We have a mover!!

Nick called it!! Thanksgiving week she started to crawl, pull herself up, and cut her first tooth! Right around her 7 month birthday. I'm so glad Nick's mom was here for all the fun! Now, a month later, she basically crawls all over my house. It's so awesome, and so scary all at once. She has bumped her head a few times, but seems to be pretty durable at this point. She has pulls herself up on everything. This week though was the first time I walked into her room to get her from her nap and she was standing in the crib!! It was so exciting, it made me well up. I took 900 pictures as she stood there all proud. It was adorable. Her personality is really starting to shine through. She is definitely our kid, never stops moving, eats everything I put on a spoon (or on her tray), and she's funny :) 


The house renovations are really coming to a close. Nick and I love the outcome, it's been a long month and a half though. Can't wait to be finished! Our sister-in-law Dana is going to help us with all the decorating when they come visit next month. 


Nick's new job is going great. I'm getting adjusted to him not being here. It's tough, but getting easier each week. This week he has been gone since sunday AM and doesn't get home till tonight (thursday). I'm hoping this is an abnormally long trip, 5 full days is rough. The hardest part is having to walk winston when I get home from work tuesday and wednesday night (sometimes not till 9:00). Nat has been going to bed early so I have to put a sleeping baby in a stroller and walk him. No fun. Might be looking into having a neighborhood kid walk him those days. Professional dog walkers apparently make really good money. Sheesh. 


Natalie got sick last wednesday, she is a trooper though. I caught her cold and now we are both coughing and sneezing. She is getting much better the last two days. She is on amoxicillin :( Her cold turned into an ear infection which commonly happens with babies...apparently. So much to learn. After hour pediatrics was awesome! Thank goodness it's a 1/2 mile from my house. And it was free...I've got the hook up in the insurance department lol. 


I got a new high chair from IKEA. iIt's amazing, so easy, so much cleaner, and $25.00. If you are preggo and contemplating buying a huge, pretty, cushiony one for $150.00 don't do it. Borrow one from someone, then once they can sit on their own buy the IKEA one. 


Thanksgiving was amazing! She had a blast with family and we all ate too much. Nat had some mashed potatoes, and puree turkey with cranberries. Getting so excited for Christmas, she loves all the lights! Nick and I already went and played santa, it was so much fun!! She obviously has no idea, but we can't wait. Last christmas I was 5 month preggo, feeling great, and dreaming about our little girl. Now this christmas will be so special having her here. 


This weekend our task at hand is to finish decorating and send out or christmas cards. We are late, but have a valid excuse...she is cute and we call her Bean. 


I did make some notes the past two months with the intentions of doing a blog update much sooner. So here we go:
-She has two teeth on the bottom. 
-She weighs 17lbs.
-She is wearing mostly 9 month clothes (PJs are tight on the legs).
-She crawls everywhere
-She pulls herself up
-She walks if you hold her hands
-She eats chicken, turkey and beans for protein
-All vegetables and pretty much all fruits
-We have yogurt for a snack, puffs, and an occasional mum mum.
-I'm still pushing organic only diet, haven't been making as much of her food (busy with the house...and holidays).
-She uses a sippy cup, although sometimes I give her just the cup part (I've been advised by a speech pathologist to switch the a straw cup. I'll be doing so ASAP).
-Water only, no juice yet. 
-She is in size 2-3 diapers and I no longer like regular pampers. Baby Dry rule. I might try huggies soon.
-Not that I was a huge fan of the giant bows that take up my whole childs face, but anything we put on her head she yanks off lol. 
-Getting her diaper changed or dressed for the day is a task. She refuses to sit still, it's comical. 
-SHe is a happy happy baby. Always smiling
-Only gets fussy when she is tired. 
-Wants to play and play all day. 
-Natalie loves books, her binky and blanky, her daddy (when he is home she crys when he leaves the room), being sang to, Winston, blocks, being outside, peek-a-boo, wheels on the bus, and itsy bitsy spider, and music. 
-We play dave matthews lullaby music on the car ride home when I work and she falls right to sleep :)


Our little Bean will be 8 months old next week. I wish I could stop time, it's incredible how fast it goes by. She brings so much joy to our life, puts a smile on our faces, and so much love in our hearts. This has been the best year of my life...so far :)

The next 2 weeks are the busiest weeks for me at work, so I'll be blogging again after the new year. Happy and a healthy holiday to everyone!!!

Thanksgiving with Nama and Daddy

Thanksgiving Mit, mommy, and Mimi

Daddy Time :)

IKEA highchair

Helping me do laundry

Standing in her crib!

Photo Card

Fun Christmas Wishes Christmas

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6 months (and a week)!

Holy Moley. We have a 6 month old. She had her half birthday on October 23rd! Craziness. Nick and I shake our heads in disbelief everyday over how fast this has gone by. She continues to amaze us, makes us smile, make us laugh, and make us tired everyday lol. We love the show Up All Night, but last weeks episode 'the birth' made me ok with not having another one anytime soon. I'm good for right now, thanks. 

It's been a busy few weeks. I'll start at last weekend cause I can't recall much before that. This is why it would be ideal for me to write once a week. Just saying. Jo and Wally came in town on Friday AM. Jo and I had a day of beauty, poor miss misery came with us. She had been teething pretty bad last week. But she slept through most of our hair appointments then cried pretty much the entire time we were at work while Jo was getting her nails done. Good thing I don't embarrass easily. She was a hot mess. It was mommy's fault for forgetting the tylenol. We had a much better evening once we got home. Jo's mom and BF came over for a visit and we had some great steaks on the grill (courtesy of Nick Tatge). Saturday morning we dropped Nat off at my mom's house and took off to O-town for some wedding fun. Leaving her doesn't get any easier, but I know I have no worries when my mom watches her. Jeff and Richy are usually a big help too. 

