We are 2! And it's mommy's day :)

Happy 2nd Birthday to our girl :)

It's mother's day today and I feel incredibly blessed. I'm so thankful for my family, my hubby, and of course, the little bean who made me a mommy. She made my tough work week seem insignificant, by saying "love you mommy", for the first time. I think she knew I needed a smile...she didn't just get a smile though, I hugged her as tight as I could for like 3 minutes straight and cried like a baby. She hasn't said it again, but I don't care. It was the awesomest thing I've ever heard....ever! We had a nice relaxing day today. Lots of pool and sun time, we are missing Nick, but are looking forward to spending the weekend with him next week. LOTS-O-TRAVEL!!

Natalie's 2 year checkup was great. She is still a peanut, with a big head (90%tile) lol. She weighed 23 lbs 10 oz (20%tile), and is 33.5 inches tall (50%tile). Dr. Gina was thrilled with her language development. She couldn't believe it was the same little girl she was slightly concerned about 6 months ago. Sentences are flying out of her mouth, she knows all her shapes, tries to sing the ABC's with me, knows a handful of letters, most of her numbers, and all colors. We are working with lots of flashcards. She gets very excited when she gets them right. Holy enthusiasm! And has a new favorite book that Nana bought her that we read several times a day. When she turned 2 I decide I was going to cut out most of her TV time. It's going really well so far. We still watch our "whine down" episode of Little Einsteins before bed. But other than that we may watch one episode of TV in the car if we have a melt down, or an exceptionally long drive. One afternoon last week she woke up on the wrong side of the crib and i gave in. We cuddled and watched a blues clues episode and she was a happy camper afterwards. She much rather play outside, color, play an instrument, or play with toys then watch TV lately. I'm loving it. Every day, at least once, she asks to go either swimming, the zoo, or the beach. Sometimes she even asks to go to "more stores" if we are out running errands. She loves to be OUTSIDE! And wants to be on the go at all times. I feel like a camp coordinator on my days off, but we have a blast. Animals are her favorite thing, followed by anything music related. Our friends Jim & Julie got her a drum set for her birthday...she is actually better than me at it. And uncle rich and jamie got her a princess microphone. She will obviously have a rock band by age 5....we need a basement.

Nat's eating habits are still the same. Dr. Gina put her on an Iron supplement. And I've been pumping in the Kale/spinach smoothies. So hopefully we can get that back up where it needs to be. Other than that she was content with her diet and said to keep trying new food as often as I can tolerate the fight lol. Natalie is very strong willed, she knows what she wants, and discovered whining. for no reason. She even tells you while she is whining, that she is whining....I've been told it's the age. It's a good things she is a cute! Most of the time she is a happy, funny, silly, lovey little girl. So I'll take the whining for now :)

We have lots of the agenda this summer! I'm excited to take trips with her now that she is a little older. I can't promise I'll be blogging anytime soon, but I'll do my best. There is a ton of fun stuff I'm forgetting to talk about, but ill post some pics to help catch up!

Petting zoo with Grandpa Den

Birthday surprise from Mimi & Poppi!

Beach with Aunt Jo

LOVES CORN!!

Photo shoot with miss Georgia!

Zoo with Jamie!

dancing on the porch!

ALMOST TWO! 23 Months :)

I've been updating less and less lately. But we have been a busy family lately and our summer is starting to fill up quickly too! We went to Puerto Rico in the beginning of March!! It was amazing, such an awesome trip, we had a great time with Jo & wally. We relaxed, explored, drank rum, and did some touristy things too. Natalie's Grandma came and stayed with her while we were gone. They had so much fun together, I was so glad they got to spend some quality time playing. Grandma got lots of hugs and kisses, and I'm sure Natalie loved having her all to herself! Nick and I missed her a ton. 5 days was a lot of time away. It was needed adult time for Nick and I, but next time I want to be able to explain to Nat that mommy and daddy will be home in a few days. I think it screwed up her sleep patterns a bit. We spend lots of nights, crying, scared of our crib, and rocking for hours. However, we are back to our normal good sleeper self after about 3 weeks :)

Aside from our trip, we have had lots of fun play dates with new friends! The weather has been all over the place, but we have done the zoo, lots of parks, and pool days too. Hoping for some beach time in the next week or so. Maizy and Natalie are so cute together. And we made friends with a few more PGA folks. We spend lots of time up there, and it's always a blast. We also had some fun in Orlando. Natalie played with Ryker, Braxton & Chase. Then meet the new-bees Quinn, and Andi! It made Orlando that much more fun. We stayed with Liz and Adam this time to mix it up. They have a BEAUTIFUL new home! Unreal how much more house you can get of there...maybe one day we can make our way up there :)

