16 months... the sweet and the stinky of it

it has been a monumental week so far.

on monday natalie told me "i love you" and gave me a hug--without prompting! awwww, how sweet is that?!

then on tuesday she walked up to me and said "stinky" indicating that SHE was stinky, not me. what a smart girl!

i am loving this stage. 16 months old and absorbing every single thing that goes on around her. sometimes she just sits and watches. other times she is up and exploring. she is always learning. it is fun to observe her take it all in, process new knowledge, and then do something with it.

i'm finding that i'm missing the baby stage less and less and enjoying the now more and more.

i love my sweet and sometimes stinky girl!

happy thursday everyone!!

natalie, 10 months

nattie girl is 10 months old now. 10 months! can you believe it? here are some fun facts about our fourth child:

she is quite the talker and is curious about everything. her first word was "uh oh" ... just like her mama and big brother ben! she plays patty-cake and actually does hand movements other than clapping now. she also plays "where's natalie?" by putting a blanket over her face and hiding, then pulling it down. this is often followed by deep belly laughs. so cute!! she likes to "sing" and dance with me in the kitchen. jumping in her bouncer or on your lap tops her list of favorite things to do. this is followed by more belly laughs. i love this girl so much!


natalie eats green stuff without saying "eewww!"


she has a sense of adventure. here she is rocking in the rocker. i can see it in her eyes, "look mama, no hands!"

see how she's grown.


natalie is a go with the flow kind of kid. she is also very forgiving, even when her mean mama video tapes her while she's crying.

from the zachary archives

don't remember exactly when this was taken. zach must be 3 or 4? i crack up every time i watch this. maybe it has something to do with the fact that he calls me a silly deuce. for those of you needing translation, that's silly goose.



hard to believe that little boy is going into 2nd grade. he missed his last week of 1st grade because he was sick--he was so bummed about that. all week he asked, "if i'm still sick on the last day can i pleeease go to school?"

i was sad for him that he wasn't able to go. on the last day of school i picked up his things from his classroom. curious, i looked through his writing books. one was a communication journal where he wrote back and forth with his teachers. he wrote about his favorite things to do and places to go. he asked his teachers questions about their families. it was sweet and the kind of stuff that makes a mama proud. the other was free choice writing where he wrote about fighting with his brothers. seriously. page after page he described fight after fight. he wrote about how mean his brothers are and how annoyed he gets with them. he also wrote about how they solved their problems and became friends again after the fight. awww, love that. although very different, i enjoyed reading both books. zachary is growing up. i wish i could freeze him at this age. he is so sweet and caring and kind-hearted. and that boy sure knows how to make his mama smile. even when he calls me a silly deuce.

nat is 8 months old!

natalie had her 8 month birthday last week. she is still my happy girl, but she has a new side now, too. it goes something like this.

natalie: rolls every which way on the changing table trying to reach the basket of diapers.
me: "natalie, hold still!!"
natalie: continues to squirm and wiggle making it near impossible to diaper and dress her.
me: moves the basket.
natalie: "WAAAAHHHHH."

it's the most deafening scream. the boys NEVER screamed like that. it physically hurts my ears. and i can't even walk away, because most of the time she's still naked!



she's still so cute though! here are some other interesting facts about our 4th born:

-she has one tooth on the bottom left and her top left tooth just poked through today. cute!
-she likes to pat-a-cake with zachary.
-she claps when you say "yay!"
-she throws her arms down when she's mad.
-she has just started crying when i leave the room, but if i tell her i'm going to be right back, she'll stop.
-she primarily rolls to get where she wants to go, but she's recently started scooching.
-she is still not the best sitter. she doesn't know how to brace a fall. ouch.
-she has just started to eat more solid foods. so far she's had avacado, rice cereal, banana, and sweet potato. they were all a hit!



i predict she'll be getting around a lot more efficiently after spring break is over.

first pigtails

natalie wore her first set of pigtails yesterday. so cute!!!



i can't tell you how much fun it is to play with her hair. if she's anything like her brothers, i won't get to dress her up the way i want for long. like her brothers do, she'll have her own idea of cute. (see evidence below)



i think i dressed her in three outfits, just so i could take photos of her with three different types of coordinating clips. ha!



grandpa bear, you are not allowed to ask her what's under a pig's tail. enough said.

how cute is this?!



what's not so cute is the flood in our backyard. yuck.