Natalie's girly side

We don't see it often, but Natalie does have a girly side to her. Often, she likes pretending her Easter hat is in fact a safari hat or growling like Tai Long in Kung Fu Panda. Slowly but surely, she's beginning to discover what little girls like to do.

Exhibit A: Finger nail polish!



She did a nice job!

Elaine turns 9 months old

Elaine turned 9 months on March 23rd (which was also Nata's 3rd birthday). Busy times!

Elaine has 4 teeth now (two top and two bottom). She takes every opportunity to use them, either on food, my shoulder, or her crib rail. I even had to whip up a homemade cover for the round rail she was chewing.

She also has mastered the art of sitting up on her own.

It didn't take her long to figure out how to crawl - and fast. She has the inclination to get into places where she shouldn't, like the bathroom or between the couch and wall.

In any case, she's excellent in getting around on her hands and knees.

Just recently, she's been showing signs that walking isn't far behind. Right along with learning how to crawl, she learned to pull herself up. She's a daredevil as I watched her pull herself up on the ottoman, let one hand go and try to take a step. Needless to say, she didn't get very far in that first attempt, but she obviously hasn't let that stop her from trying again as I found her doing this:



And then this

I suspect she'll be the first (and only) child to walk before their first birthday.

Natalie's birthday performance

I forgot earlier on her birthday, Natalie was all excited about her decorations around the house, especially the "Happy Birthday" banner. She decided to serenade the following:
(wait to see the surprise guest at the end who had perfect timing)

Natalie turns 3!!!

Her big day finally came!

The puppy cake:
It did not turn out as I had hoped. It actually started with about 3-4 more inches of a neck, but gravity took its toll and I had my first cake collapse. I managed to salvage enough cake to make a shorter version of a puppy. I was relieved when the kids saw it and knew it was a puppy. To me, it almost looked like a version of Sony's robotic dog.

The puppy even had a bone, which I made into Natalie's personal piece.



She seemed happy to finally turn 3, and we were left to think how quickly she's grown!

A Dairy Queen treat

It was a beautiful Saturday this past weekend. After lunch, we decided to take the kids to Dairy Queen by the Iowa River for an ice cream treat. Both Peter and Natalie knew exactly what they wanted: blueberry sundaes...and that's what they got!

They sat down eating their ice cream while saying hi to joggers and bicyclists going by on the trail.


After we finished our treats, we took a short walk along the trail ourselves. Elaine seemed to enjoy the warm sun with her hair pulled up...

with Daddy behind the wheel!


I don't know what it is about this picture, but I love it.

Peter and Natalie liked watching things float along the river, like the leaves they kept tossing in. Doesn't Natalie look cool in her shades!?! :)

Then a train came along and it was very loud, but the kids didn't mind at all. They were excited to see a moving train! The trail we were on goes right under the tracks. A little scary for Mommy and exciting for the kids!

Is this is a half-thumbs up from Peter?...maybe Mommy snapped the picture a little too soon before he gave the outting a total thumbs up!

Sibling fun

We had some fun taking pictures while the kids were rolling on the floor. I found it an impossible task to get all 3 kids to smile at the camera and stay still in order to not be a blur. It took MANY clicks, but I finally captured this one.



After a while, Natalie wasn't into the picture mood anymore.

Quite the opposite, Peter was all ready for his close up with Elaine.

Wedding weekend in Ann Arbor

My cousin Amy and her finace Benji got married this past weekend. On pi, to be exact (you know, 3.14159). We had the honor to have Peter and Natalie be their ring bearer and flower girl! How exciting! We'd practiced at home with fake flowers and a pillow to get them ready for the day! My only hopes were that Natalie would be her happy self (not the grouchy shy girl she can be at times) and Peter wouldn't have to go potty in the middle of the walk down the aisle.

Luckly, both of my hopes were fulfilled!

After a whole day of driving from Iowa City to Ann Arbor (that's a 7-hour drive!), we quickly changed and headed straight to the rehearsal. The kids had a great time at the rehearsal. Elaine had an untimely diaper malfunction and scored a new Michigan outfit. She was happily greeted by her Great Uncle George at their first meeting ever.

During the rehearsal, people laughed as Peter and Natalie walked down the aisle holding their snack cups and snacking on Cheerios. I guess when you're hungry for a snack, there's no better time than during a wedding rehearsal! Neither Peter nor Natalie obviously saw nothing wrong with it!

After rehearsal, we went to dinner at The Earle. As Peter noted, it was a "fancy" restaurant...indeed it was! This was our first fancy dinner with the kids. Miraculously (especially since it was way past their bedtime), they did great and the table cloth stayed on the table!

***
Then, the big day came. With my zero experience of doing nice girly hair, I spent a nervous 45 minutes doing Natalie's hair. Being the first time I used a curling iron on her hair, she seemed to enjoy the "salon treatment". I obviously didn't put enough hair spray or something in her hair because after riding in her car seat and getting to the wedding ceremony, some of her curls had straightened out. Live and learn, I guess!

I was tickled pink seeing Peter and Natalie in their tux and flower girl dress.

They seem to having their own fun, too!

They were also awed by Amy the beautiful bride.

Elaine and Daddy got to meet and greet many of the wedding guests and family!

Here was Peter and Natalie's big moment:

Unfortunately, I had got trapped out in the lobby and wasn't able to watch them walk down myself. Fortunately, Anthony (my brother, left in picture) got a great video clip. Hopefully, I'll get a copy of it soon (hint hint Anthony!) and post it here! I was told they did great, walked slowly (maybe a little too slow) down the aisle. It seemed like Natalie enjoyed it while Peter was in a "tired zone" after all the buzz prior to the moment.

After the ceremony, Peter and Natalie loaded up on juice and bread...just enough to give them the energy to dance the night away!

Peter and Natalie really enjoyed the first dance:

Although Natalie wanted to dance with Peter and chased him most of the night, Peter found his own groove and liked dancing solo.

Natalie had her own fun with the photographer while throwing up rose petals!

Then, finally, the family picture with the bride and groom: