Happy Valentine's Day !!!

Natalie turned on the charm for her first Valentine's Day. The little tike was extra cute this morning, and Mom truly lamented the fact she had to go to school.

Cousin Evelyn made a quick visit this morning, stopping by with her Mom for a while to wish us a happy Valentine's Day. Natalie slept through the entire visit, but I'm sure is glad to know that half of the New-Hopers swung by. It also sounds like Aunt Ki-Ki will be visiting this afternoon -- Natalie must be a popular baby, because I don't think people are stopping by to see me!

A romantic dinner of Chinese food is on the menu for tonight, so that should be fun. I hope everyone has a great "holiday" today: Happy Valentine's Day!

Natalie Blogs

I'm going to count this as Natalie's first time blogging because she's currently strapped into the Baby Bjorn (and seems to be loving it).

My daughter had a fussy afternoon yesterday but slept soundly all morning today. She has been hanging out with me a little more this afternoon, but now is nodding off in the Bjorn. As always, she is eagerly awating the arrival of Mom, who should be home fairly soon.

That's it for now -- Happy Valentine's Day Eve!

Natalie Turns Two !!!

The little princess currently is celebrating her two-month birthday with a late-morning nap. This follows a quality night of sleep in her bassinet (and yes, I had to spell-check "bassinet" -- for some reason I had gone about 28 years without needing to type it.)

Mom is very excited about Natalie's slumber, especially because it came in the bassinet. She is hoping the little one has graduated (for good) from sleeping in her car seat; Only time will tell.

Mom and Dad are so proud that our little big girl is a full one-sixth of the way to 1 year old. Time flies fast, but we're so lucky to have such a cute mini person to share our lives with!

Mr. Mom

OK, it's time to channel my inner Michael Keaton!

We're halfway through Day 1 of my month-long Mr. Mom experiment, and I must say we're off to a flying start. Natalie seems to be enjoying herself, and we haven't had any major catastrophies thus far.

The little jelly bean is producing impressive amounts of snot every once in a while, but is essentially over her recent cold/cough. It's nice to have a healthy & content baby again, and hopefully she can stay that way for a while!

On the mend

I think our little princess is finally defeating the beast of snot that has been tackling her all week. When I fed her at 6 this morning, there was no snot to be seen and her breathing sounded great! Not even a sneeze! And it's now 10:30 and she's still sleeping soundly, no struggling to breathe past the snot! YEAH!
It was a hard week. It's really hard to watch her struggle, and when she has a coughing fit, it breaks your heart. We actually went to Urgent Care on Wednesday night -- didn't' need to it turns out -- but when I took her temp that night it was 99.5. So being the new mom and all, I had to have her checked out. By the time we got to Urgent Care, her temp had gone down. She was miserable, coughing to the point of spitting up, and her little eyes were all red and irritated looking. She looked like a cartoon character who has a cold, the red eyes, the red tip of her nose. She wouldn't sleep unless she was held or rocked in her carseat, so mommy spent almost 5 hours in the living room that night half sleeping, half rocking. Then daddy did the same later in the morning before he went to work.
But fingers crossed I think she's turned the corner!

Down and out

Well, it only took her 8 weeks -- our little princess already has a cold. She started getting really fussy on Saturday and by Monday night she was all sniffly and sneezy and coughing. She doesn't have a fever, so that's a good sign that it isn't getting to be something more than a cold, which often can happen with a baby this young. We're doing all we can to suck the snot out of her nose and keep her comfortable, and grandma Lee is doing her part during the day. I'm sure she's bummed that her week with Natalie is marred by sickness. It's hard to watch her struggle and try to get comfortable. She's really only comfortable if held lately. Poor little thing.

Getting Her "Phil"

"This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather."

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Just had to start things out with the immortal words of Phil Connors (Bill Murray) from the timeless (and vastly underrated) cinematic experience we all know as "Groundhog Day."

That's right, it's February 2nd. Reports from Punxsutawney are that Phil did in fact see his shadow, thus eliminating hopes for an early spring. I'm not sure that Natalie Grace is blessed with clairvoyance when it comes to seasonal change, so let's not read into her high-maintenance morning today -- it's probably little more than an indication she is passing gas.

If you haven't figured it out yet, this is Father Joe reporting from home. Mom and her pal Rachel are spending this Saturday morning out and about, which allows me some one-on-one time with baby.

Natalie is getting cuter by the day, and had a great time with the Gustafson ladies this past week (mostly Grandma Linda); she even attended cousin Emilia's fourth birthday party! Natalie also is eager to hang out with Grandma Lee this week in Bloomington, which no doubt will be a blast. After that, it's four weeks with Dad, who can't wait!

Though the verbal form will take a while, Natalie is able to communicate with me quite well -- it's all in the eyes. She just told me that she loves the Patriots on Sunday, so I'd suggest laying the 12 points. I'm not guaranteeing anything, but she never has picked the Super Bowl incorrectly.

I need to give a "shout out" to Grandma Lee and Grandpa Kent, who helped us out last minute on Friday -- chilling with Natalie for a while so Sarah and Rachel could grab dinner while I took in my first T-wolves game in about four years -- THANKS GUYS!

Looks like it's bottle time, so I better sign off. Remember to count your blessings this Groundhog Day, and have an awesome weekend.