Here’s ND’s chunkiest cheerleader!
Go Irish! Beat (Eagles / Spartans / Trojans and the list goes on....)
(Jordan prefers to say its a tennis outfit, in which case, she’d probably be the chunkiest tennis player too. However, since the outfit is from her Aunt Sandy, a former cheerleader and cheer coach, whose daughter was an excellent cheerleader and whose granddaughter has personalized cheer uniforms, my guess is its a cheer costume)
We are with Grandma and Grandpa and leaving Green Bay today. But we will meet Nana and Pop in Evanston tonight. All four grandparents in one day, hooray!!!
Here are some pics from last weekend. If the weather would get above 60, maybe we could play outside longer!
On Saturday, Natalie and I attended her first party! (I know we had some football parties earlier on, but that was before Natalie could actually stay awake for more than 10 min, so they don’t count.) We celebrated little Freddie’s upcoming arrival – who, for approx. the next 6 weeks, remains inside of his/her Mom, Kate (one of my college roomies!)
Whether Freddie is a boy or a girl (our guess is a girl), he/she will look great in this Irish onesie!
Natalie was eager to wear her party dress! This is Natalie and me leaving the house.
Yeah - I'm all dressed up and I have some place to go!
Despite the 40-something degrees, rainy weather, no sun and air conditioning cranked up to level 3, Natalie was ROASTING by the end of the 30-min car trip. The double-layered party dress was too much to handle. So, we changed into the back-up outfit: pjs.
Megan, you're lucky I have so many pretty ladies to distract me - otherwise, your pretty, shiny necklace would be a great play toy!
Here are some other fun photos from the party – Megan is the hostess with the mostess! An awesome cake (chocolate chips and buttercream), a fun quiz (Laura and I tied for first place – I was pleased with that showing, as Laura lived with Kate for 5 years and I only did for 1!), and yummy prizes.
Molly (7 mos old) was with the girls for the pre-party, but then spent the day with daddy
Congratulations, Kate! We are excited to meet little Freddie (Fredricka?) in-person!
I wish I could take credit for this adorable picture, but as we know, its often the person behind the camera (rather than the adult in the pic) that can make kids smile so big. (My mom has often jokingly complained that my sisters and I looked happiest in pictures with my Dad, since she was make funny faces and saying funny things behind the camera.) So, Jordan gets the credit for this adorable smile.
My parents are a HOOT!
Message from Natalie, since Mom has a cold and doesn’t want to blog.
What’s not to love about a Saturday? I get to play with Mom and Dad. AND, because I’ve been sick, Mom and Dad got sick, so guess who visited again? 🙂 GRANDMA!!! Speaking of which, my Mom is WAY behind in posting pics from Grandma’s visit last weekend. Anyways, back to today.
Um, Dad? I think you're over-reacting. I've just been standing up (with assitance) for a min. No biggie. I'm a big girl!
This tongue I have is really fun! It provides minutes of entertainment!
Finally, aren’t my pants super cute? They are my Daddy’s fav. If anyone knows where I can get a grown-up big daddy size for him for Father’s Day, please let me know.
For 3 of the last 4 weeks, Natalie has been sick. This last week has been the worse. I took her to the doc’s on Tues, and she has bronchiolitis, which basically means a cold with wheezing: http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/lung/bronchiolitis.html.
She HATED her first breathing treatment at the hospital, but since then, we’ve made it into a fun game. She sits in her swing, and we tell her over and over how much FUN this is – and smile a lot. So, she likes it now too.
What a fun game! Who would have thought trying to catch vapor with my tongue would be so hard?
Although it may be hard to see, beneath the mask, she is giving us one of her big open-mouth smiles. Another possible caption for this picture is: “Hmmm… I wonder why this fun game makes me sneeze and cough so much. Is this a trick?”
Unf, she is WIRED after these treatments, so she hasn’t been sleeping as well. I remember feeling jittery after having breathing treatments when I was younger too. At least I didn’t start them until age 4! (This is one way that I didn’t want Natalie to take after me!) Luckily, it is for certain that she’ll have asthma, though she does have a higher propensity to get it.
