Family Reunion!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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...

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.

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Hitch a ride...

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...