The wedding was AWESOME! It was so great to see everyone, get dressed up with the hubby, have multiple cocktails, dance it up with my Kappa girls, and sleep. Tara and Matt threw a great party, and it was a beautiful ceremony. The weather was perfect, they looked so incredibly happy :)

We picked up bean Sunday late afternoon, my poor mom looked exhausted. She said she had a total blast with Nat and she slept perfect for her mimi. We are soooo lucky we can rely are her, but I'm sure she slept like a rock sunday night. Bean is....well....active. lol. We wouldn't have her any other way though :)

Monday we hung out in Delray with Jo's mom, and Jo took some cute photos of Nat at the park. We tried the swing...not quite there yet, but she thought sitting on the slide was fun enough. Had a great time with our weekend guest, and we can't wait to have more weekend guest next week! Hooray for the Patch visit!

THE 6 MONTH CHECKUP

Her checkup went awesome. Minus the shots, oh and she tore up the entire paper they put on the table. It was a mess, the nurse pretended she thought it was funny though, so it's fine. Nat is 15lbs 8oz, 25 3/4 inches tall, and has a 17" cranium. 50 percentile for everything except the dome (75). She gained over a pound since we went a month ago so Dr. Gina was pleased. I told her how we let Nat cry (ferber method) and she was also pleased that was working. She was impressed with the variety in her diet thus far. We talked meat, baby proofing, teething, poop, sippy cups, thanksgiving dinner etc. I considered getting her ears pierced but then changed my mind. I can't do it....maybe 9 months lol. 

LOOK WHAT I CAN DO

We introduced some new foods in the last 2 weeks. We did apricots, whole wheat oatmeal, and chicken. So far so good, some days depending on her bottle schedule she gets an afternoon snack (fruit or veggie). I've also started mixing things for dinner (providing we have already tried them before). We are still doing 4 7oz bottles. Every 4 hours. She wakes up around 7 or 7:30 everyday and bedtime is still 9:00. If I could only get rid of the late day cat nap we could totally do an 8:00 bedtime!!! Still trying. Maybe another month or so. It's fine, she is sleeping!! She wakes up at 5:30 every morning, but usually puts herself back to sleep. 

She sits independently for long periods of time now. I bought her the alphabet foam mat for the floor, she is all over the place now! So much fun. It's really neat to watch her figure everything out. She has a really cute "I'm intently thinking right now" face. She plays with her hands all the time now, I'm thinking clapping might happen soon. She is also getting pretty good with the sippy cup. It's the best when she dangles it from her mouth with no hands, then cracks up when it hits the floor.  Smashing all her toys together is her new favorite, I think she is going to be destructive like her uncle Ryan. We even get up on all fours from the sitting position and rock back and forth. She can take her time on crawling....I'm not prepared. No really. I'm scared. Nick put money on it happening before thanksgiving. I'm still holding out for christmas time. We will see. 

Side note: I discovered TJ max is a great place to buy Fischer Price toys CHEAP! 

This week we have been trying to figure out outfits for our holiday photo shoot in 12 days. Leave it to me to wait it out just long enough to cause lots of stress. Super. It's starting to get crazy busy with work now. I can't believe holidays are around the corner now, crazy! Speaking of holidays, Halloween is in two days. We will probably just dress bean up and sit out front handing out candy. LOTS O KIDDOS in this hood. As I speak we are missing the Halloween party of the century!! Nick's Aunt Teri throws a huge bash every year, we were trying to make it up there but....NICK GOT A PROMOTION AT WORK!! Hooray!! I'm so incredibly proud of him. He works soooo hard and really deserves it. So we did have to put off traveling this weekend but maybe next year we can make it up for the festivities. Nick's new job also means he will be traveling weekly, probably every week Monday-Thursday. It will be an adjustment for both of us. I'm definitely going to miss him and his helping hand with bean, and he is definitely going to miss his two girls...natalie especially. We are both really looking forward to the new adventure though. 

Yesterday a huge surprised got delivered. It was my anniversary present. It was an amazing spin bike. Not just any spin bike. A tour de France spin bike that has Jillian Micheals built in to yell at me while I ride. BEST. HUBBY. EVER. I had the morning off today and proceeded to test it out. Man am I out of shape....pathetic. Such an awesome gift, he really spoils me too much. I went in the garage twice today after my ride just to look at it. I still miss my road bike, but this is much more convenient for a mommy. 

This is a huge post. 

Nick and I are babysitting right now for our friends 7 week old. She is such a little cutie. I forgot how tiny Nat was...unreal. I also forgot all the grunting noises that go on during their sleep. I don't miss those lol. She is such a good baby though, out cold sleeping, I think we hung out for 20 minutes then our job was done. It's funny how much more you check on someone else's baby sleeping in your house. Bean was a handful this evening. She likes to mix it up when we have company...it's cool. 

Alright my brain hurts from all this. I'm going to bed. 

FERBER RULES!

25 WEEKS!

Lots of pictures this post! I usually don't but I did. BOOM! 

Big Girl Car Seat!

Bath time :)

My teeth hurt daddy!

I realize its been 11 days since my last post, but I wanted to update on how the "crying it out" situation went. Night 1 worked. It was miserable. But night 2 only took 15 minutes. I only had to go in there once, and night 3 took 5 minutes. In the last 12 days we have had 8 perfect nights of sleep. She puts herself to sleep like a champ at 9:00PM. Sometimes she talks to herself for a while first. But she stays asleep ALL NIGHT until about 7:00AM! We have had 2 or 3 nights where she wakes up, but she goes back to sleep after 5 minutes or so...WITHOUT me putting the binky back in her month. This morning she woke up at 5:30 ready to party. I guess this will happen occasionally. I'm more than pleased and hoping it keeps up :)

I can't believe she is almost 6 months already. She has been getting so good with sitting up. She even catches her balance a little bit now. Sitting really opens up a whole new world of playtime!! It's such a blast, I love thursdays and fridays when I get to be home with her all day. The living room floor is where we spend most of our time playing since it's the only place down stairs that has some cushion on the floor. She stills loves the walker and the jumperoo. The exersaucer is upstairs must of the time so I can shower, or put laundry away. The acid forest is getting phased out since she gets aggravated trying to roll when she gets blocked in.


