Adventures in Bubblewrap!

Monday we received the motherload of bubblewrap, courtsey to trusty e-bay. I tried having Natalie pop some by squeezing them but she couldn't get the hang of it, so I put a sheet down on the floor and told her to JUMP! It took several tries, she was just too light, but she finally got the hang of it. Natalie could not figure out where the popping sound was coming from. She jumped and something popped.

Mulan or Snow Princess?

I went nuts on E-Bay and ended up with 2 halloween costumes for Natalie. They are both so cute that I can't decide which one to put her in. I am thinking of using the Mulan for Halloween and the Princess gown for her Christmas photo. What do you think?

MULAN

or SNOW PRINCESS?

Don't let the BedBugs Bite

Sometimes you find something that sums up all your feelings better than you possibly could. This little song does just that.**

Since we returned home from vacation in June, we (I) have been having sleep issues with Natalie. Just before we left for vacation, she learned how to climb out of her crib. And since Jon and I felt that it was now too dangerous for her to be doing that we decided to convert her crib into a toddler bed when we got home. Unfortunately, while on vacation, she slept in a bed with me so she got used to sleeping with her mama. Now, mind you, I LOVE my daughter, but she is not my first choice of bed mate.

First we tried her normal nighttime routine of bubble bath, nite-nite kisses, warm bottle and soft music. Yeah, that no longer worked, she just got up as soon as I closed the door. She would stay up until she fell asleep wherever she dropped (usually on the hardwood floor in the living room). I was not comfortable with her having free run of the house or seeing her sleep on the hard floor. So, Mama moved into her room (air mattress and all). This grew old after a few weeks. The air mattress developed a slow leak, which meant that tired, old Mama woke up every morning on a deflated mattress - usually with a two year old's body part flung across her.

The mattress was retired to the basement and now Mama sits safely by the toddler bed until her little princess falls asleep. This process usually takes between 30 - 45 minutes, on a good night. But once sleep has been achieved, Mama can tiptoe out to the comforts of a new, soft pillow topped queen bed. Ahhhhhhhhh.


But who could resist this sweet face. This is how Natalie greeted me yesterday morning, sunglasses and all. Gotta Luv Her!

**I must add that Pacabel's Canon was one of "Our" songs which was played at our wedding and now Natalie listens to it each night on her bedtime cd. So I found it especially meaningful that this wonderful man summed up all my feelings in this song.

Summer turns to Autumn

I must tell you about something that happened a few weeks ago. I was working on Nora's 100 Wishes Quilt, tracing hearts and cutting them out. When Natalie walked over and pointed to one of the hearts. She looked up at me and said "Heart". I told her "Yes, it's for Baby Nora's quilt. Do you want to see the hearts that mama made for you?" She got all excited and said "Yes". So I pulled her 100 Wishes quilt out of her dresser drawer and showed it to her. She pointed to each heart and smiled. I told her that mama made that special for her and that it was filled with love from all over the world. She snuggled down into the blanket and pulled it up over her head. I continued to cut out hearts. Soon Natalie walked over, with her hands cupped, and pretended to hand me something. I reached out and she said "Mama, a heart for you". I was speechless. I wiped the tears and hugged her close. How I wish I could have frozen that moment in time.


Natalie got a tricycle for her 2nd birthday and has been pushing it around until recently, not really interested in getting on and riding. But, after seeing Daddy riding his bi-sca-bee, she decided to give it a try. She put on her little Princess helmet and climbed on. Next thing I knew, she was pedaling across the room! She was so proud of herself.

An Evening with the Monkey King

On Friday, Aug. 10th, we went to the Children's Museum in Grand Rapids for a Monkey King event. It was a blast. Natalie was out of her mind with all the fun things to do. We even had a major meltdown when it was time to leave, complete with kicking and screaming! It was so fun to watch her running from exhibit to exhibit, laughing and jumping. What a look of sheer joy on her face. There was a life-size fishing boat, a real Beetle Bug car, giant bubbles, a bee house, kitchens, grocery store, fruit market, a Chinese kitchen with a giant wok and much, much more. Here are some pics of the fun time.