Happy 4th of July...

...from our lil' firecracker!

Flashback - July 2, 2009

On this day last year, Natalie was 15 days old and we had a visit from a whole bunch of my family. My Aunt Pennee was in town from Utah and she and my Aunt Betty brought over dinner for us. Also joining us were my parents and my mom's folks, Mema and Granddaddy. It's hard to believe how much Natalie has changed in a year!

Great-Granddaddy, Great-Mema, and Great Aunt Betty (Jo Bob)

Great Aunt Pennee gets some snuggle-time in.

Natalie shows Peepah her Kung Fu kick!

Mmmm...Granny's shoulder is delicious!

Toot, tooooot!

That is the sound of me blowing my own horn because this is my 100th blog post! Tooooooot! (Get your mind out of the gutter.)

I know it has been feast or famine on this blog with posts coming in spurts, but I'm just proud of myself for sticking with it so that all 5 of my readers can get their Natalie fixes ;)

So, here's to the next 100!

The Natmobile

Meega and Poppop got Natalie a fun Radio Flyer push, pull and ride toy for her birthday. She has thoroughly enjoyed climbing on it, pushing it, and going for rides in it. Allen has appropriately named it the "Natmobile." Feel free to stop on by and take your turn wheeling her through the kitchen and dining room obstacle course. I can guarantee a good workout!

Is this how you ride this thing?

Saddle up, partner!

She is obviously not having ANY fun.

"Look, Ma! No hands!"

How could we have guessed that she would climb on top of it?

One step at a time...

Natalie has been close to walking for several weeks, taking steps here and there. The other night as Allen and I were cleaning up from dinner, apparently Natalie just decided that she was no longer afraid to walk by herself and she began standing herself up and taking steps on her own. She would fall and stand right back up again. After just a minute or two, she was making it halfway across the room without falling. It was amazing to watch the progression! Now, a few days later, she still crawls quite a bit, but she will stand herself up and walk when she feels like it. I'm gonna have to get used to the fact that she can sneak up behind me now. I'm so used to the "smack, smack, smack" sound of her crawling that it surprises me when she is standing right beside me and I didn't even hear her coming!

This video is long, but cute. Towards the end she is even clapping and walking at the same time. How's that for multitasking!?!?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xujL8wI7o-M

Happy 6th Anniversary to us!

Our wedding anniversary has been somewhat overshadowed for the last two years. Last year I fully expected that I would be waddling into a restaurant and ordering eggplant parmesan or something spicy since our 5-year anniversary was 5 days before my due date. However, mother nature had different plans for us and instead we celebrated our anniversary with a 9-day old baby. This year our anniversary fell on the weekend after we celebrated Natalie's first birthday. I think Allen and I were just too tired and busy to plan a big evening or weekend. Plus that's not really our style anyway. So we attended our neighborhood block party on our anniversary and had a few of Allen's delicious margaritas.

We have accomplished a lot in the last six years and I can't imagine spending my life with anybody else. Happy anniversary to us!

A romantic weekend away...sort of

A couple of weeks ago, Allen was a groomsman in his friend Benton's wedding. Conveniently for us, the wedding was in Athens and my parents were available to keep Natalie while Allen and I attended the rehearsal dinner on Friday evening and the wedding and reception on Saturday evening. We haven't had too many opportunities to eat meals at the same time, while they are hot, and without interruption. It was a nice change of pace, to say the least. The wedding and reception were beautiful and we enjoyed catching up with some old friends from college. I am also happy to report that Natalie and I both survived our first two full nights away from each other. Thanks to my mom and dad for taking over for us!

A classic self-portrait at the rehearsal dinner.

The happy couple.

All dressed up for the first time in a loooong time.

What to do with all that hair?

As Natalie's hair has gotten longer, the length of time that she will tolerate a bow or clip in her hair has gotten shorter. So what is a mommy to do with those long bangs that hang in her face?

Maybe we'll make a headband out of some extra ribbon...

...Or borrow Aunt Rachel's hat...

...Or maybe we'll just let her be and enjoy her crazy hair while it lasts.

Basket Rides with Daddy

Some of you may have seen one of these photos that I posted on Facebook, but it's too cute not to repost here.

Playing Catch-up

As of this week, I am officially unemployed again (outside the home). And, honestly, I couldn't be happier about it! I am absolutely grateful that I had the opportunity to do some contract work, but I think one job is enough for me right now. And even though the SAHM job is a bit lacking in pay, its total benefits and compensation package can't be beat :)

Now that I have a little more free time to work with, I am going to play catch-up and get some older stuff posted on the blog. Perhaps a post about NATALIE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY that was TWO WEEKS AGO! What a horrible mommy blogger I am. Hopefully Natalie will find it in her heart to forgive me one day.

Stay tuned for an overload of Natalie cuteness!