Happy Halloween...and Surprise!!!!

Happy Halloween from the Andreae's!

Natalie the baby Skeleton

And....her big news of the day...

I'm going to be BIG SISTER...coming May 2012

Great picture of her top tooth

Natalie will have a baby brother or sister sometime in May with the due date of May 20, 2012!

Big surprise to us...definitely was not planned, but we will take him/her :)

Under the Weather

Sorry for very few picture updates since Natalie's 8 month post, but it's been busy around here!

This week, Natalie got some diarrhea (she'll love reading about this when she is older...haha) for 2 days which lead to really bad diaper rash! She still has her stuffy nose, just cut her 1st top tooth and will probably have the other top tooth soon, but is not running a fever (thank goodness!). I felt so bad for her and the diaper rash because she hurt so bad every time you changed her (poor baby)! The diaper rash cream just wasn't cutting it, we also tried soaking her in a tub full of Aveeno Soothing bath stuff, but still no relief. You really wouldn't have known she was sick at all other than seeing her diaper rash and how bad it hurt her to clean her up...she was still her normal and happy self!

Bobby had been wanting me to take her to the doctor about her runny nose, but I really just thought it would run it's course and go away, plus her runny nose hasn't been that unusual for her for awhile now. She didn't have a fever, so I figured there was nothing the doctor would do anyway since the antibiotic she was given at her 6 month appointment didn't do any good. So, I hadn't scheduled an appointment.

Thursday night, she would not go to bed and you could tell she was not her normal self because she was pretty whiny (but I would be too if my bottom was as red as hers)! Bobby had to go into work at 3am, so it was Mommy duty night!  Fun, fun...especially for a Mommy that wasn't feeling too hot herself with a sore throat, runny nose, cough, and sneeze...plus I was just plain exhausted!  Natalie on the other hand definitely didn't seem exhausted because she stayed awake until after midnight, then woke up at 4am, 5am, 6am, and 7am. I knew the next day was going to be a long one since I already had a Vet appointment for Rusty and a doctor appointment for me. Luckily, Bobby was able to get an appointment in Natalie scheduled for in between Rusty and mine.

Our Friday:

9:30a - Rusty's vet appointment to check out his bump in between his shoulder blades (just a side effect from his vaccines the week before) Taking a dog on a leash who hates going to the vet and a baby in a carrier 2 weeks in a row is always a fun time!

10a - Take Rusty home and feed Natalie before leaving for her doctor appointment.

10:40a - Arrive to Natalie's doctor appt. The wait in the waiting room wasn't long but it was a long wait in the room!  Natalie weighs 16.6lb (has gained 1.6lb since her 6 month appt). The doctor said her lungs sounded good compared to how stuffy, runny her nose was and thinks she has something viral (probably got it from daycare...blah). Natalie got a prescription for Nystatin for her diaper rash (looks like it's clearing up and she is no longer screaming bloody murder when you change her...yay!), Florastor (probiotic) to take once a day, Pedialyte (4oz) only after having diarrhea to keep her hydrated...have only had to give to her once, and she also wrote a prescription for an antibiotic (only to fill if symptoms do not go away in less than 5 days) and stool sample for the lab if diarrhea persists this weekend...so far so good!

11:40a - Left the doctor office to head to Kroger to get her prescription and do some short grocery shopping while we waited...left around 12:30/12:45p.

1p - Grabbed something quick to eat, fed Natalie and relaxed briefly before heading to my doctor appointment.

2:30p - My doctor appointment. Luckily Bobby was able to watch her so that helped relieve the Mommy duties for a short bit even though Natalie was AWESOME the entire day!

4:30p - Finally home from doctor appointment...I think everyone was exhausted by this time and EVERYONE took a 2 hour nap!

Then, Natalie slept for 12 hours Friday night until I woke her up to get her ready to head to Indy to help Aunt Amanda and Uncle Matt move stuff out of their apartment and into a pod for a month before they close on their house. Natalie was again AWESOME all day today and got to see Grandma and Grandpa B as well!

