Natalie Caroline Johnston

My Macy

2009-08-28T00:33:00.011-04:00

As I indicated in my previous post, Natalie made a new friend when we were in Iowa, her cousin, Macy from Chicago. They weren't sure of each other at first, but then once Macy let Natalie borrow one of her swimmy diapers, they were inseparable :-) They played in the baby pool and sandbox, ate dinners together, took walks to the big weeping willow tree, rolled down the hill more times than we could count, sang "Ring Around the Rosy". Natalie constantly referred to her as "My Macy". It was so adorable and we hope we can get them together soon!

I also wanted to share a picture of GG with two of her great-granddaughters. GG is not a fan of getting her picture taken, so this is about the only one that Papa could sneak in. I'm sure she waa exhausted when we left, but this visit will be such a special memory for all of us!

Visit to the Hawkeye State

2009-08-27T23:08:00.012-04:00

We recently took a last minute trip to Iowa to visit Josh's extended family. At first, we were just going to go with Grandma and Papa J, to visit Great-Grandma Connie (now known as GG). Next thing we knew, Uncle Sam was coming from California and extended family was coming from Chicago and other parts of Iowa!
We lucked out on both of our flights with an extra seat for Natalie, so it was nice to be able to spread out and have room for the new Dora backpack, baby doll, sticker books, snacks...you get the idea. Grandma, Papa and GG picked us up in Rochester, MN and Natalie took a nice little nap during the hour drive to Osage. After a fun afternoon of playing we ended the day with a couple ears of what Iowa is known for...corn!

Thursday started out with a trip to the local playground and lunch out with GG. After naptime, Uncle Sam, Aunt Cyndy and Uncle Bill arrived and we packed up and headed over to Josh's Uncle Dick and Aunt Renee's house to meet up with the rest of the family. Josh's cousin, Amber, has a little girl, Macy who is 6 months older than Natalie. As you can imagine, they became fast friends. Stay tuned for a seperate post about those two!

Friday was Aunt Cyndy's birthday, so the ladies (plus Uncle Sam!) headed to the neighboring town of St. Ansgar to enjoy lunch at a cafe owned by one of Grandma J's high school classmates. It was in an old Victorian house, so you can imagine my anxiety with all breakable objects about. Natalie was very well behaved and I was grateful to have so many extra hands to help keep her occupied! That evening the entire family came over to GG's house for a dinner and Natalie enjoyed exploring GG's backyard and hiding in the corn field with the birthday girl, Aunt Cyndy! Kaija had a nice evening out at the county fair watching the 4-H talent show!

Saturday morning we headed over to Josh's cousin's for breakfast and then to the county fair. We were disappointed to learn that the rides didn't open until the afternoon, but we enjoyed looking at all the animals just the same! In the afternoon we visited Spring Park, one of Josh's favorite places in Osage. The well spring flows with COLD water, which some partake in drinking, and others use it as a wishing well....we did the latter! Afterwards, we headed over to Josh's aunt and uncle's again for dinner and a bonfire where Natalie got to eat her first marshmallow, she loved it of course!

We awoke early Sunday morning for our 7AM flight from Rochester and arrived back in DC around 1PM, which made for a long day, but it was nice to be able to re-group before the start of the week. We had a great time during our short trip to Iowa and hope we can go back again soon!

Two Peas in A Pod

2009-07-23T00:28:00.005-04:00

I just had to share this picture of Natalie and her friend, Lexi, from a recent playdate because it was so cute. Natalie and Lexi are in the same class at daycare and we are lucky enough to live in the same neighborhood, so we see each other at the park and pool quite frequently. They simply have the best time running around and playing together...we've even been asked if they are twins before (must be the slow growing hair...)! Natalie is definitely becoming more aware of her friends - whenever we get in the car she asks if we're going to "Sydney's house?" and when I say it's time to go to school it's "see Lexi, Grayson, Cooper?". What a social butterfly she is!

Swimming Lessons!

2009-07-22T23:30:00.011-04:00

One of Natalie's favorite activities now that summer is here is going to the community pool. While she still frequents the baby pool, we spend alot of time in the kids pool with the water shooters and giant floating turtle. We started introducing Natalie to the water very early (she took her first swimming classes when she was 6 months old) which we think has made her very comfortable and happy in the water. However, now that she is old enough to take a bit more instruction we wanted her to learn some of the basic skills necessary to start "swimming", so we enrolled Natalie in Parent/Tot classes at our pool. Basically it's been alot of songs and games, but some of her bigger accomplishments have blowing bubbles, kicking her feet and arms, floating on her back and jumping off the side of the pool. She truly loved the class (especially since her friend Lexi was taking it with her) and we
can't wait until next summer when she can take classes solo!

Natalie's 2nd Birthday Party!

2009-07-06T00:25:00.003-04:00

On Natalie's actual birthday, June 28th, we had a birthday party for her at a local children's gym (JW Tumbles) and had 11 of her little friends join us. We were already familiar with the gym since we took her there in the winter months to burn off energy and just love the owner, Mr. Mike. Kaija had to explain to Josh that every 2 year old birthday requires a theme, so we went with Blues Clues since it is one of her favorite TV shows. Once all of the guests arrived we did parachute play, bubbles, trampolines, roller coaster and train rides, swinging and much more! The playing portion of the party ended with all the kids going on the bee zip line, by far the favorite. We were so happy that Natalie jumped right in and started play, she can sometimes be very shy and reserved, but not that day!

Then it was on to cake - for the occasion Kaija made 2 cakes - both were the dogs from the Blues Clues show - Blue and Magenta. A big thank you to Kaija's step mom Donna for her artistic decorating help - they wouldn't have turned out as cute as they did without her. Natalie has learned to sing the first couple of words to the "Happy Birthday" song over the past couple of months for her best friend, Sydney's, birthday and Josh's birthday, but I think she was a little confused why everyone was singing to her. With the little help from Kaija blowing out the candle and it was on to eating. We were so happy that Natalie actually took a couple bites of cake because she normally does not like cake or ice cream - we're not quite sure where we went wrong :-)

After cake it was time to wrap up the party. Mr. Mike tried to dress Natalie up like a princess and walk down the red carpet to give out her gift bags, but Natalie wanted no part of it, shy girl came out! After we said our goodbyes to most of our friends, a small group of us (family and some close friends) headed across the street to our favorite pizza place, Sal's, for lunch and to relax.

Based on the 3 hour nap Natalie took later that afternoon, we think she had a wonderful time at her 2nd birthday party. We couldn't have been more happy to celebrate with her, but it just reminds us once again that our baby girl is a big girl now!

P.S. A big thanks to our friend Chris for these pictures. We'll have more pictures to post later, but with Josh working the video camera, Kaija directing kids and forgetting to download the grandparent's pictures before they left, these are the only ones we have to share right now!

Natalie's 2nd Birthday Pictures

2009-07-06T00:23:00.001-04:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Getting Ready For A Cousin!

2009-03-03T22:06:00.014-05:00

The first weekend of February Kaija and Natalie flew up to Rochester to visit Grandpa Tom/Grandma Donna and attend Kaija's step-sister, Audrey's, baby shower. Audrey is expecting a little boy March 2nd and since it's already March 3rd, he is officially late! Natalie was a traveling pro -she walked right through the security checkpoint, sat quietly in her plane seat playing with a sticker book and baby doll and an hour later we were there. Saturday started off very early with Natalie getting adjusted to her new surroundings - Grandpa Tom and Natalie made french toast for everyone! That afternoon, during the shower Grandpa Tom and Uncle Cole babysat while Kaija helped Donna. They had a great time reading books, playing with Kaija's old Fisher Price Little People toys (so much better than the new versions!) and riding the rocking horse. Everyone stayed afterward for a pizza dinner including Cole's girlfriend, Brittany and Audrey's boyfriend, Bryan...it was nice having everyone together! Sunday morning started off with a trip to Kaija's favorite breakfast place, Simply Crepes and then Grandpa Tom took Natalie to the llama farm. Monday afternoon it was back to Virginia - Natalie was very excited to see her Daddy!

Snow Day!

2009-03-03T21:37:00.002-05:00

We woke up Monday morning to about 5 inches of the white stuff on the ground. I know, our northern friends are probably laughing, but this amount of snow in Virginia pretty much shuts things down. Unfortunately, that did not include Josh and Kaija's offices or Natalie's daycare! Natalie was very excited to see snow, it's even a new word in her vocabulary (even though it comes out more like "no"). While Josh started to shovel to get the cars out, Kaija was really excited because she finally got to break out Natalie's snow pants and boots! Unfortunately, she wanted nothing to do with either, so out we went to "help" Daddy shovel with our sneakers and jeans. Oh well, maybe next year!

Dinner Party!

2009-01-04T22:11:00.008-05:00

OK - so our definition of dinner party has changed a bit since kids came on the scene. It used to mean a long relaxing dinner with lots of wine. Now it has turned into parents eating dinner in shifts while trying to coax their young children to try a bite of the green veggie on their plate. Anyway, after Josh and I had a very low key NYE (think bed at 10PM), we got to celebrate the New Year with our good friends on Saturday night. Skye and Roger (with daughters Gabby and Mallory) were nice enough to host us for a stuffed shell dinner which all the kids LOVED. While our kids span the ages of 18 months to 4 years, they all play well together and there weren't too many sharing issues :-) We pushed the kids to their limits on bed time (8:00) and capped off the evening with a little Max and Ruby video marathon. Oh, and we even got a sip of wine in here and there!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T22:46:00.007-05:00

We had a wonderful 2nd Christmas with Natalie! She was blessed to have Grandma and Grandpa Dinse and Grandma and Grandpa Johnston come to Ashburn to celebrate as well as Uncle Sam from San Diego. On Christmas Eve Day we introduced Natalie to decorating sugar cookies - she did a great job picking the different sprinkles she wanted to adorn the cookies with. Surprisingly, she didn't like them as much as we thought she would, not sure if it was because we haven't given her that many sweets or it was just Kaija's cooking :-) Christmas Eve we enjoyed a lasagna dinner and then arranged our cookies and milk for Santa. Christmas morning Natalie must have been really excited because she woke up at 6:15! After checking to make sure Santa had visited and taking the annual picture at the top of the stairs, Natalie had her first look at the presents under the tree. She beelined for the baby stroller which promptly got taken for a spin around the house. After our traditional Christmas morning brunch we settled in to open the rest of the presents. The biggest hits were the piano from Grandma and Grandpa J, the baby doll from Mommy and Daddy, crocs from Grandma and Grandpa D and a tricycle from SANTA! We spent the rest of the day relaxing around the house and preparing the turkey dinner (can you tell we did alot of eating?). We tried to get a good family picture..as you can tell, hopefully we'll have better luck next year!

