A Good Wife Day

Today was a "good wife day." I borrow this phrase from a good friend who recently had a good mom day. Today I cleaned the kitchen, ran some errands, picked up around the house, made our bed, did some laundry, cooked dinner, ate breakfast before 11:00, brushed my teeth before 3:00, and took care of the baby. Today I felt like I was almost back to "normal life" as opposed to being in "tired, new mom life." This week was also the first week that I've done a full grocery shopping day, which included planning dinners for the week for the first time since Natalie was born thanks to our wonderful church body who brought us meals and Dusty's parents who cooked for us and froze many meals for us when they were here. So now I've cooked dinner a few times this week too. Wow! I also cleaned the entire house last week all at once, another first since Natalie was born, and while it took the entire day rather than a couple of hours like it used to, it was such an accomplishment to me. I'm thankful to be able to start doing the things that I used to do and feeling like I'm taking care of Dusty as well as Natalie.

2 month well baby checkup

Natalie is well! She is almost 11 lbs. and is 22.75 in. According to the doctor's charts, that puts her in the 23% for weight and 49% for height. She loves being nakey on the doctor's table and anywhere, really. The patient room is like a sauna and I'm usually sweating. Dusty and I decided we'd wear our summer gear every time even if it's in the winter. Last well baby checkup our doctor casually threw out at me that Natalie had a hernia to which I exclaimed, "What?!" He then explained that the hole where her umbilical cord went into her body was not closed up all the way, which is common in many babies and should close up on it's own over time. Still, I dislike the way he casually announces things like hernias in regard to a tiny little baby. All this to say that her hernia is getting smaller, so yea! She does have a case of cradle cap, but it's mostly hidden by her beautiful hair. Her gooby eye comes and goes still. She is sleeping 6-7 hours at night pretty consistently now. Not much else to report. Overall, Natalie is a well, (and I'll add an "s" to that) swell baby!

All Smiles!

Natalie is Miss Happy Go Lucky. She is smiling a lot these days and talking to us more and more. She's also trying to use her hands more and often works very hard to help her fingers find their way into her mouth. Coordination isn't as quick as her motivation, though, and sometimes it takes many, many tries to get them in. But Natalie's never been a quitter. It sure is fun to watch her persistence as her hand flies past her mouth in a miss. But she always comes out on top!

Our Announcement

This was our announcement photo taken of Natalie when she was three weeks old by our very good friend and favorite photographer, Michele.

These are our other favorites.

Velcro Bows

Another reason we love our hairy-headed girl!

Extra Extra Read All About It!

Geoffrey (pronounced GEE AH FREE, not Jeffery) knocks out Natalie G. in a grueling crib match lasting throughout the night of February 9th. Natalie G. held her own as long as she could, but could not overtake the featherweight champion. A rematch has been scheduled for next season.

Well, actually Natalie has been having a terrible bout of the gooby eye. She's had to put up with her mama and papa constantly wiping it out last night to keep it clean and keep it from hardening shut. We woke up this morning to find her eye all puffy and red and our sweet Natalie looking like she just came from a fight. It is such a sad sight to see her poor little eye that she can't even open all the way. We stopped wiping it so much in hopes that it will get better soon and just flush itself out naturally.

First Road Trip and Four Generations

Natalie took her first road trip to Deer Trail, Colorado on February 2, 2008. It is about a two hour drive from Fort Collins. She slept the whole way. We went there to visit Dusty's grandma, Clara, for an early birthday get-together. She turned 94 on February 8th. Dusty is Clara's youngest grandchild (#11) and right now Natalie is her youngest great-grandchild (#19).

Sleep update

Well, Natalie hasn't done another 6 or 7 hour stretch since the last sleep post, but she has been going 5.5 hours pretty consistently which is close. Last night I fed her at 2:30 and she slept until 8:00 a.m. which is the time I'm hoping to train her to wake up at every morning so I was happy about that. It will just take time, but we will slowly stretch the time backwards from 8:00 a.m. as she gets consistent with being able to sleep longer.

EAT

Natalie and her first bottle. We waited to give her a bottle until after 6 weeks old so that she would be firmly established with breast feeding. She chugged it down in less that 5 minutes and then later proceeded to spit it back up. We haven't given her many since then except when I've had to be away for some time, but we are working on teaching her to slow down at the dinner table. She's had no problems switching back to nursing.

Sleep

Eat, Sleep, Poop, that's all I have to write about now I said. Well, last night Natalie did her first 7 hour stretch! Hurray! I am so proud! Unfortunately I didn't get that great of sleep because I was paranoid all night about whether or not she was going to make it, and I kept looking at the clock to see how much longer she had to endure. I fed her at 12:30 a.m. and then looked at the clock almost every hour until 7:30 a.m. At 6:30, Dusty woke up and said "What time is it?" and I said, "Shhh! Don't wake Natalie up!" (even though she was in her own room). I was worried that any little noise she heard would make her wake up before 7:00. What a champ, though. She made it to 7:30 and I am so excited. I even think she would have gone a little longer but I woke her up anyway as she was starting to stir. We slowly want to stretch her longer. I just hope she can do another 6 to 7 hours tonight! This time I'll actually make sure to take advantage of all the extra hours.
Tonight Dusty and I had our date night. I realized Natalie was the third wheel, but that Dusty and I didn't mind being a tricycle now. : )

Hair's to you, Natalie!

The best thing about having a baby with hair is styling it!

Fav Pics

There's not a lot going on here for me to write about except eat, sleep, and poop. So for now I'll just post some of my favorite pics.

Pa and Grandpa

A Few of My Favorite Things

I am enjoying Natalie so much. Today I sat in the chair in her room for two hours just holding her and looking at her. I'm trying to take more time to enjoy her at each stage before she grows up too fast. I'm praying that she will always love to snuggle even as she gets older. It has been a sweet week with her: smiling at each other, snuggling, taking naps together. There were a few rough days here and there in the previous weeks though. Some days I felt overwhelmed and exhausted but during that time I reminded myself to think on the things I love about being a new mom and not dwell on the things that are hard in the moment. Here are a few of my favorite things right now:

• the way Natalie smiles and sometimes laughs in her sleep

• her animal noises: the baby elephant, the horse, and the puppy chasing rabbits when she sleeps
• watching Natalie and her Papa during "Fun time diaper changing time"
• when she purses her little lips
  
• her waking up stretch routine
  

Ole'!

Honeybee

My mom and Bob were here the last weekend of January. She is Natalie's "Honeybee". This is the name that Natalie's older cousin, Lachlan (almost two), calls my mom. His mom, Emily, had a Honeybee growing up and asked my mom to be Lachlan's Honeybee. Older siblings or cousins usually set the stage for grandparent names. When Lachlan comes out in March, he's going to teach Natalie how to say "Honeybee."