Nattie girl is two!

My spunky, silly, cute, funny, sweet little girl turned two years old on Friday. After having Benny I thought, for sure, I'd be the mom of all boys. So, when God gave me Nat I was pretty surprised, but so excited for the adventure of raising and loving a little girl. She is wild and has given me some gray hairs already (who else could be responsible for the growing gray taking over my head?!), but oh how I love her. I just think she is so precious....even when she does things like take her bowl of half eaten mac-n-cheese and smear it all over the TV and carpet in the living room (last week)...or when she climbs in Andy's crib and totally traumatizes him by sticking her fingers in his mouth when he's sound asleep....or when she locks the garage door for fun and I don't realize it until I'm locked out with no key at 9 pm and all three kids are asleep, ALONE, inside. She is crazy...but I love it and I'm so happy she's been in my life for two whole years.

Can you tell what the theme of her b-day bash was? Ah ha ha... The cake pops were a lot of work because of all the detail, but Nat's reaction was worth the effort. When she saw them she squealed and shouted "cake pops! eat it!" (and then she screamed bloody murder because I wouldn't let her have one until her party...mean mom!). The good thing is, any pops that I make from now own should be a breeze in comparison!

The pops are displayed in tins I purchased from the Target dollar bins. They were the perfect primary colors. I had the last minute idea to buy Nat her very own goldfish...appropriately named, Dorothy! She saw her sitting on the table and yelled "Dorfeeee!"

The best family picture we could pull off...

I LOVE the look on her face. This was when we were all singing happy birthday to her.

Party animal!

Just had to throw in a few of my little buddies. Andy was pretty darn cute in his party hat! I heard Ben yell for Kaylee..."Hey...let's go play unicorns!" Very creative use for your party hat, Benny!

Grammy and Pops gave Nat a wooden doll bunk bed that was mine when I was little. Grammy made the cutest bright colored bedding to go along with it (in true Grammy fashion!). Nattie seemed to think that the bunk bed was for HER to sleep in and she was way past her naptime, so she climbed right in. I think if the room hadn't been filled with family, she might have actually fallen asleep. :)

Some of the party people...Nat is very loved.

More family...I took more pictures of people with Andy than with Nat...but I think by this point she was fast asleep in her bed!

A girl can only party so hard...

Love you, baby...so glad you are MY girl!

Lazy days and some party prep...

I somehow started randomly getting Parents magazine (not sure who ordered this for me, but thank you?!). Anyway, there was an insert this month that kids could color...it was a lot of work, but Benny was determined to color every last image on the page (with a little help from mom and dad!). It is now proudly displayed on his bedroom wall. :)

Nat loves carrying her babies and stuffed animals around in her backpack.

I love this picture. I hardly ever get pictures printed, but this one is already printed and hanging on my fridge because it makes me happy.

Three amigos...

The thumbs (he sucks both) never leave his mouth. :)

A lover of rice cereal...he's a real neat eater.

A little behind the scenes look at my party prep for Nat's 2nd birthday this weekend (I make a real mess in the kitchen!). I spent many an hour making Bakerella's Sesame Street cake pops. This picture was taken after midnight by my mom who stayed up to provide moral support (and tissue paper support...thanks, Mom!). More to come on my two-year-old...

Little people...

Sweet brothers...they are five years and three months apart in age, but I hope they will be good buddies as they grow older.

Ben's school hosted a "Family Night" this week for the parents and kids to come eat snacks and play games. Dad had to coach a basketball game, so it was just me and Benny. Ben LOVES school this year, so he had lots of fun playing games with his pals and teachers. Speaking of school, I have to go to an informational meeting about Kindergarten next month. I can't believe my buddy is going to be going to school five full days a week this upcoming fall. I'm starting to get a little sad about it already.

Nat loves to eat bagels with cream cheese for breakfast...this is what she looks like as a result. It's so fun to clean cream cheese out of your kids nose every morning. :)

Andy was going WILD in the tub tonight. He was flailing his arms and kicking his legs...splashing water all over his own face and his mama.

Andy will turn five months old at the end of next week, so I went back through my pictures to see what Nattie and Ben looked like at the same age. The three of them really don't look much alike, in my opinion. I think there are more similarities between Andy and Ben, but they are each pretty unique. It's so crazy how two people can create three kids that are so different...in more ways than one.

Munchkins...

If I could describe Andy in one word, it would be pleasant. Does this mean he's going to be a total hellion when he's older? I sure hope not! It is pretty much impossible to think that I will ever get mad at this little dude.

If looks could kill...

I fed A-dub rice cereal for the first time this week. He DEVOURED it. My other two weren't so sure the first few times they tried it, but not this guy. He acted ravenous and gobbled up a whole bowl full on several occasions.