Getting In The Christmas Spirit!

2008-12-07T23:26:00.005-05:00

This weekend the Johnston household dove head first into the Christmas season. Saturday we took our annual trip to Snickers Gap Farm to get our Christmas tree. Kaija envisioned a happy family frolicking amongst the trees - searching for the perfect one. What reality brought was a 1 1/2 year old that didn't want to walk or keep her mittens on in the freezing temperatures...maybe she'll appreciate it next year! Anyway, we did get a lovely tree which we spent the evening decorating. Natalie loved looking at all the different ornaments as Kaija explained the significance of each one. Her favorite ornament is the one that Grandma J gave her last year that has a picture of her on it - she just walks around with it saying "baby", "baby". Hopefully one day she will understand that it's her! Natalie particularly favored the "ball" shaped ornaments, which she proceeded to try and throw like her regular balls. We ended up with only one casualty and the tree has been toddler proofed...breakable ornaments on top and playable ornaments on the bottom.

Sunday morning we went to the Santa Breakfast at the firehouse. After Natalie devoured 4 pancakes (yes, 4!), we decided it was time to introduce her to Santa and Mrs. Claus. No sooner did we get up there than the clinging began, I didn't push it too much, little does she know we'll be headed to the mall later this week for the official Christmas picture! Later in the afternoon we had our good friends, John, Lauren and Emma Duffy over for football and chili. Natalie was very interested in Emma since she is a "baby" (10 months old). We are trying to teach sharing though, which she isn't very into yet - I guess it will come!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T23:03:00.002-05:00

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we headed up to Rochester to spend time with the Dinse side of the family. Natalie fell asleep right at her regular 7:30 PM bedtime, but woke up as soon as we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's. Luckily, they were happy to entertain her for a little bit before we headed to bed. On Thanksgiving, Cole and Brittany, Heather and Audrey joined us for dinner. Much to Kaija's disappointment, Natalie was a bit overwhelmed with all the people and refused to eat turkey and mashed potatoes. Anyone who knows our little girl - she likes to eat! On Friday, Kaija's Aunt Marlene and Uncle Bob came for a visit. It was great to see them and they brought Natalie the cutest book - "Princess Baby"! On Saturday, Kaija had an afternoon out with Donna, Heather and Audrey to see "The Nutcracker". It was nice to get into the holiday spirit and get some adult time. After a quick pizza dinner back at the house we packed up the car and were off to Virginia again. Natalie fell asleep before we left Rochester, which led to a long night when we returned home, but at least we had Sunday to recover. We're looking forward to seeing Grandma and Grandpa D again at Christmas in Ashburn!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-03T00:06:00.010-05:00

Well, we're going to give this blogging thing another try! Halloween was quite a big deal in the Johnston household this year. As you can see, our kitty cat was absolutely adorable! Last Friday Kaija took Natalie trick-or-treating at her office and she quickly learned the best part about Halloween...CANDY! She loved carrying around her pumpkin and helping herself to as much candy as she could stuff in it. She actually got upset when the bag got too heavy to carry!

Halloween morning we started off at Natalie's school for her parade. She had fun walking around the circle with her class. Then in the evening we met up with our neighborhood friends (including Alex as Blues Clues) for some trick-or-treating on our street. Since the weather was so beautiful, we sat in the driveway and gave out candy. Natalie loved watching all the big kids in their costumes. We're already looking forward to next year when Natalie can say "trick-or-treat" all on her own!

Meet Me At The Park!

2008-09-09T23:22:00.009-04:00

Kaija and Natalie had a great weekend with friends! On Friday afternoon (thanks to Kaija's new work schedule) they met up with Maggie and Sydney at Frying Pan Farm Park. It was Natalie's first introduction to farm animals - we saw cows, pigs, horses, goats. All of the animals were met with a big "OH!" and alot of pointing. Natalie had a traumatizing moment when an over friendly cow got a hold of her shirt and was literally eating it and in the process, licking her stomach. She was beside herself after that, but a quick redirect to look at the goats and all was forgotten. Check out some more picture's on Sydney's blog: http://littleivey.blogspot.com/

On Sunday Kaija and Natalie met up with Annette and Jack at Clemyjontri Park for a picnic and to play. Clemyjontri was designed to be accessible to children with diabilities, including a rubberized surface, which was a great alternative to wood chips. The place is huge with something for kids of all ages - we didn't get through 1/4 of it. We ended our day with a ride on the carousel - Jack sat nicely on his horse but Natalie wanted to get down, so we ended up sitting on a bench. Maybe next time!

The other big news in the Johnston house is that we officially have a walker and the way things are looking, she'll be running soon :-)

On The Road...Again!

2008-09-03T00:39:00.005-04:00

Labor Day weekend we headed to Danville to visit Grandma and Grandpa J. We've figured out that the evening is the best to travel with Natalie, so we headed out after dinner and she slept most of the 4 hour drive. Saturday we spent most of the day playing on the porch and Kaija and Vicki got some fall shopping done for Natalie in the afternoon. Sunday we took a walk and fed the ducks along the river before taking Natalie to a Japanese steakhouse for the first time - she loved watching them cook! We then headed over to the park so Natalie could display her newest talent of riding on the big girl swing - check out the video!

14 Months Old!

2008-08-28T00:58:00.005-04:00

We can't believe Natalie is already 2 months into her second year and getting more and more independent everyday. While she is still not walking full time, she has definitely made some progress over the last couple weeks. She can now take 10-20 steps at a time on her own and is relying less on us to hold her hands. However, once she falls, it's right back into crawling mode. We're hoping the duck push toy that Grandpa Tom made her is going to help her learn! The funny thing is, while she is very cautious about walking she LOVES to climb everything and anything - stairs, furniture, playground equipment - with no fear. She is also saying a couple of new words - "baby" and "more". The latter comes in very handy at dinnertime! She has also started trying to feed herself with a spoon as you can see makes her very happy but is also very messy :-)

On The Road

2008-08-18T23:33:00.023-04:00

In mid-August we made the road trip up to Rochester for the wedding of Kaija's friend from high school, Greg, and to visit Grandma and Grandpa D! We had a great time at the wedding, catching up with friends and introducing Natalie to new ones (Callie (Dave and Tanya's daughter - pictured) and Aubrey (Brian and Rosa's daughter)). It was so much fun to watch the girls interact since they were born within 2 months of each other. We had a relaxing weekend - going to the farmer's market, the park and a quick dip in the pool (it was a bit cold for Natalie's liking!). We also headed up to Lake Ontario to walk along the lake. This is a special place for Kaija because her Mom liked going there, so it was nice to be able to share that with Natalie. We tell her all the time what a wonderful person her Grandma Kitty (Oma) was! There was also some exciting news to report out of our visit...Natalie is going to have a cousin Kaija's step-sister, Audrey, is due in March!

Family Reunion!

2008-07-29T22:50:00.001-04:00

Last weekend we headed to Minneapolis for Josh's cousin's wedding on Lake Minnetonka. It was a great opportunity to see Josh's Mom's side of the family since they all live in the Midwest. We had a house on the lake and both mornings got to watch beautiful sunrises since our Little Miss woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5:30 AM!

Natalie had her first non-family babysitter during the ceremony(her cousin Landon was there to keep her company) and then joined her Mom and Dad for the reception! Natalie entertained our table during dinner, danced with her grandparents (she loved the live band!) and posed for family pictures in the photo booth (great idea for a wedding!). She smiled right up until we left at 9 PM and then I think she was asleep before we left the parking lot.

Sunday we spent the day at the house of Josh's aunt and uncle. It was a great opportunity to catch up with everyone and introduce the little ones...there have been 4 born in the past 2 years! Natalie also decided to take the opportunity to start standing up without assistance and add another word to her vocabulary..."ball".

Monday we were back on the plane again and after a slight meltdown and a delay in Chicago we finally made it home!

Our Little Girl Is Growing Up!

2008-07-22T23:58:00.004-04:00

During the past couple weeks Natalie has magically changed from a baby to a toddler before our very eyes. Her vocabulary has increased to 7 words (dada, mama, hi (her favorite), bye, up, uh oh (not really a word, but it's darn cute!) and that or what (we haven't really figured it out yet)). She also learned to kiss, so now when you say "Natalie, give me a kiss" she puckers her lip, sucks in her cheeks and let's out a big "MA" when she comes in contact with your cheek, lips or one of her stuffed animals (the Polar Bear that Uncle Cole got her is a current favorite). Kaija and Josh can't get enough of it! The most exciting news to report though is on Saturday she took 3 steps on her own! Kaija missed it, but Josh, Grandma and Grandpa J were all there. There hasn't been a repeat performance since, but Kaija and Josh keep walking around the house holding her hands hoping that she'll let go and take off. Hopefully it will happen soon, our backs are getting sore!

Grandma J Comes To Babysit!

