Merry Christmas!

Yesterday, in church the children went up front for a message from the pastor. He asked them what was special about Christmas. We heard Natalie's voice answer, "Jesus' birthday." Nate and I are happy that Natalie understands the reason for all the excitement at this special time of year. It was also very neat to have Natalie sing many of the Christmas hymns with us in church.

We enjoyed celebrating Christmas with Nate's parents this past weekend when we went up North. Although, the downside to our weekend, was Natalie having a terrible night on Friday night in the hotel. She has been coughing for a week, but that was all she really had until she got sick from it Friday night. Natalie also complained about her ear hurting, so we took her to urgent care on Saturday evening. We found out that she had an ear infection and the beginning of pneumonia, so we promptly started antibiotics that night. Thanks to modern medicine, she is doing much better now.

Last evening, we enjoyed ourselves with Nate's aunts, uncles, and cousins. Today, we are looking forward to spending a fun day with the Brauns and their family.

1st Sunday School Christmas program

Here's a picture from tonight. I'm trying to convert some video to load as well. Check back soon.



Here's the video. You may need Quicktime to watch it :)

Snow

Today, Natalie and I ventured outside to play in the snow. Unfortunately, I have no idea where I packed her snow gear. They are packed away safely in some box around here. I thought I did a pretty good job of dressing her properly to go play out in the snow. She didn't complain while we were outside, and she seemed to be having a good time throwing snowballs at me. When I finally decided we ought to go in and warm up, I saw that I was mistaken in dressing her well enough. Her poor little hands were red and very cold. Thankfully, it only took a short time sitting with Daddy to warm back up. I guess I may have to break down and purchase a more appropriate pair of gloves for her. Maybe, then I will find all of our snow stuff.

This weekend, we started decorating our home for Christmas. Natalie was very helpful. She was cute as she kept repeating over and over that this is her favorite season of the year.

Last weekend, we had breakfast with Santa. Natalie had a good time with her cousins. Here is a cute picture of Natalie and her cousins Zach and Ella.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have all enjoyed family this Thanksgiving weekend. We will continue doing so tomorrow as we have breakfast with Santa. Yesterday, we spent a fun day in Oconomowoc with Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. I don't think Nate and I saw much of Natalie yesterday. When we got to Auntie Pam's house, she went into Hannah's room with her and played most of the day away. This evening, we spent time at Aunt Joan and Uncle Arno's home. There, Natalie had a blast with her cousin Levi as well as Peter, Missy, and Daniel.

Today, Natalie received one of her Christmas gifts from us. We went to see Sesame Street Live at the Bradley Center. It was a neat show. I think Natalie is at a great age to take her to a performance like this one. She seemed to really enjoy it. In fact, at the end, she was sad because she wanted to see more of it. Plus, it was nap time.

This morning, Natalie was playing waitress. She was taking orders from Nate and me. Nate was being the annoying customer. He was demanding a lot from her. Nate kept drinking his Diet Coke very quickly, and Natalie was getting tired of refilling his beverage. Finally, she stated, "I'm closing soon. You need to leave now." She even had the annoyed look for him too.

Helper

We've been busy...playing with friends, celebrating Grandpa Weerts' birthday, learning "proper etiquette" at hockey games, and taking care of Daddy while he is recuperating from surgery. Natalie has been a great helper while Daddy is resting. She is willing to do all she can to help him feel better.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

This weekend, we went up to Shawano to celebrate my Godparents' 50th Anniversary. My Godparents have a daughter, Kristina, who is my age that I was very close to when I was growing up. She now has two children, Brooke who is 5 and Tristan who is 2. I was telling Natalie who we were going to see, and who she would be able to play with at this party. From the moment Brooke and Natalie met, it seemed that they had known each other for their entire lives. Brooke took Natalie by the hand and took her all around the room that the party was being held in. They walked around the rest of the evening with their arms around each other. It was very cute, and reminded many of us of Kristina and me when we were their age.

On Sunday, we were able to see Nate's Mom and Dad. At his Dad's home, Nate took Natalie through the woods on the Range Rover. Natalie thought they would be able to see the animals better if they had walked. I guess we'll have to take a hike next time we are up there.

Tonight, Nate had to wake Natalie up in order to head to swimming lessons. Natalie requested that Nate rub her back. Instead of doing that, he decided to tickle her. Natalie's told Nate, "I said rub. That's not rubbing."

At swimming lessons, Natalie had a great night. I was highly impressed while I watched her doing the breast stroke. She was very quick. It looked pretty good from my vantage point. She also floated on her back really well tonight. So well, that Nate owed her a Dilly Bar from DQ.

