I love me.

I cannot get over the massive amount of people (mostly teenagers/young adult females) that take ridiculously unflattering pictures of themselves and post them on facebook. I seriously can't help but giggle every time I see a mug shot obviously taken either in the mirror or by holding their phone up in front of their face. Usually they have some sort of lip pucker going on, a new hairstyle or just a mean case of the "I love me's" but seriously, who wakes up in the morning and thinks "DAMN! I look good today, I gotta put this on facebook!"?

Videos

Here are the videos I tried to upload last night in my photo bomb post. They're cute.

This is what an elephant says:



Wipe out!



Natalie is about 35 inches tall and weighs almost 30 pounds, her hair is getting really long, but you can't really tell because she's got her Daddy's curls. Her vocabulary is enormous and she's starting to talk in small sentences. She says things like: "Uh oh, Natalie dropped brush" or "Mamma, change diaper, please"! Which reminds me, she's showing interest in potty training. She's borderline obsessed with princesses and fairies, yet loves cars and choo choo trains. I knew I'd raise a well rounded baby girl! I can't believe how different she is now, 19 months is such a short span of time but so much has happened in her little life, it's so much fun to watch her morph into her own unique personality.

Photo Bomb

I finally got a new computer so no more excuses. I can update and upload to my little heart's content now! Going back through the pictures I've taken in recent months, I realize how much Natalie has changed in such a short amount of time. It's amazing! So here we go, Natalie from the past several months:

Just the other day:







5/28/11 While Mommy's away, Natalie and Grandma will play:





5/15/11 Museum of Life and Science in Durham:




5/4/11 Natalie's first ice cream:



Bow chica wow wow... this is what greets me in the morning:



4/17/11 Southern Pines Easter Egg Hunt:





4/13/11 Carolina Beach Trip:











Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Roy Orbison:




4/2/11 Museum of Life and Science in Durham (think I already posted the Dino pic):



Natalie on her new tricycle that Grandma bought her for her birthday. I know, we're bad parents, we FINALLY got it put together after the new year.


Here are some videos I thought everyone might enjoy:

3/2/11 Natalie eating with a spoon (well, trying to)

The adventures of Natalie

Natalie is absolutely amazing. Once I get a new computer that will actually let me upload more than one picture/video at a time, I'll prove it! She's talking up a storm, she has so many words... I'll bet she can say at least 100 different things. She has started to speak in small sentences now, too; it's incredible how quickly things change and progress. She also will repeat absolutely anything I say, so I have to be very careful! She counts, knows some colors and can identify pretty much anything I ask her to.

Natalie is super tall and very skinny... actually she does have thunder thighs, but that's it. I'm thinking super model (minus the bulimia and heroin, of course) or maybe an Olympic beach volley ball all star. Whatever, I'll be happy with either one, ha!

Recently Natalie has had so much fun. She's gone on Easter egg hunts (and got her picture published), gone to the beach, the aquarium, the museum, ridden a train and devoured her first ice cream. Don't worry... I have pictures documenting it all, I'll do a massive picture post once I have my new computer!

In the meantime, here is a picture of Natalie at the museum taken today. She had a blast!

Pucker up!

Check out Natalie's new trick! If you ask her to "pucker up" this is the result, how stinkin' cute is that?

Under no circumstances will I ever...

*Cheat on my husband
*Abandon my daughter
*Smoke
*Drive drunk
*Own a minivan
*Eat a snail (already tried)
*Quit my job
*Live in Canada
*Ski
*Skydive
*Buy a PC
*Wear a thong bikini
*Wear a bikini
*Get a tattoo

But I will have another baby.

Funny how things work out, huh? After all my proclaiming, venting and ranting God has blessed us with another pregnancy. I guess he had other plans in store for us and I'm OK with that. I've been feeling pretty miserable lately, this pregnancy seems no different than my previous. In fact, my morning sickness with Natalie was largely the reason I decided I was never going to do this again! But now when I look at her I realize how worth it it was to be sick for those short (ha!) 16 weeks compared to a lifetime of joy. I can only imagine what it will be like doubled!

The Museum

Today Chase and I took Natalie to The Museum of Life and Science in Durham for Rachel's 5th birthday party. Natalie had, as Chase would say, a blasty blast. She dove right in to the birthday festivities, listened to stories and played with fake bugs. She ate cake, danced and had a fabulous time. After the party we took some time to visit the rest of the museum. We toured the butterfly house and Natalie was absolutely amazed. She kept pointing to the butterflies and saying "oh fly". We walked the dinosaur trail, saw bears, lemurs, cows, goats, pigs, ducks, owls and a donkey. What amazed me most, though, was the kiddie area indoors. Natalie's independence is awesome! It was as if her parents didn't exist, she was completely captivated by all the cool new things she could touch and play with all by her self. For those of you wondering, the kiddie area is a space that is completely enclosed, totally safe and designated for children aged infant-toddler. Perfect for Natalie.

It was really special for me to watch Natalie enjoy something so much that had once been so fun for me. I'll admit, I got a little teary eyed watching her run in my footsteps through the exact same paths I had as a child. Most of the exhibits at the museum are old hat to me, I've seen the tornado, the fog machine, the caboose and the seismograph... I've even spent the night there. But nothing could have ever convinced me that all of those things would become so magical to me again. The wonder in her eyes and her ear-to-ear smiles were the best exhibits there!

Holy cow, I cannot wait to take this child to Disney World.