2008-07-22T23:41:00.005-04:00

Since Josh's Mom has the summer off from teaching, we decided that she would come up for a week in the summer to watch Natalie. Works out great for everyone because Grandma J gets Natalie all to herself and Josh and Kaija don't have to pay for daycare :-) The first weekend started with Grandma and Grandpa J watching Natalie while Josh and Kaija went to Richmond for the wedding of Kaija's college friend, Jen. Everything went great and Grandpa J took the opportunity to introduce Natalie to chocolate ice cream, which she thought was the greatest thing ever. Grandpa J left on Sunday and Grandma J spent the entire week entertaining Natalie with the maracas she brought back from Haiti, walks to the park and pool time in the backyard. She also managed to help Josh and Kaija a ton around the house with cooking, laundry and even surprised Kaija with a belated 30th birthday cake! Thanks Grandma J for everything and we hope you can come back real soon!

Happy First Birthday Baby Girl!

2008-07-14T22:16:00.013-04:00

As you can tell, we're a little behind on our posting, but we figured we better share some pictures from Natalie's actual birthday as well. Natalie's first birthday started out with Happy Birthday and blueberry pancakes, which quickly became a very messy, but yummy experience. Then Josh was off to Annapolis for Greg's wedding, one of his friends from college. Kaija and Natalie spent the morning at the park for Grayson's 1 1/2 birthday celebration. Grayson's birthday is on Christmas, so his parents had the great idea to celebrate his birthday halfway in between! Natalie had a great time watching all the big kids run around and got her first taste of pizza, which she loved That afternoon Kaija and Natalie were off Skye's to play in the baby pool with Mallory and then on to a girls only date at Red Robin for dinner. It was Natalie's first experience eating off the kids menu. Her and Mallory shared grilled cheese and melon, which she devoured. The wait staff came over and sang Happy Birthday to her and delivered an ice cream sundae. While we're trying to keep her away from sweets, since it was her birthday we couldn't resist. Of course she loved it and kept opening her mouth like a little birdie. Hopefully the next year doesn't go by as fast as the first!

Our Little Ladybug's 1st Birthday Party!

2008-07-09T23:30:00.017-04:00

On Saturday, June 21st we celebrated Natalie's 1st birthday early with a ladybug themed party. Both sets of grandparents and our closest friends joined us. The kids splashed around in the backyard water park Josh created complete with 2 pools, slip n slide and sand/water table. It was alot of fun!

Of course, the pinnacle of any 1st birthday party is the CAKE!!! It was Natalie's first taste of sugar and she did not disappoint. After tentatively sticking her fingers in the frosting, Natalie proceeded to stuff vanilla cupcake in her mouth and finished the entire thing!

Go Dukes!

2008-07-08T22:18:00.000-04:00

Back on June 14th, Kaija and her JMU friends hosted a reunion. It was great to get caught up with everyone and reminice about old

times. Of course, the kids were the center of attention, 8 babies have been added to the mix over the past 8 years! Kaija's college roommate, Kellie, even made a DVD chronicling the college years, which was especially hilarious...oh how much has changed!

Kellie, her husband Jeremy and twin 9 month old girls, Kennedy and Ashlyn spent Saturday night at our house. Sunday was Father's Day, so we had a nice breakfast and girls had fun playing together before they headed home. We hope that we can make it down Yorktown this fall for a visit!

Glamour Shots...

2008-07-07T21:52:00.002-04:00

Our photographer has posted a couple of pictures on her blog of Natalie's one year old birthday. We've mentioned this before but Stephanie is an amazing photographer and definitely someone we recommend if you're looking for someone. The pictures were taken in the Belmont Manor House where we were married. If the bathtub looks familiar, it should. We took several of our wedding pictures of the two of us and the groomsmen.

http://thehipblog.squarespace.com/

Hitch a ride...

2008-07-01T19:45:00.009-04:00

What a birthday!! One of the best gifts ever came from the Grandparents on Natalie's 1st Birthday...a wagon. She absolutely loves riding to the park or to the pool as she sits up looking cool. She also loves riding with her sidekick Musha, her stuffed frog. Here she is in action riding in her brand new wagon...

Our little helper...

2008-06-02T21:02:00.006-04:00

Natalie has decided to help out around the house. She decide the dishes were the best place to start. Although, luckily, she can't quite get the dishes out, we love the effort. And the best part, she doesn't expect an allowance for her hard work.

Oregon Trail

2008-05-28T22:30:00.040-04:00

We took the opportunity Memorial Day weekend to travel West to Ashland, Oregon to visit Kaija's grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins. Natalie did a great job on the 8 hour trip - we were lucky enough to snag an extra seat on the first leg so she could sit in her car seat and then on the second leg we had a very friendly woman across the aisle that kept Natalie entertained. When we arrived Aunt Rita and Uncle Bill were there to greet us!

Sunday was family reunion day! In addition to spending time with Kaija's Oma and Opa, we had cousins come from Seattle (Kirsten, Mark and Sonja) and Portland (Sara). The weather wasn't very cooperative, but we had a wonderful time catching up, watching the girls play and celebrating Josh's 33rd birthday!

On Monday the sun decided to come out, so we went to Lithia Park for a walk and a visit to the duck pond and the playground! Afterwards, we stopped by a local winery where Natalie promptly decided it was time to nap. Aunt Rita and Uncle Bill took turns sitting in the car so Kaija and Josh got to enjoy the wine tasting!

Monday morning we went out to breakfast and were lucky enough to meet a local children's author. He stopped by our table to comment on what a happy baby Natalie was and a couple minutes later came back with a signed copy of his latest book! That afternoon Rita and Bill watched Natalie while Kaija and Josh visited with Oma and Opa at their lovely retirement community, Mountain Meadows.

The trip back Tuesday started out with some excitement as Rita and Bill's house lost power in the middle of the night. Thank goodness we had packed the night before and make our 6AM flight in plenty of time! Natalie also managed to pick up a cold and cough during the trip, so she slept alot of the flight back. We had a wonderful time (although way too short!) and hope to make it back to Ashland very soon!

Stair Master...

2008-05-19T21:05:00.005-04:00

Natalie has started her leg workouts as she is now fully capable of climbing up and, to a lesser stint, down our steps. She actually makes very quick work of this exercise as she climbed 12 steps in 30 seconds. Not bad for the first time ever climbing. Oh well, so much for not having to worry about a gate for the upstairs. Here is some video of her new feat.

In other news, we helped celebrate our good friend Sydney's first birthday this past weekend. We had a great time playing and catching up with all of our friends.

We are also heading out to Oregon to visit with some of Kaija's family. This will be the first time Natalie has gotten to meet her Great Oma and Opa. Our family is really looking forward to the trip except for the time zone issue. Hopefully we'll be able to stay on schedule-

Dadda...

2008-05-18T19:24:00.000-04:00

Natalie has been saying dadda for awhile now. But now dadda has meaning. Whereas before she called everything dadda she now knows that when she wants Josh's attention she says dadda repeatedly until Josh looks at her. As soon as he does she starts laughing. Very cute and momma is jealous-

They grow up so quick...

2008-05-17T06:51:00.002-04:00

Natalie has started the transition to the big girl daycare room. The transition started early this week and, so far, the results are great. Except one thing, Natalie will not take a bottle from the new teachers...only her old teachers. Hopefully this will change as she gets more comfortable. Maybe we'll have an easier time than expected with the "don't accept anything from strangers" life lesson. As Josh has picked her up she looks very happy and enjoys the new toys.

Playdate...

2008-05-11T15:30:00.002-04:00

Natalie had her second play-date with Lexi on Saturday. The girls seemed to have a really fun time together as they maneuvered throughout our house. Lexi is about 5 months older than Natalie so we are hoping that Natalie watched with envy as Lexi was able to walk around the house. At times it seemed as if Lexi had a leash on Natalie. Everywhere Lexi walked Natalie was right behind crawling.

Here is a video of Natalie walking with her Lion as we waited for Lexi to show up. As you can see, Natalie loves to wave as she walks...Josh is already trying to teach her to keep both hands on the toy as she walks although it will probably take learning the hard way for it to sink in.

Mom's Day...

2008-05-11T15:01:00.003-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. Kaija woke up to a couple of cards and an appointment at the local spa for a pedicure and manicure. For all of the hard work she has put in the past 10 months this was the least dad and Natalie could do.

Natalie has also started a new game in the household. This game is one that mom and dad enjoy playing for the most part. We call it the 'Thank You' game. Natalie will extend her hand to give us a toy after which she waits until we say THANK YOU. After we say those words she expects the toy back and then she extends her arm again...you get the idea.

Two more teeth have appeared. On Friday Kaija noticed that Natalies two upper teeth have popped through. Hopefully this will lead to her eating some solid table food.

One fine day...

2008-05-08T19:53:00.002-04:00

Since Natalie is crawling we have decided to expand our playground activities from the swing and the slide. The local playground has a crawling tunnel in between two slides. Natalie seemed very confused as to what she was supposed to do so she basically sat still and people watched through the airplane-type windows. Here are some pictures of her day.

Dont confuse pink eye with Ping i's...

2008-05-06T21:46:00.004-04:00

Natalie has been out with pink eye for the past couple of days. In bad parent fashion we self-diagnosed Natalie with allergies to pollen like her dad (same signs--watery eyes with some discharge). Needless to say, we were wrong. We even took her to one of her buddies 1st birthday party on Sunday. So far it appears that the pink eye has not spread to any of her friends. There is some good news within all of this...Natalie doesn't seem to have allergies to pollen.

In other news, we have started to give Natalie her baths in the big-girl bath tub. It was long overdue as she had long outgrown her infant tub. After seeing how much more she enjoys the big-girl tub we wish we had changed over to this long ago. She enjoys scooting around in the tub and splashing around.

Lions for lambs...