One cute story from this morning happened when Natalie woke up and made her way into our room. Nate took the day off today to get some much needed things accomplished around our house. He had told Natalie that he would be around in the morning when she woke up. She looked a little disappointed when she came in our room because Nate was not in bed at that time. She stood there and told me, "Daddy said he would be here this morning." What a little Daddy's girl. :)

Tonight, Natalie got to stay up a little later since the Packer game was on. We put her to bed about a half an hour ago. Nate and I were just jokingly discussing something, and Natalie pipes up, "Guys, quit arguing." What a goofball who never seems to go to sleep.

Pull ups and potties

I knew it would start to click one day for Natalie. She has been doing very well on the potty lately. I am sure that I need to attribute the success to my wonderful husband! About a week and half ago, I was gone all day for a new class that I am taking. When I came home that evening, Nate told me that Natalie had been dry all day! Yeah! We are not completely there yet, but we are getting close. Soon we will join the ranks of those people who wear underwear all day. :)

Pumpkin Farm

Natalie and I visited the Shady Lane Pumpkin Farm with our church play group today. We bundled up for the hay ride through the corn fields. Afterwards, we checked out a pretty neat train display in one of the buildings. Once we were done playing outside with our friends, Natalie got to choose a little pumpkin to take home.

Tomorrow, we are looking forward to going to an apple orchard with some friends.

The last couple of days, Natalie has enjoyed playing with one of her toy phones while riding in the car. Yesterday, she overheard me making a phone call as I was setting up an oil change. Since then, she has been imitating my phone conversation. It is cute to hear her sounding so much like me. Her conversations on the phone go somewhat like this: "Call oil change place. Service department, please." She then goes on to state our last name, spell it, and then says, first name...Natalie. Tonight, Nate got to hear her phone conversations. If he has time, hopefully he can add to this story.

One other neat thing that Natalie has been doing a lot more lately is putting letter sounds together in an attempt to read. She was so proud of herself last weekend when she read the title of one of her books, which happened to be - "My First Word Book."

"Boyfriends"

Last week, Natalie told Nate that she wanted her "boyfriends" to sleep overnight. Nate asked if she meant "the boys" (Ethan and Logan), and she said yes. Natalie went on to say that Logan could sleep in her bed, and Ethan could sleep on the floor. Nate told her that "the boys" could probably sleep over when they are all older.

Natalie has been talking about how she misses going over to the Espinosas home lately. Thankfully, they were all at a festival that was in town this past weekend. Natalie was able to spend some time having fun with them on Friday night.

On Saturday, Grandpa Wes and Grandma Julie came down for the afternoon. One of the conversations that we all had was Natalie's desire to stay over night at their home some time. The problem with this request is that they have two lovable labs, and Nate is allergic to dogs. Natalie kept trying to come up with solutions to this problem. One possible solution that I thought was very creative was her idea of going to their home when Nate has to go out of town for his job.

Today, we had a great day at our play group, with friends at our house, and watching cousin Zach's last flag football game.

We're looking forward to playing with Samantha and Isaac tomorrow morning, and seeing Uncle David tomorrow night!

Keeping us smiling

Natalie continues to amuse us on a daily basis. I wanted to blog about these things before I forget them. None of these items are related, but they were all still cute.

Earlier this evening, Natalie and I went to the grocery store so Nate would have some edible food when he got home from his day of traveling. We were leaving the parking lot, and Natalie tells me, "There's Doe Quba." It took me a moment to understand what she was talking about. A few weeks ago, I told her that I was excited because they are building a Q-Doba restaurant right next to our grocery store. In her excitement tonight, that is what she was telling me about.

The other cute mix up with names tonight was when Natalie was "reading" Nate the Jungle Book. She was telling him about all the characters and what was happening on the pages. Every time she told him about Shere Khan, Natalie would call him Sheriff Khan.

The last story comes from our play group that we attend at church on Thursday mornings. During story time, our friend Cathy asked Natalie what she thought was going to happen to the caterpillar in the cocoon. Natalie replied, "The caterpillar is going to hatch, and turn into a beautiful butterfly."

Game Day

Today, we spent our third Wednesday with my parents. After Natalie's nap, we dug into the game bag and had a fun afternoon with Grandpa. We played Go Fish, Memory, Uno, and Candyland (the original version with the Gingerbread house and the identifiable Candy Hearts card from any direction).

