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| I was disappointed that two of the candles burned out before pictures. Oh well. |
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| Being presented with the Poo Poo Cake. |
Some day I'll show her husband these pictures and he'll be very proud of her.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Celebrate!
I'v been trying to potty train Natalie for a while now. Nothing was clicking. She knew what she was supposed to do but just didn't really care to. If I reminded her every 5 minutes she'd be fine until she was tired of my nagging and then we'd have an epic fit over wanting a diaper and ultimately end up abandoning the effort until a later date. She was really good about #1 but never would even entertain the idea of going #2 in the potty. We tried potty treats, stickers, cheering like lunatics, and promises of toys and big girl beds; while it all interested her it just wasn't enough. Well, buying diapers for two children is quite expensive and it was starting to strain the wallet. So Monday morning when she woke up I told her quite simply that her day time diapers (she still wears night time diapers) told me to tell her good bye and that they had left to help another little girl learn to use the potty. She shrugged her shoulders and went potty. There's been no looking back! I can't believe the solution was that simple! A friend of mine suggested having a party for Natalie's potty accomplishments, so I baked her a Poo Poo Cake! It says "Natalie's Poo Poo Cake! You Did It!" For some reason the pictures always upload out of order:
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
8 months old!
Nick is crawling, bear crawling, pulling up, cruising, clapping, "talking", eating really well, not napping, waving, giving kisses, just starting to sleep through the night, figuring out his sippy cup, laughing, and being an absolutely irresistible little boy. Nick is incredibly good natured, he's happy pretty much wherever he is and just adores life. Mom says "He's got a smile for everyone." and that's pretty accurate. We adore him and are so grateful for the past 8 months.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Nothing Much...
Nothing much to report, but it's been a while since my last update so I figured I'd let everyone know how we're doing.
Natalie is growing and learning so much. She's gone to two summer camps with her preschool and loves every second of it. When I come to get her she never wants to leave and we're usually the last ones out of there. Her vocabulary and sentence structure blow me away daily, although most of the time she likes to pretend to be a baby like Nick and will coo and cry... it's getting a bit old :) Anyway, her teachers told me that she did a really good job of fitting in with the older kids because of her language skills. I'm very proud of her. She loves her brother with such intensity it almost makes me sad that my parents didn't have any more children together. She's very protective of him and wants to be with him all of the time. Just the other day she went up to him, hugged him and said "I'll never leave you, Nicky." *note: only Natalie is allowed to called him Nicky, I hate it.
Nick is going to be an athlete. He's crawling, pulling up and cruising like a mad man. Every day I expect him to start walking. He's almost ready to walk, I think... he is just about able to balance while standing but still needs to hold on when he takes a step. Chase and I both walked at 9 months, so I think he might follow in our footsteps, ha! Lately, he's taken an interest in the stairs which has caused some alarm. He likes to go up them himself when we're on our way up for bath time. He can make it the whole way, supervised, of course. We've had some separation anxiety issues with him and he absolutely refuses to nap in his crib during the day. I don't have the luxury of devoting myself completely to his sleep habits like I did with Natalie so it's taking him some time to figure things out... I'm hoping that as he gets older it will all just sort of fall into place. Last night was the first night he has truly slept through the night. He went down (after much coaxing) around 9:30 and wasn't heard from again until 6:30. It was glorious. I had the foresight to go to bed at 9:30 too (thinking I was in for a bad night) and was wide eyed at 2:30... I realized it was because I had gotten 5 hours of sleep, which is what I've grown accustomed to over the last 8 months! Eventually I fell back asleep and had one of the best night's rest I can remember.
Chase is doing well with his new job position and is really enjoying getting to know everyone in the community. He's got some schooling and training coming up, as well as a longer "trip" (sniff) so we're prepared to spend some good quality time together as a family before all of that. He has a week off at the beginning of August so we're heading to the beach for some fun in the sand and to celebrate his birthday. He'll have some time off in September as well and we're planning to baptize both he and Nick, hopefully Chase's family will be able to make it out to share the special event with us.
