Happy New Year!

We have enjoyed a great week with Nate on vacation. Wednesday, we enjoyed Uncle Gary and Auntie Theresa in the afternoon. In the evening, we had fun with the Espinosas and their new toys!

Thursday, we had a nice Christmas celebration with Nate's extended family. We are so thankful for all of the fun toys and muscial instruments like harmonicas, kazoos, xylophones, etc. :)

Thanks to the Espinosas, we enjoyed a day at Betty Brinn on a very busy day. Later, in the evening, we went to check out Cabela's. Natalie had a fun time trying on clothes with me. She sat on the floor trying on the jeans that I had in the dressing room. I thought this was pretty cute so I opened the door and let Nate see what she was doing. At this point, Natalie found it necessary to take off her pants to try on the jeans. As I opened the door to let Nate see, Natalie was sitting on the floor in her diaper pulling on the jeans. Too bad we didn't have the camera.

Today, we checked out Stonefire Pizza with some good friends. It was a lot of fun and it was good food too. Natalie had fun playing with the Anderson boys this evening.

What a fun week!

Merry Christmas!

Natalie, Nate, and I had a wonderful Christmas celebrating our Savior's birth with all of our relatives. Thursday evening, Uncle David and Auntie Rhoda spent the evening playing, eating, and watching the Packer game. At bedtime, Natalie was still so excited about their visit, that she had a difficult time winding down. We kept hearing her pleading, "Anybody, anybody, Uncle David, Auntie Rhoda, Daddy, Mommy, come in here. I have an idea. How about..." After my unsuccessful attempts, Uncle David went down to Natalie's room to ask her what her idea was. Natalie stated that her idea was not to go to bed. Dave continued to talk with her, and he asked her what her favorite part of the day was. Her response made his night -- Natalie said that her favorite part was playing with him.

We spent a fun night with Grandpa Wes and Grandma Julie on Friday. Natalie enjoyed TJ Bearytales and her putter in the hotel all weekend.

Saturday evening, we enjoyed dinner with Grandpa Louis, Grandma Christy, and Uncle Joshua. On Sunday morning, we went to church at St. John's in Almond with Nate's family. It was a great service, and it was neat to watch Natalie sing "Away in a Manger" as the children were singing it in the front of the church. Natalie also enjoyed hanging out with Auntie Kelly during church, coloring and showing Auntie Kelly her baby.

Sunday afternoon and evening was spent in Delavan with my family. Natalie and her cousins had a great time opening their presents and going to church together. (I believe that the midnight bedtime the last couple evenings has thoroughly exhausted Natalie. Tonight she went to bed at 7:30 p.m., and I think she may be asleep already.)

We spent Monday with my parents and Uncle Gary, Auntie Theresa, and cousin Brian and Melissa. Natalie's cookie consumption was quite impressive for a 2-year old, and she also found a love for my mom's chex mix.

Natalie and Nate are both water-logged after having spent hours in the pool over the last 5 days. We truly had a wonderful time this Christmas with our families as we celebrated Jesus' birth!

Heaven Rejoices

Tonight, we took Natalie to our church's live Nativity program. She was very interested in Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the angel, and all the animals for about half an hour. Then, it was time to get antsy and be a 2-year old after that time.

Natalie and I went shopping for daddy's Christmas present this afternoon. We were walking through the store, and I asked her what she thought we should get him. Natalie said we ought to get Nate a sweatshirt. I thought that was a great idea on her part. As we were looking through that department, she was telling me what colors he already had. I was very impressed at this point. And all of sudden, Natalie began to tell me that she and Nate had bought me a sweatshirt too. Oops! She had done so well not telling me up until today. I think it's been close to a week. Oh well. Maybe it will remain a secret next year. :)

We checked out the holiday lights at the zoo last evening. It was a nice night to take a stroll through and try to see a few of the animals. It was still early when we left so we decided to head over to Candy Cane Lane. We haven't been there for a number of years, and we thought Natalie would enjoy it - which she did.

The playground you don't have money to take me to

Lynn took Natalie with her when she went to the post office the other day to drop off some mail. Natalie said "there's the playground you don't have the money to take me to" Lynn started laughing...Natalie was referring to a daycare playground. Lynn told her one time it costs money to go to daycare and Natalie made the connection that we "can't afford that playground"

Natalie was talking about some food and said yucky...then she said wucky is yucky in Spanish. Lynn and I were laughing quite hard...we are teaching her a little Spanish, but for her to come up with that on her own was classic.



Yesterday, Lynn's parents were in town and this morning they stayed home with Natalie while Lynn and I went and enjoyed church by ourselves. As we were leaving, Lynn said to Natalie "have fun with Grandma" Natalie promptly replied "have fun with Daddy"

too funny

Tea Party

I never imagined I'd have as many "tea parties" as I have had over the past year. My mom bought Natalie a small tea set earlier this year. She played for hours with my mom that day. Ever since then, our tea sets have expanded and we have these parties on almost a daily basis. We even have them in the bath tub. That is a very fun place to have a tea party because you actually have real water to pour into the cups! Tonight, our tea party included our friends Joe and Michelle with some holiday M&M's and gingerbread cookies - yummy!

I'll start here with a new post.

Lynn will be the main blogger on this site now, but I'll be throwing my $.02 in every once in a while. I have a funny story from last night. I was napping on the couch, so Lynn took Natalie into our bedroom to snuggle. I woke up and went in there with them. As we were laying there, Natalie and I were singing a little bit, and then she proceeded to tell us stories. It's amazing what the 2 year old mind will come up with. I have also determined that all stories must start with "once upon a time". :D

here's a snippet of the conversation last night:

Natalie: "I have a story...Once upon a time, there was an old man, and she went into the woods.."
Lynn: "She went into the woods?...you said it was an old man"
Natalie: "NO! I said old GIRL"
Me: "sweetie you said old man"
Natalie: "OLD GIRL"
Lynn: "okay...go ahead with your story"
Natalie: "Once upon a time...."


Lynn and I were laughing for about 20 minutes as Natalie told story after story.

Natalie's world

We're moving over to blogspot. Natalie's old blog will stay in place for an archive.