2008-05-06T21:36:00.004-04:00

Forget crawling!! Natalie has found the next great form of mobility...walking. Grandma and Grandpa J purchased the walking lion and every day since Natalie has become more and more comfortable walking behind the lion. Although, we must admit, her favorite part of the lion is his nose which plays music every time you push it in. In fact, Natalie will sit in front of the lion and just continuously press in the nose for, seemingly, hours at a time. Here are a few pictures of Natalie in action...as you can see Natalie has figured out how to walk and wave at the same time.

Sound of Music...

2008-05-06T20:58:00.006-04:00

Natalie started her music class at Gymboree and, so far, is having a really fun time. We are hoping she is more musically gifted than her mom and dad. Basically the kids sit in a circle and play different instruments while the instructor and moms sing songs. The class provides an opportunity to practice with different instruments as well as a few props. So far Natalie's favorite appears to be the rattles and the scarf. To keep the class fun a new theme is selected every third week. The theme for the first couple of weeks was Irish Folk music which moved into Broadway for the past couple of weeks. Next up, Reggae. If only Natalie had long enough hair for dreadlocks. Fortunately, Natalie has had both sets of grandparents come up to watch their American Idol in action.

Playdates!

2008-04-06T22:30:00.002-04:00

We had a weekend full of fun times with friends!

On Saturday afternoon we met up with Maggie, Chris, Sydney, Allison and Grayson at "Springfest" in Fairfax and then went to the park. It was great to be outside in the 65 degree weather! Sunday afternoon we had a playdate at our house with Minta, Darren and Evan and Retta, Austin and their twins, Jackson and Matthew. All the kids were born within 2 months of each other, so it was fun to watch them interact (okay, crawl all over each other). Hopefully we'll be able to get together with all our friends again soon!

Night Crawler

2008-04-03T20:53:00.005-04:00

She did it! After working towards it for several weeks and a couple false starts, Natalie is on the move. At first it was just a couple of movements forward an then a belly flop, now she can make it from the family room to the kitchen in no time flat. Her usual target is Hokie, unfortunately he wants nothing to do her, so he keeps just out of reach. The chase continues until something else catches her eye, usually a small speck on the floor or an item she shouldn't be getting into. The real workout comes on the hardwood floors where she slides around, going backward more than forward. The good news is, we no longer have to fetch toys for Natalie to play with. The bad news is, we need to further child proof our house!

Otherwise, we started taking a Gymboree Music class on Sunday mornings. Natalie seems to enjoy the singing and playing with instruments in addition to the free gym time where she can crawl around and go down the slide.

Easter in Danville...

2008-03-24T21:06:00.006-04:00

Easter Weekend was spent with Grandma and Grandpa J in Danville. Josh was really dreading the drive since A) the drive stinks and B) we had another addition that will probably require several stops. After driving back and forth we can safely say that while the drive did indeed stink, Natalie was an angel. In fact, she slept the entire 4 hour drive down and all but 15 minutes the way back.

Easter morning started out with Grandma J outfitting Natalie with an Easter Egg headband. Luckily, Natalie didn't seem to mind and stayed still for the photo opportunity. Next Kaija thought it would be a good idea for Natalie to wake up Josh with a "Happy Easter". Unfortunately, when she put Natalie on the bed, Natalie proceeded to throw up all over the place - Good Morning Daddy! Anyway, that canceled our church plans, but we were still able to put Natalie in her beautiful Easter dress and open Easter baskets. Natalie enjoyed pulling every item out, including books, CD's, stuffed animals and bubbles! Eventually she got down to her favorite item in the whole basket...the plastic green grass. We literally had to pry it out of her hands, which of course, made her cry. Danville provided a lot of R&R which was just what Josh and Kaija needed. Enjoy the pictures of Natalie in her Easter dress.
Upon our return home, we realized that it was finally time to upgrade Natalie to her big girl car seat. She seems to be enjoying them so far and Kaija and Josh are enjoying not having to lug around the baby carrier anymore. Now we are just counting down the time to her first birthday so she can face forward!

Another tooth also poked through this weekend. Now she has two bottom teeth, so hopefully the ones on the top will come through soon. Unfortunately, this has not increased her interest in eating table food, but she still loves her baby food. We've eaten through most fruits and vegetables and have now introduced yogurt and strained meats (doesn't that sound tasty?).

Trip to New York and a Toothie!

2008-03-17T20:35:00.004-04:00

We delayed the inevitable as long as possible..okay 9 months, but whose counting? Anyway, on Thursday evening we embarked on the journey to Rochester to visit Kaija's family. 7 1/2 hours later at midnight we pulled into the driveway unscathed. Natalie did amazing on the trip - made it through a traffic jam, ate dinner in her car seat and only required one stop for a diaper change/feeding before falling asleep for the last 3 hours of the trip. Friday we spent a lazy day around the house before going out to dinner to celebrate Uncle Cole's 25th birthday and then back home for Grandma D's amazing homemade chocolate cake. Saturday morning we got quite the surprise while playing with Natalie..she was laughing when Josh caught sight of something. After prying her lip down, it was confirmed, Natalie's lower center tooth had broken through! A little later, while looking at the first tooth, we noticed a second tooth had slightly broken through although not as noticeable as the first. Later that afternoon the entire Dinse clan came over to meet Natalie. Of course, she loved being the center of attention as usual and especially loves her new Laugh N Learn Purse from her cousin Izzy. Sunday morning we packed up again after too short of a visit and made it back to Ashburn in a record 6 hours. See you in April Grandpa and Grandma D! However, no rest for the weary as we plan on heading to Danville Easter weekend.

You have to crawl before you can walk

2008-03-10T21:34:00.003-04:00

Its about that time. Natalie is on the verge of crawling. This is going to be a bitter sweet triumph for mom and dad. On one hand, she'll be crawling and be more independent. On the other hand our days and evenings are going to be a lot busier...but we digress. The scenario, from a seating position, Natalie will go onto her knees and rock back and forth a little. She has not fully grasped moving both her hands and knees simultaneously. However, we are certain it is just a matter of time. Check out her new video on the right of her near feat.

A Smile and a Hi...

2008-03-10T21:14:00.002-04:00

Banging blocks and clapping doesn't seem to get the same reaction from mom and dad anymore. So, Natalie has learned to wave and occasionally say, Hi. Its not phonetically perfect but she is definitely saying Hi. Mom and dad are back to giving the 'something new' and 'its so cute' smiles. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa J were in town to hear the start of Natalie's new found talent. Natalie's favorite thing to wave to...Hokie Cat. Fortunately Hokie generally turns his back and walks into another room and Natalie will start waving to mom and dad. Her favorite time to wave is after a nap. We don't have pictures of Natalie waving but we'll post some video sometime soon.

Hand and Eye Coordination...

2008-03-05T20:51:00.003-05:00

Last week we blogged about Natalie banging blocks together. Well, we are happy to post that she has now dropped the blocks and learned to clap her hands. Natalies hand eye coordination is amazing. Josh likes to think his days of playing Nintendo and Sega Genesis had something to do with that. Anyway, she claps when she's happy, she claps when she eats, she claps when she plays, she claps when she gets her diaper changed. Quite frankly, she is a clapping machine. Its very cute and she seems to enjoy herself as she claps. Here is a picture of Natalie with Grandma J as they stroll around the kitchen...Grandma singing and Natalie clapping.

Musically inclined...

2008-02-16T20:10:00.006-05:00

Maybe, maybe not. If being musically inclined is genetic, than no chance. Natalie has, however, learned how to pick up blocks and bang them together. Maybe she'll grow up to play drums in High School like her mom. Yes, Kaija was in the band in High School...Josh thinks that is hilarious. Hopefully this 'block-banging' will come in handy for music class at Gymboree starting in a couple of weeks. Speaking of the blocks, we have purchased tons of toys both expensive and inexpensive. Natalie's favorite...cheap plastic blocks.

Valentines Day...

2008-02-14T20:40:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who sent Valentines Day cards. Natalie will get a big kick out of them in a couple of years when she has a better understanding for Valentines Day. Natalie still enjoys the scrumpious cardboard. After exchanging our Valentines Day cards we all ate dinner together and then hung out as a family playing with Leonardo (Hallmark cat) before bedtime.

...Central Park in the fall-

2008-02-09T15:24:00.003-05:00

Ok, so this is neither Central Park nor Fall, however, it was a very beautiful day outside. So, Natalie took in some swing action on this warm Sunday afternoon. She seems to enjoy the back and forth motion of the swing without mom and dads help. Needless to say, this hurts mom and dads feelings. Oh well, here are a few pictures of her day including her big pony ride and her sliding down the slide.

Booty scootin' boogie...

2008-01-21T21:58:00.000-05:00

Natalie is starting to scoot around now. However, her current method is very unconventional. As she sits up she will thrust her upper body back and forth while lifting up on her legs. This is allowing her to move forward. She may be moving at a snails pace, but, she is getting around. While Grandma and Grandpa J were here she scooted back and forth on her blanket several times one evening. Watching her go back and forth is hilarious and the best part...no need to child proof the house just yet. We will post a video of Natalie in scootin' action sometime soon. Until then, here are some more pics of Natalie. The first picture is of Natalie waiting at the top of the stairs while mom and dad check to see if Santa came and the other picture is dad and Natalie practicing the back stroke.

Everyone has those outfits...

2008-01-20T08:40:00.000-05:00

Remember looking back at some of the clothes you wore as a toddler and thinking to yourself, "what were you guys thinking." Well, in 18 years or so, Natalie may look back at this outfit with the same reaction. Nah, just kidding, she'll love it just as much as mom and dad...yeah right-

Caught in the act...

2008-01-20T08:23:00.000-05:00

While we are still waiting to post about Natalie's first Christmas experiance we figured we would show some pictures of Natalie preparing the milk and cookies for the jolly ole man. As you can see, she could hardly contain her excitement...for the cookies.

A New Point of View...