She Insists on having one toy in each hand and slams them up and down vigorously. I just try to stay out of her way lol. Everything still goes in the mouth, and if she sees me on my iPhone, she has to have it! I feel as though I need to sanitize it daily now cause eventually she is going to win the battle and get it in her mouth. She is such a happy girl! Always laughing at nothing, smiling away. She makes me one happy mommy :)


Side Note: Nick and I watched bridesmaids last night (i made him). It was even funnier the second time! The deleted scenes are hilarious!


We are officially loving the jogging stroller. Nick got me the city elite for mothers day and we have been using it the past few weeks. I have yet to have time to run/blade but it will come. I haven't been able to workout in over a month. It's gross. I don't feel like myself. I was starting to get back in shape in august and now I'm back at square one. It's only going to get busier with the holidays and work!! AAGGGHHHH! Staying positive though, I'm going today for sure!!

Bean eats everything!! I'm a baby food making machine. This week I made, butternut squash, peas, string beans, zucchini, and sweet potatoes. I have enough veggies frozen to last till thanksgiving. No joke. Maybe longer. I want to do carrots but they don't puree as smoothly as I'd like, so I've been buying the brand "Earth's Best" for carrots and fruit. Didn't know avocado was a fruit until I started doing this though. Random. Nat's a fan of avocado like her mommy! That and bananas are the easiest to make, no cooking involved.

We are taking on a few big house projects within the next month. Hoping to have everything done before Nick's mom gets here for Thanksgiving! We are redoing the floors with new tile downstairs! I'm so excited! We might also redo the downstairs bathroom! And Aunt Dana is designing our new family room! We can't wait, she is awesome. It's going to look amazing! My parents are nice enough to take on the chaos known as the Tatge clan! It will be a house full lol.

clearly hates pumpkins. 

We are attempting the farm again this weekend in hopes that Natalie will be in a better mood lol. I'm determined to find an orange tutu today for her to wear tomorrow. No luck still on an orange bow. I'm not creative sooooo making it is not an option!

I survived my first cold with a child. It's pretty intense, but I'm just thankful nat and nick didn't get sick also. Nick did a morning for me with her so I could try and get a little extra rest. And my awesome receptionist at work covered for me tuesday to save me the hassle.

Our friends Tara and Matt are getting married next weekend in Celebration, FL!!!! We are so stoked, I can't wait!! We are leaving bean with my mom for the night and driving up. Jo and Wally fly in Friday!! Wooohooo!! I miss them, it's rough having your bff so far away, you'd think it would get easier since it's been 6 years....not so much. I can't wait for them to spend time with Nat, it will be a fun filled weekend, that's for sure!

Nick and I had a date night last weekend! We went to a US soccer game. Pretty fantastic I must say! Way better than watching baseball! US won, of course, cause we were there. We both classed it up and had a monster sized hot dog and a miller lite. Nice!

Ok huge post! We have a lot to do this weekend, and delicious burgers to eat tonight at our friends Jim & Julie's house! Hooray! I still have to get a dress for next weekend. Nick is going to be my fashion advisor, and Natalie will be toughest critic in the dressing room. Laundry to do, groceries to buy, busy busy :)

Peace out.

"Crying It Out" Night 1

You wouldn't think that letting your baby "cry it out" would also mean you would be crying right along with them. Holy crap that was ridiculous. Tonight was the first night of "Ferberizing" our bean. As I've mentioned, I've been told multiple times now that in order to stop Natalie from be dependent on me and her binky to fall asleep this is what needed to be done. I have tired, literally, of having interrupted sleep from 1:00AM to 6:00AM every morning. As advised by... well, everyone... I decided I had to crack down and make it happen. I bought the book "How to Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Dr. Ferber, on my iPad and have been reading it since Saturday. I knew I needed some kind of guidance so I went for it.

Night 1 of Ferberizing
Normal bedtime routine: bath time, lotion, PJs, Bottle, playtime (30minutes), and finally a few books in the rocking chair. Normally at this point I rock bean for a good 15 minutes and then once she is out cold lay her in her crib for bed. Instead tonight I opted for HELL! The easy to read chart in the book sounded nice and gradual. However, it failed to mention how 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 10 minutes would result in me crying on the floor outside her door. I also developed a good dose of hives after my first visit into her room when she looked at me all excited. Needless to say it was straight misery. By 26 minutes she started to simmer down a bit so I didn't go back in at the ten minute mark. She was quiet for a good 30 seconds at a time. This is the only time I wish I had a video monitor lol. It had been 8 minutes of quiet so I checked on her and she was out cold. After 40 minutes total I went downstairs and poured myself a well deserved Sam Adams Oktoberfest.

Supposedly, I'm to continue this when she wakes up during the night. Wish me luck. Cheers.

5 months and 1 week :)

Our bean is getting so big! She officially sits up! It’s the coolest thing ever. She can play from a whole new angle, and is loving it. She also started throwing her hands up and down the last few weeks which usually results in a toy flying backward without warning. And she lifts her hands up when you walk over to pick her up. It completely melts my heart. She rolls all over the place and tries to drag herself across the floor head first lol. Winston is still hysterical, she loves to splash in the tub (I’m usually drenched afterwards). We have been getting much better at peek-a-boo, and she seems to have a longer attention span for reading time lately. She smiles at everyone! So far no stranger anxiety yet.  

We bought her a walker cause it’s nice and small and folds up. I needed something I can bring it to work, friends houses, & grandpa’s house easily. She can only scoot backwards, it’s cute. I thinking about switching her to her big car seat here soon. She hates the infant one, and it’s such a pain in the hinny. Now the trick is which one to buy without breaking the bank, (we need 3) I have one already. 

We went to the doctor today, i have yet to be able to call and ask a question without them making me come in for a visit. But today I was ok with it. Sometimes I feel like a monthly check up would be better these first few months. I had lots of questions today, and I’m sick of looking things up online. I get to many opinions and not enough educated answers. 

