A little late...

This post is way overdue, sorry.

Somehow I got lucky enough to have two godmothers, Aunt Jane and Aunt Roni. Natalie met Aunt Roni back in May for her Christening. In fact, if it wasn't for good ol' Aunt Roni we wouldn't have any pictures of the day. She was our designated camera lady!

Last month Natalie finally got to meet Aunt Jane! I think it's pretty safe to say Natalie is adored by both of her "great" godmothers. These pictures go as far back as July 4th, but they're worth posting. Enjoy!

Blog Title

So you might notice I've changed the title of our blog. I've always been very much aware of how much influence the Army has on our lives, and for some reason this new title just felt right. I'm very proud of what my husband sacrifices (and I do mean sacrifices) to serve our country. Every day he goes to work he's basically letting the American people know that he's willing to leave his family and make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of every citizen. So often we can be heard saying "Sorry, we can't, Chase has 24 hour duty that Saturday" or "Chase will be in the field during that holiday, can we celebrate later?" or "Chase will be deployed for a year and miss my entire pregnancy and birth of our daughter" or "No, Chase won't be home for his birthday again this year"... or anything of the like. It's easy to become frustrated because all too often our plans and our personal wants/needs are pushed aside in order to serve our country. Chase takes it in stride, always has, and never even mutters one single negative word about the Army, even when I'm red faced, crying and screaming because "IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!". I hope Natalie grows up to feel the same immense pride for Chase that my Mother feels for her Father and his selfless 27 years of Air Force service. Hopefully, all the late nights, missed birthdays and holidays, training and discipline will add up to equal one remarkable career. It already is, Chase is going on eight years in the Army come this October, and I'm pretty sure the question of his continued service has never crossed his mind. Our military families as a whole are our country's true heros, the soldiers for their selfless service, the spouses for the infinite support, but especially the children who are born into a life filled with chaos and worry as they send their mommies and daddies to work every morning. Thank you, Natalie.

Rub a dub dub

We have always bathed Natalie in her infant/ toddler tub, and it's worked out pretty well.... until recently. It seems like someone watered her or fed her Miraclegrow. Suddenly she's so big! Where did my little baby go? Anyway, the baby tub was getting to be a little cramped (which is pretty hilarious because the box it came in has the image of a girl, maybe three or older, sitting comfortably in it) so we decided to put Natalie in the "big girl" tub tonight. She thought it was pretty spiffy!

Lions, tigers and...

Giraffes?

Bob, Megan and Rylan Fees invited us to join them on a family trip to the zoo today. We had so much fun! I had originally planned on waiting to take Natalie, figuring she wouldn't benefit too much from the zoo, or even care all that much. Boy was I wrong; she had a blast!

Natalie saw sea lions, polar bears, puffins, arctic foxes, fish, black and grizzly bears, otters and lemurs. Unfortunately, she fell asleep before seeing the giraffes, lions, gorillas and elephants... all animals I think she really would have enjoyed. Of all the animals she did see, puffins were her favorite. She kicked her legs and squealed in delight, it was so precious.

Another first Natalie had today was her very first carousel ride. I was determined that if she didn't do anything else, she was going to ride the carousel. She sat on her antelope (I think), I strapped her in and she beamed ear to ear. She held on to the pole like a big girl and sat straight up. As the carousel turned and her antelope went up and down she squealed some more and laughed. Chase got a two second video... it's not much but I'll post it anyway.

Natalie also rode on a bus for the first time today.. she broke all the rules. She stood up and was very loud. I guess it's OK though, she can get away with most anything she wants.

Today was wonderful, Natalie had so much fun and got a few "firsts" under her belt. I feel warm all over, mostly because my heart is full of happiness from watching the innocent joy she experienced today and partially because I got one killer sunburn.

*UPDATE*

Natalie just stood up all by herself and took one very slow, determined and wobbly step before plopping down on her bottom!

Oh.

My.

Gawd.

