the bunny





Exersaucer Fun!

December 11th

Natalie has learned to do so many new things lately. Her newest talent is making Indian sounds. She takes her fists and moves it in front of her mouth while making noises. She is so proud of herself, and it is so cute!

Natalie has always loved bouncing. She bounces in her horse, she bounces in anyone's arms, and she bounces like crazy in her exersaucer. She is always bouncing!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

December 4th and 6th

On Sunday, I fed Natalie pears for the first time.  By Monday afternoon I noticed a rash appearing. As the day went on, the rash spread and got worse. It covered her entire body except for her face. Naturally, I figured she was having a slight reaction to the pears (or could it have been the tiny piece of pancake she tried?). Nathan thought it was because she was getting a cold and that was her way of fighting it. We called the nurses line to get another opinion, and she also said it could be from a cold. Even though I'm quite sure I'm being irrational, I haven't given Natalie pears since!

Since Nathan was on vacation, I decided to take a few days off too! We took Natalie to see Santa for the first time. We went on Tuesday morning in order to avoid the crowds. We knew we didn't want to wait in a long line to see the most popular man of the month, especially with a very impatient baby! We decided to go see Santa at the Town Center so we could visit him in his cottage. When we walked in Natalie immediately eyed Santa. Santa asked me to place Natalie on his knee, but I made sure the camera man was ready first. Natalie took one look at Santa and started screaming. Luckily we did get one quick picture right before the outburst!

Santa's home away from home

Natalie taking a good look

The Christmas Parade

December 3rd

What better way to start off the holidays than a Christmas parade! On Saturday, Middleburg had their annual Christmas Parade. Nathan had mentioned that Lowe's would be in the parade. Well, Gabriel LOVES parades and thought it would be even cooler to be IN the actual parade. After much deliberation, Gabriel decided he would prefer to walk and hand out candy instead of ride the big Lowe's flatbed truck. Natalie and I wanted to get in on the action too and stopped by for a little while. Since the parade was at the same time as bedtime, Nathan and Gabriel were able to spent some time together, getting into the holiday spirit!

She sure does love her big brother!



Natalie's German Shoes

November 29th

Last year, my Grandma (my mom's mom) went to Germany. At the time, we did not know if we were having a boy or a girl. My Grandma knew she wanted to get something for baby Kendall, but I imagine it was a little difficult considering she didn't know what gender to buy for. By the time we opened up baby Kendall's Germany presents, we knew Natalie was in fact a girl (even though at this point Natalie was still very much unnamed). Natalie received many presents, but one in particular was a pair of German lamb slippers.Here is Natalie in her slippers. I figure there is no better way to say thank you than to show Natalie wearing her slippers!

Our happy girl

Once Natalie discovered the bumps on the bottom, she wouldn't leave them alone! Thank you Grandma for the wonderful German presents.

Natalie's First Thanksgiving

November 24th

Natalie had a wonderful first Thanksgiving. As usual, the guys played golf as part of their Thanksgiving tradition. Natalie and I went over to my mom's house and spent some time with Kristy, Sarah, Patrick, my mom, and Nannaw. We watched the Thanksgiving parade, helped get the turkey ready to fry, and relaxed. It was a great day. Natalie tried her first "real" food too! She had sweet potatoes for the first time...and not the Gerber pureed version either. She had the real deal! Aunt Kristy always makes sweet potato casserole so before she added all the yummy ingredients, we put some potatoes aside for Natalie. She seemed to enjoy them for the most part, but the texture was new for her. Natalie was even lucky enough to get behind Uncle Thomas' camera! Natalie and I made special Thanksgiving shirts to wear, and I even made Natalie a tutu. It was my first try and turned out to be super easy!

Trying sweet potatoes

Natalie playing with cousin Sarah

Watching her first Thanksgiving Parade and seeing Santa

Photo by TK Photography

Our sweet girl in her tutu
Photo by TK Photography

Our shirts
Photo by TK Photography

Seven Months!

November 21st

Natalie is seven months old! She continues to grow and is changing so much. She wants to be moving constantly! She is still working on crawling but hasn't mastered it quite yet. The bed is her safe haven where she loves to roll, tumble, and face plant every night before her bath. We run her bath, take off her clothes, and she starts playing all over the bed. She loves for us to tickle her while she squirms, giggles, and attempts to crawl away.

Natalie really is talking more and more. She continues to experiment with different sound combinations and high pitch squeals. She knows her name and will look when you say it, unless there is something more exciting going on at the time! She smiles more than any baby I know and really seems to be a sweet, happy baby girl! She has started doing this new thing with her nose. She crinkles is up and starts breathing heavy right before she gets upset. I don't really mean upset, it's her fake "I'm bored, pick me up" upset. It is so cute, you can't help but pick her up!

Natalie's Bathtime

November 19th

As part of Natalie's bedtime routine, we take a bath together nightly. She loves the bath. Natalie likes to splash, play, chew on her bath toys, and practice pulling up and standing. This is something that is very special to me, and I believe Natalie enjoys it too. After we finish our bath, it's time for lotion and PJs. It is a race to the finish at this point because Natalie knows it is bedtime and starts to get impatient. Here is Natalie after bathtime in her ducky robe that Great Aunt Jackie gave to her.

An Afternoon with Grandma

November 11th

While Nathan and I went out to eat, Natalie spent some time with Grandma. As usual, they spent time outside enjoying the nice weather. Natalie even got to see her good friends, the ducks. She loves the outside and really enjoys watching all of the wildlife in our backyard!