We talked a lot about Natalie’s awesome day time schedule and what a happy girl she is all day. Then lots about how she doesn’t like to sleep at night anymore without waking up multiple times for no reason. I probably get one good night of sleep a week now. They rest are interrupted 3 and 4 times to put the binky back in her mouth. I had received advice from two mom friends that I need to suck it up and let her “cry it out”, but today when the pediatrician said it, it seems more serious. I’m not excited about it. I’m going to start tonight since Nick doesn’t have to work tomorrow, and I don’t go into work until 12:00. I’m starting with 10 minutes because that’s probably all I can handle. THIS IS LAME! 

On a fun note Natalie is a champ with solid foods so far. She has eaten apples, bananas, peaches, pears & prunes with her oatmeal in the mornings. Veggies she has had carrots, zucchini, butternut squash, peas, green beans & sweet potatoes! She seems to like the vegetables better than the fruit so far. Maybe it’s cause the oatmeal is gross. We will see. Tonight she is getting avocados for the first time, then next week we do mangos for the first time. This is so much fun! I have been making all of her veggies, but I’ve been buying Earth’s Best stage 1 for her fruits. They seem to be one of the most affordable brands that has a perfect ingredients list that looks like this- 

Ingredients: organic bananas. 

Everything else has tuna oil, and chloride, and other stuff i can’t pronounce (or spell). A few more weeks and we can do meats! There is no way in hell I’m feeding her the meat in the jar stuff. It looks like dog poop. pureed dog poop. I’m sure I’ll get lazy at some point but for today this is my stance. 

Her stats today were still great. She is 5mths and a week today. The white spot on her leg is DEFINITELY a birth mark (sigh of relief). She weighs 14lbs 8oz now! Over a pound bigger from her 4mth check up. And still has a cute butt and no hair lol. 

Last weekend I took on the project of washing all of her 6mth clothes. It took 3 loads, holy crap. I then packed up pretty much all of her 3mth or 3-6mth stuff. We visited with Natalie’s friend Maizy (2 weeks old) the other day and delivered a bag full of clothes. I kept most of it however for potentially baby #2. 

I can’t believe it’s october already! Where did the summer go, not that I’m complaining...it’s hot and I’m over it, I want to open up the house already!!! We are going to the pumpkin patch one of these weekends so we can take some pics with bean. I think in November we are going to have the photographer that did Natalie’s Newborn pictures take some photos of us for Christmas cards. An exciting few months coming up! I really want to just stop time and spend everyday playing on the floor with my little girl. She is so much fun, I love this age, she is getting so big so fast. I need another one lol. NOT NOW OBVIOUSLY! But soonish :)

The first BIG Wisco trip....

Oh boy. We went on a big vacation with bean, and it went AWESOME! She was amazing. She was so well behaved I wondered where Natalie went, and who switched my child out lol. No really...she has been so good the last few weeks I thought for sure she would at least give us a little trouble on our trip but she was literally an angel. Such a happy baby! I had so much anxiety I really could have used a good dose of zanax Thursday. I had a slight headache the first few days just from nerves. Tylenol and good beer helped me through it :)

The first plane ride was a little bumpy. She fussed a bit getting to sleep about half way through the trip, but then slept until we got into the rental car. Our friends Ryan and Jenny made a trip so much easier by leading us all kinds of cool kids toys. We had a fun time visiting with them and their three adorable kids! They treated us to yummy pizza, and we got to play with their kids for a few hours! Ryan amazed us with his bounce/pat burping skills. Natalie is usually in too much of a hurry to eat to be burped really well, but with Ryan's way cool method - Natalie is a burp machine! LOL Ryan even met us at the airport with a car seat. Thank you guys so much for everything! Natalie rocked a big girl car seat the whole trip, she loved it!

We stayed in Chicago the first night with my brother and sister-in-law. Aunt Dana sang Natalie a cute honey bear song, and uncle Ryan got her a bears snowsuit! We will be ready for Wisco winter next year! Friday we drove to Sconie and hung out with Grandma all day, then went to a blues concert at the Beloit lagoon. Mommy and daddy went out with the big kids and grandma went home with Bean. We saw some of Nick's friends and hung with Ryan, Dana, and her sister Kristen. Uncle Ryan tore up the dance floor at Sud's!!

Saturday we went to Nick's aunt Teri's house (she runs a pig farm.) She made a kick ass dinner (pork of course) and invited lots of family over to meet Natalie. We had a great time, and Bean continued to behave like a champ. She wore her "Tiny Tatge" shirt and everyone raved about it! We had a photo shoot thanks to Grandma on the farm and got a lot of really great photos!! Did I mention how adorable she looks in jeans. It's ridiculous, I can't take it. Another highlight: I caught a fire fly....just saying!!

Sunday was the big day!! Eric's Ironman!! For those of you who don't know thats a 2.5 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and then a full 26.2 mile marathon. Holy cow! The day began early in the morning (4 AM early) ... so early in the morning that mommy forgot the most important thing to have for your baby: FORMULA!! How I managed this one was beyond me...don't ask. Needless to say it's a good thing Natalie has the best daddy ever. He hitched a cab to the nearest (not close at all) grocery store and picked some up. For it being a relatively good sized town, nothing is open in downtown Madison on Sunday mornings - nothing! Nick rushed back to see Eric's first transition, but he just missed it by seconds. I felt awful. But  Eric was great in the water! He made great time in the swim!

In fact, uncle Eric made that Ironman his bi-otch. He finished in 87th place overall - and ahead of 10 pros!!! Not bad for that being his FIRST Ironman!!! (He's doing two next year!!) We had a huge crew watching and cheering him on. We all had lots of goosebumps, we were all so full of pride, and I must have welled up 10 times throughout the day just thinking of his amazing achievement. We are all so, so proud of him. It was incredible to watch. And just to make a fantastic day even better, he proposed to his girlfriend (aunt Marissa) seconds before he crossed the finished line. It was amazing, words can not describe what a wonderful day it was, and what an awesome accomplishment he achieved. Hooray for weddings!!
(If you haven't seen the video on Facebook - check it out! It's one of the best engagements EVER!)

