Rolly Polly

Natalie hates being on her tummy. I mean she LOATHES tummy time, so much so that she would flip herself over to her back from a very early age. She'll do almost anything to get off her tummy. I haven't stressed too much about it, she gained head control quickly, is almost able to sit by herself and is hitting all of her milestones... except rolling over from her back to tummy. Until yesterday! She was laying on her back under her activity gym (one of her favorite places to be), I looked away for one second and when I looked back she was on her tummy! She was happy as could be! She pushed herself all the way up and grinned at me! After a little while she tired of being on the tummy, so I put her on her back again. Instantly she rolled over to her tummy again! She's quite impressed with her new skill! I had a dream she was walking last night... my goodness, they grow and change so quickly!

Today was Natalie's first ride sitting up in a shopping cart. She loved the new perspective it gave her. She looked around at all the sights and enjoyed every minute of it! So precious!

I've included a cute videos of Natalie playing in her exersaucer, waking up from a nap and rolling over... please excuse the quality, this was all captured with a cell phone!

Pearly Whites

After several days of extreme crankiness and a lot of finger chewing... Natalie has teeth! TWO OF THEM! I can't believe she's already got teeth, I don't know what I was thinking, but some part of me didn't expect any teeth for a very long time.... like years. I guess that's just me not wanting my baby to grow up. I always thought her little gummy smile was precious, but now when she flashes that gorgeous grin, there they are... two perfect tiny little toofers! I'm trying to capture the teeth in a picture, but most of the time she sticks her tongue out when she smiles! I promised pictures in my last post, and I'm afraid I can't deliver. Soon, I swear!

5 months old (a little late)

Natalie was 5 months old on the 18th of this month. She's changed so much in five short months, it's unbelievable! She "talks" constantly, I'm afraid there will never be a moment of silence in our house! We're probably going to have some pretty outrageous phone bills one day. Her bottom right tooth has just broken through and the left one is on it's way... I can already see it! Needless to say, she's drooling like mad and chewing on absolutely anything and everything she can get her tiny little fingers on. She loves putting weight on her feet and standing, so the exersaucer has been a wonderful toy for her. She's almost sitting up.... still a little wobbly, though. Pictures soon!

Has it been five years already?

Friday was our five year anniversary... crazy, huh? I can't believe it's been five years since my hair got stuck in the coat hanger of the car that drove me to church, the groomsman that walked in on me naked, my train ripping on the flag stand as I walked down the aisle, the best man revealing a flask mid service, my Mother falling down the steep cement front steps, my Grandmother's supposed "cardiac event" (I say this so cooly because there were a team of doctors attending my wedding who all assured me she was fine), my Father fighting with his cousin because he dared to stay at the wedding to dance with me rather than accompanying my "sick" Grandmother to the hospital, the lipstick being smeared all over my bridal portrait, my Aunt calling me a "little bitch" to my Godfather (whom she thought was on the staff), the beat boxing during the speeches, the rum and coke spilled down the front on my (very expensive) gown, and half of my family storming out. All this then followed by the most hateful, hurtful and vindictive letter of criticism penned by my own family member. Whatever... I'm over it.

Of all the crazy events that took place on my wedding day, the one that remains the most important and most memorable to me is vowing my love, life and faith to Chase. We've done a good job! Here we are five years, four moves, one deployment, and one precious baby girl later, and we've still got it! We may drive each other crazy from time to time (OK, most of the time), but at the end of the day... I am always so happy and so grateful I'm Chase's wife. After all... if it weren't for Chase, I wouldn't be Natalie's Mommy!

Our anniversary was a special one this year. Not only was it our first anniversary since his deployment, but it was our first anniversary as parents, not a couple. Mom babysat so we could go to a nice dinner and celebrate. We had a great meal and lots of fun enjoying our evening out, but we were both ready to come home to our family.

So, the pictures are "then and now"... both are pretty bad. Notice how I'm already letting Chase know what I think? Ha!

We're not getting pinched!

Nursing Natalie

If she's not playing with her toes while nursing, she's doing this....

It's my burfday!

I had a great birthday! Mom, Granddad, Grandmom, Chase and Natalie took me to the Aberdeen Cafe for lunch, and it was delicious... per usual. I felt so special, I wanted their fried green tomato sandwich (which is no longer on their menu), and usually they will make it for me but yesterday they didn't have the tomatoes. Needless to say I was pretty bummed. I mean, it's my favorite sandwich of all time and I couldn't have it on my special day? And then, lo and behold, the waitress comes to our table and says "I sent (insert random cook's name here) to the store to get you some tomatoes". Seriously? Awesome. So, I had my favorite sandwich after all!

After lunch we went back to Mom's house to eat yummy cake! She had it made at the Aberdeen Bakehouse.... yellow cake with raspberry mouse and buttercream frosting. As you can see, I was quite excited about the cake. And then came the presents...I'm spoiled rotten. But the best part of my day was having Chase home and having Natalie. Being a mother definitely changes my perspective of birthdays. Thanks Mom!