While I was making dinner, Natalie and my mom watched Larry's Silly Songs DVD. After dinner, Natalie enjoyed the multitude of books my mom read to her.

Nap Time

I love nap time. Many moms get a lot done during their children's nap time. I, on the other hand, enjoy some down time as well. The other day Natalie called me on this habit of mine. She came out of her bedroom after her nap, and asked me why I don't do anything during her nap time. I asked her what she thought I ought to do. She responded by saying that I should do the dishes. I asked her what I should do after the dishes. Natalie said that I could sit down after the dishes were done. When I told Nate about this conversation, he laughed and told me I had to blog it.

Tonight was one of those memorable evenings that I would love to forget. Nate had a late evening for a work commitment, so it was just Natalie and me. Of course, Natalie decided to go without a nap today. I was all ready to spend some time quality time with my aunt and uncle, but opted against this when Natalie went without her nap. I should have gone to see them anyway. Natalie and I had dinner, and I decided that she ought to try what I was eating - a bite of fish. She and her quick gag reflex decided otherwise. That was part one of what I would like to forget. Afterwards, she needed a bath so that is what I gave her. That went fine until I got her out of the tub, took her in the office, and was about to get her into her pj's. At this point, Natalie forgot to tell me that she needed to go potty. That was the other part of the evening I'd like to erase. Thankfully, Natalie went to be like a good girl.

Tomorrow will be a much better day. It's Saturday, and Nate will be home. :)

Sting Rays and Sharks

We chose this past Saturday to check out the special exhibit at the zoo since it was the last weekend the sting rays and sharks would be there. Nate had wanted to see this with us, so I kept telling Natalie that we had to wait for Daddy until we could visit this exhibit. I think it was more interesting for the adults than for Natalie. She didn't muster up the courage to touch them yesterday. I thought it was pretty cool though.

After the zoo, we checked out Kite Fest at the Lakefront. I thought the kites would be more impressive, but we still had fun. Nate has wanted to rent the surrey bikes for some time, so yesterday was the day we did that. It was pretty fun riding around on it...thanks to Nate for all of the hard work. Natalie and I were mainly along for the ride.

Today, we enjoyed a Packer victory with some good friends and family. Go, Pack, Go!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a wonderful family weekend at Auntie Pam and Uncle Kirk's cottage on Lake Wisconsin. Natalie took her longest hike so far - to a beautiful waterfall. She had the opportunity to ride with Daddy in a canoe. Going out on the pontoon boat every day was a lot of fun. Natalie had so much fun playing with her cousins, Nicholas and Hannah.

Butterflies

A couple of weeks ago, Natalie and I went to spend the afternoon with my parents. We enjoyed a beautiful day at the park. I felt Natalie's age again because we brought along a butterfly net, and I caught one for her. She decided she wanted to bring it home to show Daddy. At night, she decided we could set it free. We'll have to invest in a bug house for her future catches. :)

We were able to enjoy one of the hotter days at State Fair with some friends. Natalie had a good time watching the pig races, drinking lemonade, checking out the fun stuff in the Expo building, and riding a few rides. On one of the kiddie rides, one of our friends overheard Natalie talking to the one in charge who was making sure the kids were all fastened in correctly. The ride she was on was a fire truck with 2 seats in the front and 2 in the back. Natalie was sitting in the back seat pretending to steer because there were 4 steering wheels - one for each child. The lady walked by and said that the ones in the front do the steering. Natalie responded by saying, "Then why are there steering wheels back here?"

Two Sundays ago, Nate and I realized that we have to talk with Natalie about children's messages and proper church behavior. We visited the church where I use to teach, and the pastor invited the children to come up to the front for the children's message. Natalie decided that she wanted to go up, so of course we encouraged her to do just that. She chose a place on one end of all the kids. There happened to be room, so she had to inform me that there was a place for me to join her. It should be understood that Nate and I were in the back row of the church which was held in the gym. The pastor told her that I could join her, so she continued to let me know what the pastor told her.

Three is such a fun age - challenging yet never ever dull.

Dancing with Natalie

Tonight, Natalie and I braved the heat and headed to the zoo for their Wednesday evening concert. We had fun riding the zoomobile, checking out the cows, and dancing to the music.

We've been trying to beat the heat this week by staying in A/C and cooling off at Grandma Mary's pool in the evenings.

