One Last Goodbye!

So, this weekend we made an impromptu trip up to South Bend to see my parents' dog, Simba, one last time. We had gotten Simba when I was a senior in high school, so he is just 10 years old. He has gradually gone down hill over the years since he is a bigger dog. When Rusty was a puppy, they got along great, but as Rusty got older, they still got along but definitely weren't as playful anymore. However, once my sister's dog came into the picture, Petunia, Simba got the nickname of "The Protector." Every time Simba felt Petunia was getting a little too rough, he would step in to "protect" Rusty, and when Natalie came in the picture, he pretty much did the same thing with her. If he thought the dogs were rough-housing a little too much or getting too close, he would just stand up and just have to basically look at Rusty and Petunia, and they knew what that meant. He has been a good dog over the years and I will definitely miss him greeting us every time we came to my parents' house!  I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to make one last trip up there to see him!

My sister, Matt, and Petunia arrived prior to us and Simba greeted them at the door, which according to my parents had not done for a couple days prior and would basically just lay down or get up to go outside only. When we arrived, he did the same thing! He also hadn't been eating hardly anything, so when Rusty and Petunia were getting treats that night, Simba actually got up to eat some treats as well!  He definitely wasn't his old self, but it was nice to see one last spurt of energy/motivation from him. The rest of the weekend, he basically just laid down, but did seem to enjoy going outside and laying in the snow. Sometimes it would take 3 or 4 attempts to get him to even come back inside. By today (Sunday), he wasn't eating anything at all and you could tell he was just miserable...poor guy!  We will all definitely miss you, Simba!

Bacon-time for the dogs

Natalie and Grandpa with Simba

Simba

Petunia

Rusty

Everyone (Aunt Krista with Lacie and Simba, Natalie and I with Rusty, Amanda and Petunia)

Group shot

His favorite spot all weekend...in the snow!

Playing in the snow

Since we haven't got a ton of snow in Terre Haute, it was nice to have a little more up in South Bend. We had enough snow for everyone (but me since it was extra bumpy) to go snowmobiling. The guys (Matt, Bobby, and my dad) were only supposed to go see if there was enough snow to go on any trails, and 4-5 hours later they came back: 80 miles later. They had a good time while us girls were inside staying warm. Once they got back, we took Natalie out in the snow for the first time!  She was all bundled up (reminded me of the kid in 'A Christmas Story' that can't move because of his snowsuit). Her snowsuit was a little large, 18 months, but fit her good enough to keep her warm. Her firsts this weekend in the snow: 1) she got to ride the snowmobile; 2) she got to play in the snow; 3) she got to go sledding. The snow didn't seem to phase her a bit, and she seemed to enjoy the time outside, but it was definitely very cold!  After we played, everyone but Bobby, Natalie, and I went back out to snowmobile, so we headed to Bobby's parents' house.

Ready to hit the trails! 

Playing with Aunt Krista

Kissing Elmo

All bundled up and ready to go!

She couldn't move, so she just laid there!

Yay! Snow!

With Dada

Getting ready to ride with Daddy and Aunt Amanda

And...they're off!

Sledding!

Sledding with Daddy!

Sledding with Grandma

Rusty got to play too...

haha!

Natalie now also has a 7th tooth we discovered once we got back home to Terre Haute!

Let's walk...

...on our knees!  Instead of walking on her feet, Natalie has recently started walking on her knees. I don't think she quite realizes she can move faster if she walks!

She woke up with this "mohawk"

She is getting used to using a sippy cup at mealtimes (mostly dinners). Tonight was nice to have Bobby home on-time and got to eat dinner with us, and feed Miss Natalie!  She is now eating our food or the little Gerber toddler entrees. Tonight, she enjoyed chicken and wagon wheel noodles with carrots and peas. As well as Cheerios (the girl LOVES Cheerios)!

On a sad note, my parents dog, Simba, is not doing too well. So, Natalie and I will be heading up north this weekend to see him, hopefully he makes it at least through tomorrow!

Back in June 

1st Birthday Invitation

Natalie has been sleeping really good this week!  I am so thankful!

I sent out her 1st Birthday invitations on Saturday. I think they turned out pretty cute for doing them myself, with some technical help from Bobby, too!

Sleeping Saga Update

After the horrible sleeping by Natalie a couple nights ago, we actually had a good night of sleep!

I had been telling Natalie all day yesterday that I was going to let her "cry it out" and that I wasn't going to come in and pick her up and try to rock her back to sleep, so she better prepare herself! As if she could really understand what I was saying!  I had even titled my future blog post about having her "cry it out," but luckily didn't have to use it!

After not sleeping the night before, well just sleeping 2 hours at a time. She only took 2 30 minute naps. I tried keeping her awake longer yesterday night, and we made it until 9:30/9:45p. I had not told Bobby about the "crying it out" thing since he hadn't been home. On his way home, I also had him stop and pick up whole milk since she was almost out of formula (yes, I know they recommend not starting babies until they turn a year old, but I also know of others that started earlier and did just fine...so we will see). So, I went to bed after Bobby saying to me "Why are you going to bed?"  All I was thinking was 'Really?!  I was just up with your daughter all night!'

