One Christmasy Weekend

November 28th- December 1st

We started off the weekend decorating our Christmas tree. Last year I begged Nathan for a "bigger" tree, and he brought home a beautiful nine foot tree that was on sale. Little did I know, nine feet is extremely huge! It isn't just tall, it's gigantic around the middle. My least favorite part is the "fluffing" of the branches, and there were a lot of branches to fluff! We fluffed for two days and decorated on Friday after we got Gabriel. Gabriel really enjoys decorating the tree. He loves to open up all of the ornaments that are his and remember where he got them from or who gave them to him. We decided to decorate the tree without Natalie because we actually wanted to get it done! We saved the angel for Saturday morning and put it on as a family though.

This was about the time I was in shock there was another section!

Even Nathan needed a chair, and Natalie was Miss Helpful!

Us in front of the non-fluffed tree.

Everything finished but the angel on top!

On Saturday afternoon, the guys went to decorate the Lowe's truck for the annual Christmas parade. This is the second year in a row that Nathan and Gabriel have been in the parade. They don't ride on the truck, per Gabriel's request, they walk (really it's more like speed walking) alongside the truck and hand out candy to the kids. Natalie and I met up with Nathan's mom and went to see the parade. Natalie was a little unsure at first and didn't know what to think of the firetruck noise but was very excited to see Gabriel and Dada. Nathan walked by and gave her a lollipop, and Gabriel walked by and gave her a whole handful! Natalie wouldn't stop talking about seeing Gogo and Dada.

Our favorite parade float.

Enjoying the parade.

We had a great weekend that really put us in the Christmas spirit. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but sometimes you just have to enjoy the moment and remember it!

Natalie admiring the ornaments.

Gabriel did this once and Natalie picked up on it!

Natalie opening her first door on the Advent calendar.

Gator Game Day!

November 24th

Gator game days are a little different after you have a baby. Even though Natalie is getting older, she still does not want to sit down and watch a football game. For the Florida/Florida State game, we made it a big deal. It was our Thanksgiving with Gabriel, and Nathan's brother and nephew were in town. Dawn came over to join the crowd, the boys painted faces, and everyone watched the game with extreme enthusiasm. Natalie, on the other hand, did not like the cheering. I think she was traumatized from the night before and was over the yelling! Several times she asked to go "night night". That meant she wanted to go into the bedroom, lay on the bed, and watch PBS Kids on my phone. After a Gator victory, the crowd ate pizza and calmed down. It was a great night!

Mark painting Parker.

Nathan painting Gabriel.

Grammo and Natalie setting up her new Fisher Price nativity!!

The boys being boys.

Enjoying a break in the bed.

Playing with Baby Jesus.

The cutie playing on the trampoline.

Our Reveal Party

November 23rd

Saturday morning was spent with Uncle Thomas and Aunt Kristy getting Natalie's Christmas pictures taken. We went to the Christmas tree farm and took some maternity pictures at my parent's house. Even though Natalie didn't stand still for longer than three seconds, Thomas was able to get some wonderful pictures! 

TK Photography

TK Photography

TK Photography

TK Photography

TK Photography

TK Photography

That evening was our gender reveal party! All of our family gathered to eat a homemade German dinner and find out if Baby Kendall was a he or she! This was especially special because Kristy made our cake and had kept our secret for a few weeks! Everyone wore pink or blue to claim their guess. Most guesses were blue for a boy. Nathan wore blue but really thought girl...he just didn't have a pink shirt. I wore pink but knew it would be a boy...even though I was hoping for a sister for Natalie. Turns out Baby Kendall is a girl!! It was really cool to find out with everyone. I think we finally got antsy right before we cut the cake, and it was a little overwhelming. Natalie was exhausted at this point and lost it when everyone cheered! Everyone was thrilled and very excited. The cake was beautiful! It was a very memorable evening. Thank you Thomas for the wonderful pictures from the entire day. 

The gorgeous cake

Yes, that is a freaked out happy look on my face!

It's a girl!

Our little sugar dumplin' getting sleepy.

Thanksgiving 2012

November 22nd

For Thanksgiving, the guys went golfing just like they do every year. Gabriel loves Thanksgiving at our house since he gets to go golfing and doesn't have to hang with the women anymore! Natalie and I went over to my mom's house to help out as much as possible. After watching the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade, Natalie took a short nap. Thanksgiving dinner was around 3ish and delicious! It was a great day full of family, yummy food, and football!

Intently watching the parade.

Clapping to the music.

Helping make Daddy's favorite green bean casserole.

Watching PBS while I tried to inhale my dinner!

19 Months!

November 21st

 Just when I was almost caught up, I started to slack off! With Christmas preparations, the flu, taking an online class for my teaching certificate, and most recently blogger acting strange, I have not had any spare time to blog! It's now a game of catch up, and I need to get caught up while I still can!

Natalie Grace is now 19 months! I know I continue to say this but she is growing up so much these days. She is becoming a big talker, and I'm pretty sure she loves that we understand her more now. It makes it a lot easier to get her point across. Every night before bedtime, as part of our nightly routine, Natalie says goodnight to Nathan. She gives him hugs and kisses, tells him "night night", and we practice saying I love you. After this we gather up all of her six babies (Elmo, Bear, Giraffe, Hippo, Baby, and "Quack Quack") and her milk sippy and head upstairs for books, music, and prayers. Natalie finally told Nathan 'I love you' on her own this month! Usually we prompt the words, but this was a precious first! You could see the concentration on her face as she combined the three words.

Natalie still loves to play outside and jump on the trampoline. She is so good at jumping. I have never seen a toddler as little as Natalie jumping like she does. She is very coordinated and must get it from her Daddy! Her latest obsession is trains. She loves trains! When she discovered that there was a train in the mall, it was all over. The only reason we were able to hold off this long is because we would do just about anything to NOT shop with Natalie. She is the worst shopper ever! Natalie hates shopping, unless she goes with Grandma currently called "Mong Mong". When Grandma goes with us, Natalie rides the train, the little rides in the middle of the mall, plays in the play area, and sometimes gets a cookie too! Of course now she thinks we go to the mall so she can ride the train! And most of the time we do :) Have you ever tried to fit inside a kid sized train caboose with a 10 inch wide seat while pregnant?? It has its challenges but is worth the sweet smile!

Mong Mong and Natalie riding the train.

Natalie living it up in a gigantic duck!

Doing one of the things she loves most- park time with Daddy!

Hanging out with her BFF Elmo.

Doing another favorite- trying to make a mess! Thankfully the park uses ground up tires not sand!

19 months and getting more difficult each month!

She decided the chair needed to be turned around.

Big "cheese"!!

And then it became an everyday event until the chair went back upstairs!

Day 3! Every time she saw the chair she would try to hand me the camera, sit, and say cheese!

Current likes: Elmo, trains, lollipops, her babies, doing the Gator chomp, cuddling in the big bed and watching PBS Kids videos, M&Ms, helping mommy, and park time with daddy.

Current dislikes: car rides, shopping, sleeping in, behaving like a civilized child in public, and hair clips or anything that goes near her hair to pin it out of her face!