A cute story from bedtime last night was when Natalie and Nate were saying good night to each other. Nate told Natalie to be good for Mommy, and she responded by telling him to be good for his boss. :)

One last story comes from Natalie's potty training. I must say that not having to change poopy diapers is wonderful. Since she has been able to poop on the potty over the course of the last couple weeks, we get a daily report on what it looks like from her perspective. Her commentary is quite funny at times, and I am sure that since she's gotten me to laugh on a number of occasions, she continues to come up with new and creative ways to describe it.

Skinny lips and naughty dreams

the other night I was hugging and kissing my daughter when she said to me "daddy, you have skinny lips". I have been losing a lot of weight, but I wasn't sure this is what she was referring to, so I asked her "skinny lips?" she replied with a yeah and then rubbed my cheeks and said "like your cheeks". A lightbulb went off above my head. "honey do you mean scruffy lips?" "mmm hmmm" I started laughing. :)

Tonight I was putting her to bed after she requested me (unusual). I usually lie down with her for a little while when I put her to bed, tonight was no exception. I was getting ready to leave when she asked me "daddy, will you scare my naughty dreams away?"

"Yes honey I will....what kind of naughty dreams do you have?" (unsure if she meant naughty or scary)

She replied, "naughty men."

At this point I was a little concerned she was having nightmares so I followed up with, "what do the naughty men do in your dreams?"

"They take my toys!" LOL I had to hold back a laugh. I told her when she dreams naughty dreams, to dream about me coming in and scaring the naughty dreams all away. What a cutie!

She also got to sing in church tonight after a week of Vacation Bible School. We weren't sure how she was going to react to VBS, but she LOVED it. She never cried (like some of the other 3 year olds). I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that one of our close friends was her teacher. She was SO cute walking up to the front to sing tonight in church. After they were finished she gave me a huge smile as she was walking back to where we were sitting.

Vacation

We have enjoyed a fun week together as a family. A week ago Friday, we had fun in Elkhorn as this town celebrated the Fourth of July at one of their local parks. Nate and Natalie had the chance to watch the fireworks that evening from the comfort of the hotel bed.

Saturday, we had a chance to catch up with family from my dad's side. The younger cousins were fun to watch in action - eating, swimming, and playing. The "older" cousins had a lot of fun too. Cousins football is still a fun competition...although without Scott, a little less trash talking goes on.

Natalie had fun playing with Uncle Steve, Auntie Barbie, and Great-Grandma Bowers on Sunday. Thanks to them, Nate and I had a chance to see a movie on our Anniversary.

We ventured out for Children's Day at Summerfest on my birthday. It was a perfect day to be down by the lake front with our friends. Natalie had a good time - painting, playing musical instruments, testing her strength on the chin up bars, dancing to the music, riding the sky ride, and taking part in a karate demonstration. Later on Monday, we had a family picnic along the Menomonee Falls parade route. Nate wanted to stake out some good seats for the parade on July 3 so we decided to make an evening of it. We had a fun time triking up and down the sidewalk waiting for the time we could lay claim to "our land". Afterward, we all enjoyed birthday cake at our friend's house.

Tuesday evening we cooked out with some good friends before the parade. The parade was even more enjoyable this year with good seats, and the kids being a year older and more patient waiting for the parade to begin. Natalie had a great time getting candy, standing every time she saw the American flag, laughing at all the fun things in a parade, and singing "On Wisconsin" as we were leaving while lightning lit up the sky. Unfortunately, the great seats that we had "reserved" for the fireworks was not to be this year.

Uncle Gary and Auntie Theresa's annual Fourth of July gathering was another great success. Everyone enjoyed the good food, boat rides, ladder golf, and we cannot forget the spectacular fireworks production Nate puts on every year. I am sure Natalie will enjoy setting these off with Nate when she is older... if Nate lets her. :)

Thursday, we took another trip to the Dells. This time we met our good friends from Texas. We had a great time at the Wilderness with them. I was quite surprised at how much sleep we were able to get with two 3-year-olds and a 3 month old all rooming together. Natalie was even more adventurous this time. She enjoyed the smaller wave pool and many of the water slides. I had a good time going down as many water slides as I could too. The "Hurricane" was a lot of fun...especially riding down it with Nate and Josh.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Last night, we had a full evening. It included going to Saturday night church, Chinese food, and a trip to Kohl's. Natalie was a very good girl all night long. When we got home some time after 9, and I had put her to bed, Nate realized that one of things he bought at Kohl's needed to be returned. I decided to run that errand. When I got home much later...because one can never spend too much time at Kohl's...I asked Nate if Natalie had gone to bed without any fussing. He said there was only one incident. It went something like this...Nate was on his computer in our room. Natalie quietly opened the door and was standing there. When Nate realized she was in the room, he asked her what she needed. Natalie claimed to need Balmex on her butt because she thought it was red. Nate readjusted her diaper, and back to bed she went.

