Shopping

They might not have ruffles or be pink and frilly, but these were too cute to pass up. Five more weeks until baby boy can try them on.

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This morning

Well, night one of Phil being gone was okay. We went to my parents house for dinner, which Natalie actually ate! Then the sweet girl fell asleep on the way home (score). My other baby (in my belly) had me up a few times during the night, but Natalie slept until about 6:30 am - which is still REALLY early, but fantastic because lately I was wondering if she had forgotten what it meant to sleep through the night. This is where the need for daddy really kicked in.

Little back story

From the time Natalie was born to about the time she was 16 months old, Phil would would always joke that he knew that Natalie loved me more. I would laugh and say, you just wait because the day will come when she won't want anything to do with me and all she will want is daddy. Well, he waited and that day came. For the past few months (I'm sure brought on by all the traveling I had to do this year) all she wants is Daddy. Some of her favorite phrases are, "No mommy" when I ask her any question and "Daddy do it" when I ask if I can help her do something.

When Phil was packing we talked about how Natalie was going to react to not having him around and I assured him that when he isn't around she lets me help and doesn't demand daddy...fast forward to 6:30 this morning when I went in to her room. "Good morning baby!" I said to her, she looked up at me and as she turned away said "No, want Daddy". To which I responded, "remember, daddy is on his trip, want to come with mommy." Then came her favorite phrase, "No mommy, want daddy." I wanted to respond, "ME TOO!" but decided to take another approach...After some talking, I FINALLY convinced her that if she would come with me, she could lay on my pillow and have some milk. So we cuddled for about 30 minutes while she had some milk which sort of made up for her demanding Phil.

Hopefully I can handle another week of this...it is going to be fun!

"Daddy, Trip?"

This morning, Natalie woke up, looked at Phil's side of the bed, looked at me and said "daddy trip?" I said, "yes, Daddy went in the airplane. He is on his work trip." She must remember helping him pack last night, wearing his hard hat and seeing the suitcase that I normally take on the plane. She is so smart...

Phil left early this morning for a work trip. It isn't great timing, because lately I've been worried that I'm going to pop this baby boy out any minute. I just hope that he listens to his mama and stays put for another 5 weeks!

Aquarium

This past Saturday, Phil, Natalie and I took a trip to the Aquarium in Sandy. We haven't been for a while and now we think we should go every day. She absolutely loved seeing all the fish and being able to run around free.

Yellow Fish

Daddy told her to blow on the coral to make it move

Her favorite frog statue

Let it snow

This season we have already had a few snowfalls, which is great, because Natalie LOVES the snow. She can spend hours and hours playing outside and the cold doesn't even seem to effect her. Auntie Ashley sent Natalie a snow suit to use this winter and we have put it to good use.

Tasty white snow

Daddy built Natalie a tunnel in the backyard

Then he built a snow man

Natalie loves helping Daddy shovel

In addition to enjoying the snow, we have also been having multiple fires. Natalie knows that fires are only to be touched by mommy or daddy, but she loves watching daddy build and light the fire. After the fire is raging we normally put some pillows in front of the fire and she and bear relax and enjoy.

We also decorated the tree the day after Thanksgiving. Natalie really enjoyed hanging the ornaments and can't wait to turn on the tree lights each night.

In other words, we have been busy!

Family Photos

Way back in July (!) we had family photos taken. Kirstin Roper took the photos and we are so pleased with them.

I wanted them taken before I was visibly pregnant (they were taken when I was about 4 months along) and while the weather was still nice. I've already printed all of them and there are a few on the walls in the house, don't know why it has taken me this long to post them on the blog.

Here are a few of our favorites:

Two Cans Later

With the birth of the baby quickly approaching, I've been in full nesting mode for the past few months. The first thing I decided to tackle was to change up the mailbox and porch light. I love spray paint and sort of just want to take a can of paint to everything; however, I decided to buy a new porch light that was black, rather than spray paint the old one we had. So, my dad came over and installed it. While he did that I painted the mailbox black to match. It looks SO GOOD! Amazing what a little paint can do.

painted and ready to receive mail

From there, I decided to attack the big window in our garage. I hate that people can look in and see all our junk, so I bought "frosted glass" paint...who knew that even existed? I painted two coats on the window, so now the light comes, but prying eyes can't - which is added security. Security in a can is what they should call that paint.

After the paint

From there, I didn't stop. I took a table from Ikea which had been sitting on the back porch, unused, for three years. I painted it a light brown to match the basement bathroom. Now I have a little table next to the sink to hold towels and look cute.

pre-paint

Painted!

I also painted a mirror from my grandparents bedroom set that I want to hang in the nursery. It looks amazing in the bright white I picked out. I'm looking forward to the weather warming up a little so I can paint the dresser and bed that go with the set. Paint breathes new life into old furniture, which I LOVE.

Along with that "nesting", we have also been busy getting everything else in the house ready for baby. I have two giant trash bags full of stuff for the good will, along with a few other things that wouldn't fit in the bags. I'm planning on filling at least one more bag by the end of the month. We have also been working hard turning the "red room" (extra bedroom upstairs) into the nursery or "Blue Room" as it is now known. Every time Natalie walks past the room she says "Baby room" and points at the blue room, then points to her room and says "my room". So smart that little lady.

A full nursery post is coming once we can get it all put together.

Holiday spending

And yes - this is my desk at work, you would be shocked how much knitting can be accomplished while on conference calls

My attempt at scaling back on holiday spending. Hand-made gifts.

I figure that I'll be on maternity leave while the holiday bills come in so might as well try and limit the amount of money we spend because I'll be making a lot less money on maternity leave.

I'll also be whipping up some batches of cookies, brownies in a jar, and whipped butter and biscuits to give out. Far less expensive than multiple trips to the mall, and I'm sure much more appreciated by recipients.

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Happy Birthday God Father

Today is the God Fathers birthday. Happy birthday to a wonderful brother, friend and god father, we love you!!

These are photos from our trip to Mexico. Natalie loves her Godfather and all the things he teaches her (how to spit, make a scruntchy face, the list could go on and on)

Maternity Clothes

Whenever you ask my mom anything about maternity clothes or the topic even comes up, she always talks about this one shirt that was sooo comfortable that she ended up wearing it almost every day towards the end of her pregnancy. Well, like mother like daughter, I've found my shirt or outfit rather.

After I had Natalie, I packed up all the maternity clothes in boxes and put them in storage knowing I would need them again. Well, here we are in the "needing them again" time and I look at some of the shirts and think, "really? I wore that? me?" Also, none of the pants fit, don't know if I was bigger with Natalie or if they just stretched out. Maybe I'll get some use in the last month of this pregnancy, but in the mean time, I need some new options. One thing I bought was this tunic style shirt from the Heidi Klum line. It is SO comfortable, but needed leggings to go with it, so I bought some leggings too. I've worn this outfit almost every day this week, it is embarrassing, but true. It is comfortable and if you have been pregnant, finding comfortable clothes that are also somewhat flattering is key!

Maybe this weekend I'll put a few other options together. I have to go to the office most days next week and don't want people to wonder why I wear the same thing every day.