Did I mention?

Oh, and for any who don't know, yet... We're expecting again! We have an ultrasound next week, so I'll be posting again soon about that. We are due May 10th, but will be delivering in April. Just sayin'...

Quick kid updates:
Natalie is sure it's a girl and prays for her baby sister to be healthy every night. I keep saying it might be a boy, to which she replies: "I don't like boys."

Peter has learned a TON of animal sounds! Here's the current list, as far as I can remember:
cat, dog, bird, monkey, elephant, horse, cow, sheep, duck, mouse, chicken, snake, fish, starfish, tiger, lion, bear, penguin, alligator, skunk, zebra, and bumble bee. I'll come back and add more as I remember them...

I wake up every morning to him shouting "MOMMEEEEEEEEEE!" and he begs for me to open the curtains so he can watch for "Daga" (dogs). His blankey is his "Gaga" and "Ga" can be a "guy" (or toy figurine), that he dropped something and wants me to get it, or "again." He asks for "schee" (cheese) and "Wawa" (any drink) constantly and is gaining weight very nicely now that he's on cows milk. His peanut allergy doesn't seem to be too big of a lifestyle change for anyone except Natalie who won't eat pancakes anymore since we don't have peanut butter for them. Otherwise, life is great!

Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving plans drastically altered at the last minute, it was up to me to put on the feast! With Nate caring for kids and cleaning, I cooked and cooked for two days and everything turned out great! We invited some of Nate's colleagues for dinner and we all had a great time. My only regret: I forgot to take pictures of my four beautiful... nay, GORGEOUS!... pies!! I made two pumpkin, an apple/berry and a peach pie. Nate made almond roca and it was the biggest hit! Everyone chose the roca over the Costco-purchased high-end chocolates and truffles we had bought. Go, us!

Cute Kids in Cute clothes

I love to take Sunday shots of the kids. I usually dress Peter right before we leave, so it's hard to get his picture before church. After church can be disastrous (hence the crumbs on his tie...). I'll try to do better. His outfits are too cute to miss! I mean, check out those shoes...!

Catching up: Halloween

Two little red crayons. They both really enjoyed their costumes, and Peter even kept his hat on! We had fun at the church trunk-or-treat and the playgroup Halloween party. Natalie said her favorite part was the candy. I don't blame her, but I think my favorite part was when she came up to me and started rubbing her head on me. "I'm coloring you, mom!"

Catching up: Mormor and Morfar

Mormor and Morfar came to visit! We had a great couple of days enjoying their company. Can't wait to see them again. Seriously. I can't wait. How about we fly down this weekend? Please??

Catching up: Preschool

Natalie's first day of preschool... We are in a "joyschool" type preschool, where six of us moms take turns teaching each month. She loves it, and I love living vicariously through her! How fun to play with friends, color, eat, and learn cool stuff! She came home last week so excited to tell me that flour is made of wheat! Who knew??

Catching up: Camping with Fam at Great Basin NP

See? I'm getting better! My kids are dirty! :)

Talking up a storm!

Peter is now a talking baby! His official first word is "Dada," since he repeats it and definitely uses it to his advantage. Yesterday, we were sitting at the window and saw Daddy arrive home from work. He walked across the street to talk with a neighbor. When Peter saw him, he started saying "Da! Da! Da!" and banging on the window. He really, really loves his Daddy and gets so excited when he comes home. He is now using other words regularly, too, like "cracker" ("kaka"), "ball" ("ba"), "hi" ("ha"), "water" ("wa") and "num-num" ("num-num-mum") for food. It's really fun being able to communicate with him in these little ways. Feeding him is all the more fun when he can ask for it and indicate when he wants a drink or a cracker. It's so cute to watch him hold a phone to his ear (well, the back of his head, really) and say hi! We're still working on Mama, but Natalie totally had that covered when she was a baby, so I'm ok with Peter being a daddy's boy for a while. When he gets a bonk or feels hungry or tired, there's no doubt in anyone's mind that he loves and wants his mama -- No words required!

A Family Walk

We enjoyed a long walk together as a family this evening. We brought the double stroller, since Peter gets heavy after the first 15 minutes, and Natalie loves to ride. She rode about the first 45 seconds and then declared her desire to run. She ran/galloped/hopped/pranced/walked the entire ~2 miles! A small baggie of "pillow candies" (ie. after-dinner mints) were a wonderful incentive. Every time she would start to fall behind, I would hold one behind me and up she would zip! The evenings are cooling off to the perfect family walk temperature, though usually Peter's in bed before we get the idea (7 pm). Often Natalie and her daddy take walks while mommy puts Peter to bed and cleans up. I'm looking forward to daylight savings so his bedtime will become 6 pm for a while, though that might make it even harder to take walks together. Someday the bedtimes and temperatures and walking abilities will all coincide to make it a little easier, but for now, the times we do get are sure delightful!

"Look what I drawed! What is it?"

Natalie really enjoys scribbling on her mini-magnadoodle. Every once in a while she'll bring it to me and say, "Mom! Look what I drawed! What is it?" Today I told her it was a fish. She looked at me quizzically and said, "But it doesn't have any eye!" So, she added one. I think she's quite the little artist.

Natalie watched the dances from "So You Think You Can Dance" with me this morning. She was very impressed and wondered if I had any "dancing clothes" for her. I found a silky pajama shirt she could wear as a dress and she jumped and twirled and did summersaults all around the room when there was music!