Today, Nate decided that for his birthday, he wanted to go on a family bike ride. (Originally, we had planned on going to the Brewer game...but there were only standing room only tickets left.) It was a perfect day to go on a 26 mile bike ride. The weather was beautiful, the trail was not muddy...much to Natalie's liking, and our little girl was excellent for the 4 hours that we were gone. The actual ride only took us about 2 and a half hours...mainly because Nate had to pull Natalie and slow down his pace for me. (Thank you!) At our halfway point, we had a few refreshments at a little place in Merton. Of course, Natalie struck up a conversation with the people at the table next to us. One of the cute things she told this mother and daughter was that Daddy calls her funny names like Goober nut, Naughty Natty, and Poopy. It was pretty funny hearing her explain this to them.

We ended our day by heading to Stonefire Pizza and a quick trip to a couple shops in Brookfield.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Natalie!

Natalie had a fun birthday weekend! Saturday, she had many friends and family celebrate with her at home. Playing with water seemed like fun for most of her friends and Daddy. :)

On Sunday, she shared her birthday celebration with her Daddy so he could celebrate Father's Day. It was cute how they wished each other a Happy Birthday and a Happy Father's Day one more time before Natalie went to bed. We enjoyed a nice day with my parents and family. Nate enjoyed his Father's Day afternoon nap.

Summer time

We have quite a few stories to share about Natalie since it has been about a month that we last posted. A cute story about Natalie happened when Nate and I put an offer on a house when we were gone over Memorial Day weekend. We called and told Natalie that we found a house. Her response was, "You did?!" After that, she turned to my aunt and told her that we found a house. When she got back on the phone, she asked Nate, "Is there a room for me?"

Natalie was a very good girl when Nate and I were out of town. She stayed with my brother and sister-in-law for a couple days and ran them all ragged. Then she had a good couple of days with my aunt and uncle. Not only did she get to help water flowers and enjoy a party with them, she also tried her hand at fishing.

The first weekend in June, Nate and I had to work on our house to get it to a point that people could walk through for showings. Again, Natalie was shipped off to various locations. Thanks to wonderful friends, she enjoyed her time with the Grubers and the Schmandts.

She is definitely our little social girl. Every day, she asks where we are going for that day. And when it is time to leave wherever we have gone, a common complaint from her is that she does not want to go home. Natalie is also very willing to introduce herself to new friends. We were at the park this evening, and Nate and I heard numerous times, "My name is Natalie. What is your name?"

Last evening, Natalie had a rough night going to sleep. Of course, Nate had gone to bed early, and I was trying my best to get her to quiet down without much success. Although it was frustrating, there was a cute story from last night...now that I can look back on it. I was on the phone after I had thought she was down for the night. A few minutes into my conversation, I heard quite loudly over and over, "Mommy, be quiet. I am trying to sleep, and Daddy is trying to sleep." She repeated quite a few times, and she even came out of her room to tell me this. What a goof!

fun with water

tonight I was watching TV, and Lynn took Natalie outside to play. Natty decided she wanted to use her watering can to water the "flowers" (weeds). Lynn came in and filled it once, then when my show was done I went out and got her can to refill. I sprinkled a little on her head (which she used to hate, but now is getting used to). After she emptied that can, I went in and got 2 really big cups full of water. I sprinkled her a little so she decided to sprinkle me back. We went back and forth splashing water at each other. We were both wet and giggling. It was a lot of fun. I can't wait to run in the sprinklers with her. I'm hoping she does it this year

Mother's Day Weekend

We enjoyed a fun family weekend in the Dells at the Wilderness Waterpark. Some good friends from Minnesota joined us, and we had a great time with them and playing in the water. I think the Lazy River and the fountains were Natalie and my favorites. As for Nate, I believe he enjoyed a ride called the Hurricane the best. Natalie likes to stay up late and sleep in on her vacations. It was a great weekend with lots of laughter to keep us smiling.

Hippos

I have been meaning to write about a few of the funny ways that Natalie says certain words. A few months ago, Natalie and I were discussing animals. She proceeded to talk to me about hippos...which have now become my favorite animals because of the way Natalie says this word. I find the way she adds an extra syllable to the word so adorable. If asked what Mommy's favorite animal is, she will respond by saying, "hippopamatamus."