Nattie, Ben and Daddy were cracking each other up at dinner the other night. I don't know how the whole episode started, but they were screaming at the top of their lungs (for fun) and Nat found it very amusing. :) Dinnertime is always very peaceful at our house?!

She's just getting so cute (at least to her mama!)...I love having a girl.

Ben and I finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so now we've moved on the The Chronicles of Narina. We are half way through The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. He begs me to read him "just one more chapter" every night. :)

I threw in the food picture below just to prove that occasionally Ben will eat a balanced meal. He ate everything on his plate, with the exception of a few bites of carrots. I let him stop eating when he started to gag. I swear it's a fake gag just to get out of eating, but he's done it before and actually thrown up, so now I'm cautious. I think meal time is the WORST part of being a parent. I so wish I could leave that task to someone else!!

A fairy with a gun...

Fairy wings and a tutu over pajamas + hot pink, sparkly princess shoes = C-U-T-E

Since Nat was "dressed up", Ben decided he should be too! Mr. Space Patrol...

My favorite look of the evening...a fairy with a gun! :)

Photos of the day...

Watching a little Elmo's World...there isn't much that is more exciting these days!

Happy man...

This is what your face looks like after you've been playing in the snow with Daddy...wet, red, and cold!

Little brother and big brother...

This is a repeat story for my Facebook friends, but I don't want to forget because it's too funny! Earlier today I told Ben I would make a deal with him (a tactic I use to get him to do things around the house). He responded (before I even made the deal) with..."Stop making deals with me, Mom. Your deals are so annoying and they are getting in the way of my relaxation time." WHAT THE HECK?! Yet another shining example for my parenting resume!

House arrest...

I often feel like I'm under house arrest these days...confined to my home by the authorities...aka Ben, Natalie, and Andy. Don't get me wrong, I love these little people, but it would be nice to occasionally take a shower and go somewhere. :) Oh well, leaving the house for any fun reason was not in the cards this week (other than for work..but that's not all that fun)...it's cold out, loading three kids into the car with coats, shoes, diaper bag, etc is like a 45 minute process, and I have an ugly case of pink eye...so, we stayed indoors.

The most recent weird Ben comment...as I was getting him ready for school one day this week, he was singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" as loud as he could. He decided it would be cool to insert the word butt in place of the word hands. Nattie thought it was hilarious. "If you're happy and you know it than your butt will surely show it. If you're happy and you know it clap your butt!" I don't know where he gets this stuff...Mike and I are never weird like that. :)

He is really into coloring lately and trying to stay within the lines. He is getting much more patient and creative with his artwork and it's fun to watch. We played "grocery store" in the basement this morning and he was having fun filling his basket with stuff. I checked him out and he said, "Mom...you didn't say cash or charge?!" :)

Cute girl...

I love watching Natalie play with the toys in the basement (which, at this point, are still mostly boy toys). She is into all the "helmets" (anything that goes on your head is a helmet) and she really likes Buzz and Woody. Most almost two-year-olds probably aren't into them yet, but when you have a five-year-old brother, you learn what's cool fast. :)

I forgot to mention in my new year's post that Mike ran seven miles on new year's eve morning to reach his 1000 mile goal for 2010. Craziness...but a pretty cool accomplishment and goal to achieve!

And now, a stupid amount of Andy pictures. I'm sorry, but I actually have more and decided that I was reaching the point of diminishing return. I think I have successfully established the fact that I think he's cute and I love his face and smile and little chub. At his four month check-up this week he was in the 50th percentile for everything. He's 14 lbs, 7 oz and 25 1/4 inches long. Mike texted me at work this week to tell me that Andy was sucking both of his thumbs at the same time...love it! He is the first of my kids to suck his thumb (fingers too...and sometimes even his whole fist) and it's really cute (just hope he doesn't need braces later on in life like his mama!).

Ok...I just had to let this one stand alone...it could probably use a creative caption, but I'm too busy laughing to think of one.

Finally, both of my littlest sleeping this afternoon. I LOVE when Nat falls asleep "reading" one of her books. I laid Andy on the living room floor for a minute to do something and when I walked back into the room this is how I found him. :)

Good fruit...

I’ve been feeling awfully convicted lately…I’ve been in a bit of a funk…a spiritual funk. I’ve let other things in my life trump the ONE thing that is most important…my relationship with God. It’s been affecting lots of areas of my life in subtle ways and I don’t want to be in this place anymore. There are a handful of “things” that have brought me to this point, but ultimately I am feeling awfully inadequate, lazy and just plain, icky. My motivation and devotion to living a life that reflects Christ has been lacking…big time. I’ve definitely been lukewarm lately and I’m disappointed in myself for neglecting the ONE who has blessed me beyond all measure.

