She Boggles our minds

Natalie and Daddy have taken to playing their own version of Boggle, a word-search game (which Bret is incredibly good at -- I won't play that game with him anymore!). In their version, Natalie and Bret shake up the letter dice, and Natalie says a word that they're going to spell...

Bret tells her how to spell the word, and Natalie then finds the letters.

And Bret helps her put them in the right order. Typical words that Natalie likes to spell include: frog, food, and shoe.

Miscellaneous March cuteness

I thought I'd been better about taking photos of Natalie throughout this month. I guess I got lazy with all the wonderful grandparents around taking photos of their own. Here are a few of the photos I did snap. There are also a couple of videos that will be coming soon...

In other Natalie news, she's been sleeping in her bed pretty regularly for naps and at night. Bret and I take turns reading to her until she's good and sleepy. She'll then either drift off on her own or want to nurse for a little bit. Once asleep at night, she's been staying in her bed for between two and eight hours (eight hours only occurred twice so far). She's still pretty upset when she wakes up in her own bed, so I bring her into bed with me and Bret...

Amid the wreckage

Hurricane Natalie struck her bedroom a few days ago. No Fisher-Price toy was spared. Only a seasoned mommy/reporter could handle the sight of the wreckage -- there were people and animals everywhere...


Yet, amid the wreckage we found a bit of "normal" life. Natalie apparently set up this little tea party with great care.

Or maybe it's not a tea party at all but a FEMA on-site conference.

Meanwhile, in another part of the house, Fisher-Price flight 223 was boarding....

Natalie's fridge magnets are well-traveled little letters.

A blast from my past

I think this pregnancy has prompted me to begin nesting a little earlier than customary (I've been told it's a third-trimester/last few weeks of pregnancy thing). Or it could be that I've always craved organization. Whatever the case, I've been in the throes of "micronesting." All the furniture has been moved in our house ("macronesting") so all that's left to do is go through closets, rearrange toys and clothes, get rid of unused craft stuff, and finally shred the two garbage bags of old receipts that have been up in the hobby room closet...

Here are the results of some recent micronesting in Natalie's room, including her newest toys, which are some of my oldest toys.






The desk, dresser, and nightstand in Natalie's room were also mine from childhood. They have served me well, and I'm sure Natalie (and sibling) will get lots of use out of them. (A retroactive thanks to my grandpa and dad for investing in beautiful solid-wood furniture and finishing it themselves...) (And no, that's not Natalie's laptop -- I still use the desk for bills and writing...)















Natalie loves her new dollhouse, which I remember loving when I was little. Notice the giant cupcake on the dining room table -- she brought that in from the other room to feed her little people!



I put new fabric on the beds because they were still covered with foam from the early 80s, which bore divots from my and my brother's little fingers. The stuff was discolored and probably toxic, so I took great pleasure in creating the new bedding.



I love that the green, blue, and orange in this dollhouse are back in style...


Natalie called this doll "grandma" without any prompting from me or Bret.

Miscellaneous cuteness, the beach, and a milestone

First, the miscellaneous cuteness...

Natalie found a new way to "help" with the laundry. If it wasn't for the laundry in the dryer, I think the second photo could look like she was inside a space capsule or something!

Fun with Play Doh... Natalie's been waking up wanting to do arts and crafts this week.

And the beach...

(It looks like she's summoning Poseidon.)

Some more miscellaneous cuteness...

I had the pleasure to watch Evelyn and Jonathan a couple of mornings this week. They're moving Friday to Africa for a year and a half while their dad, Phil (who worked at the same firm Bret works for), engineers some projects there through EMI. Their mom, Emily, has been a lovely blessing in my life over the past several years. While I'm sad to lose the Greenes for this time, I am excited for all that God is doing in and through them...

And the milestone...

Natalie got her own bed today! Thank you, Jonathan (and Phil and Emily) for blessing us with this lovely bed! Natalie took part of her nap in it today. She woke up pretty upset and disoriented, but she has since like sitting in it and was excited to show Daddy her new "baby bed."

Hattie, we hope to see you soon!

We miss Hattie Rose, but we're glad that she's having a good time with her grandparents in Sacramento. We hope she'll be home in the next couple of days, after her mommy comes home from the hospital (she's had a gnarly stomach flu and has been hospitalized for the past week).