The other word that I find cute when she says it is when she is talking about my ear muffs. Natalie says, "ear mouses." I think she started saying it this way when she found a pair of my old ear muffs one day. At first, we attempted to correct her when she said it wrong, but now I find it too cute. And I'm confident that she won't continue to say it this way forever.

Swimming Lessons

Tonight, Nate took Natalie to her first official night of swimming lessons. It was a basic introduction to getting the children comfortable with the water. Nate is hoping that they do a little more Wednesday night. It was a good bonding evening for Nate and Natalie though. Nate picked up Natalie from the boys' house, and Natalie was very excited about her Daddy picking her up. She told the boys exactly what was going to happen - "My Daddy is going to come get me and take me to swimming lessons." She was very excited about her special evening with her Daddy.

We had a great weekend! Friday night, we had a nice family night - hair cuts, dinner, and an outing to get Natalie her booster seat for the truck. Saturday, we went to the zoo with some of our friends. Sunday, after church, Nate and Natalie ran errands. After Natalie's nap, we had some other friends over for the evening.

On a separate note, Natalie is enjoying drawing pictures of people. I love watching her do this! Seeing her drawings of people's heads, legs, arms, ears, and hair is awesome. I need to save a copy of one of these. She was also having fun writing names today. How neat to watch this process!

Natalie's Spring Break

We had a week at home so I thought this might be a good week to work on potty training. I've heard such good success stories from people in the neighborhood about just making the switch to underwear. Well...we tried it for about 3 and a half days with some successes. On Thursday after Natalie had woken up from her nap, I told her it was time to go potty and put on her underwear. She replied by telling me that she was not going to wear her underwear, and that she would not go in the potty. It was at that point that I thought we would try it later this summer.

Natalie, Nate, and I had fun with friends and family. We celebrated my brother Dave's birthday today since he was in town. It was a perfect day to fly a kite, and that is just what Nate and my nephew Zach did for at least an hour. Nate was quite proud of tying four reels of string together to get the kite 444 feet up into the sky.

While we were at my brother's home today, Natalie decided to redecorate their fireplace with a nice shade of blue crayon. It really irked me because I was about a minute away from moving the little girls onto the folding table being set up in the kitchen.

On the way home, Nate asked Natalie, Are you going to be good for Mommy this week? She replied, I'm not really sure about that. At least she was being honest. We will be eagerly looking forward to Nate's return home on Friday.

He is Risen!

Our family had a good Easter weekend. We tried very hard to impress upon Natalie the fact that Easter is not just about Easter egg hunts and candy. I do believe that she does have an understanding of the real reason that we celebrate Easter. Hearing her enthusiastically state that Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed! is awesome. I love the fact that she'll sing I Know that My Redeemer Lives with us. Along with this understanding came a fun Easter morning with her 3 cousins finding eggs and her Easter basket. All 4 children were great in church afterwards.

A silly tradition that our family has after our dinner is an egg cracking contest. Last year, Natalie was the winner. This year, the title transferred to her cousin Ella.

Today, was a day to wind down from the fun we had with our family. Natalie and I spent the day at home working on potty training. There were quite a few successes along with a handful of accidents. It will be wonderful if we have many more successes this week with fewer accidents. I know she'll get it...let's just hope I can keep up with the laundry. :)

Tonight, Natalie came out of her room with a new line a little bit after I had put her to bed. She claimed that her room was spooky and scary. We had a short discussion about this and checked out what she thought was scary with the light on. I hope that this is the end of that stalling technique. We'll see...

Egg Hunts

As I was reading the last post, I really miss the warmer weather. Tonight, we went to the park so Natalie could race for Easter eggs. It was much different from last year in terms of the weather. This year, I dressed Natalie in thermal underwear, a long sleeve tee, a turtleneck, a sweatshirt, and her warmest winter jacket. Even with all that clothing, she did get cold after an hour of being outdoors. I think I may have had more fun at the Easter egg hunt than she did. :)

Fun in Wind Lake

Natalie had a fun evening painting and eating with Uncle Gary and Auntie Theresa tonight. They must have played her hard because when Nate carried her in at a little after 9pm, she didn't even wake up and say good night to me. Nate took her down there tonight so I could get some uninterrupted study time in for my class that I am taking right now.

I love the spring weather we are having! It's been so fun to go to the park, ride bikes/trikes, and eat outside.

