Christmas Pictures

We got our email from the JC Penney studio that Natalie's Christmas pictures are available to view online. Here is one of my favorites! If you want the code to look at them, please post a comment and I'll send it to you.

Christmas Dress

We bought Natalie's Christmas dress from Hanna Anderson last night. It is so cute so I wanted to share a picture of it. I can't wait to see her in it on Christmas Eve!!

Halloween

After many, many tries, this is the best picture Mommy could get of Natalie with our "smirking" Jack'O'Lantern. Our sweet ladybug didn't get to do much trick-or-treating this year, but she did get a chocolate candy bar from Mommy & Daddy that she seemed to like.

Trip to the Pumpkin Farm

Natalie, Mommy and Daddy went out to Goebert's Pumpkin Farm to pick out a great pumpkin for Natalie's first Jack O' Lantern. We found a tall skinny one and loaded it up in the cart. We also picked up a small pumpkin and some gourds as well as some apples for Mommy and Daddy to eat. Natalie had fun and even got her picture taken on a big pile of pumpkins!

Pictures from Uncle Jeff & Aunt Katie's Wedding

10 things I've done since the last post...

1. I started "army crawling". One night I even crawled to Mommy from partway across the living room.
2. I've tried lots of new foods: blueberry muffin, broccoli florets, saltine crackers, and pancakes. I even fed myself the pancakes and saltine crackers!
3. Started wearing "big girl" pajamas.
4. I've started doing "up arms" to Mommy and Daddy.
5. I got my first winter coat. (Mine's pink though, not navy.)
6. We flew to Kansas City for Uncle Jeff and Aunt Katie's wedding. I met lots of relatives for the first time.
7. Can sit up on my own from laying down.
8. I got some fun new toys including MyMP3 and Sing and Sounds Farm.
9. Had my 9 month portraits taken.
10. Went shopping with Mommy for my first Hanna Andersson dress and tights.

Our Little Husker

Natalie finally had a chance to wear her Husker cheerleader outfit last Saturday for the first Nebraska football game. The outfit was a gift from our friends Kevin, Angie, Aaron and Andrew and it fit her just right. It was a bit warm for the long-sleeve onesie that came with it so she wore a short-sleeve onesie instead. The bow in her hair was bought before she was born by Mommy and Daddy. We had wanted her to wear it on her birth day for the bowl game, but since she was sick and in the NICU she didn't get a chance to wear it that day. It looks cute now though too! GO BIG RED!!!!

Those Pearly Whites...

I finally got a cute picture that shows Natalie's two teeth. We keep waiting for some more to pop through. She has been pretty good through all the teething so we are proud of our girl!

Update

I have been trying to get on here to post some updates and new pictures of Natalie, but the website hasn't been allowing the picture uploads for some reason. That is why it has been so long! I am going to try again to post some of the pics from the last few weeks too so some things may get a bit out of order. Hopefully it will all work soon!

Trip to Grandma & Grandpa's House

Last weekend (August 4-7) Natalie and Mommy went to Nebraska to see Grandma Kathy & Grandpa Rich. While we were there, we also got to see Uncle Jeff, Aunt Katie, Uncle John, Aunt Mya and cousin Ashley as well as Natalie's Great Grandparents. She was a very popular girl!

On Saturday we had a bridal shower for Aunt Katie and then went to the county fair that evening. Mommy and Natlie entered the "Look-Alike Contest" and cousin Ashley was in the "Crawling Contest". None of us won, but it was a lot of fun! Grandpa took Natalie for a ride on his golf cart since he gets to have one since he is on the county fair board. Then we walked around for a while to see some of the show animals. Natalie was pretty tired though so she fell asleep before we could see everything. Natalie went back to Grandma's house while Mommy rode some carnival rides with Aunt Katie.

We headed back to the fair on Sunday afternoon for a while, but it was raining so Natalie didn't get a chance to take a ride on the Merry-Go-Round. Maybe next year! Then we went to see Great Grandma Phyllis and Great Grandpa Harry and ate supper with them. Monday we spent some time alone with Grandma and then headed home that night. Natalie was so good on the airplane for both trips. I'm sure she will have many fun trips to visit Grandma & Grandpa.

New Toys

I was needing some "big girl" toys so Mommy headed out to find some great ones for me. Mommy had seen the Infantino Bucket Buddies on the internet and thought they looked like fun. Imagine my surprise when Mommy saw them for half price (due to a damaged box) at Target! When we got home, I couldn't wait for Mommy to take them out of the box so I could play with them. They are so much fun! Every thing makes fun noises and has smiling faces on them. I love growing up!

So Sleepy!