I'm leaving A LOT of details out, but all and all it was a great trip. Bean met lots of friends and family, got some really good grandma and grandpa time in, and cheered on her Ironman Uncle. By the time Monday came I really missed my daughter lol. Everyone wanted to hold her, and she wanted to be held by everyone! I felt like I had a mommy break for 5 days. Everyone was so good with her, and Nick and I were more than happy to share.

She has been so good since turning 4 months I really don't want her to get any bigger. I love, love this age. She has done lots of rolling over now, almost sits up by herself, loves the high chair, tries to scoot herself when on her belly, loves veggies, sleeps through the night (aside from waking up for her bink occasionally), jumps in the jumperoo like a champ, talks and laughs up a storm. When she looks at Winston (our Boston Terrier) she CRACKS UP! Something about him just makes her soooo happy! She also loves it when you make noises with your mouth. She will make cooing noises and baby talk for hours on end. She still loves her mobile, but REALLY loves to play with the toys on her exer-saucer and jumparoo. I'm so in love! I can't get enough of my Bean.

And added note, our friends Angela and Dan became parents on Tuesday. CONGRATULATIONS on their new addition Maizy Joy. Natalie and I went and visited her today. So darn cute, and so little, bean looked like a beast next to her. And oddly she thought the baby was hysterical. She laughed at her for like 5 minutes straight. It was funny.

Ok I'm off to bed. Nat put herself to sleep like a big girl tonight at 9:30. Getting earlier and earlier. Hopefully we will eliminate that late day nap here soon. Fingers crossed :)

There are a million pictures of Facebook. But here are a few favorites.

4 Months....and a few weeks lol

Oh my gosh....it’s been too long again. I’m bullet pointing.

Nat had her 4 month checkup on August 23rd. She was 13lbs.6oz. 24 3/4 inches. 75% for height, 50% for weight, and 60% for dome. 

-We have started food: she has had organic homemade peas and zucchini and string beans. I love my breeza baby food maker. It’s awesome. So far she has likes everything, I got smiles with the zucchini (she is Italian). In Wisconsin she will get organic carrots from the store. I won’t have time to be making baby food on our trip lol. We tried rice first and it seemed to be binding, so we are now doing oatmeal instead in the mornings. She sits in the bebe pod seat to eat right now. I’ll break out the highchair soon I’m sure. 

-She rolls over the hard way now. From back to front!! The first time was Monday night but she quickly was back on her back, then she did it again last night and stayed on her belly, but I missed it (I was doing dishes dammit).

-Aunt Jo got in town on Thursday the 25th, Natalie was so excited to play with her. Jo is in love lol.  Then Jo and I took off Saturday early morning for our friend Tara’s bachelorette party!!! It was so much fun, felt so weird to not have to look at the clock, change a diaper, feed anyone lol. I missed her by about 4:00pm that day. Not to bad, I think I did good! Speaking of doing good, daddy watched her over the two days and he did fantastic!! She doesn’t like to nap for him, but I think it’s because he is just so much fun :) He did an awesome job, multiple people were amazed by his courage!! I’m a lucky girl!! He really is an excellent dad!

-She talks up a storm, and now figured out she can screech....very loud. It’s adorable, I think she scares herself doing it.

-Winston cracks her up. He doesn’t even have to do anything and she laughs uncontrollably at him.

-She was still struggling with staying asleep all night, getting up multiple times for her bink. I was really starting to miss the days when she would go down at 10:30 and wake up at 7:30. What happened. The last 5 days however, she has been sleeping much better. I’m thrilled. Who knows how long it will last but I’m enjoying the 11:00-7:00 stretch without a peep :) 

-The pediatrician said she definitely sees a tooth. I thought I was a total crazy person, but its there. Very tiny, still hasn’t broken all the way threw, but she seems to be in a bit less pain as she was 2 weeks ago. We did Tylenol a few nights and one Monday she was really sad, cranky, and in a lot of pain. Mom watched her and gave her a few doses. I was told absolutely no orajel, so we tried an ice cube in that little mesh thing. She is a fan, and can hold it herself without a struggle now.

-We had to visit the pediatrician on Thursday (9/1). She has a little yeast infection in the diaper area, and possibly a UTI. Poor baby girl. I freaked out thinking I’ve been doing something wrong. The doctor said absolutely not, some little girls are just more susceptible to them, especially in the summer time. She is on a cream and amoxicilin. I guess better this week than next week when we are up north. 

-Speaking of, we are getting so excited (me, nervous) for our trip. We can wait for Natalie to meet some awesome family and friends. Should be good times. I’m a little nervous about the plane ride, and I’m sure her schedule will be a mess with all the visiting and event we have going on. We will just have to keep our fingers crossed. It’s all worth the potential fussiness to get to spend time with good people!! She is a good girl as long as you keep her busy so we will see. We should have plenty of warm clothes just in case, but right now the weather is looking gorgeous!! A break from the heat and humidity will be great!!

-She is so fun, so many new things happening this last month!! She wants to be standing all the time. She refuses to sit in your lap, she wants to be UP! Such strong soccer legs like her daddy. She loves the jumperoo and the exersaucer. The swing hasn’t been used in over a month. It’s getting fazed out of her life, and the living room. She giggles, plays with her feet, puts everything in her mouth, loves to be loud, and be on her belly. We are moving right along, It’s absolutely amazing how such a little girl can bring us so much love!! We are so blessed :)

16 weeks

So miss Natalie is awesome. She is getting so big, this week we played in the exersaucer a lot! She is hysterical. She gets really aggravated when she can’t get the toys on the exersaucer into her mouth. I don’t know where she would have gotten such a temper from....ehem....daddy lol. She screams and throws herself backwards all pissed. I can’t help but laugh at her. It’s even cute when she is mad. 