I'm busy trying to find anything and everything there is to do to pass the time during these hot hot hot summer days. Fortunately I got Natalie to start taking naps again, so a big chunk of our day is eaten up by her rest time. Usually Nick and I use the time to do chores or to snuggle. I've been running almost every morning and I think I've become a bit famous in the neighborhood. I'm the gal pushing an 85 pound stroller up and enormous hill while carrying on a conversation with a tenacious 2-year-old and tossing toys at a fussy baby. I've gotten to know yard crews, garbage men and utility workers quite well and they've all started cheering me on. I'll start work again after labor day, and I'm really looking forward to getting back in the studio for a brand new year. Last year was crazy with my maternity leave followed by all the tremendous illnesses that hit our house during the winter. I'm praying God spares us round two this year. Fingers crossed...
Natalie is growing and learning so much. She's gone to two summer camps with her preschool and loves every second of it. When I come to get her she never wants to leave and we're usually the last ones out of there. Her vocabulary and sentence structure blow me away daily, although most of the time she likes to pretend to be a baby like Nick and will coo and cry... it's getting a bit old :) Anyway, her teachers told me that she did a really good job of fitting in with the older kids because of her language skills. I'm very proud of her. She loves her brother with such intensity it almost makes me sad that my parents didn't have any more children together. She's very protective of him and wants to be with him all of the time. Just the other day she went up to him, hugged him and said "I'll never leave you, Nicky." *note: only Natalie is allowed to called him Nicky, I hate it.
Nick is going to be an athlete. He's crawling, pulling up and cruising like a mad man. Every day I expect him to start walking. He's almost ready to walk, I think... he is just about able to balance while standing but still needs to hold on when he takes a step. Chase and I both walked at 9 months, so I think he might follow in our footsteps, ha! Lately, he's taken an interest in the stairs which has caused some alarm. He likes to go up them himself when we're on our way up for bath time. He can make it the whole way, supervised, of course. We've had some separation anxiety issues with him and he absolutely refuses to nap in his crib during the day. I don't have the luxury of devoting myself completely to his sleep habits like I did with Natalie so it's taking him some time to figure things out... I'm hoping that as he gets older it will all just sort of fall into place. Last night was the first night he has truly slept through the night. He went down (after much coaxing) around 9:30 and wasn't heard from again until 6:30. It was glorious. I had the foresight to go to bed at 9:30 too (thinking I was in for a bad night) and was wide eyed at 2:30... I realized it was because I had gotten 5 hours of sleep, which is what I've grown accustomed to over the last 8 months! Eventually I fell back asleep and had one of the best night's rest I can remember.
Chase is doing well with his new job position and is really enjoying getting to know everyone in the community. He's got some schooling and training coming up, as well as a longer "trip" (sniff) so we're prepared to spend some good quality time together as a family before all of that. He has a week off at the beginning of August so we're heading to the beach for some fun in the sand and to celebrate his birthday. He'll have some time off in September as well and we're planning to baptize both he and Nick, hopefully Chase's family will be able to make it out to share the special event with us.
I'm busy trying to find anything and everything there is to do to pass the time during these hot hot hot summer days. Fortunately I got Natalie to start taking naps again, so a big chunk of our day is eaten up by her rest time. Usually Nick and I use the time to do chores or to snuggle. I've been running almost every morning and I think I've become a bit famous in the neighborhood. I'm the gal pushing an 85 pound stroller up and enormous hill while carrying on a conversation with a tenacious 2-year-old and tossing toys at a fussy baby. I've gotten to know yard crews, garbage men and utility workers quite well and they've all started cheering me on. I'll start work again after labor day, and I'm really looking forward to getting back in the studio for a brand new year. Last year was crazy with my maternity leave followed by all the tremendous illnesses that hit our house during the winter. I'm praying God spares us round two this year. Fingers crossed...