I took this picture of Natlie last week after her supper. As you can see, she really was in need of a nap!

First Teeth!

Last Monday (7-17) we realized Natalie had a tooth that had popped through! It was one of her lower front teeth. She hasn't really been too fussy so we didn't even think any of them would be popping through yet. Later in the week we saw that the one right next to it was making it's way out also! Two teeth already in one week! We are very excited for our big girl and hope that they don't hurt too much.

Cubs win! Cubs win!

On Tuesday July 18th, Natalie attended her first Cubs game at Wrigley Field. She thought it was a lot of fun but watched the people behind us more than the game. She did great the whole game and even stayed awake on the shuttle ride back to the car. Plus the Cubs won the game 4 to 2 so it was also exciting for Mommy and Daddy. We had this picture taken of us by the FanFoto photographer at the game. Below is a picture of Mommy and Natalie taken by Daddy during the 7th inning stretch.

Update

We got a little behind on our posting again. It was a pretty uneventful week but we still managed to stay busy! Natalie went in for her six month check-up last Tuesday. Her stats this month were: 26 1/2" long (75th percentile), 19 lbs 14 oz (95th percentile) and head size 17 5/8" (90th percentile). The doctor said she is still a very healthy little girl and she is on track with everything. She had to endure another four shots though and that is never fun for her nor for Mommy and Daddy! Tomorrow night Natalie is going to her first Cubs game so we will be sure to post some pictures of that event later this week.

Shedd Aquarium

Today was Natalie's first trip to the Shedd Aquarium. She really seemed to enjoy looking at the fish, especially the bright colored ones in the Caribbean Reef. She did really good during the whole day. At the end of the day, she even got a cute starfish t-shirt to remember her first trip to the Shedd!

Independence Day

Natalie had fun celebrating her first 4th of July! Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Rich visited for a few days which was a lot of fun. She had a new outfit to wear that included cute hairbows and sunglasses. That night we went to our friend Niki's house to watch fireworks. Natalie was very interested in the fireworks at first, but then some of the loud ones scared her a bit. She even got to stay out late that night too. Overall it was a great Independence Day!

Half Birthday

Today Natalie was exactly 6 months old and exactly 26 weeks old. It was definately her half birthday! We had to make a quick trip to the doctor today because of her cold so I asked them to weigh her also so I would know how big she was - 19 lbs 6 oz. Below are a few of the pictures I took of her to mark this special day in the first year of her life.

Our Big Girl

Natalie has pretty much mastered sitting up on her own! During the last week she has gotten so good, even the girls at daycare have said how well she is doing. Last Monday was the first time she stayed up on her own for more than a few minutes. Tonight she sat up the whole time I was taking pictures of her, which was probably 15 minutes. She is also reaching and playing with toys while sitting up. Here is a good picture of her wearing the cute Elmo outfit she got as a gift from Grandpa Paul and Jen and playing with her bunny from Grandpa Rich and Grandma Kathy. The pillow was behind her just in case she fell back so she wouldn't bang her head but it wasn't even supporting her.

Exersaucer

I wanted to add this short video I took of Natalie in her new Baby Einstein exersaucer. Of course the time I had the camera on her she wasn't as active as she is other times, but you can still see how interested she is in all the fun toys! Just click the "play" button in the lower left corner.



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Rolling Girl

Natalie finally rolled over from her back to her tummy on Thursday night. She rolled in her sleep and we found her in her crib later that night on her tummy. On Wednesday this week she tried carrots for the first time and really seemed to like them. She ate a whole container that night! She has had a pretty nasty cold the last few days, which she probably got from Mommy and Daddy, so hasn't felt the best. Tonight she was happy for a while so I snapped this cute picture of her in a "new" outfit that she hasn't wore yet. She is mostly wearing pigtails now because otherwise her hair is always in her face!

5 Months

Below are a few of the best pictures I took of Natalie at her 5 month "photo shoot." No stats to report because she didn't go to the doctor this month. Pictures are a little late due to our trip to Nebraska and Mommy being sick last week!

Sweet Potatoes

On Friday night Natalie tried vegetables for the first time. Up first was sweet potatoes. She really liked them and ate all that I had poured into the bowl for her. The next night she ate the rest of the container. I think vegetables are a hit so far!

New Milestones

Natalie has started doing many new things now. On May 30th she grabbed her feet for the first time. She has been doing this more and more now. On May 31st she rolled for the first time from her tummy to her back. We lay her on her tummy now to see how long it takes her to roll over. Sometimes she goes halfway and looks at the world from her side and sometimes she rolls over right away. She is "talking" a lot more and making different sounds almost every day. She has eaten two kinds of cereal now (Rice and Oatmeal with Bananas) and is eating solids twice a day. We are pretty close to trying vegetables too! Overall Natalie is a healthy and happy baby girl!!