We got a new car on tuesday!! I’m such a lucky girl, Nick got me such a sweet ride. Kia has apparently come a long way. My dad (mr. american car himself) was even impressed. Such a difference from the Element. I loved my box, but i was clearly missing out on comfort and luxury lol. Natalie likes it too :)

I still think she is teething a little. Nick thinks I’m crazy. No teeth yet, but the drool and the fist eating is still intense. She chews on cold teethers, don’t know that its helping, but she likes it and thinks the coldness is funny. She also thinks Winston is funny, she watches him and laughs. 

Nat has been finishing her 7oz. bottles 2/4 times a day. So she is eating about 26oz. now. My little chunker, she is really starting to filling out. My brother isn’t even afraid to hold her anymore. Him and his girlfriend Jamie babysat Nat on saturday night. Nick and I went to Baseball & Brews with some friends. It was a fun time, Nat gave Jamie a hard time going down for a nap, I felt awful. Not a fun feeling when your munchkin is a mess and you’re not there to help :( I wanted to leave and drive home. Poor Jamie. But after about 20 minutes of crying I got a text thats she was sleeping. Just a little hiccup. Hopefully we didn’t scare miss Jamie away. She is a nanny for a living so I’m assuming she is probably unfazed by the meltdown. Sunday we had lunch with my dad, Nat was perfect, the last 5 minutes she hit nap time, cried and passed out in the car like clock work lol. 

I ordered a stroller last week also. We need something small and light weight, so I’m not lugging around that beast stroller that goes with the car seat. I really don’t carry Nat in the car seat much anymore unless she is sleeping. I can’t believe how many strollers are necessary. It’s a little ridiculous. 

The cat is officially out of the bag. We were trying to surprise Nick’s youngest brother Eric and fly up to Wisco for his Ironman competition. He somehow found out, but it doesn’t matter, we are so excited for him!! I already have anxiety about flying with sweet pea. But I’m sure it will be fine (I keep telling myself that), and if its not oh well. It’s only a 3 hour flight :) I cannot wait for Nicks brothers, family and friends to meet Natalie. It’s going to be so much fun!! Maybe we will get to see some pretty leaves, and it might be chilly!! AAHHH I’m so stoked! Our friends Ryan and Jenny are nice enough to let us borrow some baby gear so we don’t have to worry about lugging everything with us. We are so thankful they offered. I’m sure that will make things so much easier :)

Ok I need to work. Getting excited for Nat’s four month checkup next tuesday. I’ll post after her appt. 

 Too sunny in the big pool, so Nat played in her own pool to cool off! 

Her favorite big girl toy :)

15 weeks

I really need to stay more on top of this. When kiddo number two comes around I’m going to need a reference and this every couple of weeks post isn’t going to help. 

Nick was away for a few days last week and this week. It really wore me out. I don’t realize how much i rely on him when he is here. HE IS AN HUGE HELP AND A GREAT DADDY! Needless to say I’m really glad he is back lol. 

Going back to work has been great (its been 6 weeks). My friend Kim from work has been watching Natalie every Monday all day. That is the longest day I work, and I’m sure a long day for Kim as well. She has a 2 and a half year old so Natalie and little Rikki keep her very busy. I always feel bad when my munchkin isn’t behaving, but most of the time things go smoothly. I miss her the most on Mondays. Tuesday and Wednesday I work from about 2- close. These days my mom has her. She is usually pretty good but sometimes the transition to driving 25 minutes home around 8:00 doesn’t go so well. Occasionally I go into work on a thursday for an afternoon, or a Saturday but usually it’s just the three days. I love my days at home with her. She really is on a fantastic schedule. It was tough to get her here, but it seems to make our day run so perfect (usually lol). We are still working on bedtime and not swaddling but it’s coming right along. 

She is up to 4 6oz bottles a day. A month ago she was doing 6 4oz bottles. We transitioned to 5 5oz bottles and now here we are. So much easier! And a lot less bottles to wash! I usually make 7oz just in case she is still hungry, but rarely does she drink all of it. She sleeps from about 10-7. As we continue this saga of weaning from the swaddle some nights she wakes up around 4 or 5 and just needs a bink(pacifier) and her arms tucked in to go back to sleep. We are making progress though. She sleeps in a long sleeved onesie and the halo sleep sack (arms out). Florida summers are hot and humid, so I try to keep it cool in the house so she isn’t to warm during the night. 

During the day she eats about every 4-4.5 hours. Takes two 2 hour naps and a cat nap late in the day. Plays lots! A typical day goes as follows:

Breakfast bottle at 8:00, walk in the stroller with winston at 9:00, Play in/on various fisher price contraptions all over the house until 10:30. Then either in the swing or the crib with her blanky and a bink. Usually takes her about 15 minutes to fall asleep. She is down for 2 hours, then up around 12-12:30 for a lunch bottle. We repeat the steps above in the afternoon (minus the walk cause it’s hot as hell). Dinner bottle around 4:30-5, then we play till about 7:00 and go for a walk. She usually falls asleep on this walk and will stay asleep for about 30-45 minutes (cat nap). If she misses the cat nap our evening is a little rough. Then at 8:00 we do bath time, 8:30 bottle and play for a hour or so. By 10:00 she is ready for bed. We read a book or two and she hits the crib with her blanky and bink. We have had a fews week of this schedule (the night time varies, some nights I have to rock her). Last night she took a while to go to sleep, i had to rock her a little and then she randomly woke up at 1:00, and 5:00 needing her bink. But usually we are pretty good. I love our schedule. The best advice I have received so far was to get your baby on a schedule early (thanks Sandra). It has made everything so much easier, and Nat is a happy little girl because of it! If the schedule is thrown off however, we are a hot hot mess :)

Natalie blows lots of bubbles now, especially when you blow bubbles at her, she giggles lots, even at herself when no one is in the room lol. She never stops smiling, except when she does her sad face (the bottom lip melts my heart). She doesn’t like to lay back in anything. She tries to sit up in the stroller and bouncy seat (unsuccessful, but she holds her neck up). She is pretty strong, gets that from me obviously. We do lots of tummy time, she likes to stand up when you hold her, some naps she sleeps best on her side (i know I’m a horrible mother, I check on her 9,456 times). She loves her blanky, she watches winston, still likes her rainforest mat, can grasp toys, and reaches for things too. Bright star makes the best toys ever. She loves this giraffe with all kinds of fun things hanging on him. The exersaucer works wonders in the kitchen when I’m trying to cook or wash bottles. She is a huge fan of the bjorn when we run errands, or when I have to fold laundry. She goes crazy for the monkeys on her crib mobile, legs are kicking so hard I have to clear her space so she doesn’t injure herself or anyone else. There is drool everywhere, I usually leave a bib on her (which she puts in her mouth) all day. Everything goes in her mouth so I’ve been washing toys more often lol. 