2008-01-17T21:22:00.000-05:00

Natalie has a new favorite thing to do with her dad...sitting on his shoulders. She loves to look at herself in the mirror while riding high in the air. For those faint of heart Josh always has his arms around Natalie's back.

In other news, Natalie had her first (and probably not last), ear infection along with a runny nose, cough and chest congestion. After a couple of trips to the doctor's and a prescription for Amoxicillin she is on the road to recovery. We were supposed to make our first trip to Danville this weekend, but since Natalie is still not feeling 100%Grandma and Grandpa J are making the trek to our house again. Hopefully there will be lots of time to rest and catch up on sleep!

Fruits and Veggies...

2008-01-16T22:25:00.000-05:00

We mentioned in a past post about Natalie starting on rice cereal. We've expanded her palate to include oatmeal, carrots, sweet potatoes, pears and apples! Apples are her favorite, but pears are her least favorite which is kind of surprsing. We figured for sure that we would have to force carrots on her, we couldn't have been more wrong, she likes them just fine. We start bananas on Sunday - Josh is hoping for success since that's his favorite fruit. After that it's onto PEAS, YUCK!!! One thing is for certain, baby food brings about a whole new concept of messy. Her new favorite activity is to blow while you try to feed her. Yup, food goes everywhere. Luckily, we still find humor in her new found activity.

Swimming Lessons!

2008-01-16T22:00:00.000-05:00

Natalie started swimming lessons last week as part of Josh's "get ready for water" program. Natalie is by far the youngest Dolphin in the pool, since most of the kids in the class are 1 or 2 years old. However, with a trip to Florida onm the horizon this is a perfect opportunity to get her feet wet (pun intended). So far she seems to enjoy the water, although, she does seem a little confused at times...especially when she was supposed to kick as she laid on her stomach on a surf board She really seems to like a game we play, especially London Bridges, which basically involves walking around the pool in circles under a big foam noodle singing the song. Some lessons she has taken in so far include:

* Blowing bubbles in the water (teaches them not to swallow water)

* Jumping in the water from the edge (teaches them when they jump in the water to always head back to the wall to grab onto.

* Laying on her back, stomach and side in the water

* Splashing!!!!

Teddy...

2007-12-20T22:58:00.000-05:00

Natalie recieved one of her first Christmas gifts on Wednesday from good friend Skye. The gift, a teddy bear. We are not quite sure why Natalie is semi-naked while playing with Teddy. Anyway, Natalie seems to have made a new friend...

Santa Claus came to Ashburn...

2007-12-20T22:22:00.000-05:00

he then left for an hour and came back. Luckily we found a way to the front of the line upon his return. All in all, we waited 2.5hrs in line at Dulles Town Center to see the jolly ole fellow...and, believe it or not, we were one of the lucky ones to only wait 2.5hrs. Despite the long lines Natalie shined in her three minutes with Saint Nick. She sat on his lap and gave a few smiles. We are not exactly sure what she wished for but we're hoping it involves a couple of teddy bears, books, clothes and a few select toys.

Whats new...well, Natalie is now scooting herself in circles while on her stomach. She has completed several 360 degree turns. We are assuming that crawling is just around the corner.

Both of our families are coming to town to celebrate Christmas in Ashburn. We are really looking forward to their company and ready to down some good eats and spirits.

Isn't it amazing how much can happen in a week...

2007-12-15T09:22:00.000-05:00

Natalie has had a couple of first this week:

First, Natalie is sitting up on her own. Someone still has to sit near her as she will eventually slump over but she is able to sit up for a couple of minutes on her own. It must be from all of the sit ups we have been doing. We can now put a Boppy behind her and give her a couple of toys to play with while tend to other stuff around the house.

Secondly, she has started rolling over from her back to her stomach. Our daycare first noticed this on Friday and sure enough, she has rolled over several times this weekend. It is amazing how things can change from one day to the next.

Natalie is starting to really enjoy her rice cereal. Often times requesting more. She is also very content at watching people and seeing their interactions. We noticed last weekend that she would watch a group of people carry on a conversation turning her head to watch whomever was speaking. Unfortunately the conversation involved installing drywall...if she only knew. Josh feels that this is the best age so far as she is figuring out new things everyday.

I promised myself I wasn't going to cry...

2007-12-04T19:07:00.000-05:00

For the first time in Josh and Kaija's relationship Josh shed a tear. Although, these tears were tears of joy. Natalie picked up the remote control and began hitting buttons. After seeing this, Josh jumped up and grabbed the camera to capture the joyous moment.

Natalie started her rice cereal on Sunday. She also say in her high chair for the first time. The first two attempts to feed the rice cereal did not go over well with several yuck faces. Today, however, she decided to eat the cereal without a fuss and remained, for the most part, clean. We will see how this continues but we are hoping she continues to enjoy this feeding. We are really looking forward to starting her on fruits in a couple of weeks. In our anticipation we have already begun stocking the cabinet.

We went to Snickersville Tree Farm this weekend and started our family tradition of cutting down our Christmas Tree and dressing it up as a family. The place was very nice plus they offered free apple cider. Natalie looked so cute bundled up in her snow suit although her nose was very red by the end of finished.

Grandpa and Grandma D are coming into town this weekend with Aunt and Uncle D. Not too much on the agenda but they volunteered to babysit on Monday instead of sending Natalie to daycare.

Thanksgiving and Great Grandma...

2007-11-26T20:30:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving went well. Grandma and Grandpa J came into town along with Great Grandma Mauser making this Thanksgiving especially nice since Natalie and GG Mauser had yet to meet. GG Mauser, a young 81, enjoyed watching Natalie's theatrics and Natalie enjoyed all of the attention. So much so, she decided not to nap all Thanksgiving day even after repeated efforts.

Josh signed Natalie up for swimming lessons on Tuesday. She is very young but Josh wants to get her acclimated as soon as possible, especially since we will be traveling to Key Largo, FL in Feb. Plus, this provides Josh an opportunity to have an activity for just the two of them.

Natalie continues to enjoy playing in her Exersaucer and playing with her toys when she is in her Bumbo or on her playmat. She has started drinking water during her bath time. She will grab the bowl, pull it towards her mouth and stick her tongue out as water splashes down. Occasionally she gets a mouth full but does not seem to mind.

Keep the cards coming, they're scrumptous...

2007-11-12T21:25:00.001-05:00

Usually when we receive cards we will sit down with Natalie and read them to her. The past couple of days when we have received cards we have decided to give them to Natalie to well, um, read. To the side is a picture and video of Natalie enjoying the latest card.

This past weekend we went to a good friends Baptism in Maryland. Young Jack Golub was baptised Catholic at 3 months. He seemed to enjoy the experience and both he and Natalie enjoyed the after-party.

Josh is heading to Aurora again for the week leaving Kaija and Natalie to have a little girl time together.

Not too much going on this weekend. We will probably hit up Wegmans to start our Thanksgiving Holiday shopping spree. We are also getting with friends on Saturday to watch the VT/Miami and possibly getting with more friends on Sunday for a pre-holiday dinner.

tongue wagging...

2007-11-05T19:35:00.000-05:00

We noticed something different about Natalie over the weekend. She is starting to stick her tongue out...all of the time. Maybe its because she is in the beginning stages of teething (daycare guess) or maybe she just loves the sound her mouth makes when she blows (Josh's guess). Either way, she loves sticking her tongue out. Luckily she does not have any teeth yet- Here are some more photos of Natalie on her Exersaucer. There are two videos on the right of Natalie demonstrating her new found tongue wagging hobby.

The weekend and the exersaucer...

2007-11-04T20:54:00.001-05:00

We had a very uneventful weekend for the most part. One goal we had was to completely file away all of our important documents from the past year that have hibernated on the computer desk in the loft. We were 90% effective in our goal. We did drive into Arlington on Saturday night to hangout with a few friends. Natalie had a great time being passed back and forth. She definitely loves attention. We ended up staying out much too late for both baby and parents. We did have a great time catching up with some good friends though.

What is the exersaucer? Only the single best toy ever!! Josh spent an hour putting together Natalie's newest toy...the exersaucer. We were a little hesitant at first but now we have seen how much joy this new contraption brings to Natalie. There are a few 'high-tech' gadgets on the toy however Natalie seems to prefer the battery-less toys that she can pull towards her mouth.

Halloween...

2007-11-04T20:13:00.000-05:00

I think all parents expect their first Halloween to be a joyous and eventful experience. However, for the most part, Natalie's first Halloween was, somewhat, uneventful. We started the day going to daycare in her mermaid costume since the daycare had a parade for all of the kids (actually it was more for the parents). Anyway, upon fitting Natalie into her costume we realized that she has grown so much she could not straighten her legs in the mermaids tail since she has become so tall. She managed to endure the parade without throwing a fit and letting mom and dad snap a few photos. Later that evening we had great expectations that we would sit outside with Natalie in costume and hand out candy to all of the kids. However, Natalie quickly reminded us how uncomfortable that outfit was so we abandoned our plans. Next year should be a little more enjoyable as she will be able to walk around in her outfit.

Can we get a Doctor around here...

2007-10-30T20:35:00.001-04:00

Natalie had her 4 month checkup today where she received 2 more shots in her legs. This go around did not go quite as smooth as the 2 month shots. She was very uncomfortable crying and screaming from the moment she received the shots to the time she got home. Not the best way to celebrate the night before Halloween. They did update her measurables (see Height and Weight) and she seems to be thinning out as she continues to grow.

Natalie has a costume parade at school tomorrow so we are going to check out all the kids as they march around the daycare. Should be fun!!

Lordy, lordy, look who's four...

2007-10-29T20:33:00.000-04:00

Natalie turned 4 months old on Sunday. Unfortunately she took it all in with a cold. However, to not damper the mood, Kaija took Natalie, in what will probably be a normal occasion, to the mall for a little shopping spree to get some much needed winter clothing. Natalie came home with several outfits and a big smile on her face.