Well, Natalie woke up at 1am, Bobby went in to get her since I didn't tell him my plan. She only drank 2oz of the whole milk and fell right back to sleep...and...drumroll please...she slept until 8:30am!  I was so happy! Also, today she took a great afternoon nap of 1.5-2 hours. We did have to use the "cry it out" technique for a bit with naptime and it worked!

Who knows what made her sleep much better?! It could be a combination of several factors: being really tired from lack of sleep from the night before and not taking a good nap; I put a fan on in her room for 'white noise' all night; kept her up later; fed her some oatmeal (she didn't eat much) since she was up later; and she had just a little whole milk. I don't really care what was the determining factor, I'm just glad she slept and I'm really glad about not having to let her "cry it out" because I hate listening to her scream/cry. Not that I pick her up every time she cries, but her screaming cries I do, but not the whimpering cries.

Natalie is completely over baby food I believe and is completely interested in our food from our plates. This morning she had some oatmeal and then I gave her pieces of banana, which she preferred just to smoosh in her hand and not eat until she was allowed to take a bite out of the actual banana that Bobby was eating off of, then she ate her smaller pieces.

Tonight, she went to bed around 8:15/8:30p, so I'm sure I'll have an update tomorrow. I'm just hoping it turns out to be a good update!

As I sit here...

As I sit here at 4:23am...been awake since 3:45am...thanks to no one else but...yep, you guessed it...Natalie, I keep wondering...how the heck am I going to do this with 2 babies?!  Hopefully, baby #2 will be a good sleeper for the first 6-8 months like Natalie WAS! So, maybe that will give Natalie the time she needs to STOP getting up every 2-3 hours at night and start actually SLEEPING!  At first I felt bad for her because she was just getting over being sick, but that feeling has now left and I feel more annoyed!

Tonight she went to bed around 8/8:30p, got up at 10p and drank a bottle. Got up at 1:15am and drank a bottle. Got up at 3:45a and did not want a bottle or need changed, just wanted to play and would get made if I left the room. So, by 4:00am I just sat in the office (next to her room) and browsed Pinterest until 4:25a when she finally was sleeping (I hope). I'm afraid to go into the room to check on her because usually when I do she is laying down being quite and then as soon as she hears you...up pops her head and a little "hi" comes out of her mouth...such the stinker.

I thought also being on the computer I could find ways to get her to sleep through the night again, but didn't really come up with anything. She used to sleep SO good...I can't handle this sleep-deprive thing. And, where do you think Bobby (and Rusty) are?!  Of course, ASLEEP!!!! Even though, the baby monitor is right next to Bobby's head...seriously, you can't hear our crying/screaming child?!  I find that hard to believe...I'm going to say Bobby has really good "selective hearing!"

4:31am: She's crying again (more like an annoying whimpering)...ugh!

Update: Up again at 5:45am and 7:45am. I made Bobby get up with her at 5:45 and I brought her into our bed at 7:45, and of course she just wanted to play. So, Bobby put some toys in her crib and put her back in it, but that only lasted until 8:30am. Now we (Natalie and I) are awake for the day, I hope she has some good naps in her future because she is going to be a grump!  Guess who is still sleeping?!  Yep...you guessed right!

I don't know what caused her "unsleepiness" but it seems like she is getting/has a cold since she is sneezy and the return of the runny nose...yay! She also had her last dose of her flu shot as well yesterday, so who knows. But let's hope tonight is better!

Basketball

Bobby is in the church basketball league and tonight was the first night Natalie and I were able to make it to a game. Usually they are too late and she is already in bed or should be about ready for bed. I wasn't sure how she would do since it is about an hour long or so, but she actually loved it. She sat still (for the most part) on my lap to watch her Daddy play. She was laughing and clapping. Her attention was on the most of the game!  I hope she continues to enjoy basketball because I would love to go see her play when she gets older!

New Year's weekend

We really didn't do a whole lot!  Basically just stayed home and hung out.  We slept in which was nice (Natalie too), but Natalie also woke up a lot at night (on average 2 times). I don't think she has gotten in her sleeping routine since being sick!

On New Year's Eve, the only plans we had were that we were invited to one of Bobby's co-workers parties, but we didn't have a babysitter. We didn't really ask for a babysitter either because we figured everyone else would have plans and I didn't really want to take her anywhere with the Christmas flu she had, even though she is definitely feeling much better!  So, instead, we had an impromptu gathering with 2 other couples. We had a good time and didn't go to bed until 3:30a (Natalie was STILL awake)! Natalie went to bed around 8p, but then was up by 10p and stayed up to watch the ball drop. I thought for sure she would go to bed shortly after that, but NO! She stayed awake until who knows when because I fell asleep at 3:30a and she was still awake at that time! Silly girl!

She tried my sparkling cider (non-alcoholic of course) and HATED it:) On her 2nd little sip, she spit several times afterwards, so she was not a big fan!

Sunday was Natalie's 1st day in the nursery at church and she did great!  Give her a toy and she's good for awhile unless she's tired. At our church, your child has a number and if you see that number on the screen during the service, it means to come back and get your child...we didn't have any of that (not that I thought we would)!

Our living room turns into a disaster area when she is awake and playing! However, with all of her toys, she still prefers to go after Rusty's toys and Bobby's electronics.

I should have taken a video of her tonight because she was nuts!  I was Skyping with my parents and she was all over the place, then would stop and jump up and down!  Hopefully she wore herself out enough to sleep through the night...if only I could be so lucky :)