Only things I’m concerned about on a regular basis is her eye. She still has the clogged tear duct, it’s yucky and I wish it would get better already. Not much can be done, we go through lots of washcloths cleaning and massaging it several times a day. Hopefully soon, her 4 month checkup is in a few weeks. 

I can’t beleive how fast time goes by....I HAVE A 15 WEEK OLD!! She is amazing and even when I’m exhausted from a rough day, she still makes me smile. I love her so much it’s scary lol. 

Our favorite toy

Like mother like daughter...this is what happens when we put on a dress.

Chillin'

At Mimi's house sportin' a huge hat. 

3 Months

3 months (I found this entry in my documents from 2 weeks ago lol. Unfinished but whatever). 

What a whirlwind. I decided over the last few weeks that moms who have multiple children deserve awards...no wait trophies...no...cash prizes lol. Natalie is so much fun, and so busy! Mommy sometimes can’t recall if she brushed her teeth before she left the house. I now carry a toothbrush and paste in the diaper bag...no joke. Her hitting 3 months feels like such a milestone! I don’t know what it is, maybe the rolling over (from front to back only), the squealing, the laughing, the ability to grab toys, so much happens at once. 

Nick is putting together her exersaucer as we speak. The last few walks with winston she sits in the stroller like a big girl. I also plan  on testing the bjorn forward facing here soon. Get excited! Cause I am...these are the things that excite me now. lol. I’ve stopped reading my weekly updates from various baby websites. It’s like baby competition and I’m not taking part in it. It’s more fun just going with Natalie's timing. Lately, if I have a real concern or question check with the few moms I know who currently have two plus young kiddos. My mom is great for bouncing ideas off of, but I don’t expect her to remember 25 years ago what she did. 

We attempted to go to a bbq at my days house on Saturday. Epic fail. In total we were there for an hour. 30 of those minutes she was sleeping, 5  of those minutes she was awake, happy, and meeting everyone. The rest of the time, completely miserable. 

Teething?!?!?!

I called the pediatrician today. Natalie is apparently teething?? Seems way early, but when I described several of Herr symptoms the past week that was her diagnoses. She is about 9 days shy of 3 months. After scouring babycenter.com today I read It could happen this early. My poor munchkin :( Dr. Gina recommended Tylenol tonight. We will se how this goes. Natalie recently figured out how to pout. It's the sadest thing I've ever seen!! But still somehow so adorable! I love her!
I needed to do a quick update so I can refer back to this later. Lord knows I won't remember this details 17 minutes from now.

The return of the Colick.

Sssooo it's back. How did this happen. I thought I was in the clear. Natalie had been wonderful from 9-11 weeks old. Now my colicky little girl has returned. 4th night in a row...help!! I'm sure if you're a mom you know I have done nothing different. We do the swing, the stroller around the house, car rides, Bjorne with vacuum, all the tricks are used. I'm hoping this is just a speed bump. She cries from 8-11. She then passes out from exhausting herself for just enough time for me to shower & regain some sanity. Man is she adorable, even when she is pissed!! Then she wakes up hungry. Joy. I'm being reminded of what exhaustion felt like from a few weeks ago. 5:00 comes around way to early. This is clearly not a fun post, just venting :)

Feeding my little duckling now, fingers crossed she sleeps in tomorrow!! Dreaming is aloud lol.

11 weeks

Clearly trying to post every week after going back to work just doesn't happen! I feel like I could write a novel after two weeks of not posting. Well this is my new favorite photo of my munchkin. I'm trying to learn how to use Lightroom (photo program.) Maybe I should have taken up this project when I was pregnant and bored waiting for Natalie to get here, cause there is a ton to learn. 

Last week Nick and I went and renewed our membership for the gym in the neighborhood. I went immediately after we handed in our paperwork and check! It. Was. Awesome. I missed sweating so much and I'm getting tired of this mushy post Natalie body I've been rocking. Last summer I was in the best shape of my entire life and I'm ready to get back to that (hopefully lol). At least close anyway, Nick is pleased with the mom butt I have developed and I'm pretty sure the hips I have now aren't going anywhere, and I'm ok with that. I have yet to get on my bike, but I did use the spin bike a few times in the gym. Nick is a huge help with my schedule, he has mornings 3 days a week so I can workout for a hour. And today (Sunday) I apparently have the whole day off!! He has been up with her since 7:30, I slept till 9:30. And after I finish this post my day consists of the gym, maybe some sun, the market, and making guacamole! I told him I didn't really want the whole day off though cause tomorrow I start back working on Mondays again. I'm happy cause it's an important day for me to get things done at the shop but I'm going to miss my girl....a lot :(

Enough about me...I don't care that other people think they have cool kids, they just aren't as cool as my kid lol. She's fantastic! She play so much, can sit up in the bebe pod seat, giggles in her sleep, rocks tummy time, eats like a champ, is grabbing her toys, loves her blankie, we have great conversations, she hugs her daddy (not really but sometimes it looks like she is), and stares at winston. I read the book 12 hours of sleep by 12 weeks (thanks Jenny!!) and learned a lot. Some of it seems a little unrealistic, but I definitely got some pointers. I started changing her schedule to 5 5 oz bottles a day instead of 6 4oz bottles. She has done well with that the last two days and hopefully I can get her to go to sleep a little earlier than 11, 11:30 ish. I'm generally pretty exhausted everyday by 9 so it's a push to stay up till 12. Eventually the book says you can have them sleeping for 12 hours and only eating 4 bottles a day. We will see I guess, I have a hard time with the "letting them cry" method. 

