Flashback to 5 year old Katie

While hanging around the house one day, Scott said Katie was in a grumpy mood and throwing a small fit.  So he whipped out the camera and took a few pictures of her to show to her how silly she looked. 

These are priceless pictures that every parent should take and cherish.

After he showed her how silly she looked when she was pouting, they took a picture together of their best grumpy faces...

They laughed at the pictures and, like magic, her grumpy mood/fit was over.

Reading with Grandpa

Lil Miss Natalie loves books. She loves it when you read to her.  She loves to chew on books.  She loves to just look at the pictures. And recently, she has started reading them out loud to anyone who will listen to her.  Lucky for her, Grandpa Schwisow loves to listen...

Natalie is now standing and walking with assistance.  Her balance is improving more and more every day.  She dropped her book off the coffee table, exclaimed "uh-oh" and here is trying to figure out how to reach over and pick it up herself.  She couldn't quite get it on her own, but she is close.  And she loves trying.

10 months old!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy ---- today is my 10-month birthday!!!! YAY!  And as an extra special treat, Grandpa and Grandma Schwisow are here to help me celebrate.  Mom tried to take my picture this morning with Marty to see how much I've grown, but I was not interested in this.  I am 10-months old now and I have things to do.  Places to go.  People to see.  Toys to play with.  Cheerios to eat.  So many things that I just cannot be bothered to lay in my crib and pose for silly pictures anymore.


 So, this is what you get...

Me and Marty on February 20, 2012

Since last month, I've started doing LOTS of new things.

TALK:  I love to talk and I do it all the time.  I have a few words that mom and dad seem to understand but the rest of my vocabulary consists of words that I made up - which is great because it's like talking to myself out loud and everyone smiles because they think it is very cute.  I can say "doggie," "momma," "daddy," "thank you," "uh-oh," and "Katie."  I say Katie whenever I see her or even see a picture of her.  I like to wave and give her big smiles too.

EAT:  Momma always tells me what a good eater I am.  I'm not sure what that means, but I sure do love my bottle and cereal.  I have started to try lots of new big-kid foods like chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, bananas ("na-na"), apples, Cheerios, Life cereal, bagels with cream cheese, Mac and Cheese and even small bites of cupcakes at school when one of my friends has a birthday.  I enjoy finger foods because I can get really messy and I can do it myself at my own speed.  I don't have to wait for someone else to spoon feed me like I did when I was a little baby.

February 20, 2012

MOVE:  I finally gave up on army-style crawling and started crawling like a big kid.  At first it was slower than army-style, but now I am very good at it and I can go very very fast.  And I can pull up on things like the coffee table, the couch and all the kitchen chairs.  Sometimes I even try to pull up on my doggie, Gus.  He sits still like a good boy and lets me try.  I love Gus a lot.

I can stand up on my own in my crib now too.  I like to wake up in the morning and pull all my stuffed animal "friends" into my crib with me and then sit and talk to them.  After a while, sometimes I stand up and grab the book off the bookshelf right next to my crib and read it to myself and my friends.  I think they really like that.  But sometimes when I stand up in my crib, I like to chew on it.  Last week though, daddy came home with some stuff that you put on the crib to keep me from chewing on it.  Bummer.  It's ok though because I can still chew on the thing he put on my crib to keep me from chewing on the crib itself.

The day Grandpa and Grandma got here I decided that I wanted to walk by myself with my push toy.  Grandpa helps me turn the corners and then I can go around and around and around the coffee table while everyone watches me and encourages me to keep going.  I am getting faster and faster every day.  Grandpa has predicted that I will be walking on my own by 11-months.  We'll see...

DEVELOP:  Over the past month, momma says I've developed my own little personality.  I like do to things the way I like to do them and sometimes I get really upset when people don't do them my way.  I am not going to school every day like I used to, but I still get to go twice a week and play with my friends.  My teachers say that I am a little more leary of new adult faces and that I am developing a healthy level of "stranger danger."  Not sure what that means, but I sure do love my momma and daddy and sometimes I really don't understand why they leave me with other people.

Well that's all for now, Grandpa is going to take me for a walk around the neighborhood in my stroller.  I really love to go for walks outside because I can feel the wind in my hair, watch and listen to the birdies flying around and singing, smell new things and listen to all the noises that go on outside the house.  I often don't make a peep the whole time I'm out for a walk but I usually never fall asleep either.  I just love to look.

Hugs and kisses to everyone!

Love, Natalie Jane

Intro to babysitting and dress-up

Last weekend, Katie was in charge of watching Natalie for a half-hour (in exchange for $3) while Scott and I did some heavy-duty furniture deconstruction and furniture re-arranging in what will soon be our "study."  They stayed in the family room so we were obviously very aware of what was going on.  We heard lots of giggles and arrived to find this scene...

Gus mainly appeared simply to tolerate it with hopes that he'd get to chew on the dress up items once Katie took them off.  He was disappointed.  But man, he was a good sport.

