Natalie

Of course, I'd be remiss not to post some pictures of Natalie's adventures!  This girl is so stinking smart.   I think what my mom said was, "You at least need to convince her that you are all-knowing, because I'm pretty sure she's smarter than you."  !!  So true.  She is such a talker, and she loves to sing "Jesus Loves Me," and "You are my Sunshine."  She speaks in long sentences, most of which I understand.  She counts to 20.  She knows her alphabet and all of her colors.  She creates and identifies shapes.  She uses words in contexts that are totally unexpected, yet correct.  She is empathic and kind.  I just watched her on the monitor, actually - she began crying for some reason in her crib.  It wasn't the kind of cry that made me rush in, so I just watched.  She began to hug her stuffed Elmo doll and said in a totally calm voice, "It's okay.  It's okay," while rocking him back and forth.  "Bonked head.  [touches her own head]  It's okay."  And she was fine.

Natalie went through a looong phase in which she never smiled for the camera.  Now she smiles this hilarious cheesy smile.  We love it!

Natalie's great-grandparents visiting from Crown Point, IN.

Being in a house enables us to have so much fun!

Natalie's great-great aunt and uncle, surprising us with a visit from Sarver, PA.  (I think that's what they are to her - my great aunt and uncle...?)

For those of you bump-watching, here I am at 35 weeks!  This is a picture I took to decide if I should buy the dress (I did but then I returned it :) - but it may be one of the few bump pictures I have with Julia!

Natalie's "Aunt" Darla, from Canfield, OH!

 Natalie loved the penguin that she got from Darla.

Natalie decided that Julia's crib was pretty cool.

With Granddad in CT.

With Natalie's possibly favorite person: Uncle John.

Mowing the lawn in CT.

Natalie's great-grandma, Grammy Maybelle (or, as Natalie says, "Grammy Mango.")