Sorry about my rough appearance, by lunch time I had already had a very full day and wasn't able to grab a shower! Oh well, it was MY day!

4 Month Check Up

Natalie had a doctor's appointment yesterday and it went really well! She's 26.5 inches long (96%) and 16.3 pounds (83%), she's more than doubled her birth weight (she's gained over 9 pounds already)! Dr. Manzo said because she's growing so rapidly her nutritional needs are changing and are more demanding; he suggested that I need to consider starting her on veggies. Wow! I need this first year to slow down! Apparently, the recommendations released by the American Academy of Pediatrics are changing concerning solids and car seats. Amazing that any of us survived... seems like they're always coming out with something better for our children. So from what I understand it's changing from solids AT 6 months, to solids BY 6 months (previously it was solids at 4-6 months so I'm not really sure how that's different. I guess they want you to definitely start earlier??? Or maybe it's based on your child's size and needs rather than lumping all babies into the same category???). And they've changed car seat recommendations from rear facing for 1 year to rear facing for 2 years! Geez! Anyway, Natalie got a shot and she did remarkably well. She stuck her pouty lip out and whimpered but never cried... such a sweet little baby! Dr. Manzo said she looked perfect and whatever I'm doing to keep it up! And then he said "Let's talk about you, you look sick." Gee thanks, butt head. So Natalie left with a clean bill of health, and Mommy left with a prescription. Go figure.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Well, at least Snack at Tiffany's...

My birthday/anniversary gift from Chase arrived today... in a tiny blue box wrapped with white ribbon. Any normal American girl's heart stops just at the thought of that perfectly wrapped little bit of blue Heaven, and I am no exception. Apparently, neither is Natalie. I have never seen her so excited over anything in her life! She immediately squealed with delight, threw her hands up in the air and laughed. She then grabbed the box out of my hands (no small feat... I don't easily let go of my Tiffany's. If she weren't my daughter there might have been a minor altercation.) and in her mouth it went... where all things loved by Natalie eventually end up. I immediately sent Chase a message to tell him about Natalie's reaction, it was too cute to wait until he got home from work. He wrote back... "I'm doomed". Oh yeah, she's my girl!

Naturals

Chase's first few days home have been wonderful! Natalie has taken to him so easily, it's been much better than anticipated. Nothing new to share, just wanted to post some pictures of the best looking father/daughter pair in the world! I love these two!

Pictures

The pictures in my "Reunited" post are in the wrong order! I accidentally posted them backwards. I'm too lazy at the moment to go back and fix it, so.... enjoy!

Reunited...

And it feels so good!

Of all the many days of my life, yesterday was second best. October 18, 2009 still holds out as the reigning champion, of course. It was a brutally long day. We were expected to be on Ft. Bragg no later than 5:45 a.m. in order to greet their 6:30 flight. That meant I had to get up at 3:15 to shower, get dressed and ready, take Andi out, and get Natalie ready. Funny that I thought I'd actually be able to sleep... I laid in bed like a child listening for Santa on Christmas Eve. I think I got 30 minutes.

All the family members met at Chase's work, in order to "convoy in our POV'S to Green Ramp" (like that Army lingo?), which is a whole other post. Let's just say it was the most poorly organized, stressful and rage inducing event I have ever participated in. I digress... We reached Green Ramp (Pope Air Force Base's flight line for all incoming and outgoing deployments, jumps, flight etc.) around 6:15. In no time the plane had landed. They opened the huge door and all the family gathered in the freezing cold to cheer for the airplane! The plane rolled by very slowly and the energy was incredible! After what seemed like an eternity they got off the plane and the crowd went wild again! Natalie wasn't so sure about all the cheering and was starting to get a little disgruntled. Not a good way to greet one's father. I tried to tell her that, but she was just not reasoning with me! The soldiers began marching in and slowly but surely they got closer and closer, the anticipation was killing me. Finally they reached the building, it didn't take long for me to find Chase in the crowd. He was in the middle of the large grouping of soldiers, it was like someone had put a spotlight on him just for me. Of course Chase busts my bubble and tells me he was standing next to a bunch of short guys. Whatever. Natalie and I waited for the speech to be over (and of course there was one... this IS the Army), and thankfully it lasted all of two minutes. Suddenly the soldiers were released and there was absolute chaos. I stood in the back waiting for Chase to find me (we had agreed on that earlier), I wasn't nervous and I wasn't hysterical (like many other women), when he hugged me and Natalie I simply felt whole.

Natalie and Chase are doing really well getting to know each other, and I'm enjoying watching Chase discover things about Natalie for the first time. His excitement is contagious. It's been a long and very difficult year, but thanks to the support of my friends, my family and God we've made it through to the other side in one piece. We're very lucky. For the first time in 365 days I fell asleep thanking God, not begging Him. And I slept peacefully... until 4:30, thank you Natalie. :)