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| His lips are irresistible, so are his cheeks, and his nose, and his eye lashes, and his everything. |
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| Cracker Barrel lunch date. |
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| I managed to get a picture of the "I'll never leave you" moment. |
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| Sassy |
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| So this is what happens when you eat a banana anywhere near Nick. He will strong arm you for it. He will win. |
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| Pure joy. |
Thursday, July 5, 2012
4th of July
We spent the 4th picnicking at Aunt Pam's pool with Aunt Pam, Aunt Chelsea and Grandmom. Natalie had a blast, she's officially a water bug. I've got to get this kid in swim lessons. Nick wasn't so much a fan but eventually warmed up to it enough for a photo op. 
Sunday, July 1, 2012
7 months! And a whole lot more...
I've been terrible about updating the blog, so much has been keeping me busy I just can't seem to find the time!
Nick is 7 months old now, hard to believe we're over half way to his first birthday. It's insanity. He's still only donning two teeth, although he chews and drools like mad. He's sitting up, crawling, pulling up and just now beginning to furniture cruise. We're really starting to get a taste for his personality now too. His moods and reactions are heavily swayed by Natalie's. In Nick's eyes Natalie hung the moon, he simply adores her, and she him but she's still a proper little two-year-old. When she is "mean" to him (taking toys from him, mostly) he hangs his head and sobs. Nick is a very loving little boy, he snuggles and cuddles and loves to be close. If I've been away from him for any length of time he'll paw at my face and pull me to him for a big slobbery baby kiss! Love!
Over the past week or two the Blanton's have had a lot of awesomeness happen. Chase graduated, Natalie had summer camps, we've had play dates galore and we took the kids to the beach. The beach was loads of fun. Natalie swam in the ocean, played in the sand, got "squiggled", went to the aquarium, slept in a big girl bed, rode carnival rides, went to dinner, had a friend visit and ate doughnuts. Nick came along for the ride and was pretty much happy wherever we put him except the beach, little guy is like his momma... Sand, heat and sticky sunscreen do not make for a comfortable environment!
So here are a whole bunch of pictures from the past several weeks, in no particular order:
Nick is 7 months old now, hard to believe we're over half way to his first birthday. It's insanity. He's still only donning two teeth, although he chews and drools like mad. He's sitting up, crawling, pulling up and just now beginning to furniture cruise. We're really starting to get a taste for his personality now too. His moods and reactions are heavily swayed by Natalie's. In Nick's eyes Natalie hung the moon, he simply adores her, and she him but she's still a proper little two-year-old. When she is "mean" to him (taking toys from him, mostly) he hangs his head and sobs. Nick is a very loving little boy, he snuggles and cuddles and loves to be close. If I've been away from him for any length of time he'll paw at my face and pull me to him for a big slobbery baby kiss! Love!
Over the past week or two the Blanton's have had a lot of awesomeness happen. Chase graduated, Natalie had summer camps, we've had play dates galore and we took the kids to the beach. The beach was loads of fun. Natalie swam in the ocean, played in the sand, got "squiggled", went to the aquarium, slept in a big girl bed, rode carnival rides, went to dinner, had a friend visit and ate doughnuts. Nick came along for the ride and was pretty much happy wherever we put him except the beach, little guy is like his momma... Sand, heat and sticky sunscreen do not make for a comfortable environment!
So here are a whole bunch of pictures from the past several weeks, in no particular order:
Kenley, Anabelle and Natalie at Marbles
Natalie and Rylan
Eden and Natalie at Marbles
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| Squigley's! |
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| Natalie and Rylan at the Carnival in Carolina Beach |
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| It's fuzzy but an important picture to me... Natalie's first night in a big girl bed! |
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| What a man |
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| Pure joy. |
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| Alexa, Eden, Jeanne and me! |
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