A couple of weeks ago, Nate taught Natalie the fine art of playing in mud puddles. It was a riot to watch both of them.

the Big Haircut

I met Lynn, Grandma Weerts, and Natalie at the mall last night. Lynn needed to get her hair trimmed and Natalie needed a cut as well. We were initially going to get Natalie just a trim as well, but when I started looking through the style books with Natty, she decided she wanted a "bob" cut. I was very hesitant about having her hair chopped off, but it looks very cute and I'm glad we did it. Here are the pictures I took this morning.

Talking in her sleep?

About 2 hours after Natalie went to bed tonight, Nate and I heard her very clearly say the following: "I don't want to go. I don't want to go. I want to paint." I went in her room a few minutes later since she was still whimpering a little bit. She was sitting up in bed. At this point, I attempted to talk to her to see if she was actually awake. I couldn't tell because when she laid back down, her eyes were closed. Now I want to know if she is just like both of us because we both talk in our sleep.

let it snow, let it snow, make it stop!

We got hammered with snow over the last 2 days here in southeastern Wisconsin. I went out to clear our driveway and sidewalk and then helped the neighbor across the street who's blower broke a belt. Later on after we had played for a while, we walked down by another neighbor's place (the girls who Natty plays with). It looked like their blower was dead too so I helped them clear their snow too. It was wet heavy snow that wasn't treating the smaller snowblowers well at all. Anyway...on to the playing story. Natalie came out with me while Lynn finished some things in the house. Natty and I built snow forts in preparation for a big family snowball fight later on. When Lynn came out, we went out front and built a couple of snowmen. One big one (a snow woman according to Natalie) and a small one. We then went in back and occupied our forts. We bombed each other for about 40 minutes. We then decided to go for a walk down the block which was when we saw our neighbors having problems. I went up to the door to ask if they needed help and invited their girls out to play with Natalie. After clearing their snow we came back to our place and the 2 little girls had fun hiding in the fort I built earlier.


Natalie and her little snowman. The family snow-woman.



Here are 2 of the girls in the fort.

A message typed by Daddy as dictated by Natalie:

I went poop on the potty! And I went tinkle on the potty! I got M&Ms and stars.

Dinner Etiquette

Natalie has been trying my patience at the dinner table recently. In reality, she is just being a 2-year-old and being goofy at meal times...but it still gets to me. Last evening, she was playing with one of her dolls. This doll happened to be in her high chair. Nate and I were sitting on the couch, and as she took her doll out of the high chair, we heard Natalie tell it in a stern voice, "You are done now because you were playing with your food." It is funny to hear yourself through your child. :)

We've had a fun week...minus the annoying behavior at meal times and early mornings. Thursday, Natalie and I checked out the Mitchell Park Domes. She enjoyed the dome that had the trains and the dessert dome, but the tropical dome wasn't fun...either because of the mist or maybe the birds flying around. The two of us went to the Divine Redeemer basketball tournament Thursday evening and had a good time cheering on the Eagles.

Today, Natalie had fun singing while she was "playing" Mr. Atkinson's guitar. We had a good time at Brookfield Square Mall where there was an education and camp exhibit. The teachers at the J K Lee Tae Kwon Do exhibit showed Natalie how to punch a training pad. Afterwards, she was able to break a board on her second attempt. We are so proud of her. :) She also got a cool soccer ball whistle after shooting a goal at the Milwaukee Wave exhibit.

This evening, we all had a nice time with Auntie Barbie, Uncle Steve, and cousins Sarah and Chris. Tomorrow, we are looking forward to church and then later making pizzas with Joe and Michelle.

Super Bowl Sunday

Saturday morning, we went down to Delavan to watch our 7-year-old nephew play basketball. Natalie had fun playing with her cousins again this weekend. A funny exchange between Natalie and her cousin Ella, who is the same age, occurred on Saturday. We were talking about today's game, and Ella said "Go Bears." Natalie told her "No. Don't say that. Go Packers!" What a true little Packer fan!

Saturday Fun

Nate, Natalie, and I had a lot of fun yesterday. We went to Whitnall Park in the morning and went tobogganing. What a blast! They have an iced track that lets you feel like you are flying down the hill.

In the evening, we met up with some friends to go to a place called KE-West Sports. Natalie had fun playing on the large indoor playground with Will, and we all attempted mini-golfing. It was fun for about half of the holes. By the last 9, Natalie was tired, and Nate was tired of playing with a 2 year old and being behind a group of slow people. Next time we golf with Natalie, it appears that Nate will let the 2 of us play and he'll be a spectator. Other than the last 9 holes, we did have a good time. :)

Boy Germs

This morning, Natalie had me laughing when we went over to the Espinosas. One of the boys had put his blanket in his mouth and was then attempting to share it with Natalie. She told him that she did not want it because it had "boy germs" on it. I thought that was a pretty funny way to put it coming from a 2-year old.

