Here We Go, Georgia! Here We Go!

At 12:34 our beloved Georgia Dawgs and the adorable --I mean ferocious! -- Uga VII will begin our 2008 football season. Natalie, Big Bear, and some other friends are ready to cheer them on. Go Dawgs!

Almost Ready

Baby Lindsey's room is almost ready. The walls are painted. The trim has been painted. The curtains are hung and there is some art on the wall. The very blue carpet has been removed and there is new light brown/neutral carpet in it's place. After a few vacuumings to remove the new carpet fuzz, we'll be able to put the furniture in place and I'll be able to spend my remaining pregnant days sorting and re-sorting and sorting again all her stuff. As of tomorrow we've only got 6 weeks left, and that's not counting the fact that Natalie came a week early and Lindsey might do the same!

I looked all the way back in my digital pictures files and couldn't find a true "before" picture. As most of you know, this room started out as Josh's office with the blue carpet and grey walls. It then became our guest room, and I didn't think to take one before we dis-assembled it. So, here is the room right before the carpet guys came and right after they left. In a few days I'll hopefully be able to have a "we're ready" post and you'll be able to see her room all set up. =)

The First Day of School

In order to have a successful first day of school, there are many things a girl must do:

She must try on several outfits the day before. Not excluding your father's socks, should they be readily available.

She must take a bath and put on her "dancing jammies."

She must get a good night's sleep, or at least pretend to.

She must pack her school bag,

and say "Cheese" for me as we take the official first day of school photograph.

At 9 am I dropped Natalie off at the doorway, just as the teachers asked us to, and after a little fussing and trying to climb up into my arms she showed a touch of enthusiasm and went into the classroom by herself. I called her name to tell her Bye Bye, so she would not be surprised when I was no longer standing there, and again she started to fuss, but kept her spot in the room. A few minutes later another mom reported no fussing or crying from Natalie.

Once again, I'm filled with so many emotions as I realize just how quickly she's transforming from my sweet baby to this delightful little girl!

Why Do They Grow Up So Fast!?

Natalie can spell her name. Yep. N. A. T. A. L. I. E.
And the middle one, too. P. A. I. G. E.
Josh taught her that while I was at work today.

While playing with her letters in the tub tonight she found the following, put them in order, then said the words to me:
D O G
C A K E
Not only can she spell, she can write, too!

Tonight when doing her laundry SHE put Purple Blankey into the washer and said to me. "Dirry. Wash Wash. All Pween." She gets it. She has a comprehension level I would never expect from a two-year-old.

On the flip side, she has yet to be potty trained because she would rather hold it for 16 hours than pee in the potty.

I know it's inevitable, and I couldn't be more proud of her. But why, oh why, do they have to grow up so fast!?

Caption Contest

The winner gets to be the winner. Or perhaps a baked good of your choosing.

For those of you silly gooses who read this thing and don't leave me comments, it's time you start leaving comments! Or if you email me, I'll post your response for the whole world to see. Neener. =P

Has Anyone Seen Natalie?

Imagine all the "amals" you can't see that are behind her!
Hours of morning fun!

Summer Lovin'

Or shall we say "Loving the End of Summer" ? Granted, we live in Georgia so we're likely to see temps in the 90s for another month, but with school starting in a week and a half and the nice breeze we had today I felt that we must get to the playground! I also used it as a test run to get her sandal/shoes back on her because I don't want her wearing her Crocs at school, and those are all she's worn for the past 2 months. And, honestly, it's a great excuse to take pictures of her in Pig Tails! Just as I was starting to play with the camera settings to adjust for action shots and the sun glare the camera decided to take a nap and a big group of kids showed up, so I'm glad I got these few.

Concentrating before her "Big Jump" onto the swinging bridge.

Coming out of the slide ~ Look what it does to her hair!

Swing!

Pregnancy Update, Too:
I'm now 31 weeks pregnant and am starting to feel tired and achy, and I can definitely tell the hormones are flying all over the place again. I've become a bit co-dependent, which I hate, but I just feel the need to consult Josh on everything, and I mean everything. I've gained 23 pounds, so with 8-9 more weeks of being pregnant to go, that would put me just about where I was with Natalie, which is good. I really have no complaints, aside from heartburn and reflux (which they have medicines for!) this pregnancy has been so good to me. We've pained Lindsey's room but need to get the carpet changed, it's still very blue. With no carpet in, we plan to paint the trim as well and after the new carpet is placed it will really take just take one good afternoon of working to finish up the room. Here's to the home stretch and hoping all continues to go well!

