we're baaack

Well, we had a great trip, but we're happy to be home. I have lots of great Texas pictures to sort through, but for now I'll share this one from DH's brother Kenton.

Here's Natalie with a couple of her cousins in Papa Ev and Mama Elaine's backyard. Pretty great shot, Kenton!

playing catch up

Okay - so I couldn't get all the worthwhile pictures storied out this week, so here are the rest. We should be getting back from Texas today with a whole new crop of photos to share!

Peaches have been great! Natalie eats them whole. She's such a fresh peach and tomato fiend. I have to keep a close eye on her with the produce now. I handed her an avocado in the grocery store yesterday and she had a bite out of it while I was picking out my peppers! Not everything is as tasty as fresh peaches though.

Painting in the basement with dad.

And our crop from the garden! Natalie was very busy with a tomato, and then a carrot I'd wiped off. But then she saw me picking the grapes, and she dropped her carrot right back in the dirt and came running over! That poor white shirt! After the peaches, and the painting, the veggies were the last straw!

Early morning for members at the zoo! What a great day! I've never seen the animals so animated. We're watching the male lion here hanging out with his girls. I've only ever seen the lions limp, but they weren't that morning. It was nice and cool, and everyone was out to play.

Natalie was all monkeyed up that day. She even brought her little monkey toy. And in this shot she's looking at the monkeys! Very cool. When asked, she says that monkeys say "ah ah!". We tell her "ooh ooh, aah aah", but two syllables is still a stretch for her, so we're happy with that.

A few days later and it's story time again! DH came along with. And since I'm only half-brained these days, we accidentally showed up an hour early, (just in time for the baby story time session!) But it was a perfect day for kite flying, and I just happened to have my $3 grocery store special kite stashed in the car just in case the wind was right! And it sure was! What a perfect day for kite flying. You have to be prepared in Colorado, because the wind is usually either non-existent, or way too strong.
This shot was taken right before Natalie let go of the string, and the kite flew into a small tree in the library parking lot. Note to self - don't let babies hold kites alone.

Natalie was so happy to see Nupur and Aanya when they showed up! I love that she's got a little friend already!

And this story time went much smoother! Check out all those kids gathered for stories!

And at the end, the all "line up" to get a sticker! That trick still needs a bit of work.

fooling around

We've been having a lot of fun around the house planning for our trip.

Yep. This bag should work just fine!

We've been playing around a lot. Natalie and I painted our toenails, and I braided her hair for the first time, (both with a little help from the DH.)

here she is trying to pick up my IBOL.

The braids lasted about half the day, when the rubber band fell out of one, and I scrapped the whole do. The rubber band malfunction was entirely my fault - too loose.

Her hair barely even kinked up. Straight as a pin again by dinner time.

But at least we know it can be done.

Pottery Barn Kids shirt

My DH told me I had to retire Natalie's Monogrammed Pottery Barn Kids shirt. Does it look too tight to you?

Okay. I'll admit it. It used to be a dress.

And it is a size 0-3 months.

And she is 17 months old now.

I'll miss that little dress.

Tales for Tots

Natalie has graduated from Twinkle Babies story time at the library into Tales for Tots story time. We were right on the edge, so I figured we'd go up to the next level with Nupur and Aanya. Otherwise she'd be the oldest anyway, and what's there to learn from all those babies?

Gathering for stories was a new thing. But Natalie, ever independent, didn't hesitate when it came time to get off my lap! She was one of the first ones sitting.

A few of the kids really had a hard time being lapless: this little boy, (at least six months older than Nat) decided to sit on her lap!

It was pretty much chaos for most of the class. When it came time for shaky eggs, Natalie took a little break to watch the other kids.

I think story time will mellow out a bit when the kids get the hang of it. Or should I say, I hope!?

puppy love

Natalie just loves dogs! She loves walking with my dad and throwing sticks for the dogs, and she tolerates getting knocked over relatively well. She was getting a bit wet from them this day, so my dad picked her up. But she was having a blast!

Not a bad backdrop!

The dogs sat still for a few seconds, but Natalie was very serious for the pictures. Still... pretty cute!
Happy Labor day all, I hope you're enjoying your day off!