It’s hard to actually admit these things…I look at the life God has blessed me with and I am truly thankful. I love and adore my husband and three precious babies so much. The problem is, I have taken those blessings and allowed them to take higher priority than my relationship with Christ. It seems totally acceptable to say “I put my family first”, but when I take time to think about it, I realize I’m not being the best mom or wife by putting them first …in all actuality, I’m failing them by not putting Christ first (and let me be totally honest here, I don’t always put my family first either…there are LOTS of times when I waste too much time on other things that are of far less value than my family OR my relationship with God!).

Benny got a new Bible for Christmas and we’ve been reading stories from it every night and talking about how God worked in different people’s lives (Noah, Jonah, etc) and how much He loves us. It’s so fun to talk with him about his faith and watch him grow in his knowledge of the Bible, but how long has it been since I’ve opened my own Bible and read something for my own spiritual growth? Way too long! I’m ashamed to admit that…but I’m on an honesty roll here. I want to be an example for my children in my actions and not just my words.

Ok…all that to say... my heart, my focus, and my priorities have got to change…I want them to change. I have total faith that God can draw me closer to Him if I allow Him to. Tonight, before I sat down to write this post, I prayed that God would help me focus on the areas where I can do better. I was reminded of Galatians 5:22…the fruit of the Spirit…

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

I recently worked with Ben to help him memorize the “fruits” and I feel like spending some time reminding myself of what it looks like to “live the fruits” is a good place to start this change in my own heart and actions. I pray that God will use his Spirit to control my life and that over time my allegiance to Him will become more and more evident in the things that I say and do.

...Every healthy (sound) tree
bears good fruit [worthy of admiration],
but the sickly (decaying, worthless) tree
bears bad (worthless) fruit.
A good (healthy) tree cannot bear bad (worthless) fruit,
nor can a bad (diseased) tree
bear excellent fruit [worthy of admiration]...
Therefore,
you will fully know them by their fruits.
- Matthew 7:17-20

Thanks for listening (or reading)…bring on the good fruit!

(On a seperate note, can you believe I hit publish without attaching ONE picture to this post?! That took a lot of self-control. :))

Ringing in the new year....

with cake...on a stick....covered in candy and sprinkles....YUM! I spent the final hours of 2010 in sweatpants in my kitchen making cake pops (I'm wild like that!). Mike was in bed at 10:30 pm...my kids were sawing logs....and it was just me, Ryan Seacrest, and a kitchen covered in cake and sprinkles! I really was just looking for an excuse to practice making these little treats before I attempt them, again, for Nattie's birthday at the end of this month. They were kind of a lot of work, but they tasted good and I thought they turned out pretty cute for my first attempt. We enjoyed eating them today with Papa and Nana.

I made a strawberry cake and used chocolate cream cheese icing (kind of like a chocolate covered strawberry)...yum-o!

A-dub turned four months old this week...he's growing like a weed! He has his check-up on Monday, so I'm anxious to find out all the new stats. He is, honestly, an angel. He eats like a champ, goes to sleep so easily (I lay him down awake and he rarely even cries...just sticks his thumb in his mouth and goes to sleep!), and spends the rest of the hours of the day smiling and yelling (a high-pitched, really funny scream...just for fun!). I love his laid-back little personality.

Here is wild-woman...poor thing has had a fever for almost three days. She slept until 10:30 am this morning and when she woke up she asked for "meddies" (medicine). Once the Tylenol/Motrin kicks in, she's back to her spunky self!

She got a boy babydoll for Christmas, and I guess the Christmas story must have made an impression on her... she's been calling him "baby Jesus" all week. :)

I can not believe she is almost two....only a few more weeks. We've been talking about her birthday for awhile now and I've been asking her what kind of party she wants. I throw out ideas and she responds with an "uh huh" or "un uh." She is in love with Sesame Street, particularly Elmo, so when I asked if she wanted an Elmo party, she got super excited. If I make any other suggestion now, I am quickly corrected with a loud..."ELMO!" Ok, ok, Nat...Elmo it is! (Luckily, I've been there, done that. Ben's second b-day was Elmo too...already have the cake pan!)

We all look tired and grubby...but it's rare that I get a picture with all three kids kind of looking...so I'll take it!

Silly boy.... Tonight, Papa and Ben were playing with Walkie-Talkies. Ben was upstairs and Papa was downstairs and they were pretending like they were policeman trying to catch bad guys. Papa told Benny that there was a criminal on the loose who had robbed a liquor store. He described me and told Ben to find me and check my breath for liquor (you know, to see if I was guilty!). Ben found me and I had just eaten a cake pop, so I had candy breath. Ben looked at Papa and said "Did she rob a candy store?" :)

I could really go for a Hawaiian vacation with cool bendy palm trees right about now. Although, shortly after I took this picture, he drew a shark in the ocean right in front of me...so, maybe not.

Just a few pictures of Papa and Nana playing with the kiddos this afternoon...

Happy 2011!