Natalie's First Drawing & 25/26 Weeks

It seems Natalie has been sprouting new teeth on a weekly basis lately! We finally noticed that both bottom molars have poked their way through. So that’s exciting. We’re still working with her to chew her food, so hopefully these new teeth will help!

In other news, Natalie has figured out how to squirt water from her squirty bath toys- and often in our direction. She finds it very funny and always starts giggling the cutest giggle we’ve ever heard! It just melts our hearts. And just the other day, I was thrilled to stumble upon Natalie's first drawing! Unfortunately it just didn't land on paper... Apparently she found one of my eye pencils and decided to draw on the wall with it. But I wasn't even mad- I think I scared her a little with my gasp of excitement as I rushed to go get the camera (see photo below). I was so proud! When we move, I'm definitely not painting over it.

We still visit with Auntie and cousin every week or so, trading off houses. This week, Elaine and Stacie came to us and we exchanged little Valentine’s gifts. They picked out a cute little divided plate, matching bowl and water-filled sparkly cup for Natalie, which was perfect! I was just thinking that we should find a fork, spoon and plate set for her so she can start feeding herself. She’s so focused and orderly that she can take the straw out of a juice box and then re-insert it into the little hole all by herself. I think she’s just about ready to start feeding herself, so now we just need the utensils. For Stacie’s little gift, we found a darling Hello Kitty shirt and packed it into a little pink basket along with a book, a pair of tights and some candy. I think she liked them.

It’s always fun to watch the cousins play together and now that Stacie is crawling, they both get around a lot more. It’s funny though, because Natalie will stop and try to pull at Stacie, almost like she’s trying to encourage her to get up and walk like her! Soon enough they’ll be chasing each other all over the place. And then we’ll have another little one trying to keep up with the big girls. Exciting!

Speaking of new baby, I’ve been dealing with a recent dilemma concerning her name. Eric and I have chosen a name for her- we had a girl name in mind that we both liked and once we learned she was indeed a she, we kind of decided that would be it (and we’ve opted not to share, since we caved and found out the gender- all we will share is that the name selected is French). But, I’ve been having some second thoughts. Natalie was either going to be Natalie or Amelia, and we ended up choosing Natalie and decided to save the name Amelia for later, should we have another girl. Well, that name has been taken in the meantime- by Eric’s mom’s boyfriend’s son and his wife. Follow that? Basically, the name was given to Eric’s stepbrother’s kid, which has always kind of bothered me since I made our name options very clear (hence the other reason why we’ve chosen not to share our potential name choice!). I know you can’t really call “dibs” on names, but I’m still kind of bummed because I feel like I can’t use that name anymore. And that was the name I had in mind for a sister, should Natalie ever have one…

Tournament of Hearts

Eric and I went to Peter and Lisa’s annual Hearts Party over the weekend- we attended last year, but I had to leave early with Natalie. But this year, I actually got to play! JoEllen and Patrick came over to babysit for a couple hours so we could go. I was a little nervous about leaving someone other than Eric or myself to put Natalie down for bed, but she did okay.

The party was a lot of fun, even though I lost in the first round rather terribly. Unfortunately I was seated with Eric, Andre and Peter, who are all very competitive and much better players than I. So it was inevitable that I lost… but at least there was a second round and I was a winner among the losers! Complete with consolation prize. Sadly, Eric did not win the crown for the second year in a row- Peter’s sister Amy was crowned champion in the end.

Valentine's Day

We celebrated a very low-key Valentine’s Day this year, which was nice. We’re not much for the fancy dinners and expensive flowers that come along with the day- when we were first dating, we went out and celebrated, but now that we’re settled and have Natlalie, there’s just no use for that anymore. And I don’t really miss it, I’d rather spend the day with my little family anyway! Here's Natalie in her cute little Valentine's Day outfit.

During the day, Natalie and I made a homemade Valentine for Daddy and baked some brownies. And then later that night after Eric got home, we drove up to Chick-fil-a and had dinner! It certainly wasn’t crowded and we had a fun little time. I dressed Natalie in one of her fancy pink sweaters with a matching hair bow just for fun. Once we arrived, we ordered Natalie her very first kid’s meal and she very much enjoyed the waffle fries and juice box. Then we ordered milkshakes for the drive back home. I really enjoyed spending the evening together on our little family date :)

Ooohh!! Waffle fries!

You're actually trusting me to eat this all by myself?? She actually did just fine!

Still Waiting on Words & 22 Weeks

We went to my Dad and Sally’s place on Sunday night for a little farewell dinner for Dave, BreeAnne and their kids- they’re moving back to Sacramento. It was fun to watch Natalie and Stacie play together and catch up with the family. Dad and Sally said they’re still searching for a lakehouse rental for our annual summer family vacation (which we’re already looking forward to!). New baby will be only 3 months old when we go, but I’m not too worried. I already bought her her very first outfit- a cute little newborn size swimsuit from babyGap! It was only $5 on clearance, so I couldn’t pass it up.

I had my 22 week check-up last week, on January 30th. It was a pretty uneventful visit- they just took my weight and blood pressure, made me pee in a cup and then my doctor listened for baby’s heartbeat and chatted with me for a few minutes. It was one of the quickest visits I think I’ve had. So, to date, I’ve gained about 7 pounds so far with this pregnancy. I don’t remember what my weight gain was with Natalie at this point, but I think I’m well on track. I definitely have a little round bump now. I’ve yet to have a stranger approach me and ask when I’m due, but people at work and such have been commenting about how I’ve “popped.”

I feel decent enough, which I’m thankful for. But I’ve started to get heartburn here and there and my lower back is often sore. And then I still throw up in the mornings about once a week, which is odd- it’s still brought on by brushing my teeth, every time! But other than these things, I don’t really have many complaints. I feel baby moving around in there, so she must be happy.

Natalie’s growing and learning like crazy. One thing she’s been doing that just melts your heart is when she excitedly makes her way to the front door when she hears one of us unlock the door. That’s always a nice thing to come home to! A lovely baby excited to meet you. It will be so neat when both girls can do that. It makes you feel special when they’ve obviously missed you that day and are just happy to see you again.

We’re still waiting for the next real word to pop out of Natalie’s mouth. I’ve been working with her a lot to call out whatever she points to (she points to everything now) and we’ve also been practicing body parts names and pointing to them, like nose, ears and belly button. We think she’ll catch on soon. She definitely understands a lot- when we say “it’s time to eat” or “let’s go for a bath,” she knows exactly what we’re talking about. It’s unreal how much they really do understand!

In other news, Eric applied for a sheriff’s dispatcher job and is scheduled to test for it next week. So that’s kind of exciting. It’s still with the county, so he would probably be able to transfer his benefits and whatnot, which would be great. We’ll have to see how it goes. I try not to get my hopes up anymore when he applies and interviews/tests for a job, simply because he gets turned down every time it seems. It would be a great change for him and for us- it might even make it possible for me to stay at home with the kids. The thought of our current schedule with two little ones just might push us over the edge! We’re tired enough as it is. I always try to remind myself that Eric has the worst of it, since he works staggered shifts and watches the baby every single day he has off. I know it’s not easy and I know he’s exhausted. If I was able to be at home and he had a regular working schedule, I think it would be a lot easier on both of us. And give us more time to spend together as a family. That would be the best part.