Trip to Nebraska

Mommy, Daddy and Natalie decided to head to Nebraska over Memorial Day weekend. It was going to be a short trip but we wanted to visit everyone for a bit at least.

We drove out on Saturday afternoon/evening and stayed with Grandpa Rich and Grandma Kathy. On Sunday Natalie got to meet lots of people for the first time: Grandpa Rich's cousins Don and Fran, Great Aunt Karen and Great Uncle Mike from Texas, and cousins Shelly and Kurtis from Texas. We also got to spend time with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Katie, as well as Uncle John, Aunt Mya, and cousin Ashley.

On Monday morning we headed out to spend some time with Great Grandma Juanita and Great Grandpa Wilbur then stopped in Lincoln to visit Great Grandpa Harry in the hospital and see Great Grandma Phyllis. They were all really glad to see Natalie and commented on how big she is getting!! While in Lincoln, we also went by the University of Nebraska to see where Daddy went to college at. We had to stop and get a few pictures of Natalie and Daddy in front of one of his favorite places - Memorial Stadium. One of them is below.

After that we headed to Omaha to have dinner and stay with Aunt Susie and Uncle Jason. This was the first time Natalie met Uncle Jason so he was very happy to finally get to see her and play with her. Natalie even got a present - two fun books - from Aunt Susie and Uncle Jason. She loved both of them!! Tuesday morning we headed back home. Natalie did really great on the trip, as usual.

Rice Cereal

Natalie has been eating rice cereal for nearly two weeks already. Her first "meal" was on Mother's Day. Yesterday was the first time she opened her mouth when she saw the spoon coming and tonight she finished her whole bowl! Tonight she was pretty messy though as she realized she likes to grab the spoon and the cereal on it. Below is a picture of her first experience with cereal.

Visit from Aunt Susie

From May 10 - May 14, Aunt Susie visited Natalie from Nebraska. Natalie had so much fun with her! Aunt Susie even stayed with Natalie on Thursday while Mommy and Daddy worked. They even had their first visit to Gino's East downtown together. Aunt Susie loved the pizza but Natalie didn't get to try any this time. Natalie can't wait to see her again soon!!

Mother's Day 2006

Since this was my first Mother's Day, it will always be special for me. Ryan and Natalie gave me roses, a PDA and a wonderful card. It was so nice to be able to spend the day with my two sweeties!! Here is a picture of Natalie and I.

Photo Contest

I entered a picture of Natalie in a "Cool Hat Baby!" photo contest and am shamelessly asking for you to go and vote for her! Just go to the website, enter the code in the graphic and click the "place my vote" button. You can vote up to 5 times each day and the contest lasts all week. Thank you!!!!

Chocolate Festival

On Sunday, Mommy, Daddy and Natalie went to the Chocolate Festival in Long Grove with Niki and Chong. All of us looked around in some stores and Mommy and Daddy had some fun treats including chocolate dipped strawberries, a caramel apple and apple cider doughnuts. Natalie only got to have formula as usual but she still had fun. She even got to wear her sunglasses for the first time!

Four Month Appointment

Natalie went the doctor for her four month appointment yesterday. They said she was doing great. She is getting so big - already 16 lbs 14 oz and 25 1/4" long! Her head size is 17". The doctor also gave the go ahead to start giving Natalie cereal so I think we will give it a try this weekend and see how she does. Natalie also had to endure four more shots but she did great since Daddy was there with her.

Below is a picture from her four month "photo shoot." It shows how great she is doing at pushing up and holding her head up. This was one of the best ones because she has a slight smile!

Grandpa Paul Visits

Grandpa Paul came to Chicago today for a work conference so he was able to visit Natalie for a while. We all went out to eat together tonight for Chicago deep dish pizza. Grandpa thought Natalie had gotten much bigger and was a good baby because she hardly fussed at all during dinner. He also got to see some of Natalie's smiles before having to leave since Mommy and Daddy are never able to catch a smile in a picture.

Natalie with Grandpa Rich and Grandma Kathy

As Mommy was posting a picture of Natalie with Grandpa Paul, she realized she had never posted a picture of Natalie with Grandpa Rich and Grandma Kathy when they visited for Easter. This picture was taken when we all went out to dinner downtown on that Saturday night.

Another week

Another week has flown by for our family! Natalie had a good week with nothing really out of the ordinary going on. She is still "talking" all the time and growing up a bit more every day. She loves to stand on my legs now and gets very excited about it. We'll have to see if Daddy can take a little video of her standing so we can add that here.