Josh carved a pumpkin last night and we let Natalie play with her little pumpkin. She seemed more interested in swatting it off her Bumbo Chair. We are really looking forward to Natalie's 1st Halloween and her 'scuba' costume.

Kaija was in Chicago for a day trip with work today so Josh had daycare dropoff/pickup duty. In the past week we have noticed Natalie squealing. We hate to call it squealing because of the negative connotation but we are not sure what else to call it. It is really cute though!!! When Josh took her to daycare today he noticed that upon hearing other kids crying or screaming Natalie would take a deep breath and make her squealing noice followed by a smile.

Toe Grabbing Saturday...

2007-10-27T20:40:00.000-04:00

We finally caught Natalie in the act of grabbing her toes. She really enjoys the activity and remains unfazed that she very rarely succeeds getting her toes to her mouth. Anyway, checkout the videos on the right to see her in action. Natalie has also mastered the art of taking the Binky out of her mouth and then placing it back in her mouth. Hopefully we will capture that on video soon.

On Sunday we are going to carve a pumpkin in celebration of Natalie's 1st Halloween. Have we mentioned Natalie's costume? She is going to be a Scuba Diver complete with a respirator and tanks. Just kidding of course, like Kaija would ever let Josh dress up Natalie in a Scuba costume. We are not giving out the costume just yet but check in around Wed or Thurs for some photos.

We are also pleased to announce that Natalie is going to have another friend in a couple of months. Good friends Lauren and John Duffy are having a little girl in March - we can't wait!

Heads, shoulders, knees and toes...

2007-10-22T20:09:00.000-04:00

Natalie has begun the toe-grabbing phase. She now entertains herself by grabbing her toes and attempting to get them to her mouth, albeit unsuccessfully. The problem, her legs are too long. Kaija and Josh are enjoying this new phase as well since she concentrates, with a very serious look on her face, really hard on getting those toes in her mouth. We do admire her perseverance. We are also reminded that Darwin's theory of evolution might not be that far-fetched. Natalie is also starting to grab at our lips and nose. While uncomfortable to Josh and Kaija, Natalie is happy, so grab away. Natalie is also getting pretty good at taking her pacifier out and placing it back in her mouth.

We went to a Pumpkin Patch in Great Falls this past weekend for some good photo opportunities. We quickly realized that 4 months is just too early to really enjoy being surrounded by hay and pumpkins and yet be still for the camera. So we decided to snap a few and just enjoy ourselves. Next year should be much more enjoyable when Natalie can get on the hay ride and pick out a pumpkin. Natalie did seem to enjoy some of the animals at the Pumpkin Patch.

Not much else to report, everything is pretty much status quo. Kaija is back to work and Josh is traveling to Denver...again.

The weekends, they go so fast...

2007-10-14T20:15:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful weekend we had in the NOVA region. Back to back perfect October days...75 degrees with a slight breeze. With Grandma and Grandpa J in town we decided to head to Middleburg. While there we just strolled around and went into a couple of shops in this old and very quaint town. Afterwards we stopped into a mom n pops shop for some delicious sandwiches and cookies. Grandpa looks like he is doing very well and we are happy to announce cancer free. To celebrate Grandpa's new bill of health they are heading to Myrtle Beach, SC next weekend.

Natalie has started laughing out loud. As we posted on many occasions, she has been laughing and would make a few squalls but now she makes relatively loud giggling noises. It is very cute to say the least and she started the evening that Grandpa and Grandpa J arrived...perfect timing.

Next weekend we are going to hit up a pumpkin patch off of Georgetown Pike. Hopefully we will be able to find a nice little pumpkin but more importantly snap a few photos of our lil' pumpkin enjoying her time.

Life is like a box of chocolates...

2007-10-07T20:35:00.000-04:00

We were supposed to attend a wedding this weekend on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Unfortunately something happened and the wedding was called off. Luckily we were able to cancel our reservations without a penalty. So we had a free weekend.

On Saturday we went to Great Falls with the Iveys and the Fochts with kids in tow. The day was absolutely beautiful with plenty of sunshine and a slight breeze. The kids all seemed to have a good time and it was great to catch up with one another. The park also provided us another chance to break out the Baby Bjorn. Any hesitations we had with the Bjorn are now gone. Natalie absolutely loves the Bjorn especially when we face her out. Later that night we went over to the Ivey's to watch the VT Hokies beat up on the Clemson Tigers. Josh felt really bad for the Ivey's who were all wearing Clemson garb.

Sunday was pretty uneventful although we did walk up to our local playground with Natalie in the Bjorn. While there Josh decided to get in the swing with the Bjorn and swing back and forth. Natalie really enjoyed it and even grabbed onto the swing chains. It was very cute and Natalie was all smiles. We really wish we had our camera.

Grandpa and Grandma J are coming up this weekend. We are really looking forward to them coming and hanging out with Natalie.

School Time...

2007-10-02T21:07:00.000-04:00

Natalie started daycare on Monday and seemed to have a decent day there. Kaija dropped her off at 8:30am without tears. Getting up in the morning, showering, and making sure Natalie is prepared for school was tougher than leaving her there. Not that leaving her there was not tough...it was, but mornings are pretty hectic now. The teachers seem very nice and have now told us, two days in a row, how much they love Natalie. We help pay their salary so they probably say that to all the parents. Josh picked up Natalie after work at 4:30pm. She was very happy and smiling at one of her teachers so Josh felt more at ease with the whole daycare thing. Josh and Natalie came home and played for a long time, both inside and outside, before giving Natalie her nightly bath. After one last feeding Natalie went down at 8:30pm and we did not hear from her again until 6:45am the next morning. Daycare seems to be wearing her out...which also makes us feel better.

A couple of notes:

1) Grandpa J is out of the hospital. He has already started back with his daily coffee shop trip.

2) Natalie enjoys sitting up but the jury is still out on the Bumpo seat. Her enjoyment lasts for about 10 minutes.

3) Wedding number 2 is this weekend. One of Kaija's college pals is getting married on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The wedding is on the bay so Natalie will probably get another dip into the water.

Rollin' Over...

2007-09-30T15:17:00.000-04:00

Natalie has started rolling over. She first rolled over on Thursday but we thought it might be a fluke. She has now rolled over several times so we feel comfortable reporting that she can roll over from stomach to back. Perfect, just in time for daycare.

Natalie's new favorite toy...

2007-09-30T11:05:00.000-04:00

Natalie discovered a new toy this weekend, or better put, Kaija and Josh finally pulled out another toy for Natalie to play with. Check out the picture or video on the side for a description. She absolutely loves kicking at the cushioned footpads and loves even more when dad dances to the music that plays once she does.

We mentioned the fact that Kaija goes back to work on Oct 1. Well, that time is now. We refused to talk about it at home but now, after trying to make sure we have everything we need, it is very real. Kaija is sad and doesn't know how she will react tomorrow as she drops Natalie off. For those that do not have kids it is hard to understand the nervousness but for those that do, we are in your shoes. Natalie slept 9.5 straight hours last night so we are hoping this is an omen to the upcoming work week.

Grandpa J is feeling much better now and may go home from the hospital today. He has not had any solid foods in over a week. Natalie says, suck it up G'Pa...I have only had liquids my whole life. She followed that up with smile :^)

Thinking of Grandpa J...

2007-09-29T11:11:00.000-04:00

While Grandpa J is recovering from his colon cancer operation Josh decided to introduce Grandpa J's favorite sport to Natalie. She seemed interested, however, she loves watching the TV so only time will tell if golf is in her future. Golf is a real expensive sport so Josh is hoping to leave golf for TV and push soccer or swimming onto Natalie. Its safe to say, if Grandpa J was feeling better he most definitely would be taking in the Presidents Cup Golf Tourney. Grandpa J, we're thinking of you!!!!!

3 months old...

2007-09-28T15:27:00.000-04:00

Today Natalie turned 3 months old. And to celebrate, we went to our daycare (LINK: Ashburn Village Country Day School) to sit-in for an hour or so before the dreaded 1-Oct. Everything went fairly well and Natalie seemed content. It is just hard knowing that Natalie will not get the same attention she receives at home. Who knows, maybe Kaija has a change of heart in a couple of weeks. But until then...this is our plan.

Back to Natalie. We weighed in today and, unofficially, Natalie weighs a little over 14 pounds. Pretty big for a 3 month old. Tonight we are heading over to Baby's-R-Us to purchase the Bumbo chair. Natalie has good, albeit not great, control over her neck and loves to sit up and look around.

Grand's D returned to NY today. The weather is absolutely perfect so hopefully they have a safe trip home. Natalie loved smiling for G'Pa D and loved being marched around by G'Ma D.

Wedding Crashers...

2007-09-25T21:29:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we spent time in Cape May, NJ for a good friends wedding. We were a little nervous considering this was Natalie's first road trip. Kaija and Josh are now convinced that Natalie is, simply put, a party animal. Natalie was, to say the least, an angel. She enjoyed getting her feet dipped into the ocean, she enjoyed being passed back and forth between our friends and she enjoyed staying up late and partying while we caught up with some friends. Hard to believe but during our 3 days away from home she did not fuss one time. Instead she sat on people's laps and smiled and cooed the whole time. To add icing to the cake Natalie slept the entire ride home.

Speaking of the wedding, Cape May is beautiful. Josh has always claimed NJ to be the armpit of America. However, after our couple of days in Cape May, he is rethinking that claim.

Grandpa J had his surgery on Thursday to remove a pollup from his colon. The surgery went very well and Grandpa J will not have to go through Radiation. He is having a hard time with the after-surgery but should be back to normal sometime soon. We are all looking forward to seeing him soon.

Josh is in Aurora, CO for the week for work. Grandma and Grandpa D are in town to help Kaija and to hangout before Kaija has to return to work next Monday.

To Infinity and Beyond...