The Big Eight-Ooooooh

Last week my grandpa celebrated his 80th birthday! What a milestone. We all got together for a BBQ at my Aunt Lara's house. Natalie loves it there. It's a house all about kids, toys, food, and family! I barely saw her the whole evening she was so busy going from cousin to cousin, and game to game. I swear, half the night she was playing in the toy kitchen in my cousin Makenzie's playhouse in the yard.

Here she is running off to the play set to check out the toys there.

And posing with Nick and Steph. They look great, but Nat's not smiling.

So they tried tickling her... not quite the perfect shot either. But cute.

The kid refused to eat with me, and just kept going over to my cousins to eat the fruit off of their plates, so eventually I succumbed and gave her her own plate at their "table". She really is getting independent!!

When it was time for cake, Natalie helped blow out the candles. Check out Grandpa's Harley cake! He just got back from Sturgis the week before! Not bad for 80!

And here she is about to head back in for her bath. It was already past her bedtime and we needed to wash the bug spray off of her before getting her off to bed. There was no way she'd still be awake by the time I got her home.

Natalie's bath drew quite a crowd in the kitchen! Good thing the kid's not shy!!

After chasing the naked (and amped!) baby around the house for a while, I finally cornered, diapered, and pajamaed her in Kenzie's room. She was really enjoying playing with all the toys and with Kenzie and her friend Hannah.

I'll give you three guesses, (and the first two don't count) how tough it was getting the over-tired Natalie out of that room!

But eventually, almost two hours after her bedtime, I did manage it! What a great party. Thanks Lara, and Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

Heading to Austin

Here's a quick bonus post for you. I just wanted to update you in more real time on what's happening with us. Tomorrow morning we're heading to Austin to visit with Dh's family for Mama Elaine's big birthday bash weekend! We've got a few days of festivities planned out for us, and we're sure to be, above all, well fed throughout!

So our house has been abustle with laundry and other packing activities.

Here's a shot of Natalie with her new backpack on this morning. I've had to remove most of the stuff from it because it kept pulling her over! But it's still fun, and good practice!

After the three-day weekend we're heading to Port Aransas, TX for a few days of R&R. Natalie has never seen the ocean, so we're really looking forward to it for that reason and others, of course!

And when we get back, DH starts his new contract job in Boulder. We're very excited about it. A short, and scenic commute, and only three days a week, unless he wants to take on more. But that should leave him some more time for us, and maybe for some freelance work too, if he wants to take it on.

So anyway, I'm still going to post more entries for next week, so stay tuned. And there's a good one scheduled to post at noon tomorrow (Friday). Right about when we land in Austin.

So wish us luck traveling with a toddler. We're well stocked in books, crayons, and goldfish crackers!! I was talked out of taking the sedatives.

Painting the Sidewalk

What better toy to play with on a hot day than a bowl of water and an old paintbrush!? Especially with a friend to share it with!

We learned some valuable lessons that day. One in particular was: don't paint your friends! Thank goodness it was just water. Natalie spent her desire to paint something more three-dimensional on the bunny.

We also had some fun with chalk on the sidewalk. Aanya is learning some numbers, so now Natalie is also. She will tell you how old she is, and sometimes even hold up a finger to demonstrate. We also practiced our shapes. Natalie can point to a circle and she'll even tell you what it is - in her own way - "durkle".

After all the lessons, we took some time out for more aerobic activity. Nothing like a nice bike ride!!

Neither of the girls can reach the pedals yet, but that's what the string tied to the front is for!

Riding the Pig

We went around Boulder the other morning to post some Shantibird fliers. (By the way the site is starting to take off! We have over a hundred teachers signed up in just the first month with no real advertising yet! Spread the word about it!)

Anyway, we got to Pearl Street just before anything opened, so we walked around a bit and listened to some buskers on a lovely Summer morning.

And I just had to get a shot of Natalie riding the pig in front of the Paper Doll. This pig was there when I was little. Back then it had "fur" or at least a more velvety covering. If I remember correctly.

There's a sign in front of the store that says something to the effect of:

You can ride on the pig.

You can take your picture

with the pig.

But you cannot BUY the pig.

He is rather cute.

Front Facing

Well, we finally got a carseat for DH's car. We went uber budget, and bought it at Overstock.com. But it works great. She won't be riding in it that often, but it's really nice to have the option again. The big difference between it and the fancy on in my car is that this one is front facing!!

Doesn't she look like a big girl!?

We took it for a short test drive... to the Starbucks Drive-Thru and back. Natalie got chocolate milk.

We really know how to party!