Natali talk

I am in our "office" on the computer. Natali came in and wanted something off of the bookshelf - a wooden skunk, cat, and a car. After saying "please" she got them. She took all 3 and went in the living room. About a minute later I hear- "Look at this vehicle Ranger, I got it from Mommy!" :) (Ranger is our dog) Then she said "I got this skunk too". She is so funny! She likes to talk to the animals like they are people and she loves to show people what she has.
I have the day off so hopefully I will post pictures later today. I just wanted to blog this while it is fresh on my mind.

I can't believe it!!!!!!!

I'll get right to the point - NATALI POOPED IN THE POTTY TONIGHT!!!!!! I know that is kind of a crazy way to start a post, but I am thrilled! We have had the potty out for over a month, maybe 2 months and we let her sit on it every now and then and we talk about it all the time. About how she needs to make poo poo and pee pee in the potty and no more diper changes and so on and so forth. Natali hasn't showed a whole lot of interest but some and she is definetly, shall we say, prize motivated. :) Yes, I'll say "I'll give you something special Natali if you do....." and just about every time she will do it. I know it sounds bad to bribe your children but we only do it when necessary. SO Natali got a little plastic frog for going poo poo on the potty. She was happy. This is a scary part of parenting for me - potty training. I'm really not sure where to go from here and what do you do when you are out somewhere and she needs to go potty and there are only big potty chairs? Oh what things life brings when being a parent. More to come on the potty training.......

Some of Natali's new favorite things

Natali has recently been interested in doing new things.

She loves to "stand on daddy"


"Stack 'm up" She likes to stack up these boxes she got for her birthday and knock them over, stack them up and knock them over, stack them up.... you get the picture.





She likes to spend time with daddy when he is able to come home in the evenings. Natali hardly pays attention to me if daddy is home. Oh well. We are glad that Josh has been able to come home a few nights a week lately and of course we are able to spend Sundays together because the coffee shop is closed.
We are having an interesting time dealing with our new 2 year old child with an opinion on everything, a will to disobey a lot of the time, a will to challenge things she is told to do, but also just plain cute and fun to have conversations with and talk to. She talks about EVERYTHING - if she sees something, she tells you what it is, if she is doing something, she'll tell you what she is doing, and so on and so on. Overall, I think we are doing well, but it sure is tough these days.

Last couple weeks

So yes, I (Christina) have been gone for a week in Ohio and then a busy weekend of work and then another busy first of this week at work. Josh posted the previous 2 posts while I was gone. :) I had a really good time with Rebecca and my mom came too. We picked out a wedding dress for Rebecca and the bridesmaid dresses.
Natali is going through another asthma flair up but I think it is getting a little better - at least I think it has stopped getting worse.
I have to tell a story from the first morning I was home. I got in Wednesday night after Natali was asleep. The next morning I got her out of bed and got her started on breakfast. I was in the bathroom and she walked to the door, and said "missed you mommy" and I told her I has missed her too and then she said "Daddy missed you". How sweet is that!!!!!!! So I was happy Natali was glad to have me back.
So hopefully some pictures to come when I have more time.

While and Grammies......

Things that happen at Grammies/Grappies are supposed to stay at Grammies/Grappies.......unless the picture is too cute to hide! This is obviously Natali playing with a live toad. She really likes this toad!

A daddy's tale

Well I don't have any pictures to put up with this because Christina has the camera up in Ohio with her, but I would like to share a little update from daddy's perspective. Christina has been in Ohio helping her sister make wedding plans and the like since Thursday of last week so this has given me an excuse to get away from Mugshot and spend some time with Natali, not as much as I would like mind you! Anyway, she continues to amaze me with her sharp mind and just the fact that she is growing up and now able to communicate with us so much better. We have this routine that needs to stop although I will miss it when it does stop. I take full responsibility for starting the whole thing because daddy is a major softy when it comes to my baby girl. Somehow at night when it is time to go to bed, Natali has decided that she needs to hold someone's hand (specifically - a finger) while she drifts to sleep. If this does not happen, she will cry out very loudly "Hold a finger, Hold a finger!!!!" So daddy not being able to say no to this, sits beside the crib and puts just enough of his hand through the slats and lets Natali hold a finger until she falls asleep. Admitedly this needs to stop because she needs to sleep on her own but I just really enjoy that quiet time and I get sad when I think it will have to end. She reaches out and gets a rather strong grip on my pointer finger and just watches me as the sleep takes over and her blue eyes get too heavy. I just sit and watch her for sometimes up to 20 minutes as she lays so peacefully and innocently in her bed. There is something about where she is in life that is desirable, she is taken care of, all of her needs and most of her wants are done for her to keep her content and care-free. If only we could learn to be that way with our Father, we are taken care of, no matter what it looks like. Nat and I have had alot of fun, but we are ready for mom to come back and put some stability in our lives! One more thing about the little ones, there is nothing on the planet like the hug that little arms can give, when it is followed by "love you daddy," it just makes everything else go away and you know there has just been a moment you would never trade for anything but you would give anything to hear it again! Being a daddy is a rather good thing to be.

