Kiddos Update

Natalie is 3 and 1/2 now and so much fun. She is not "all girl," more like 1/2 princess and 1/2 tomboy. She loves role playing as a princess or a mommy. When she is a princess, she dresses up - naturally - and loves having "teacup" parties and dancing with her Daddy (her "prince" - well, he's actually my prince, but I loan him out). When she is in princess mode, she insists that you call her by her princess name and corrects you if you don't: "No mommy, say thank you, Belle." She also loves playing mommy by putting her doll and animals to bed all over the house. In fact, her new doll is either in a coma or she's a younger Sleeping Beauty because that is all Natalie ever has her do. She gets upset if you are loud around her sleeping "children," though, so this activity can be a bit annoying at times. Okay, so maybe she is 3/4 princess - but not fully because she loves boy things too. She likes playing with toy guns and she loves to play bad guy, monster, and pirates as well. In fact her favorite game to play is "monster game," which involves a great deal of running and screaming.

Natalie officially graduated from nursery and is proud to be a sunbeam. She loves attending primary with the big kids (though you wouldn't know it from this picture...)

In other noteworthy news, Natalie had her first In-N-Out burger (really a "grilled cheese" - a burger without the meat) and to say she enjoyed it would be an understatement. She was literally cheering after each bite. At one point she exclaimed, and I quote, "this is so, so, so, so, yummy!" At another point she got up and hugged me. Wow! I wish she enjoyed my cooking that much. And so I could see how the In-N-Out phenomenon of unnatural love and respect for a fast food chain begins as I witnessed a new fan join the fold.

Henry. Oh, my Henry. What a boy! Henry is practically one year old, and over the last couple weeks, he has become a really proficient walker. His first steps were at 10 months, but it wasn't until recently that he really mastered the skill. Henry loves to be held, and his favorite person is definitely his Nana Joan. He likes my mom better than he likes me, hands down. He is still a pretty good eater (as evidenced by his Chris Farley physique), and he has a very pleasant demeanor. His recent accomplishments include pointing, waving, and the doubling of his vocabulary. He now says, "wow"and "ball," in addition to "mama" and "dada."

Henry loves cars and could be pushed around in this bad boy all day if we had the mind to oblige him.

His love of cars made for excellent behavior during his first haircut a few days ago. Not a single peep out of him the whole time until I removed him from the car/barber chair.

I love my kids- they bring me SO SO SO SO much joy.

Hair Day!

Living with my parents has a number of advantages. One of these is that my mom not only makes hair appointments for me, but also for Natalie, with her fabulous hair dresser. So while my color was processing or whatever the correct terminology is, Natalie had her first, yes first, haircut at the Salon Luxe.

Come along and check out the whole procedure:


They began with a luxurious hair wash. Natalie is quite a bit shorter than the regular customer so she is seated on about a dozen towels.

All prepped, and ready for her cut.

Natalie loved getting her haircut from "big Natalie"- after all she is a princess or at least that is what she tells us. She was very cooperative and excited by the whole process.

What hair day is complete without a professional styling? Natalie may have been more pleased with the scent of her hair than her actual cut. She offered everyone in the family a sniff.


Ta da! Still long you say?...yes, but bear in mind she is nearly four and we had never cut it before. Check out the before picture below.


Before


She got about 3 1/2 inches taken off altogether. (I hope she won't expect such special treatment with every cut....then again, if it only happens every 4 years, who knows? =)