Happy Birthday Mike!

Monnie has a new toy!

This is my new Canon Rebel Xsi (or 450D)


I have enjoyed playing with the functions and learning what it can do. So far I have been impressed with the quality. (although it doesn't look as good in these photos b/c they've been re-sized)




I had the hardest time taking good pictures of Natalie with my old camera b/c it would pause or freeze before it would take the picture. (obviously, it had issues) I would miss every smile by a second. I was so aggravated! When I told Mike I found the one I wanted on an amazing sale, (and knowing the shopper I am, he knew it must have been good) he told me to go ahead and order it. **thank you, baby**
Look at these smiles:


BTW, that wonderful plush cushion she's resting her head on, is Cole's chest:


Something interesting I found was a dead wasp on the floor. Since Mom doesn't get too close to those, I took a picture for her so she could see the detail. She wasn't interested. Oh well. I thought it was neat.


More Natalie:






Mom and I have a date to go Bald Eagle watching together along the bluffs this winter. I am excited to take my new camera and let it impress me even more.

Maw Maw's Birthday

Mike worked another 60+ hours last week, but thankfully he is done with those for now. Natalie and I went to JC to celebrate Mom's birthday. We all had a nice time together, although the weather was brutally hot!

Natalie asked PawPaw to read to her:


Cole shared a pillow:


Natalie's new favorite game is to put all 10,348,708 pillows from the sofa on the floor and jump from the ottoman onto them. It's hilarious to watch her, but even more impressive is how many times she'll do this! I swear she burns more calories than she takes in...


Here she is flapping her hands like a bird:


Silly:


Tuesday was MawMaw's birthday. Natalie and I baked her a cake, arranged some flowers for her, and wrapped up gifts.




We went out to dinner with Doug, Maggie, and Chase...then back to the house for CAKE! MawMaw loves her helpers:


After everyone left, Natalie pushed her bear in the swing. This swing used to be hers, but she loves playing with it now. She has so many "babies" to take care of, it's fun to watch her play with them. Working the controls...I love the concentration here:


I also love this picture from her perspective. Look at those long eye lashes!

Handprints and Painting

Natalie loves making marks on our microfiber sofas. I found this one evening after she went to bed:


Natalie insists on putting lotion on, and when she's done, she wipes her hands on Daddy. This is what he showed me one night:


Her new passion is painting! She sits on the kitchen floor and goes to town. When she's done, I wipe up any splatters with a wet paper towel. Gotta love watercolors!


I would also just like you to take note of all this hair our daughter has!!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to all the daddy's, especially my dad, Mike's dad, and Mike!

I've put together some photos for Mike, as a reminder of how much we love him. He is an absolutely wonderful father, and as a mother, I could not be happier that our daughter has him to call "Daddy." We love you, Michael!

Not even 24 hours old, Natalie would search for his voice when he spoke to her.


Playing on the sofa


Our first vacation as a family: Gulf Shores, Alabama


Resting after a long day


This is one of my favorites


Snuggles before bedtime


Sitting on the sofa together


Watching Cole


Swimming: San Diego, California


Natalie's 1st Birthday...getting Daddy's attention


This is the sight of many mornings, even now. Mike comes home from work and falls asleep just as we're starting our day.


Natalie snuggles with Daddy during her first cold (14 months)


Swimming with Daddy


Daddy and Natalie (Father's Day 2007)


Natalie loves to share! LOL


Laughing with Daddy


At Busch stadium





Sharing


First time putt-putting


Playing in the house-tent


The magic house


Laying just like Daddy


Stuffing M&M's in her mouth on Easter


Kite flying


Mimic

Grants Farm

We had a beautiful day out on Tuesday! The weather was perfect (after the storms stopped that morning) and the crowds were minimal. It had been 4 years since I'd been there, and it was neat to see it through Natalie's eyes this time.

She was very unsure about the Clydesdale's at first...they are intimidating to be that close to, but after a few minutes she warmed right up and even quickly pet one. They are such gentle giants.


What I was looking forward to the most was watching her feed the baby goats. I knew she would love it, and she did. She fed them 4 bottles. It was so neat to watch how loving she was, and if another goat tried to steal the bottle, she'd pull it away and tell them, "no, goat!" LOL


It took quite a bit of strength from her to hold onto that bottle. Once they got a good latch, it was gone in seconds.


The last time I went, I fed them from inside the pen. However, there were only 3 or 4 goats around me at the time b/c many other people were bottle feeding inside the pen. This time, (b/c it wasn't as crowded) we got ambushed! LOL I was laughing, but Natalie was not happy with all the up close attention from those goats! I picked her up and handed her over the fence to PawPaw. (We almost lost her pants in the process...those goats are ornery!) Look how many came to see us!


I think these pictures were taken about an hour later (our second trip to the goat pen)


See the goat at the bottom of this picture? LOL


After she was done bottle feeding, she still went back over to love on them.


The carousel was probably the highlight of the trip for Natalie.






What a fun day!!