Natalie seemed to have fun and enjoy dressing up with Katie (although she hates hats). 

 

Katie tried to make Natalie a princess, but she was much more interested in eating her tiarra than wearing it.

No more army crawling!!

Natalie has finally gotten the hang of  real crawling!!  We've got all the outlets covered and now she is on the go and there is no stopping her...

49 lbs of chaos

The newest addition to our family, Gus, is now a 49 lb yellow lab who seems to make frequent visits to what we like to call "crazytown."  Just yesterday, he came barreling in the house with some firewood in his mouth.  Yes, firewood.

Maybe one of these days we'll get him enrolled in doggie school...

Hayes family bike outing

Scott and I were planning to go for a bike ride when we had the thought to see if Grandpa wanted to join us.  So then we decided to ask Uncle Pat and Andrew if they would like to come too.  So we all met at the Walgreen's parking lot and set off on our merry way.  This was our first outing together and, I'm not going to lie...it was really fun.  

Riding behind Andrew reminded me that kids really do believe they are made out of rubber ... and they may actually be right.  That kid flies on his bike and doesn't appear to be scared of anything.  Admirable.  And also, nerve-wracking.

Hawes Trail, Mesa, Arizona.   January 2012.

Uncle Pat was kind enough to bring a few Phoenix Brewery Camelback IPA trail beers for Scott and I to share.  Scott was bold enough to take his nephew off a jump on the trail.  I waited at the bottom with Grandpa.  A video of everyone conquering the jump is below.  Be sure to turn the volume up and listen carefully.  Andrew makes it clear he is not so sure about his dad's abilities to take the jump...

Bear Down Arizona

Natalie loves to watch sports with her daddy.  She really enjoys wearing her tutu and cheering for Arizona!

9 months

"Yay....it's my birthday again!!!  Over the past month, I've been working hard on perfecting my army-crawling and once I started being able to move around more, I learned to pull up on heavy things such as my crib, the coffee table and the large bin full of wood blocks.  

I don't really like to crawl like all the other kids at my school.  I prefer to army crawl with my left elbow doing most of the work, leaving my right hand free to grab things like the dog, the dog's toys, shoelaces and pretty much anything I find.  (Sorry Grandma Judy, but daddy thinks that this means I am showing a definite right hand preference.)

January 20, 2012 - Me and Marty

When momma came in to wake me up on my birthday, I decided to surprise her and stand up in my crib and wait for her to come in.  I knew she'd be in soon to get me ready for school, so I just stood there in the dark and waited.  Boy was she surprised when she saw me!  I laughed at her.

I recently learned how to say "dog-gie" when I see Gus come in the room.  I still like to say "hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii" and wave when someone comes in the room.  My teachers at school say that I am the classroom ambassador.  I'm not really sure what that means, but mom and dad seem to think that it's a very fitting role for me.

Mom and dad (and my teachers too) have started feeding me lots of new foods: corn, apples, bananas, oyster crackers, mashed potatoes, avocados and peaches.  I've liked them all so far.  Mainly, I just like to eat.

Last week mom took me to the doctor because I wasn't really acting like my normal happy-go-lucky self.  Turns out, I had a cold and an ear infection.  I got some medicine and am feeling a little better but each morning, mom or dad used the snot sucker to help me clean out my nose.  And everyday, I've been taking a nice warm bath before I go to bed.  I really love playing in the bathtub though so this is GREAT!!!

Speaking of playing in the bathtub, it's time for me to go because tonight...I get to have my bedtime bottle IN THE BATHTUB!!!!  I love this.  And then when I'm done, daddy brushes my teeth in the bathtub too.

Hugs and kisses to everyone!"

Flashback to Virginia

My parents were preparing to move to Nebraska later that year and told me that they were not interested in moving all my stuff.  So I made a trip home to clean out my room and pack up my things.

So in February 2007, I made my last trip "home" to Spotsylvania, Virginia (yes, that is a REAL place) and decided to take Scott with me.  It was somewhat bittersweet knowing that the house I had so many memories of would no longer be around for me to visit.  But it was exciting because it meant that I could soon make just one trip and be able to see my entire family (Grandma's, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, etc.) in Nebraska.
Scott got a chance to see the place I considered my home and also spend some time getting to know my parents better.  We shared some good laughs as he read through my very embarrassing and very girly old diaries (ranging from 5th - 8th grade or so).

While we were hanging out in the VA, we took a trip downtown to visit all the bars I never could previously and I took him on a whirlwind tour of my favorite places (1995-2004), like Carl's (which was closed and I think why we ended up at the bars).


Interestingly enough, Scott's Grandma, Eleanor Kilgore, used to live at one of the 3 National Park Service houses in Chancellorsville, the battlefield that backed up to my parents house. So we took a little trip to visit the Visitor's Center so Scott could learn the history of the battle and on our way out, we did a quick (and successful) search for the house where they used to live.