Rainbow

I forgot to blog about the rainbow. On Natali's birthday, this is what we saw on our way home from ToysRUs . This was a full rainbow - you could see the whole thing from end to end. We actually stopped in a parking lot to show Natali and to take a picture (since I had my camera in the car still). When Natali saw the rainbow she said "Noah made it". :) I guess that's close. We told her that God made the rainbow and it was for Noah at one time and so on...... I am just in awe of rainbows everytime I see them. Also on the left side of this rainbow was part of a double rainbow. So enjoy!!!!

Natali's first 2 years of life

I know I'm late, but I love to remember all the moments we have shared with Natali over the last 2 years. These are only a few of my favorite pictures. Happy late Birthday again Natali!!!

We had a good birthday celebration while my sister and her fiance Bradley, my mom's parents, and my brother were all in town. I am so behind in blogging and most everything else around the house. Oh well. We are trying to get Natali over another asthma flair up.....started last Wednesday.. so hopefully she will be breathing better soon.

Happy Birthday a day late to Natali!! We had a birthday party Saturday night with the Edinger side of the family and had lots of fun. I made a ladybug cake and we had other "snacky" things and ice cream. Natali got some new vehicles which made her very happy. :)

Last night we went out to eat at Chik-Fil-A with my parents and enjoyed dinner and Natali played in/on the playground. Then we went to ToysRUs because they sent a coupon for Natali to use on her birthday and the card said that if she came in to the store, she would be treated extra special. So we had to see what that was about. She got a balloon, some candy and a crown to wear. She was SO CUTE walking around ToysRUs holding her balloon and Natali was in heaven - she looked at everything and pushed all the buttons on all the toys. Daddy was a softy and let Natali get a new dump truck that makes noises and all kinds of things. :0) That's what birthdays are for right??? Overall, we had a great birthday weekend and we are so happy to have our little 2 year old!!!

Vehicles and new race track

Natali is really in to "vehicles" lately. She will play with cars/trucks/tractors, etc. all day long and most of the time is spent lining them up, relining them up, and then puting them in a different line again. Sometimes they are right side up and sometimes she puts them upside down. She mostly does this on the couch for whatever reason. I took some pictures from a couple days last week of her playing with the "vehicles". (By the way, that is what she calls all of them - vehicles, but if you ask her what a certain one is, she will specify. EX: truck, hummer, Nissan Z, etc.) :)

Also, I got her a race track that I found at WalMart on the clearance isle. She enjoys watching them go around and around and she can actually catch them and then put them back on the track if she wants to. We had to get rechargeable batteries because she wears the regular ones out too fast.

she said..

On Sunday I was getting ready to put Natali's shoes on for church. But she saw a different pair of shoes on the rocking chair and said "These, I like"! :) It is so funny to us the way she keep putting things together. We can have pretty decent conversations with her and understand what she is trying to say to us.
She was playing in her room on Saturday and I walked in and talked to her for a minute. Then she looked at me and said "bye bye mommy". I said "Do you want mommy to leave?" and she said "yes". So I left and she kept playing in her room all by herself.
Gotta love it!!!

Finally - some pictures!!

I have had some complaints that there are not any current pictures or much of anything on this blog in the last few weeks. Yes, I have been using my time to do other things unfortunately. We have been very busy at work and at home so blogging has been on the back burner. And, it seems like I haven't taken hardly any pictures of Natali in the last few months because she is always moving - it is very difficult to take pictures at this age. But I managed to capture some good ones.

Natali being tickled by daddy.

Say "cheese" !

This is to show what a big girl she is getting to be in her chair - she used to look so small sitting in it.

Silly girl - she is giving a funny look.

P.S. Yes, her hair is very light, sortof sandy blonde I guess. People ask us quite frequently "Where does she get the blonde hair?" We don't really know - Josh's sister has blonde hair but other than that we all have brown hair. Who knows. Natali gets the blue eyes from daddy but who could figure I/we would end up with a blonde hair / blue eyed kid. :)

New saying

I was giving Natali a bath yesterday morning and I was trying to wash her legs and this is what I get - "go away". I kept washing her legs and then "go away Mommy" with a whine to it. Yeah, the whole getting their own will and opinions on things is for sure in fully swing. It's a challenge to deal with her right now - definitely a learning experience. :) Good stuff.

cookie bar and other Nat stuff

Natali is into "cookies" these days. Cookies include: fig bars, granola bars, and real actual cookies. Every morning lately she says "cookie... bar" and she would like either a granola bar or fig bar. She pretty intent when she wants a certain thing to eat. :)

Natali is also learning to sing. She almost has the alphabet song down and she'll say "Now I BCs". (Now I know my ABCs) and then"sing me" (sing with me). It's pretty cute. She also sings part of Old McDonald. I know this is sad but I watch American Idol on TV sometimes and their theme song has this certain sound at the end that changes from one note to another one a little bit higher. Natali does it perfectly with a "ooo...oooo" with the note changes.

Natali just amazes us every day on her ability to communicate and understand things. She is so smart and she isn't even 2 years old yet. She still likes to read and play with all her toys. She is still lovin' the pacifier but we will let her have it for a while longer. Overall, Natali is doing great.

outside

Natali the other day after it rained. She absolutely loves to go outside!! She doesn't care if it is dark outside, raining, freezing cold.....whatever the weather, Natali wants to go outside.