Christmas Madness

Hello everyone,

Natalie LOVED Christmas, so much that she stayed up at Grandma and Grandpa's house until we left at 11:30 on Christmas night. She didn't want to sleep through all the unwrapping. She got some cool gifts, and our house is a mess with toys. The house seems to get smaller every time we open a new box. =)

Today Natalie and I met daddy downtown for the Macy's 8th floor exhibit. We didn't get to it before Christmas, but Natalie doesn't know what's going on, so it went well. She loved it. She was pointing and laughing and pointing some more. Next year, we'll try to get there before the big day so Santa's still around.

Santa's little helper

Natalie wanted to play with cousin Annika's gift before we wrapped it. She looks pretty guilty!

Party

Natalie's first birthday party was a hit. A lot of people came to play with Natalie and watch her eat cake. This video is kind of long, a little under five minutes, but we had to put some fun stuff in! There is also a new album of pics.

1!

Natalie had a fun b-day and even opened some presents! She is VERY excited about her big party tomorrow!

Too long!

It's been a really long time since we posted anything. Sorry about that folks! It's been a busy time, and now we're getting ready for her big party on Saturday! We can't wait. It should be a fun time. Natalie told me she's looking forward to it too. Today she did hold up her toy phone to me and say da-dee. I just assume she was calling her dad. She's so smart!

Impressive!

So the first part of this clip is just cute, that's the only reason it's on. But the second part is the cool part. And watch for her drum solo at the end!
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Getting ready for Turkey Day

We're all looking forward to T-Day. Hope all is well in your world!

11 months, 1 day (and loving every minute of it)

Natalie enjoyed smiling (but not eating) during dinner tonight. She must be looking forward to her mom's big birthday this weekend!

Smartest baby ever

So Natalie's starting to feel better. She went to daycare today and is basically just trying to kick her cough. The medicine seems to be working on her ears. So she's moving on to testing her brain power. Just like mommy, she loves crosswords!

Sick Day

Natalie and I are home sick today. Natalie has a nasty cold and as we found out at the doctor yesterday, double ear infections. I'm pumping myself full of vitamin C because I can't take more sick time for myself! She's sleeping it off right now.

Swinging in November

Man alive it's warm outside. Natalie and I celebrated the 70-degree weather by going to the park as soon as we got home. She LOVES swinging. She laughs and laughs when she gets pushed. By the end of the week we might be able to play in snow! Gotta love Minnesota!

Everyday is an Adventure

Natalie's moving all over the place. She's getting pretty sure of herself while standing, often letting go and shocking herself when she falls to her butt. However, she did make it all the way up the stairs yesterday morning, of course daddy was right behind her.

Halloween

Natalie wasn't so sure about her costume at first, but she quickly got used to it and our little froggy had a good night. She helped us hand out candy for the first few hours, but then eventually had to go to sleep. Every time someone came to the door, you could hear her welcoming her from her crib, she wanted to be a part of the fun. We ended up having 100 kids and would have had more but ran out of candy.

Pumpkin Fun

Natalie wasn't that thrilled with the carving process, but she did her best!

Me and my little girl

It's just me and Natalie tonight. We seemed to enjoy each other's company, but I think both of us are ready for Mommy to come home!

Cabin Trip

Well Natalie loved her first visit to grandma and grandpa's cabin. We didn't get to spend too much time outside though because it was pretty windy and cold for a baby. So she just explored every inch of the cabin from the inside. We're excited for many more trips up north!

All Quiet

Well, our first sleep over with Emilia went off without a hitch. It's 8:44 and she's been sleeping for about and hour and a half. We watched part of Toy Story, went to the park and painted her toes and fingernails. Oh, and we played with Natalie. Natalie, however, is not sleeping too well. I think she's pretty excited that her cousin is sleeping upstairs.

10 months!

Natalie was born 10 months ago today. Can you believe it? She spent most of today displaying the new trick she learned on her own. She woke up yesterday and started clicking. Now if you click your tongue at her, she'll do it back. It's pretty funny. We had a nice relaxing weekend and hope you all did too. This week's a three day week for mommy and Natalie thanks to MEA! WOO HOO! We have plans to have Emilia over for a sleepover on Thursday then we're going to head for the cabin on Friday. It should be pretty fun.

Nine-and-a-half-month dropout?

Sarah does seem to have an unhealthy infatuation with Michael Phelps, but I think we can rule him out as a "suspect" when it comes to Natalie.

My little girl lasted all of 9 minutes at tonight's swim class, about 8.5 of which were spent crying loudly. Though she's had fun for a few stretches during other classes, she doesn't seem to be a natural in the water. At this rate, I don't know if she's even going to graduate from the Sea Turtle class at the Y! =(

I don't think we're ready to give up on the swimming bit quite yet, but it's safe to say it hasn't gone swimmingly thus far. Oh well, at least Mr. Phelps is off the hook.

