It's a beautiful day...

We were fortunate to have some extra time to spend with Auntie Adrienne this spring.  It was especially awesome because of my new work schedule that allowed me to spend time with her like we haven't done since I was in high school and she was home for summer break from college (and we didn't really appreciate hanging out with each other as much at that point in life). We were able to do fun things like go for walks in the wagon to the park and play. 

Here are a few pictures from one random beautiful Arizona spring day at the park...



Click on the picture to open a new window that will allow you to scroll through the photos at your own pace.

Hoppy Easter

With a squirmy toddler, this was the best I could do for a shot of the girls together on Easter.  I think Gramma Judy managed to get one of the whole family but I haven't seen it and don't have a copy of it.  Natalie managed to sit nearly all the way through church...thanks mostly to the plastic Easter eggs filled with Cheerios stashed in the diaper bag, the bell choir and the loud music.

Easter morning 2012: post-Easter bunny basket scavenging but pre-church

 (Larry/Judy -- if you're reading this, could you e-mail those pictures to me??)

Sister Saturday

Everyone told us that it would happen fast ... and I knew that it would because it is simply inevitable that kids grow up.  But I never thought it would seem to happen so fast.  Lil Miss Natalie is nearly one year old and every day she is acting more and more like a true toddler.  She wants to do what she wants to do when she wants to do it and does not appreciate anyone telling her otherwise.

Hmmm.  I wonder how I make this thing go...

 Katie is a fantastic big sister and always willing to help Natalie with things, big or small.  When Natalie showed an interest in riding Katie's old tricycle, Katie hopped on and helped her with some extra grown-up assistance from our surprise guest, Aunt Adrienne.  The result was a sister-filled trike ride in circles around the courtyard.

Just a little Saturday morning big sister and little sister trike riding.

Baby bathtime bliss

As I recall from my years of babysitting, not all kids enjoy (or even tolerate) bath time.  On the flip side, our kid absolutely cannot get enough time in the bath tub. 

More recently she's started trying to eat the bubbles or bob for her toys with her mouth wide open.

Hey woof woof, what's that thing on your head?!?

Poor Gus went to the vet and got neutered last week.  He's been recovering slowly (it would go faster if he would just stop licking his wounds) and sporting the "cone of shame" ever since.  Natalie thinks that the cone on his head is very strange and kind of funny.  Gus hates it.

"Hey Gus, I'd totally get you out of that thing if I knew how..."

"...but since I can't help you out of it, can I pet you instead?  Just don't bonk me in the face with the cone, please."

Spring time!

Natalie is an outdoor baby.  She will sit in the stroller for hours as long as you keep the stroller moving.  She loves to sit outside and watch all the airplanes and helicopters fly over our house (we are about a mile from a small regional airport with lots of small planes) and then point at them as they go by.

So the other day, we had our 2nd lunch outside...

"Mmmmmmmm. Mmmmmm.  Isssssshy.  Did you want some of these dog dog?"

And just to prove to everyone that Natalie is indeed not a happy baby ALL the time, here is what happens when you put her next to food but then don't give her any.   She calls Goldfish crackers "Issssssssshy" because she knows that they are little fishies like the toys in her bathtub and the fishies in her animal book.

Family room racetrack

Katie made a track in the family room using pillows and toys for Natalie to race around on her lion (with Katie pushing her). Sometimes they race against each other and sometimes Katie helps Natalie race/chase poor Gus around the track. I think Katie has learned the fine art of letting little kids win though because I rarely see or hear of Katie's victories.

Ready, set, GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

11 month birthday!

"Hi.  I like to say hi.  But when I actually say hi it sounds a little more like 'Hi there' which usually makes everyone laugh a lot.  This morning I woke up and stood at the end of my crib (chewing on it) while I waited for momma to come get me.  When she came in she was singing the 'Happy Birthday' song again, so that must mean it's my birthday.  I stayed in my crib for a while and we played with my stuffed animals and read a book.  Then she pulled out her camera and tried to get me to lay down with Marty so she could take my picture.  Ugh. Doesn't she know I have other things to do?!?!  I don't have time to lay down and pose with a stuffed monkey!