Natalie obviously isn't tired at the moment since it is 10:30p at night and she is happily playing in her crib!  I hope she sleeps as well tonight as she did yesterday! So happy that she is feeling better though!

We are so blessed with such a happy baby!

3rd Tooth!

Natalie now has a 3rd tooth (upper front)!  I didn't even know she was teething or anything since the drool has been the same since her first teeth and she hasn't been any crankier or staying up at weird times at night at all!  Glad this time the teething process was smooth!

She still has a snotty nose...blah!  Her boo boo on her nose (made from her scratching it in the middle of the night sometime) finally has had the scab fall off.

This weekend, Bobby's parents came into town, but I didn't have my camera out all weekend, so I didn't get any pictures. Luckily, the weather was great and we headed to Covered Bridge Festival in Bridgeton (much better than Mansfield) on Saturday, then watched the awful Notre Dame vs. USC game (Notre Dame lost). Today (Sunday) we headed to church in the morning then met up with Bobby's parents for lunch at MCL. Happy 35th Anniversary to them! We took them on a short walk around our neighborhood, then Natalie took a 3 hour nap (sleepy girl)! 

We finally have grass coming up through the straw in our yard!  Hopefully Springtime will bring a very lush, green lawn!

Playdate with the boys!

Today we got together with Cassie & Gavin and Stephanie & Kevin. We met in Plainfield at the Red Robin. All 3 babies did awesome at the restaurant!  After eating we headed across the road to the Metropolis parking lot in a grassy area to get pictures of the 3 with their Halloween costumes on. It was fun to get them together again and hopefully we will be able to get together with them again sometime during the Holidays in December.

Kevin (pumpkin), Natalie (puppy), Gavin (bluebird)

...and over goes Gavin :)

Gavin and his Mommy (Cassie)

Kevin and his Mommy (Stephanie)

Natalie and Mommy

Attempt #1 group shot

Attempt #2 Group Shot

Gavin working on his sociability (torture?!)

 

The 3 of them back in June (4 months ago)

Happy 8 Months!

I don't know if "happy" is a good phrase for today.  Here is a picture that pretty much sums up her attitude for her 8 month mini photo session:

I managed to get some 'OK' pictures, but this little session was definitely not easy!

Today is also my Dad's birthday!  Happy 51st Birthday today!

So, at 8 months old, here are a few things that Natalie is doing:

1. Still pulling herself up on anything she can and getting brave enough at times to let go and stand for only a brief moment.  She does often hold on with just one hand!

2. She is wearing 6 month and 6-9 month clothing. Some of the 9 month things are still too big.

3. She has a little cold going on with mainly just a runny nose, which I have been giving her the daily vitamin each morning in her first bottle and running the humidifier at night, but she's still battling it.

4. She is wearing Size 3 diapers only because we ran out of Size 2 and since I didn't know how much longer she would be in them, I opted to start buying Size 3 instead. She is still in Size 2 at daycare and fits into both just fine.

5. We find ourselves running to get her from crawling all over and getting into things that she shouldn't...like Daddy's tools and Rusty's toys.

6. She hasn't quite grasped the fact of walking around stuff while holding onto the ottoman, couch, or coffee table. So my prediction of her possibly walking by 10 months may not be too accurate.

7. She is still a huge fan of squash, sweet potatoes, and corn. She will eat fruit and some meats like chicken and beef, but not as well as sweet potatoes.

8. Still not a consistent sleeper through the night since she got up to eat at 3am this morning.

9. She is saying 'Da Da' but only sometimes and hasn't quite associated it with Bobby, but I would say her official first word is dada!

Today we started the morning off with taking "Nervous Nelly" Rusty to the vet for his annual shots. Natalie did great and was content in her carseat (thank goodness!) while Rusty slipped out of his collar to go hide under the bench where a large boxer was waiting for the vet. I don't know if Rusty thought the big dog would save him or what!  He weighs 18.5 lbs (probably right around what Natalie weigh now if I had to guess). He is now up-to-date on all his shots and won't have to go back again for a year as long as he stays healthy.

