For Nathan's birthday weekend, we took a trip to visit Gabriel in South Carolina. Nathan, Dawn (Nathan's mom), Natalie, and I headed up Friday. Nathan's brother, Mark, and his son, Jacob, also came down from North Carolina to add to the fun! Mark also got his middle son, Parker, for the weekend. The eight of us had a great time.
On Saturday we went to the beach. It was the perfect day for Natalie to have her first beach trip! She even got to dip her toes in the water! The boys played in the sand, buried each other, and got in the water (a little too cold for me). We all had a blast!
That evening, we got to see Gabriel play a soccer game. He played goalie, and his team won 2-1!
Before leaving Sunday, we went to a park and roamed around a little while. It was another wonderful day outside, and the Kendalls always know how to have a good time.
Nathan had a great birthday weekend spent with his family. On Nathan's birthday last year we announced to Gabriel that he was going to be having a brother or sister. It's hard to believe that a year has gone by, and sweet Natalie is here adding to the great memories.
Lovin' her Daddy
Grammo and Jake playing
Gabriel and Parker (If you look closely, Parker is a mermaid.)
With Halloween quickly approaching, the Pumpking Patch was first on our list of holiday activities! Natalie had to have a special outfit for this outing, and I decided on a Pumpkin Princess costume complete with an orange and black tutu! Needless to say, she was the cutest pumpkin in the patch! She was more interested in the traffic than the pumpkins, but she did a great job posing for as many pictures as mommy and daddy wanted.
We picked out a huge pumpkin to take home to carve, and Natalie picked out a small pumpkin for herself. We had a great day and continued the fun at home. More festive picture to come!
Last Saturday Natalie was all gator for the Florida/ LSU game. Unfortunately the Gators lost, but who needs a win when you have a baby as beautiful as we do?! Natalie was able to sit in her tailgating chair for the first time and tailgate in Grandma's living room. She enjoyed watching the game, but then again she loves watching anything on TV! What used to be football Saturdays has turned into family days spent hanging out with the occassional football game. We always make a point to watch the Gators play, but it's definitely different this year and we wouldn't change it for anything!!
After trying rice cereal a couple of times, we decided that Natalie did not really enjoy it. She was always so eager to eat, but as soon as she got a taste of the rice cereal she played around with it and pretty much spit it out. Who could blame her? Rice cereal is extremely bland and boring!
We moved on to oatmeal and got a much better reaction from her! Not only does she enjoy the oatmeal, it doesn't seem to hurt her tummy. It won't be too much longer before Natalie gets a taste of some yummy veggies!
The video is a little short because I was feeding Natalie and taping it. So once she got ahold of the spoon, I needed my other hand!
Natalie has been doing great at sitting up on her own. Once she figured out she could sit up, assisted of course, she has absolutely no interest in being on her tummy. At times she has a hissy fit if we try to lay her down on her tummy for tummy time! She enjoys being independent and being able to easily maneuver her toys.
On Saturday, we went to cousin Hannah's Pirate and Princess themed 3rd birthday party. Natalie had a great time swimming, seeing family, and dressing up like a princess. Princess Natalie was Cinderella for the day and looked beautiful! She even got a chance to swim with daddy!
Here is the much anticipated five month update! Natalie Grace is such a big girl! She still loves talking and squealing. She loves bouncing in her horsey (and then bouncing everywhere else thinking she's still in it). She is continuing to practice grabbing things and getting better at using her thumbs. Now that she has tried cereal, it probably won't be too long before we move on to more exciting foods! Natalie loves going on walks in her stroller. Now that she doesn't have to sit in the car seat for stroller rides, she realizes how much fun it is! We try to go out nightly, but her bedtime routine starts at 7 so some nights we are too busy. So far she hasn't shown much interest in crawling. But hey, who needs to crawl when you have mommy and daddy at your beck and call?
Thanks to her daddy and his determination, Natalie is getting great at sitting up on her own. The thing that has made working easiest on me is knowing that Natalie gets to spend so much quality time with her daddy. We are so lucky to have such a good daddy and husband! Nathan picks her up 4/5 days and gets to have daddy/daughter time at the house with her- sometimes for hours before I get home. It is amazing to see the two of them interact, and I love their special relationship!
Last but certainly not least, Natalie said "mama"! She's only made the sound about 3 times, but it's wonderful to hear. I know she doesn't know what she's saying and at this age it's just considered babbling, but I still love it!
Lovin' the stroller
Just another afternoon with daddy, napping in the big bed
Natalie has shown interest in real food for several weeks (maybe even months!). We finally decided to let her try rice cereal for the first time at a few days shy of 5 months. She wasn't too sure about it, but she was eager to give it a shot. I think she was more concerned with helping me with the spoon than actually eating the cereal! She enjoyed sitting up in her new big girl high chair, and as usual she loved staring at her daddy- the man behind the camera!