Next Tuesday will be Natalie's four month checkup already. She is due for a few more shots so I'm sure that won't be fun for her. I can't wait to see how much bigger she has gotten and also see what the pediatrician says about starting solid foods. I think she is pretty close to being ready to try some cereal so we might have some pictures to add of that soon. I'll be sure to add all of her stats here after the appointment.

First Trip to the Zoo

Today Mommy, Daddy and Natalie went to the Brookfield Zoo with our friends Niki and Chong. It was a great day to be outside, it was not too hot but sunny. Natalie had so much fun seeing all the animals, especially the dolphins swimming underwater. She was great all day although she was pretty tired by the end of it all, as you can see in the additional pictures. We also got a picture of Natalie and Daddy measuring up to a baby elephant! We had a great day and hope to go back again soon.

Additional Zoo Pictures

Pigtails

The girls at daycare love fixing Natalie's hair. Today when Mommy picked her up, Natalie had the cutest pigtails! Mommy had to have a picture to share with everyone.

Natalie on Easter Morning

Natalie with her Easter Basket

Happy Easter from Natalie

Update on the week

Well it is finally Friday and I had very little time this week to get around to posting anything! The early part of the week was pretty uneventful. I've been trying to find time to take some Easter pictures of Natalie (I found some adorable bunny ears for her!) but that hasn't happened yet either.

Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Rich came out to visit Natalie for Easter. They arrived last night and were in charge of watching her today so only two days in daycare this week. No big plans for the weekend at this time, they just want to play with Natalie as much as possible. I will be sure to post some pictures of their visit and Natalie dressed up for Easter - probably early next week.

If I don't get her bunny pictures up here before then - HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Our Movie Star

Natalie was being so cute today "talking" that I decided to take a little video of her. She sounded kind of fussy at the end but I think it turned out pretty good. This also shows how she is starting to grab onto things, including the toys hanging on her swing. Make sure you turn up your volume to hear her and press play!
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Big Girl Crib

Last night was Natalie's first in her crib. She had been sleeping in a travel crib in our room since we brought her home, but she was almost to the weight limit on it so it was time to make the switch. I put her down in her crib and sat in the room with her for a while with the lights off. She never cried so I left her in there with the monitor. She fell asleep not long afterwards and slept through the night. We didn't know how the transition would go but hopefully this was the first of many nights in her big girl crib!

TGIF!

We got through our first week back to work and first week at daycare. Natalie did really well this week and even stayed on her schedule today instead of sleeping all day like on Wednesday. The girls at the daycare love to fix Natalie's hair and have been putting cute flower barrettes in to pull her hair back to the side. She seems happy and content when Mommy picks her up so a good choice was made. Mommy did pretty good at work and was getting used to the fast "office pace" by today. She has some pictures of Natalie on her desk but wants to get a few more to look at during the day for when she misses her. Hopefully this will be the start of a good routine for everyone!

Three months

Here is a picture I took of Natalie for her "three month photo shoot." I think it turned out cute. I think the black and white looks great on this one!

Three Month Checkup

I am so late in posting about her doctor appointment, but was enjoying the weekend and now getting back into the groove of working. The doctor said she was still very healthy and doing great. She weighed in at 14 lbs 7 oz, her length is 23 1/4" and head size is 16 1/4". She will be going back again at four months and will need a few more shots then. We are glad she is so healthy! I have a few new pictures of her that turned out great, but they are on the camera at home so I will have to add one tonight.

Thirteen Weeks

I wanted to add this picture here because I FINALLY caught a little smile from Natalie. Our girl goes in for her three month appointment tomorrow so I will have to post here on her weight and height once we get home. Her pictures today turned out good so we are anxious to get them.

Another milestone

I also wanted to post quick about a new thing I saw Natalie doing today. She was in her playgym and instead of just batting at the plastic shapes on one part like she normally does, she was grabbing ahold of them. That is the first time I had seen her doing that. She was also grabbing at the purple mouse on the playgym and turning it as well as making it chime. What another great milestone to witness!

Picture Day...Take 1

Yesterday we got Natalie all dressed up for her 3 month pictures. I took a quick shot of her before leaving but didn't want to mess with her pacifier so she would stay happy. However, by the time we got there and it was our turn, she was getting really sleepy. Because of that, the photographer only got a few pictures of her with her eyes open and none that were really great. So, after thinking about it, we decided to get her dressed up again Thursday morning and give it another shot. Hopefully going in during the morning will give us better results. I will have to share how it went after tomorrow now!