Cousin Coming!

When we told Natalie that she would no longer be the baby in the family, she wasn't sure what to think.


We then broke the news to her that she was going to have a baby cousin! She would have to share Grandpa and Grandma, but would gain a new little playmate.


Congratulations, Derek & Maggie! Your little one has one very excited aunt, and Natalie will come around one of these days.


You are sure to make wonderful parents!

On a Roll

I was excited to win a free package of diapers from the Huggies website on Monday. I tried again on Tuesday and won again! Then, on Wednesday I was delighted to find a survey from Nielsen TV Research attached to $30 cash. What a nice surprise! The survey will be a breeze to complete too since we rarely watch any shows on TV. (Before you nominate me for a great mother award, I must admit that we do watch our share of kid DVDs.)


To top it off, the wonderful blessings continued today. Scott came to me around noon and asked to take a nap. WHAT?! This kid never sleeps during the day anymore. I kindly obliged, and immediately started to work on getting Natalie to sleep. Within five minutes, both kids were napping. I could not believe it! I didn't know what to do with myself and sat outside their bedrooms twiddling my thumbs. Only kidding! I instead was able to get ahead on some things and loved the hour of solitude.


I'm bracing myself for what might happen tomorrow. Win a cruise? Another 60+ degree day in February? Natalie asking if she can start changing her own diapers? Regardless, I'm know it will be good! :)

It seemed like a better idea when we started. Despite the warm temps, the backside of the trail was still pretty sloppy. The kids (and husband) didn't seem to mind too much though!

Lessons Learned Back on Campus

CHEESE!

A couple of dear friends and I got together back at Cedarville this past week. I hadn't been back on campus for several years. Surprisingly, I learned a lot during my brief visit. (Warning: This post isn't very interesting to the average reader and may have been written more for myself.)

1. I am SO thankful to my parents for enabling me to go to Cedarville. I have not thanked them enough for the sacrifice that they made so that I could go there, but I cherish my time there and am so grateful for those life-changing four years. (I am also very thankful for the wonderful baby-sitting that they provided on Friday so that I could get away for the day.)

2. God blessed with me with such sweet, sweet friends while I was at Cedarville. I love them so much! Those bonds will not be easily broken.

3. Although it was my desire to find a husband while at CU, God had much better plans (surprise, surprise). Jon is my best friend, and I am so happy to be married to him. I've been listening to the song "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real, and Jon does just that. He leads our family, as he is being led by the Lord. I'm thankful that I did not find someone at Cedarville, and instead get to be Jon's wife!

4. I would love to be able to send Scott and Natalie to Cedarville or another Christian college someday. They were definitely on my mind a lot during the visit as I pictured sending them to Cedarville. They are growing up so fast, and the time will come before I'm ready...

5. Because of my desire stated above, I should get a job to fund such a dream. But...

6. I'm not sure I want to be a nurse. Visiting the nursing building today brought back butterflies in my stomach. Sterile technique, mock codes, skill validation, ugh... I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up.

7. During the past month or so of cabin fever, I had started to get restless and contemplate getting a part time nursing job. I saw a job posted for only two days a week with 12 hour shifts. While on my Cedarville mini-reunion, I was gone from my kiddos for about 12 hours. It seemed like a very long time. While the break was lovely, I missed them and am certainly not ready to be away from them for that long twice a week.

Okay...enough lessons for now...
It was an enlightening visit.


This picture makes me smile because they each turned in the opposite direction just a split second too soon.

Better!

Pictures, pictures!

Natalie has a new friend. She's been eyeing this lamb on her shelf for awhile and has seemed to really taken a liking to it. Of course, now Scott has decided that he really likes this lamb, too. One day, he brought Natalie his frog and tried to make a subtle swap. No dice.

She hasn't quite got the sippy cup thing figured out. She does get an "A" for effort, however.

When I was a teen, I thought the new blue M&M's were cool. Now, as a potty training mom, I sometimes cringe when I see Scott select a blue one. Who knew something so small could be so messy? (I'm referring to both the M&M and the kid.)

I didn't have the heart to tell Scott that the teddy bear ruined his "cool" look.

Scott has been praising me a lot lately for very simple or funny things. Today he asked me if I could say the word "screwdriver." When I did, he enthusiastically said, "Great job, Mom!" It's nice to have someone so easy to please!

She's going to be walking soon!

Scott Matthew- 2 1/2

Natalie Grace- almost 9 months

Over it

We are OVER the cute winter mittens, hats, and bear suits. We are SO...

READY

FOR

SPRING!

1, To, 3, For, 5

Scott was coloring pictures for Grandpa and Grandma the other day. When he was finished, I asked him if he wanted me to write, "TO GRANDMA" on the first one. He said, "No! Just ONE Grandma!" Understanding his confusion, I thought I would make it easier for the next picture. I said, "Should I write FOR GRANDPA on this one?" Scott replied, "How about FIVE GRANDPA?" I just love this age!!


Natalie is growing up on us so fast! She's crawling everywhere and pulling up onto things. She's tried a handful of vegetables and had several attempts with rice cereal, but refuses all of them. She seems to tolerate sweet potatoes...and only sweet potatoes. Hopefully she will broaden her horizons soon before she starts turning orange. She continues to love bathtime and seems to enjoy roughhousing with Scott. Whenever Scott takes this cushion off of the chair (a regular thing), Natalie crawls over to it and rests her head on it. So sweet!





Jon calls her Pack 'N Play "Jail"...Natalie is usually okay with jail.

My baby girl is saying, "Mama!" now. (Not to me, but it's fun to pretend, and I always give her a great response.)



Okay, okay...enough Natalie pictures for now. I'll save some for my next post! :)

My House Stayed Much Cleaner Today...

Actually, Scott had been begging me for weeks to get in Natalie's Pack 'n Play with her. I had always told him no...until today. After a long play session together in the confined little space, I wondered why I hadn't granted his request sooner.