Sort of a smile...

She LOVES this hammer, but I don't think she quite realizes she can't fit the whole thing in her mouth!

Not a happy camper today!

Hanging on with 1 arm so she can try to reach her toy.

Watching the Cowboys game with Daddy last night with her new legwarmers!

Fall Weekend

On Saturday, Natalie and I went with Matt & Amanda to the Covered Bridge Festival in Mansfield. I have been 2 other times in the past, and typically go to Bridgeton, but thought we'd try out Mansfield. It was super crowded (as expected) and LOTS of flea market type things (I will go to Bridgeton from now on). It was nice to see something different and the covered bridge was pretty with the water, but since Bridgeton has the same thing...we will keep going there unless their crafty items become more flea market based!  The food was good as always and next weekend we are headed to Bridgeton with Bobby's parents.

Natalie didn't nap the entire day other than little short ones in the car for about 20 minutes or so since she is so curious and was more interested in people watching than sleeping in her stroller. She was great at the festival though!  However, that meant she napped from 6p-8p last night and then did her whole waking up every 4 hours or so to eat. I think she got up at 11p, then 3:30a, then 8a. I think she is sort of back on schedule for naps today for the most part. So we will see how tonight goes.

Today we went to Menards because Bobby had to pick up some things for our surround sound (aka place more holes in the wall). I would like to get some pictures up soon too since we have been living here for awhile now. While Bobby bored us in the "men" section of Menards, Natalie and I strolled the holiday light section, which of course she LOVED looking at all the lights. I was going to get a pumpkin that I was going to carve out and place her in, but they were all too small. Oh well for that idea!

We stopped at Rural King to find more items we needed (but didn't find), so Natalie and I strolled the toy section.

I can't believe she will be 8 months old tomorrow!

One messy "little princess"

What a Week!

While we were camping, Bobby found out his Uncle Bob had passed away. I had only met him a couple times, but each time we were with them, we had a blast. His Uncle Bob and Aunt Mimi were an awesome couple and I just wish I would have met them sooner and we would have made the trip to St. Louis more often. Bobby was named after his Uncle Bob and they look just alike from pictures we saw at the funeral!  It sounds as though Bobby has a lot of the same qualities and mannerisms as him as well.

On Tuesday, we headed to St. Louis for the viewing which someone had said he had over 1,000 people come through to pay their respects. That shows a lot and definitely shows how well liked he was, and no wonder with his personality!  We stayed in a hotel and shared a room with Kristen and her 2 kids, then the next day went to the funeral. Natalie was not a very good baby in the funeral, so her and I spent the majority of the funeral service in the lobby. Since this is her 2nd funeral, she did better at this viewing, but definitely worse during the service. I don't blame her for not liking funeral homes much!

Afterwards, we headed out to lunch with everyone that his aunt paid for everyone, which was extremely generous. After lunch, we went over to Bobby's cousin's home to visit. It was nice to meet everyone, but sad at the same time under the circumstances. We headed back to Terre Haute last night and worked today. My normal "off" Friday will be a working Friday for me...yuck!...but didn't really have a choice.

Over the course of these last couple of days, Natalie would not really take naps and would not go to sleep well at night because she didn't want to miss out on any of the action!  On Tuesday night, I don't think she went to bed until midnight or 1am our time. Wednesday she only took short little catnaps until we made the trek back to Terre Haute and she slept almost the entire 3 hours. Last night, she was perfectly content in her crib to play with her blanket and finally went to sleep around 1am. So, at daycare today, she took a 3 1/2 hour nap!  I think she was just a little bit exhausted :)  We are too!  Too bad work isn't like daycare where we can nap whenever we would like...haha!  Looking forward to sleeping this weekend! 

I'm hoping after all this commotion that Natalie gets back into her 12 hour sleeps again!