10 months

Is there anyone out there who knows how to stop time? Ten months ago, as I was holding my minutes old baby girl, I thought about how lucky I was and how challenging my life was about to become. I had never before been so completely fulfilled and yet so utterly terrified in one solitary moment. Having gone through my pregnancy with a deployed husband and knowing that Mom and I were facing a long four months of newborn craziness before he got home, I was sure it was going to be one heck of a long year. I feel like I blinked and suddenly she's ten months old! If her first ten months flew by a the speed of light, what will the next two months feel like? She's going to be one soon.... and then she'll be 18, moving out on her own, and won't need Momma anymore.

Recently, we've had a whole new struggle. One that's entirely new for me. Natalie got her first cold. It wasn't all THAT bad, I guess... she never had a fever, no green snot (sorry TMI), was mildly cranky, and only suffered two sleepless nights (that really only consisted of her waking up once or twice). It was awful for me, though. I hated that she didn't feel well, and blamed myself for not being vigilant enough to keep her healthy. I think the worst part for me was knowing she wasn't feeling well and not being able to give her any medicine to help ease her stuffy nose. Let's just say the saline spray and nasal aspirator are two things in this world that Natalie Blanton loathes. Obviously her cold was no fun for her, but I felt like I was adding unnecessary trauma just by trying to help . I know it was bound to happen, but it happened too soon. She's much better now and we're all relieved.

Here's what's going on now that Natalie is TEN MONTHS OLD:

*Furniture cruising like a mad woman
*Can climb stairs on her own (of course I've got a death grip on her arm and am no further that one centimeter from her)
*Says "Mamma" and "Dada" to correct parent
*Says "Edd" for egg and "Duhduh" for Doggy
*Waves "hello" AND "goodbye" (previously she had only really mastered "hello")
*Weaned herself to three nursings a day
*Drinks from a straw
*Stands alone momentarily and can almost stand up by herself
*Is starting to point to things to get needs met
*Obeys "no" more often and DEFINITELY understands it
*Has eight teeth

I've attached some cute pictures from the past month. Some are with Aunt Chelsea and Aunt Pam, some are with Charlotte (my friend Brooke's daughter) and some are from today (the cranky snotty nose pictures). I love the look on her face in the first picture... it just screams "Mommy puh-lease pick me up!".

Happy Birthday, Chase!

Finally, Chase is as old as me! For the next 6 months I can live without any "older woman" and "jail bait" jokes. Sheesh.

Happy Birthday, Chase! You're a fantastic husband and a wonderful father; we're so blessed to be sharing another year with you! Hopefully one day the Army will allow you to spend your birthday at home with your family. Rather that in the field, Iraq or anywhere else they might make you go. In the meantime I'll be sending you lots of "Happy Birthday" thoughts, hope your nose starts itching because we're definitely thinking of you!

Love you!
Leigh and Natalie

Vroom Vroom!

We got this sweet little "car" for Natalie a few weeks ago, and it's a HUGE hit! She loves going for rides in it, touring the house or parking lot and, you know, looking cool. Ha! She'll go over to it, and stand there fussing while lifting one leg as high as she can (think dog going to the bathroom) over and over again. I think that's her attempt to crawl in, it's so cute.

Yesterday we celebrated Chase's birthday (he'll be in the field for the actual day), and I was busy preparing our yummy meal during "arsenic hour". For those of you who have never experienced Natalie's arsenic hour, be grateful. It's the time of day when my precious, sweet and charming baby girl turns into a whiny, mean and (as Mom says) cantankerous little stinker. It's getting better, though. When she was a newborn she would start screaming, and I mean SCREAMING, around 3 p.m. and it last until about 10. Gradually as she has gotten older, her fussy period is beginning to wane, although it's a whole new kind of monster we're learning to deal with. Anyway, Chase was trying to distract her while I cooked (she had been standing next to me tugging on my pants, at one point she even pulled them down), so he took her outside for a quick ride! You'll notice at the end of the video, Natalie demonstrates a little bit of what arsenic hour is like :)