Glamour Child

Natalie had such a wonderful time at her Aunt and Uncle's home in Utah. She has a cousin who is SO good with kids - he played and played with her and she followed him around like she was a puppy. They played memory, hide-and-seek, and he even played babies with her because she wanted to so badly. Here she is sporting the beautiful jewelry given to her by her aunt. She loved being there so much she's been begging to go back. I enjoyed letting her loose while we were there. She got to run around outside with her feet bare and enjoy the freedom of vacations with cousins. I remember those days and only hope we can do this more and more often so these sweet memories can stick with her.

Bathtime Baby!

Ok, so it was 11:59 last night, and I realized I hadn't posted anything yet. So as not to lose, I totally cheated and only posted the title of what I meant to post about. I really tried to put up the picture and words and stuff, but I couldn't do it from my phone in bed and there was no way I would have enough time to go downstairs and turn the computer on. So, I haven't actually lost the daily post contest, C. :) I cheat, but I do cheat fair, okay?

Here is Peter in the bath. He is such a delightful little boy. He likes to drink the bathwater. I think that's normal. He thinks it's hilarious. I try to distract him, but there's only so much I can do. He's due for a haircut and will be turning one in just a few more weeks! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. I adore my Peter Pie and would hold him and squish him and love him all day long if I could. Natalie is SUCH a good sister and loves her little brother!! They play and play, and though I sometimes have to remind her to be gentle, he holds his own pretty well and is SO delighted to have her attention. He really loves her and I don't doubt they will be great friends in life. Oh, I just love my babies!

Man at Work

While we were away, Nate cooked up the best surprise! He fixed up our closet-under-the-stairs to be truely useful. He cleaned it out, built a shelf for the back, put in a pole for hanging coats, and built a shoe stand! He got to use some new toys he had bought/won. He set up the upstairs room as an office, made room for a craft/sewing area for me in the family room AND had the house spotless for me! "Haven't I caught myself a fine husband?"

A fun week in Utah

My dear friend Julie was married this week, so we drove to Utah to participate. Nate had to work, so another great friend and her daughter came with me and the kids. The drive went by quickly and we had a grand time! We went to the zoo, the children's museum, the park, the Boondocks Fun Center, Temple square, the Church History Museum, and Natalie was a flower girl in the wedding. We got to spend time with lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins. It made for a crazy week and some crabby babies, but we had a great time overall and made some fun memories. I didn't get any pics of Natalie all dolled up in all the rush to get things done, but I'll post them once I get some from Julie's photographer. In the meantime, here are some pics from the zoo and the museum.

Little Helpers

I won't complain. If they want to help me vaccuum, I say go fot it. I'll take the help while they're willing to give it!

Watch out! He's on the move!

Yes, it's true... I tried to stall as long as I could, but Peter is officially mobile and loving it! While it's nice not to have to hold him all the time, it's just as much work having to watch him and keep everything picked up or out of reach. He's really enjoying his new-found freedom and is sleeping through the night (from 6 pm to 7 am or so) in trade. I'll take it! Below you can see Peter doing his version of the Samba. (He's a lot better than this now.) (Music is Tutu Evora by Mawaca)

Natalie's Dollhouse

We've wanted to make a dollhouse for Natalie for a long time and had all sorts of elaborate plans. One evening, though, Nate emerged from the garage with this! Simiple and perfect for our little 3-yr-old! I painted it (for weeks!) after she went to bed and we gave it to her on her birthday. The little dolls are made of pipe-cleaners wrapped in embroidery floss and clothed in felt. They are fun and easy to make (my mom helped with the faces and heads!). I plan to make a brother and grandparents someday soon. Natalie plays with it daily and asks all the time for us to play "dollies" with her.

Nate's Projects

Nate's staying busy in his woodshop. Here's one of his latest creations - a display stand to match the beautiful picture frame he made! He also just framed our college diplomas. Below is an update on one of his older projects. I think Natalie has too many coats. Either that, or I'm too lazy to take them upstairs and hang them in her room.... (Nate's coat is hanging on the banister in the foreground).

Pink Curlers

Natalie LOVES to wear pink curlers. She's always disappointed when I remove them. She's getting excited for her 3rd birthday, and so am I! We have some fun surprises in store... Natalie is very often our kind angel. She loves to get toys for Peter and make him giggle. She really enjoys painting and taking long family walks. She likes to dress up as a fairy lately. Such a fun little girl!

All done!

Peter is feeding himself fingerfoods, and trying to get his fingers into everything else! As his cheeks so clearly show, he loves food in any form. He is trying to learn to crawl as fast as I am trying to stop him. I figure if I'm fast enough at handing him everything he reaches for, he'll never need to crawl, right? Right?? We'll see...

He loves to sit in the grass and pull it up by the handfull. He loves to say "Hat" and "Dada!" Sometimes we think he understands what he's saying, but I don't know how likely that is. Here are some recent Sunday Pics.

Mean Kitty

Natalie is so delightful. She's been acting out "Lady and The Tramp" all day long for the past week. She goes between being Lady, the Tramp, the mean rat, the mean man (who puts a muzzle on Lady), mean Aunt Sarah, and a mean Kitty. I LOVE it when she's the mean kitty. She stomps around pushing things over and making a mess, sure, but it's worth it. Check out this "Mean Kitty" face:

She pulled out her Christmas pressent again. It had a been a few weeks, so she was excited. This is how I found it when she was all done:
I had fun doing her hair for church this week. She held still pretty well and loved the attention. Such a sweetheart!
Babies in ties. Enough said.

Sweet Siblings

She likes to play with his hair. He loves her no matter what she does.