The history of the guest room

In 2005, after Scott first bought the house we live in now, his first priority was giving Katie a room that would make her feel at home in her new house.  So she and Scott picked out some paint and a wallpaper border and went to town.  She was even willing to jump in, get a little dirty and help paint the walls with her dad.

 She had a pretty pink princess canopy over her bed, new pink butterfly bed sheets (and flannel Hello Kitty sheets for our cold Arizona winter nights) and a purple lava lamp to watch as she fell asleep at night.

This room is now painted a soft green and serves as a guest room.  So if you're our guest anytime soon, just remember that there is a little purple heart under the green paint somewhere that was painted with a lot of love by a happy little 4-year old.

Flashback to 2001

After digging through old photos the other night, I thought I'd do a little flashback to 2001 and do a quick glimpse into the life of Young Scott and Baby Katie. 

A tribute to the Bronco

As most of you know, Scott is very attached to his 1985 Ford Bronco.  This photo from 1995 may help explain why...

Our first photo

August 2005.  I stressed about asking Scott to accompany me to Nashville, Tennessee to go to the wedding of a dear friend of mine (the groom) from high school.  We had only been dating since February so it was a big deal for me to ask.  I didn't want him to think I was too serious about him and yet I didn't want to go to the wedding alone (or have him shoot me down).  So I threw it out there and he bit.  We had a fabulous time and I was very thankful to be able to attend this wedding and see many old friends.

 

Playtime with da-da

Just a few pictures from some fun Saturday afternoon playtime with daddy after he got up real early and went for a long bike ride on Saturday morning.  I had almost as much fun with the tub my toys are in as I did with the toys.

Merry Christmas!

Here are a few Christmas pictures...

I'll write more about everything after our vacation!

8 months old

"Eight months old.  Wow, time flies.  So over the past month, I've been very busy.  I still love going to school and love my teachers.  I have lots of friends at school but I am the only baby (minus the new girl) who isn't crawling yet.  It's not really a big deal except sometimes when mom, dad or the teachers put me down on the floor near my friends but then they all decide to go somewhere else and play with another toy...then I'm left all by myself and I don't like this.  And it takes me a while to fall over and then roll over to them.  By that time, they've all crawled back to where we all were originally.  Mom says that maybe this will help motivate me to crawl but I don't know.  I'm just not so sure about it.

 I still love to eat.  My favorite food other than a bottle is prunes with apples and oatmeal.  I eat it every morning for breakfast because it is so delicious!  Sometimes mom says I smack my lips and make sounds like 'mmmmmm mmmmm' but I just can't help myself.  I recently started eating puffs, which are like Cheerios for babies.  They dissolve in my mouth (or my slobber covered hands) but I still have to chew on them a bit.  When mom or dad put them on my tray, I like to try to grab them all as fast as I can and then hold them in my hands and hope they give me more.  Hehe.  Sometimes I lean over the side of my highchair and feed them to Gus.  Mom always seems to catch me doing this and tell me no.  I think it's because I giggle and Gus' collar jingles and she just KNOWS that we're doing something we shouldn't be doing.  She's so smart sometimes.

This past weekend my big sister taught me how to wave, and now I do it all the time.  I do it a lot with Katie and mom and dad.  I am starting to do it more and more with everyone I see.  Mom thinks it is funny that I can do it with my right hand alone, but if I try to wave with my left hand, my right hand goes automatically also.  Mom got a picture of me waving to her this afternoon in my Santa suit from Grandma Becky. 

Well, that's about it for now.  I think it's time for bed since I have been refusing to nap at school during the day.  I usually take a good nap when I get home from school in the afternoon, but mom and I ran last minute errands today and there was just too much stuff to look at for me to possibly think about sleeping.  So I guess I'll go to bed early tonight instead.

Hugs and kisses to everyone!

Love, Nat"

Holiday Music, 5th Grade Orchestra-style

We have a Sony Bloggie (video camera) that we bought just before Natalie was born.  It is small, sleek and super easy to use.  We've captured some great videos with it since April but every time we plug it in to our computer, the whole computer crashes.  I think we keep forgetting this because we keep taking videos with it and then not being able to watch them.  We've got to get this figured out.

Katie's first cello concert was on Monday night.  She practiced a lot and was very excited.  She even earned the chance to play a cello duet with one of the other girls in 5th Grade Orchestra.  She wasn't nervous one bit.  She got up there and played her heart out with her fingers.  We were all very proud of her and can't wait until her next concert!

Mr. Zheng and all-smiles Katie, after the concert.  This is the only still photo we took.  The rest was captured on video.

Katie's first cello duet

This post is very very late in being uploaded, but at least I am getting it uploaded before Katie's second cello concert on Thursday.

This was Katie's very first cello duet with one of her friends at school...

http://youtu.be/VwK2wUQn6Cw

December sillies

Here's just a few pictures of Natalie from earlier this month...