Too busy for Measurement Marty.  March 20, 2012

 Over the past month, I've had lots of fun spending time with all our visitors.  Grandpa Husker and Grandma Becky (momma said it felt strange to call them Grandpa and Grandma Schwisow, since that made her think of her grandparents and I already have a Grandpa Larry ... so we all settled) were here for a while and then my momma went away for a few days and then after she came home, Aunt Adrienne came to visit!!!!

Over the past month I've continued to talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.  I love to read books and can even tell you when I see a doggie in my books.  You'll know because I point at it and say "woof woof" because that's what my doggie says sometimes.  Since we live by a small airport, I like to point to the sky and say "airplane" when I hear an airplane (or helicopter).  I smile and say "Katie" when my big sister walks into the room because I think she is super cool.  I love her very much.  I am learning sign language at school and from momma and poppa.  When I am all done with my food, I shake my hands to tell them that I am full (all done).

I still love to eat.  Seems like everyday I get to try something new.  Just last week I got to try yogurt, avocados (again, the first time I tried them I hated them), Goldfish crackers, string cheese and on Monday at school they gave me FISH STICKS for lunch and I really thought those were great.

Despite Grandpa Husker's prediction, I am not quite comfortable walking solo yet.  I still love to push around my lion (gwrrrar) and my activity center toy.  I like to walk while I am holding hands with someone too, especially if they are helping me chase my doggie around.  I move around the family room a lot when I'm playing, but just don't want to let go of anything quite yet.

Hugs and kisses to everyone!  I love you."

We LOVE visits from Auntie Adrienne

As always, we are all very thankful for another visit from Aunt Adrienne and all the fun times she's had with us...even Gus.  He was able to get outside and go for a jog or two while Adrienne was in town, something Scott and I don't have too much time to do as it is nearly impossible to take both Gus and Natalie in the stroller without breaking an ankle or wrist.

Thanks to Adrienne's patience and reading this book 1,000 times together,
Natalie now points to the dogs and says "woof woof" when you ask her
to show you the doggies.

Bath time is always fun for Natalie but it is especially fun with Auntie because she gets extra silly splashy play time.

Look at those chunky legs!
Captivated by the ball castle at Grandpa Larry and Gramma Judy's house.

Birthday Cake Boss

Katie and Adrienne made me a cake this year for my 30th birthday.  It was a chocolate cake with crushed up Oreo cookies in the batter with white (vanilla) frosting.  The lovely Miss Katie took charge of the decorating...

Turning 30 sure tasted delicious!

Kid-free girls weekend

My sister invited me to join her and two of her friends for a ski trip to Breckenridge at the end of February.  Ummm, yes please!  So we rented a fabulous ski-in/ski-out condo on the slopes of Peak 8 and were ready to rock and roll.

Day 1: ready to roll

Lucky for us, the snow gods blessed us with fresh powder as soon as we arrived.  And then the snow gods continued to bless us for the next 3 days.  It was amazing.

Day 1: tree skiing in tons of fresh powder

We had a fantastic time exploring all the slopes, checking out the local restaurants, enjoying wonderful Colorado brews and hanging out with Adrienne's two awesome friends.

I'm super lucky to have such an amazing sister and best friend.

ALL ABOARD

Ever since I've been involved in Katie's life, and even before I was around, Scott has gone into Katie's room each morning to wake her for school and then re-appeared moments later with Katie on his back.  She gets a piggy-back ride to the kitchen and into her special breakfast chair at the island each morning for breakfast where a bowl of cereal, oatmeal or yogurt and granola is ready and waiting.

And now that Natalie is around and not quite so fragi-le (it must be French), Scott plucks her out of her crib in the morning (she's usually standing there waiting for you to get her) and then goes into Katie's room to wake Katie.

This morning, I was finally ready and waiting with the camera in hand for the Daddy breakfast train to come down the hallway...

Next stop, BREAKFAST!

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!