2007-09-21T10:41:00.000-04:00

Natalie is going on her first road trip this weekend. Destination: Cape May, NJ. Josh's good friend, Brian Duff is getting married and we will be there to help them celebrate. It is going to be interesting to see how Natalie does for the 4.5 hour car ride.

Josh and Kaija celebrated their 3rd anniversary this week. Next door neighbor, Crysta and Carl Stukis baby sat while Josh and Kaija went to a nice restaurant down the road. Josh had a business trip scheduled for this week and in order to be home to celebrate the anniversary Josh had to make a two day trip in one day. 3000 miles in one day. Josh was very tired upon his return.

Fall is upon us so Kaija is going to go on a winter shopping spree before she heads back to work, Oct 1.

We will post another blog on Sun or Mon with details of Natalie's first big trip...

Who does number 2 work for...

2007-09-10T20:32:00.001-04:00

Tonight we decided to bump Natalie up to the next size diapers. She is now sporting size two diapers or, as we like to call them, big girl diapers. The new diapers coincidentally have Big Bird on them which reminds us of Natalie with her long legs. Natalie is getting to the point that she no longer likes to lay on her back when she is awake. Instead she enjoys sitting on our laps while scanning whichever room she is in. We have definitely noticed a huge difference in Natalie's fussiness in the past few days. Natalie seems to have one fussy bout a day but other than that she is pretty happy.

Not too much on tap for this weekend. Kaija is planning on meeting good friend Maggie for a girls dinner on Saturday and then joining up with a few friends in Maryland for a brunch on Sunday. Stay tuned, the following weekend we have our first big outing with Natalie...a wedding in New Jersey.

The weekend...

2007-09-10T20:32:00.000-04:00

On Saturday Kaija went to a friends wedding shower. No problem, right? Well, this particular shower was in Richmond, a 2 hour drive each way. Again, no problem, right? We decided to leave Natalie home with Josh for the day. No problem, right? To answer all three questions, we didn't have a single problem. If anything it was a great bonding experience for Josh and Natalie. Plus Josh was able to teach Natalie about audibles and other aspects of football.

Sunday was another busy day. In the morning we went to see Sydney Ivey get baptized - considering she is not a big fan of baths she did so well!! Natalie also did great through the 2 hour service - she napped for the first half and then sat on Josh's knee for the second half. Afterwards, we went over to the Ivey's house for lunch and to socialize. A little overwhelming as now the kids outnumber the adults. Later in the afternoon Kaija attended another wedding shower and Natalie and Josh went home and played while watching the Panthers football game.

Natalie is now able to sit up without any neck support. She loves to sit in our laps while we hold her waist as she looks around. She coos and smiles the whole time. We also have started putting Natalie in her infant bathtub without the sling. She absolutely loves it!! The only time she gets fussy is when we don't splash her with water. Josh is already looking into swimming lessons.

Pullin' an all nighter...

2007-08-31T21:02:00.000-04:00

She did it!!! Natalie slept the entire night Thursday night. Kaija and Josh think they have found the solution to getting her to sleep through the night. Before, in the evenings, Josh would bottle feed Natalie before they would put her down for the night. After eating, her eyes would be as wide as saucers and it would be difficult to get her to fall asleep. She would then proceed to wake up around 4:30am in the morning. Fortunately, she would fall right back to sleep after feeding but, our feelings were, if we could just make it through the entire night.

Thursday night may have been the break we needed. We decided to bottle feed earlier in the night and let Kaija breast feed before putting Natalie down. The result, 9 hours of straight sleep. That's right, 9 straight hours of sleep. It was fantastic to say the least. Our guess is that she enjoys the closeness and warmth of being close to Kaija during feedings and that she has to work harder to get the milk, thus exhausting her. Who knows, maybe last night will prove to be an anomaly, however, we are pretty confident this is all she needed.

In other news, Grandma and Grandpa J are coming up to visit for Labor day weekend. It will be nice that they will be able to stay an extra day with the Holiday.

Your so vain...

2007-08-29T21:19:00.000-04:00

Here is the link to the professional pictures that Natalie took over a month ago. Stephanie Zbinden did an amazing job and was one of the most patient people we've ever met...maybe its because she has three kids herself. Anyway, without further ado...

http://www.thehipstudio.com/

Click 'Enter full screen'

Click 'Proofing'

Password is sleepy

Ouchies...

2007-08-29T18:04:00.000-04:00

Natalie had her two month checkup yesterday. At the appoint she had her vitals checked and received four immunization shots in her thighs and one oral shot in her mouth. First, Natalie's measurements: 12.1 lbs (76%) and 241/4" (97%) in length. It appears she is going to be tall. The joke around the house is that she may be taller than G'Ma J by the age 5.

Secondly, the shots: The oral vaccine (Rotovirus) came first since we knew she would not have any issues...seriously, you don't get to 12 pounds in 2 months by being picky. Afterwards the nurse gave two immunization shots; Hepatitis B and Prevar in one thigh, and, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) and Hemophilia Influenza type b in the other. We are not completely sure what all of the shots are for but they are required and hopefully will keep Natalie from getting sick once she heads to daycare. Natalie fussed during the actual shots but did not give up too much of a fight. This was appreciated since Josh had the job of holding her arms down. Afterwards, Natalie was patched up with Dora the Explorer band aids and sent on her way. She handled this far better than we expected...maybe she is tough (Josh's version) or maybe it was the Tylenol (Kaija's opinion). The picture in the upper right has the band aids in view.

The doctor did notice that Natalie had torticollis in her neck. This is basically a tight muscle in her neck. The doctor did not seem too worried about this and mentioned that Natalie's case was very minor. However, to nip this in the bud, Kaija has already lined up a physical therapist to work on loosening that muscle. The cause...most likely the result of how Natalie was positioned in-utero.

Big girls bed...

2007-08-25T22:46:00.000-04:00

Last night we started putting Natalie in her room for the night. Up until now we had Natalie sleeping in a bassinet in our room. The first night went really well. We did not put Natalie down until much later than normal, however, once we put her in the crib she was out for 6 straight hours. Not too bad but we hoping to gradually increase the sleep time.

Natalie has a Doctors appointment scheduled for this Tues. This is the appointment where Natalie will receive all of her shots. Josh will be required to be there to hold Natalie down since Kaija will not be able to bare watching Natalie suffer. It will be interesting to see Natalie's new weight and height as well.

One thing Natalie is doing more of now is sucking on her fist. Its great that she is learning to self-sooth herself, however, she generally falls asleep with her hands still slobbered. The effect...freezing cold hands. To quickly warm them up Josh will place her hands under his armpits.

...leaving, on a jet plane...

2007-08-16T21:52:00.001-04:00

Josh is back from Las Vegas where he attended a close buddies bachelor party leaving Natalie and Kaija to fend for themselves for a couple of days. After Las Vegas, Josh met up with a couple of co-workers in San Jose, Ca for a couple more days of work. Luckily Carrie Summers and Lauren Williams spent some time in Ashburn to lessen the burden and keep Kaija company.

Natalie is smiling more and more and is now starting to grab at some of her toys and Kaija's hair. As far as sleep is concerned, she is still waking up at about 3:30am for a feeding. However, she falls right back asleep afterwards so, other than the 30 minutes to feed, we are far from sleep deprived. She generally wakes up around 8:00am to feed again but Kaija and Josh are usually awake by then.

We have finally ordered our announcements for Natalie and should have them out shortly. After the announcements are out Kaija and Josh will post a website that you can go on and see a slide show of professional pictures.

I can see clearly now...

2007-08-14T20:58:00.000-04:00

Today Natalie has made it clear she knows, or atleast recognizes her mom. Whenever Kaija is around, Natalie stares intently with a slight grin at Kaija. It is a look of comfort so, while she may not know Kaija as her mom, she definetely knows her face and voice. Ahhh, the benefits of being the food provider. Josh is jealous.

Natalie did have baby acne which is now almost gone. The acne did not seem to bother Natalie but mommy and daddy are eagerly looking forward to the acne disappearing.

Natalie has big blue eyes right now which is great, however, those big blues make taking photos difficult since her eyes are always red, even with the red-eye reducer turned on. Oh well, thank goodness for photo shop.

Uncle Sam...

2007-08-11T18:13:00.000-04:00

Uncle Sam flew in from San Diego on Thursday as part of a surprise for Grandpa J upon his return from Bermuda. The reason, Grandpa J is turning 61. To celebrate we are all going out to a restaurant. Hopefully she'll sleep through the majority of the dinner. Grands J and Uncle Sam both came just in time to see some of Natalie's first smiles.

Pushed aside...

2007-08-11T10:39:00.000-04:00

Josh knew something was awry when he woke up to Natalie sleeping in between him and Kaija. Soon enough, Natalie positioned herself close to Josh and began making her grunting sounds. Those grunting sounds are hard to explain but, for those tennis fans, they resemble the sounds female tennis players make when swinging their rackets. Anyway, Josh was up-and-at em' shortly after. Most likely part of Kaija's plan.

Smiling...

2007-08-11T10:25:00.000-04:00

Natalie has started to smile. Over the past couple of days Natalie would show us a smile but Kaija and Josh were not sure if it was an actual smile or just a gas or sleep grimace. Yesterday, however, she smiled multiple times especially after naps or when she has her diaper changed. Unfortunately she smiles when the cameras are not rolling so no pictures or video yet. As soon as we get some footage we will post.

On tap for today, celebrate Grandpa J's 61st birthday with Uncle Sam who flew in from San Diego for the surprise appearance. We are also going to start shopping around for a jogging stroller. The current Graco stroller just does not live up to Josh's all terrain expectations.

Dr. Feelgood...

2007-08-06T17:38:00.001-04:00

Today Natalie went back to the Dr.'s office for her regular checkup. She weighed in at 10 lbs 12 oz and 23 1/8" in length. The weight was in the 85 percentile and the height was in the 95 percentile. All of those feedings are paying off. Everything is checking out fine although the Doctor did reinforce the fact that Natalie should stay away from other kids until her 2 month checkup where she will get her shots and build her immune system. Josh and Kaija are anxiously waiting to introduce Natalie to more lil' friends.