Tonight, we enjoyed another fun evening at the Betty Brinn Children's Museum. They had a special evening for a new exhibit that they are opening. There were very few people there this evening which was very nice for us. Last time we went, it was very crowded. Natalie had a great time on the dance floor tonight. I think she and I could have stayed in that section all night.

Winter Wonderland

We enjoyed a fun weekend playing in the snow. Yesterday, we spent some time at Grandpa Wes and Grandma Julie's in central Wisconsin. Walking around the woods in the snow was fun. We attempted some sledding, but the hills were too small. Grandpa's new "ATV" was fun to ride around on as well. Next year, we'll get him to attach a rope and pull us around. :)

Today, after Natalie's nap, I took her to a great sledding hill in Germantown. When we took her there last year, she enjoyed it but I didn't know how she would react to it this year. She and I both had a blast! It was even better for me when she decided to walk up the hill with me. We were able to go down more times this way. The last time we went down the hill, we hit one of the jumps the kids had made, and we got some great air. It was awesome!

Nap

After work today I was quite worn out from the week, and fell asleep on the couch after dinner. Lynn and Natalie were in the kitchen finishing their dinner and Natalie heard me snoring. She asked Lynn if that was me. Lynn told her yes and Natalie said "He makes me want to take a nap".


too funny

Like father, like daughter

A few weeks ago, Nate got a cool kid's computer game from a co-worker. He showed Natalie how to use it, and she just loves it. Tonight, I had the chance to see her in action on the computer. It's so cute to watch her move things around with the mouse, and understand what she is doing with the activities. I think she'll pass me up in her computer knowledge in the next few years. :)

Natalie and I had a fun day today running errands and playing at home. I finally made a batch of play dough for her -- or I should say WE made a batch of it. The only thing I don't like about it is the oil residue on your hands afterwards.

Ice Skating

Natalie had a fun weekend with Uncle Gary and Auntie Theresa while we hosted a fun Christmas party this weekend. She had her first experience on ice skates at the Pettit Center. Uncle Gary's first lesson for Natalie was how to get up on her skates if she fell down. The second pointer he gave her was how to fall. She had fun doing "Crazy 8's" with Uncle Gary, and being carried around the oval with her cousin Brian. It looks like I will now have to take an "Uncle Gary refresher course" before I get onto the ice with Natalie. :)

Painting was also on the agenda this weekend. I think that I'll have to look into putting together an art scrapbook for her with all of her neat pieces of artwork that we've brought home over the course of the last few visits.

We ended this fun weekend with dinner at Stonefire Pizza with Uncle Gary and Auntie Theresa. The water room was a hit again tonight.

Grandma and Grandpa Weerts

Today, Natalie and I had a very nice day with my parents. We went down and played games like Go Fish, Candy Land, Memory, and Hide'n Seek. We baked cookies that even Mommy could make. Grandpa bought the sugar cookies that you pull out of the package and put on the cookie sheet. Grandma was trying to slow Natalie down when we were eating dinner. As Natalie was stuffing her grapes into her mouth, my mom asked her what they tasted like. Natalie looked at her a minute, thought about it, and said that they tasted like grapes. My dad said that she set herself up for that one. We had a good laugh at that one. After that, Natalie got silly and started telling jokes. We were all laughing at her comedy routine. With all of the cookies she had today and all of the excitement, I am hoping that she will be asleep within the hour.

Basketball

We took Natalie to a Concordia basketball game this afternoon. She had a good time dancing in the bleachers during time outs, cheering the team on, and running around the gym at half time.

The other morning while I was working on something in my office, Natalie was pretending that she was going to the grocery store with her "babies" (dolls). She decided that she had to go do something quickly, so Natalie brought her baby stroller in next to me and asked, "Can you keep an eye on my baby?" I thought that was pretty cute.

We are continually amazed at the words and phrases Natalie uses accurately. Tonight Nate asked her to do him a favor, and Natalie's reply was, "Certainly!" Later, she was playing with her necklaces and stating that they were just adorable. :)

Bed time seems to be hit or miss with her response to going to sleep like a "good little girl". Tonight, as she and I were rocking in her room, Natalie told me that she was not going to call out, cry, throw her blanket or "nose rag" (burp cloth) out of her bed, scream, get out of bed, or play. I didn't know whether to believe her or not, but thankfully she was telling me the truth.