9 Months!

We had Natalie's 9 month checkup today! I can't believe she is 9 months already. When they told me today they needed to make her 1 year appointment I wanted to cry. It's incredible how much they grow and change in the first year. It's been a while (way too long) since I was able to post last, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Ok, so today her stats were 50 percentile for height and weight and 80 percentile for her head (thank you Tatge family lol). 18 pounds 9 ounces and 27 1/2 inches long. She is growing perfectly symmetrical according to Dr. Gina. I'm not quite sure what she means by that, but sounded good lol.

Dr. Gina was thrilled with her expansive diet. Bean literally eats EVERYTHING I put on a spoon. I hope it lasts. However, lately she has really been pushing away her bottles. I think she just much rather eat food. Most days she does fine with formula, others it's a fight. But her pediatrician said she is growing perfect and not to worry. Similac has a "Go & Grow" formula for 9 months+ that I think I'm going to switch her too. Lots of vitamins and minerals in less formula so it will help fill the gaps. Bean uses a sippy cup and a cup with a straw now. I still haven't done juice. She gets plenty of fruit in a day and I rather her be a big water drinker like her mommy. I drink Green Machine from the brand Naked in the AM with my vitamins and she will have some of that out of my cup. I'm rather surprised she likes it, but it's good stuff.

New foods she has conquered: quinoa, beets, spinach, broccoli, hummus, cauliflower, white and black beans, all berries, corn, purple carrot (whatever that is), yogurt (yoyo baby), and toast.
She has had ground beef, turkey and chicken for animal protein so far. Whole grain oatmeal for breakfast, she eats all fruits (except citrus). I'm going to try eggs, pasta and cut up chicken this week.

We are working on "no-no" the last 2 months. She usually will stop what she is doing, look at me, smile, and go right back to doing it when I say it to her. It's comical...for now. We are having such a hard time finding a baby gate that work for the bottom of the stairs. Whoever designed our staircase didn't have babies. If I stand behind her she will climb the stairs like a champ so right now I block them off with a rigged gate. It's frustrating. If anyone has any suggestion please help.

She is not walking as of yet, thank god! I'm so not ready for that. She crawls all over the house, and pulls herself up on EVERYTHING. We have no coffee tables in our house for this reason. She will walk if you hold her hands, and will take steps holding on to the couch or her toys.

She dances when music is played (it's adorable)! And she figured out how to clap last month. First it was mini fist pounds, now it's full on palm to palm clapping :)

She says "ma-ma" and "da-da" but she has not put a purpose to any of it yet. If you ask her to say dada she says mama lol. It's so funny. When she is mad she yells "ya-ya-ya-ya". She has a heck of a temper, but 99% of the time she is a happy, smiley little girl.

She likes Sesame Street, Elmo's World, and Mickey Mouse Club. I've yet to see her sit for more than 5 minutes watching anything. She rather play with her toys. She will sit for her Mimi and watch Sesame Street at her house, but not at home. She still loves books, and the Fisher Price apps on my cell phone are life savers. She cracks up at animal noises, and we are just starting to work on body parts now. She loves her musically instruments she got for Christmas from Santa, especially the drums! So much fun, I am so in love, and this age is amazing!!

We had the Tatge Christmas and Natalie's Baptism two weekends ago. It was fantastic having family and friends in town! My best friend Jo and Nick's oldest brother Ryan are Natalie's God Parents. The ceremony was wonderful and bean laughed and made space ship noises through the whole thing lol. We had a great time, but the visits were way to short. Uncle Ryan and Aunt Dana stayed in town for a extra week. They were a huge help and Natalie had a blast playing with them all week. She got tons of toys and cute clothes, books, and photo frames for Christmas and her baptism. A cabbage patch baby was my favorite of her new toys from Grandpa Dennis.

She was a little off with her sleep schedule last month but we are getting back on track. 6/7 nights she goes to sleep by herself at around 8:00 and doesn't wake up till 6 or 7. When she has a bad night and daddy isn't traveling he usually sneaks in and rocks her to sleep. I can't tell him no, it's so sweet :)

She is definitely a daddy's girl. When he gets home from his work trips she is all his! She criess when he puts her down, has no interest in mommy and just wants nothing but him. I love it, its makes my heart warm. And I know after a long week on the road he couldn't be happier with her clingy-ness :)

I'm a horrible blogger....someone should fire me.

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.