Here are a few bonus pictures of Big Sister Natalie taking care of a "BeBe" (all the babies are called BeBe).

Shower Time!

Yesterday Natalie and I were given the guest of honor spots at a shower for Baby Lindsey ~ although I let Natalie call it her "Big Sister Party." Courtney held a lovely brunch at her home and then she and Jennifer, Toddler Landon, Stacie, and my Mom, along with Andrea and Josh's mom Pat (who couldn't be there but sent gifts ahead of time), gave Natalie and Lindsey and I enough gifts to make us feel loved for a long time to come. You all know what goes on at a baby shower - lots of girls talking about babies and other silly stuff - so I won't bore you with details. Just pictures. ~~~ Thank you, Courtney for such a wonderful day!

Poor Lindsey still doesn't have a middle name.

Presents!

Natalie opened the first one ~ a Big Sister Blanket made for her by Janet. Janet made the blanket that be came Blankey, and then a back up one we asked for, and this larger Big Girl one just because she loves Natalie. Thank you, Janet!

Kiss Lindsey!

2 year old cousin Ava picked out this outfit for Baby Lindsey.

My mom gets lovin' from all the babies!

Natalie tears into her Big Sister gift from Courtney.

Yay, a baby tub!

Natalie helping me open a gift.

Jeff came home from work and, since he had an appropriate colored shirt on, we let him join in!

(L-R) Stacie, Courtney, Natalie, me, my mom Pam, Jennifer, Landon

I'll miss you, Court!

Natalie & Landon share a Bye-Bye hug.

Our Week In Athens:

Natalie
* Learned that swimming pools are fun! It took 3 afternoons, but she went from sitting in a chair on the side to floating on a float in the middle of the shallow end by herself (yes, we were all right there!)
* Visited the Memorial Park Zoo - except they don't call themselves a zoo. She saw otters, an alligator, several owls, a very sleepy bear, and even a "big bird" - a Bald Eagle!
* Wore her first pig tails to the zoo and her first bun to the pool
* Had a vocabulary explosion! "I want more more juice box." Wow, those of you who know my kid know that doesn't sound like my kid! =)
* Got several goodies ranging from a new bed spread, some books, some toys, some hair bows, some clothes, and some more stuff I'm sure to be forgetting to mention right now.
* Ate grilled cheese the first night and chicken nuggets the last day and nothing but french fries and pasta in between
* Learned to sing Elmo's Song and to fake a whistle and call everyone "sweet"
* Didn't nap the entire week
* Was so tired from not napping that one night she fell asleep on the hardwood floor and another she fell asleep in the booth at the resturant
* Learned the colors red, blue, and green
* Had so much fun visiting "Nee-Yee, Poppy, Pe-Paw, Tevin, G-Ma, Afa, and Auntie"

I
* Got an hour to myself to get my toes done
* Got kicked in the face one night for letting Natalie sleep with me
* Bought the first Christmas present - something for Natalie
* Did a lot of shopping with Natalie and My Mom for Natalie and Baby!
* Got the remaining windows on Josh's truck tinted
* Was on the receiving end of an hour long pre-natal massage. Yum Yum!

My Mom
* Won us a new mattress for Baby's room in a raffle!
* Bought a lot of stuff for Baby

Our Families
* Boarded us
* Fed us
* Bought us treats
* Put up with us
* Are great

Josh
* Had the house to himself for a week, although it seemed like Jay was over here a lot, too.
* Completed his one and only Honey Do: Paint Baby's Room. Yay! Thanks!
* Seems to have missed us

Here are the highlights in picture form:
(remember, you can click on them for the big versions)

Loving The Pool:

And Others:

"Pe-Paw" and the Zoo

The Bald Eagle

3 Boxes full of Beanie Babies!

"Pat-Patting" a Turlte

Kids These Days

Natalie and I were playing Guitar Hero - well, I was playing, she was bouncing around like a silly girl and cheering for me. Anyways, I was done and was having some trouble getting to the main menu to properly shut the X-Box down. After multiple wrong attempts, I said aloud in frustration "How do you turn this thing off!?"

Without saying a word, Natalie walked up to the TV set and pushed the power button.

Smarty Pants.