Now for some Natalie updates. She is talking up a storm. putting 2 and 3 words together like a champ. I'm so proud of her, and now longer concerned about her language development. It's incredible, she is a parrot, and so smart! We know most of our shapes, and half dozen colors, a couple letters, and still stuck on counting with only the number 2 lol. She thinks every day is someones birthday, and loves cake. She talks about uncle Richy and Jamie often. Every time I'm on the phone she says "A-JO?" (meaning Aunt Jo). She said mama and papa at my grandparents house yesterday. And asks for "Baizy" (meaning Maizy). Every time we meant a new friends she asks for them the next day. It's so awesome. She asks to see her "nana" and we quickly FaceTime Wisco! Her Mimi and Poppy always bring big smiles, and she is starting to warm up to my dad too. She is shy! Especially with dudes. It takes her a LONG while to warm up to people. And she can be a bit of a brat about it. We are working on sharing, she says "mine" constantly so we are trying to teach her how to take turns. She is good about saying please, but hasn't picked up thank you yet. Sometimes I'm not quite sure what she is saying, but it's getting easier everyday. She LOVES the guitar. She sits and plays and calls it "singing". Its amazing for Nick and I, being such big music lovers, to see her embrace music already. SO COOL. I can't believe she is going to be two next month. She is the light of our life! And becoming such a big girl already. Now if she would only eat like one lol.

We are very excited for the next few months!! April is Natalie's 2nd birthday and Aunt Jo is coming to visit. We are having a bachlorette party in Orlando for her. May Nick goes to the derby, and I'm going up to NJ for Jo's bridal shower (nick and nat may join me). June is Nick's birthday & we are heading to WISCO for a wedding and some family time. July we are going to Maine to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday. And August is the big wedding in NJ! Then my Nick takes on an Ironman in October! So if anyone wants to book us for September, I'd get dibs ASAP lol. CRAY!

I gave up ice cream for Lent...COME ON EASTER!!

Ok I'm leaving you with some photos.

GO SLEEPY!

Where's Nana for my tea party?!?!

SINGING

my girls and our kiddos!

Happy St. Paddy's 

Nat and her BFF at the zoo

Guitarist :)

Just a HI!

Nat is a cutie pie. She is my favorite side kick, my number #1 girl, and I think she is starting to use it against me lol. She knows what she wants, and can be quite the handful lately...however, I still can't get enough!! She is so sweet, gives great hugs and kisses. And when she wants to snuggle I will stop a train to be her cuddle buddy. She makes me smile, and hearing her learn to speak has been incredible. I realize that every toddler learns to speak, some faster, some slower than others. But it is truly awesome to hear YOUR little girl make it happen. I want to call a certain someone and tell her how Natalie calls TV "T". I feel like Aunt T would think that was funny. I hope she chuckles from heaven at all the funny things Nat is doing lately. She really cracks us up :)

We had a fun New Years party! It was awesome seeing our friends and watching the girls play! Maizy and Natalie had a great time, they are really playing together and interacting like big girl friends. The Beatty's just welcomed their new little man Chase into the world today. Michelle was at the party 4 days from her due date and stayed up well past 2:00AM like a champ. So many babies the last few weeks!! Makes me want another one...really bad...soon. Lets go Serafyn-Mauceri wedding!! :)

It was a long week of travel for my nick this week. Hoping to get some fun family time in this weekend. We are planning to take Nat to the zoo Sunday with some friends. Our friends the Nicholas's got us a year pass to the zoo for Christmas!! We love them! #bestgiftever

I also got a sweet-ass camera from my hubby for Christmas. I need to learn how to use it, and how to operate photoshop correctly. Im going to attempt to take some pic of Nat this month, STOKED!

We are doing the 200 sit-up challange from now until our trip to Puerto Rico in March!! Jo and I are turning 30, we have always said we would take a trip together to celebrate being OLD! It's happening dang it, so we mine as well get in shape for it. A few girls at work and my bad ass mom are also doing the challenge. It should be fun :)

Ok a few pics and then going to sleep!

Worn out! Still going for Cheerios!

Stacking champ :)

Playing some footy in the house :)

She wanted 3 head bands on for the park!

We got some fishes!! Blub Blub!!