Play Time

We love Saturdays. It's so fun to be home and playing with Natalie all day. Today Natalie and I went out to lunch with Gioia at View -- if you've never been there, it's the old Dixies on Calhoun. Same chef, so they have great food! Anyway, Gioia's running Twin Cities tomorrow, so we met up with her to lend moral support. When we got home, daddy showed off the new trick he and Natalie nailed down. It's pretty funny. Joe and I are going to chaperone Richfield's Homecoming tonight, so Natalie will spend some time at Grandma and Grandpa Heaner's house. She's looking forward to it.

Toys, what toys?

Who needs toys when there's a box of socks? This shoebox full of daddy's socks has kept Natalie busy for about 20 minutes now. She's sorting, pairing, throwing, whipping them around, whatever. It's also giving me time to work on lessons for next week. Kudos box of socks! =) We've had a busy day already. Daddy's out with friends watching the Twins/Vikings games, mommy's already been to the Y, done two loads of laundry, baked a pie, watched Project Runway and is now planning for school. It's not even 2! Last night we went to G and G Heaner's for dinner. Great G and G were there too -- we went for Joey's birthday dinner. Good times!

We're gonna win Twins ...

We're gonna score. We're gonna win Twins, watch that baseball soar. Knock out a homerun, shout a hip-hooray! Cheer for the Minnesota Twins today!

Oh, wish the boys luck! Natalie's excited!

Joey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOEY! You are so loved by your wife and daughter.

I hear E-Trade Calling

Okay, so I started this video as something to go along with a report on how big Natalie is. She went to the doc for a well-baby check yesterday and is now 15 lbs, 14 oz. and 28 inches long. But the video took on it's own personality. It's short, but funny. And it's not computer generated, which makes her the best E-Trade Baby ever!

Overnight

Natalie spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa H's last night while Joey and I went up north to cousin Erin's wedding. It was hard to leave her because she's just so fun to be with. But she had a blast with grandma and grandpa. They got some new toys that she'll have to learn to share with Annika when the time comes. She didn't even cry with grandpa -- he must not be too scarry. The wedding was nice and it was great to see my grandma and all the other "up north" relatives. But Joey and I were chompin' at the bit to get Natalie back today.

Who knew?

Okay, so when I was a little younger I was grossed out by little, sticky, slimy kids. I used to tell my friend Rachel that she'd have to raise my kid from age 6 months to about age 7. But how can you resist this? She loves graham crackers, and it's become an after-school tradition. Throw some bananas in to the mix, and the stickiness is unparallelled.

Lazy Sunday

Natalie and mommy slept in until 8:30 this morning! When we got up daddy had to go into work for a little while so we read the paper together. She loves what Grandma Lee calls "the guts" of the paper. We're off to a Gustner family reunion today (Grandpa Craig's family). The rain has cleared and it looks like a good day for a picnic.

Doing Dishes?

Our little girl is too big for her baby bathtub and our big-person bathtub isn't done being remodeled yet, so until further notice, the kitchen sink is her spa. =) She LOVES it! She could sit in there all day. The funny thing is that we have bath toys but she'd rather play with bottles and dishes.

She had a great week at daycare, and I must admit, my favorite part of the day is when she sees me when I pick her up in the afternoon. She crawls as fast as her little legs will carry her over to me. She's the best part of life.

Back to School

Well, tomorrow I head back to school and Natalie heads back to daycare full time for good. It's a sad time. We had a great weekend together though. On Saturday, Joey and I headed to a wedding for one of Joey's employees. Natalie spent some quality time with grandma and grandpa Gustafson while we attended the ceremony. Then Sunday, we headed out to Kate's to spend most of the day out there. We went to an apple orchard. Natalie saw goats and chickens and had her first experience crawling all over in grass. Today we had Emily and Ben over for lunch and just a lot of play time with our little girl.

Here's to all the teachers out there -- Good luck on another year!

Friday Fun

It's been quite some time since I took to the blogging airwaves and my fans (fan?) were getting restless. So without further ado...

Natalie and her proud papa are hanging out today. Daycare is on vacation, so I was able to stick around the house and spend some quality time with my favorite little lady in the whole world.

We've already had a busy day. After playing a while in the "big bed" early today, Natalie took a bottle and then had a nice morning nap. Then she took me to Richfield High School so we could visit Mom and see her new classroom (It's big and very neato!)

So far this afternoon, it's been a (fussy) lunch date and now Natalie is cranking out her daily siesta. I can't wait for her to wake up so we can practice crawling some more and work on the correct pronounciation of "Da-Da."

Happy Labor Day!