Last week was the first time I said "I want another one" and actually meant it. Not anytime soon obviously, but they get big so fast, it's crazy. I miss when she was "still to little" for everything!! And she is only 11 weeks...SHEESH! I can now officially tell the difference between hungry cry, tired cry, and I just want your attention cry. It makes things easier lol. She goes down for a nap much better then she used to. Natalie has taken to this little blanket she has and now it's a vital part of nap time. She likes to grab on to it. So she gets a binky, her little blankie, and I rock her for a few minutes and she's out. Unless of course she gets too tired before I have a chance to follow the directions above. Then it's a little more complicated. 

At night she is sleeping usually 7-8 hours (which means I can get 6 good hours). Occasionally she wakes up in between but i can usually put a binky in her month, re-swaddle her and rub her head for a minute and she goes back to sleep.  I am starting to worry about the swaddling situation. She won't sleep as long at night without it. And I don't know how to wean her out of it. AGGHH! I like to sleep. We don't have another doctors appointment until 4 months in august so Ill have to ask about it then. 

She is wearing most of her 3 month stuff. 3-6 clothes are still big on her though. Some of her carters sleepers are too tight in the length area. I have cut feet out of 2 gerber sleepers, but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot if we are blessed with another one in a few years. I didn't realize baby sizes from brand to brand would very as much as jeans do for me. 

Last week I put her in the bjorn for a few of my errands. There was 3 stores in the same plaza I needed to hit so I just walked it. Didn't seem worth dragging out the stroller. I read some more info on the jumperoo. I guess I was mistaken. I thought they could use it at 3 months but a few things I read said 6 months. who knows. ill probably wait till her 4 month appointment and ask if she thinks its ok. 

Two side notes and then I'm off to the gym. 

1. I used to be a beer aficionado. yesterday I had an great summer grapefruit beer and texted my friends about it only to find out that I'm lame, and everyone has already tried it. POOP. 

2. Nick bought me a book called "Let's panic about babies". The subtitle of the book says "How to endure and possibly triumph over the adorable tyrant who will ruin your body, destroy your life, liquefy you brain, and finally turn you into a worthwhile human being". I can't wait to read it lol. I flipped through a few pages and it's hilarious. WOOHOOO. 

Look at those cheeks!!

Video of Natalie Talking (sorry about Anchor Man playing in the background :)

9 weeks

Wow it’s been 2 weeks since I’ve posted. Holy Moly! Natalie is 9 weeks old and gets cuter by the minute. She smiles, coos lots, and giggles. It’s awesome. This past week and a half she has been on strictly formula. Needless to say she has slept through the night 7/10 of those nights. Goodness. THe first time she did I woke up at 6:45 in a complete panic. I proceeded to run into her room and make sure she was still breathing!  For now, sleep deprivation and I have broken up. Some nights it’s a good 7 hours, last night it was 9! I try to make sure I’m sleeping no more than an hour after she is that way I can get a good night too. The nights she wakes up it’s usually between 3-5 and she has no interest in going back to sleep. It’s ok...not complaining. I’m a lucky mommy that my 9 week old sleeps through the night at all! 

Natalie had her two month checkup on wednesday as well. She did great! The pediatrician (Dr. Gina) was very impressed with how strong she was. She did some tummy time in the office, and even gave the nurse a few giggles when she was checking her heart beat. She is in the 50th percentile for height and weight (10lbs 8oz and 22 1/2 inches). Her head was in the 75th percentile and Nick immediately took all the credit for her big brain. It was cute. We talked formula, goopy eyes, feeding schedules, shot reactions, bug bites, and what to expect the next two months. At her 4 month appointment she said we would be discussing adding cereal to her diet. HOORAY we get to use the highchair :)

Week 6 was rough in the fuss bucket department. I had a few conversations with some girls at work and they all seemed to think she was colicky. I’d say maybe borderline. One night nick even had a hard time getting her to simmer down and he handed her back to me saying “ok...you win...maybe she is colicky”. Who knows though, I really think some babies are just fussy! The last week though has been significantly better. Her schedule during the day is awesome, she gets a bit tough at night still but I think that’s normal. On a perfect day she eats every 3 hours. Eats, plays for 2 hours, naps for an hour, then eats again. Those are the best days! Playtime is my favorite, she is getting much more interactive with us. It’s so fun! 

I use the baby bjorn alot! At night when she gets over tired I put her in it and vacuum lol. Within 6 minutes she is out cold, it works like a charm. I can usually then get some laundry folded as well. I can’t wait to use it next month when I can face her forward. And we get to use the jumperoo next month too!! So many exciting things coming up. She still loves her rainforest, she kicks and kicks the rattles on there and gets so excited lol.

I went back to work this week, but only a few days. Still trying to get my schedule worked out. This way I can ease into leaving her with people. Mimi did great on Tuesday and Wednesday. So great she called me Thursday morning and wanted me to work and her to watch Natalie! It was cute. Mid July I’ll be back on track four days a week. I think I’m going to miss her. The two days this week were fine, but four days seems like alot! Sheesh. 

We are almost fitting into our 3 month stuff. Another month or so and we should be able to start wearing all the fun dresses she has hanging in her closet. It’s been really hot out so we have been dressing her in lots of tank top onesies. It’s tough to run multiple errands with her in the middle of the day. Poor munchkin gets all sweaty in and out of the car. We had a really great trip to babies r us yesterday where I proceeded to hold up the line with all my coupons. It was comical, but I saved $60.00!! Thats a tank of gas...plus the supreme car wash!! 

Here is a video of her talking away with me last night. Anchor Man was on in the back round so it’s tough to hear lol.