In short, please keep Natalie in your prayers! And, if you have some spare room, Jordan and me too. We both got sick, though since I’m home with Natalie more and Jordan is traveling next week, I’m kinda baring the brunt of it. I guess this – having a sick kid who you feel so sorry for and getting sick myself – is one of the less fun parts of being a Mom. Its definitely worth it though – she’s such a good kid…. after all, she smiles during breathing treatments!
Natalie used to sleep on our chests for many of her naps. She just seemed to sleep better and longer… so we were more than happy to oblige. What’s not to love about a cute, cuddly baby sleeping on you?!? Well, since I went back to work, I need to get work done during the day and evenings, so we had to transition Natalie to more sleeping in the crib. (Which, at 3.5 months, is probably better for her!) Anyways, she’s doing very well – in large thanks to so many friends who offered advice, as well as Tracy Hogg’s “Secrets of the Baby Whisperer” book (Thanks Karen for loaning it to us!) Here’s a pic from a few weeks back – isn’t she precious?!?
Confession: Natalie has a cold and after a trip to Wal-Mart for photos (which caused her to miss a nap!), I let her sleep on me for 2 hours yesterday.
Last Saturday, Erin was out of the house getting things done for most of the day, so Natalie and I got some great quality time together. It was great! Mornings are definitely her time to shine, as she is nothing but smiles and wiggles and cute noises. She can be a little tougher in the afternoon or evening, but Saturday was not too bad. She is getting better at going down for her naps, and has finally taken to a pacifier (aka binky, nook, etc) which is nice.
I love Mommy, but man, this Daddy guy is crazy fun!!!
I also gave her a bath, and she didn’t cry or make a squeal once. She also didn’t pee all over the place when I put her in or took her out, so that was much appreciated.
Umm, a little privacy please? This picture better be waist up.
Why would you ever NOT have a hood on your towel?
This post is a little late, but on March 19, Natalie had her 3 month birthday. She’s getting so old! And so big. Unfortunately, I don’t have height and weight stats since we haven’t been to the doctor for awhile, but here’s my best guesses and some other details
I am four trimesters old!!!
Weight / Height: 18 lbs, 1 oz / 26 inches. She is still wearing some 6-9 month onesies, but they are snugger than they were last month. Generally, the 9 mos clothing fits great except for the fact that we have to roll up the sleeves and pants!
Who does she look like? Definitely has my eye shape, but they have turned to Erin’s color which is sort of greenish-blue. She also has really beautiful skin, like Erin.
Personality: “Spirited.” This is what one of our baby books calls infants who are really sweet but definitely let you know when they are not happy. She still really likes to be held and promptly lets you know if putting her down is not an acceptable option at that moment.
Favorite Toys/Games: Natalie has made huge strides in the last 2 weeks with standing. If you hold her under the armpits, she can “stand” on her own for about 10 seconds and seems to enjoy it. She is not very interested in sitting up. She is a champ of tummy time. She’ll lift her head and feet both two inches off the ground and hold it like a yoga instructor…usually followed by spitting up.
As far as toys, she still loves her books and is read to often. Rattles and noises seem to be getting more interesting, too, though she still can’t purposely grab anything. We bought her a rubber giraffe named Sophie, and sometimes she inadvertently gets it in her mouth but it’s like, “Hey, who put this giraffe in my mouth?!”
How do I look on this leopard print throw?
Big Accomplishments: She has also recently become much more aware of noises. If you shake a rattle somewhere outside her line of vision, she will often look over in that direction which is new. And then if you move it around, she’ll track it in every direction with her eyes. She has the concentration of a jedi.
And sleeping continues to improve. She goes to bed around 6:30pm and usually wakes up once in the night around 3 or 4am, but we’ve had a few 12 hour nights which is crazy! I think Erin is a little disoriented when she wakes up on her own accord!
Funniest Moment: I think my favorite was when we tried out a “bumbo seat,” which is a little molded foam seat for babies to sit in when they can’t stand up. However, the leg holes were not big enough to accommodate Natalie’s chunky little thighs, so she felt claustrophobic and freaked out. When we lifted her up, the whole seat came long with her! Enjoy this picture while you can – Erin may make me delete it. 🙂
Get me outta this thing!!!
Move to Evanston Auntie Rachel!
