Silly Faces, Part Deux

Natalie still makes lots of silly faces that make us laugh. Some of them are similar to the faces she was making a few months ago, but she has come up with some new ones as well. Thanks to Aunt Rachel for taking these great pics!

Serious teeth-gritting going on here.

I'll huff and I'll puff....

Oh boy, I really wish this one was in focus. It's going in the baby book anyway for all future suitors to see.

Who, me? Sweet, innocent, little ol' me?

Smirk. Rachel thinks this is Allen's smirk. What do y'all think?

Behind Bars

A Visit with the Warstlers

Allen's cousin Simon and his family were visiting from Ohio over Easter weekend and dropped in to visit us last week. We hadn't seen them since we visited Ohio just over a year ago, so it was good to catch up with them over some tasty Cuban food. Little Roxy warmed up to Natalie towards the end of their visit and they got some play time in.

Mother-daughter twinsies! This was totally coincidental. April and I were both wearing flip flops too.

Natalie and Roxy.

First Trip to the Zoo

On Wednesday, Natalie and I met up with a few of our friends from Stroller Strides at Zoo Atlanta. We couldn't have asked for better weather! The zoo was a bit crowded due to some rather large school field trips, but we managed to navigate the sea of small children and see most of the animals. At times I think Natalie was way more fascinated with people-watching than she was with the animals, but we had fun nonetheless. I don't think she really noticed a lot of the animals if they were far away or camouflaged, but when she saw some of the animals she perked up and said "blah!" Not a bored "blah," but a happy, excited "blah!" It's one of her new favorite expressions.

I am still mad at myself for forgetting my camera, but luckily my friend Lauren brought hers and shared her snapshots.

The whole crew. From L to R, Maeve with mom Amy, me and Natalie, big girl Ava with mom Margaret and baby Catherine, and Lauren with baby Keira.

Natalie enjoyed seeing the sheep and goats up close at the petting zoo.

Three of the four baby girls taking a break on the bench. This picture makes me smile...they're really starting to interact with each other.

Berry Delicious

One of my mom friends (thanks Lauren L!) mentioned that blueberries made a great first finger food, so I decided to give it a whirl. I found some frozen organic blueberries at Trader Joes and they have been perfect. They are small enough that Natalie can eat them whole and just squishy enough so that they're easy for her to pick up. She seems to really like them. The past two nights she has finished what I put on her tray and I had to give her seconds. Usually at least half of anything I put on her tray ends up in the garbage disposal, so giving her seconds of something is unprecedented! I am just thankful that OxiClean gets blueberry stains out of clothes. I haven't quite figured out how to get the purple out from under her fingernails though. She looks like she's been playing pat-a-cake with the Smurfs.

Mmmmm! Deeeeelish.

Easter Sunday with the Aamoths and Dawsons

On Easter Sunday, we loaded up and drove to Watkinsville to spend the day with my parents and my sister's family. After church, we had our traditional chicken and biscuits meal with pound cake for dessert. (Amen to that.) It was a beeeautiful day and we enjoyed seeing everyone, especially my sister, brother-in-law, neice, and nephew who were in town from Charlotte.

Our little family of four.

My mom and dad with the Dawsons.

My mom and dad with their grands.

Pat-a-cake with Peepah.

AJ with the head from the lamb-shaped pound cake. He said the whipped cream was the hair.

Neighborhood Egg Hunt

On Saturday, Natalie and I went down to the Swim-Tennis center to watch the neighborhood's annual Easter egg hunt. I told Natalie that she needed to watch and learn so that she could score lots of candy next year for her mommy and daddy. (Chocolate, please!) I sat her down to take some pictures and realized that it was the first time she had sat in the grass without a blanket underneath her. Judging from her reaction, she wasn't too thrilled about it. In a few years, as I'm spraying stain remover onto her dirt and grass-stained clothes, I'm sure I'll look back fondly on these days when she didn't want to be on the ground outside.

The calm before the storm. These were the "hidden" eggs for the little kids.

And they're off!!!

This is my "something is poking my bum" face.

Giving the grass a good stare-down before deciding she'd had enough.

Early Easter Visit with Meega and Pop Pop

Meega and Pop Pop stopped by for a visit us on Friday and brought us Five Guys for dinner. (It's OK to be jealous.) They also brought an early Easter gift for Natalie from the Bunny himself. She had fun reading her new books with Meega and Pop Pop and snuggling with her bunny. She even got a fun basket ride from Pop Pop! Allen wanted one too, but I feared for the integrity of the basket.

It's never too early to encourage good posture.

Wheeee! Basket rides are fun!

Hamming it up with Meega.

Reading her new books with Pop Pop.