Speaking of the the 2 month checkup. Natalie will have to get 4 prick shots and one oral shot on August 28th...ouch!!! Kaija is making Josh attend this appointment.

Welcome to the world...

2007-08-05T20:20:00.000-04:00

Josh and Kaija both had good friends from college give birth to healthy baby boys this past week. First up, Jack August Golub was born Thursday Aug 2 weighing in at 7lbs 14ozs; 20.5". That is a pretty big baby for 13 days early. Another couple of weeks and he may have been Natalie's size. Congratulations Annette and Andy!! One day later, Aug 3, Brad and Michelle Tilley gave birth to another healthy boy, William Brennan Tilley weighing in at 8lbs 8ozs; 21". Josh is not too good with details so we are not sure the middle name.

Not too much to report this week. G&G J came for an evening on their way to catch a cruise in Baltimore. We did go out for a family dinner that Saturday night with baby in tow. Everything went very smoothly and Natalie slept the majority of the time.

Natalie has a Dr's appointment tomorrow so we will soon find out her new weight and height. Kaija and Josh feel as if she's grown a lot. We had to go to the 3-6 month size in the Halo Sleep Sacks so she is definetely bigger. We'll report the new statistics tomorrow.

Check out the new videos to the right.

Natalie's Room...

2007-07-29T17:02:00.000-04:00

We have received a lot of requests to show pictures of Natalie's room for those that do not live close enough to see in person. Upon request, here are some pictures.

One month old...

2007-07-28T19:52:00.000-04:00

Today, Natalie turned 1 month old. Wooohooo, and to celebrate Natalie has done countless number 1's. She must be really anticipating 2 months because she has left us several number 2's as well. Kaija and Josh ordered in a pizza and let Natalie watch us devour it. Don't worry, Natalie will get her portion soon enough.

Natalie has started dreaming. Actually, she may have had dreams all along, however, Kaija and Josh are not sure what she could dream about since she had no reference. We are not exactly sure what she is dreaming about now but she moves her lips back 'n' forth as if she's sucking on a pacifier. Considering she really only knows eating, sleeping and pooping Josh is sure she is having a great dream involving Kaija and an endless supply of milk.

Ever wanted to feel like a fool. One of the expert baby books says that at 4 weeks we should start making funny faces to Natalie. We have started and feel very ridiculous for doing so. Hopefully this will be one of those, 'ends justify the means' scenarios.

Just chillin...

2007-07-28T14:17:00.000-04:00

Sat afternoon and Natalie is just hanging out with mom, dad and G'Parent D's. Did some more tummy-time today and came inches away from rolling over (tummy to back). Kaija and Josh are not sure if she really wants to be able to roll over or if she just hates being on her stomach. Maybe in another week or so she'll be able to complete the rollover...we'll see. Tonight is the final night, after two weeks, with help from G'Parents and Uncle's so back to normal tomorrow. Natalie is definitely going to miss all the lovin' and snugglin' she's received over the past two weeks. Luckily Grandpa and Grandma J are dropping by next weekend on their way to a cruise.

Kaija and Josh did enjoy themselves on date night last night at dinner. Nothing too fancy, Thai, but we continued our pact to talk about everything but the baby. We're trying our best to not be 'all baby all the time'. So far it's working, albeit, a little more difficult than first thought.

Tummy-Time...

2007-07-27T17:07:00.000-04:00

An instrumental exercise for strengthening a babies neck is tummy-time. Even though Natalie is only 4 weeks old Kaija decided to start her regimented exercise this week. What we've found is that we have about a 15 minute window once on the mat for which Natalie enjoys this time. After that, she's had enough and will quickly let you know...sassy!! She seems to like the mirror and a little toy pineapple on her mat that she grabs hold of. Video of her first day on the tummy-time mat to the right...

Grandpa and Grandma D...

2007-07-27T16:28:00.001-04:00

are in town for the week. Josh is in Aurora, Co for work so their visit couldn't have come at a better time. Both grandparents have had lots of time to hold, snuggle, and love with the baby. Also, with there presence, Kaija has felt much more comfortable attending several events this week. Lets see, this week Kaija has met a friend out for breakfast, attended new mom's group, watched a mommy movie in Fairfax (more on this later), conducted tummy-time at home and went to a library event with Natalie. Having family in town is the best. On tap tonight...date night number 3-

The mommy movie is fabulous. Each week (Thurs) the movie theater in Fairfax plays a new movie for moms and their babies. They leave the lights on for diaper changes and feeding time plus they have a beverage cart that goes up and down the steps. And the best part, the price...matinee. This weeks movie was Hairspray.

Un'Cole...

2007-07-27T16:10:00.000-04:00

Uncle Cole came and visited for a couple of days with his niece. Considering that Cole has never held a baby before he did fairly well. While Cole didn't change any diapers or rock Natalie to sleep he was the point man for manning the stroller during our walks. As for who Cole thinks Natalie looks like, "she looks like a baby and all babies look alike." Not quite the response Josh and Kaija were looking for. Looks like someone just got eliminated from the 'if something should happen to us...custody' list :^)

Sign O' The Times...

2007-07-21T09:22:00.000-04:00

There are several things that Josh is pretty adamant about not doing. On that list include getting a tattoo to getting a personalized licence plate. One thing in particular Josh has always made fun of were people that wore shirts with some comedic, or not so comedic, statement. You know the type; "I'm with Stupid" with an arrow to the right or "Its all about me" t'shirt. They seem to be popular with the younger generation but it baffles him to no end when he sees a 35 year old with said t'shirts. However, we received a package from Nicole Motsek with several great items. One of them, a t'shirt with a funny statement. Josh quickly placed the onesie on Natalie to which Kaija made a comment about Josh's hypocrisy. His reply, "this is completely different". Next thing you know, he'll be driving around in a mini-van with the license plate, "Nat's Fan".

Reading is Fundamental...

2007-07-19T20:14:00.000-04:00

Its never too early to start reading. After days of reading People Magazine and Us Weekly to Natalie we decided to change the pace a little. By the way, Natalie is a big Mandy Moore fan...who knew. Anyway, we started tonight with Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. She doesn't really understand or look at the pictures but it appears that Kaija's voice is soothing which in turn helps put her asleep. Baby books say that a baby is supposed to hear 5000 or so different words by the time they talk so really this is a win-win situation for all.

New moms group, date night, and new outfit oh my...

2007-07-18T22:14:00.000-04:00

Kaija attended the new moms group with Maggie Ivey for the second time today. She had a very good time again and even went to lunch with several of the gals afterwards. The group had a visitor from the library that came and gave out several free baby books to all in attendance. We're all about books...especially free books.

Kaija and I decided to leave Natalie with Grandma J and hit up a local restaurant this evening for our first date night. We didn't go far but enjoyed a little time to ourselves. We managed to make it through dinner without bringing up the lil' one back home.

Here is Natalie in another outfit compliments of Lauren Williams. Kaija and Grandma J really enjoy playing dress up with Natalie. If it were up to Josh she would stay wrapped up in her Halo Sleep Sack all day...possibly for another 21 years.

Grandma and Grandpa J...

2007-07-16T20:28:00.000-04:00

are in town for the week, which means Natalie gets spoiled once again. The extra hand has been nice especially during the day or when Kaija and Josh need to run errands. Not to mention Natalie is definitely enjoying the extra attention and singing, something her mom and dad rarely do. Check out the new videos on the right. Mom and dad are also planning a date night on Wednesday to celebrate Kaija's belated Birthday. Things couldn't be going much better...

Famous last words. On Sunday we had a photographer over to take pictures of Natalie in different poses. In the beginning Natalie was behaving and even focused on the camera. However, once it was time for her to take her family pictures she became fussy. So, we decided to take some sleepy photos. For 3 hours we tried to get Natalie to go asleep. She never did...until the photographer packed up her bags. Perhaps another trait from her dad...defiant.

Anyway, we definitely recommend Stephanie Zbindon for those of you looking for a photographer for any occasion. She was flat out amazing, patient and had the perfect demeanor. As a matter of fact she agreed to come back for another photo shoot to try to get some of those sleepy pictures for us. For a sampling of some of her photos, http://www.thehipstudio.com/.

Expanding The Family Trees...

2007-07-12T19:12:00.000-04:00

Here are some of our favorite pictures of the recent additions to Josh and Kaija's extended families. Below (from left to right) are Henry Dean Mauser, Landon Hayson and Sonja Pennington. Missing but not forgotten is Macy Golob. Please click on her link, right side below, to check out all of her pictures.

Bigger and better things...

2007-07-11T15:07:00.001-04:00

Newborn diapers and outfits are so yesterday...quite literally. Today Natalie has been bumped up to the next size diapers and 3 month clothing. This is actually a good thing since we have a lot more 0-3 month clothes than newborn clothes. Josh started plotting her weight on a graph and, according to his math and recent trends, she should be 10.3lbs by the end of this month. We'll revisit this projection by months end. Josh would like to note that he is an extreme optimist.

Kaija and Natalie also ventured into a 'new moms' group today at 9:30am. Very adventuresome to say the least. She did have familiar support from Maggie and Sydney. The outing went very well and a few of the 'new moms' grabbed lunch afterwards. Kaija is already looking forward to next weeks get-together.

The forgotten one...

2007-07-09T21:40:00.000-04:00

Hokie has been fantastic so far around the baby. We were a little worried considering he was the spoiled one around the house for 2 years. Now that our time is centered around the baby he has willingly (not like he really had a choice) taken a back seat. He seems to be interested in Natalie and will follow us room to room as we walk around the house with her. However, he does keep a safe distance between him and the noise maker at all times.