conversatIon in car

While driving to visit my parents yesterday, Natalie was jabbering away and waving her hands in her car seat. She was really having a great time of it. Sarah was not impressed, though. She informed me, "Mommy, Natalie is getting TOO rambunctious! She needs some self-control!"

"Hmm. Why don't you teach her that?" I responded. My tongue was planted firmly in my cheek, but this of course was lost on Sarah.

A few minutes later, Natalie had settled a bit (I think she was getting sleepy). "Mom!" Sarah exclaimed. "Natalie has self-control! I've never seen her do that before!"

Sarah's reaction to Aunt Tara's maternity photos

We've been decorating for Christmas the past few days, and we've started our yearly Advent Bible study. Sarah and I have talked about Christmas being a celebration of Jesus' birthday. She is of course eager and excited.

A few minutes ago, I was browsing Tara's maternity photos. One had Tara holding a small flower near her belly. Sarah asked if that was so "the baby could smell the flower." Then she asked the million-dollar question: "Is the baby a boy or a girl?" I answered that we didn't know yet, but we would find out at Christmas (December 23 is close enough to Christmas for that to be a legitimate response, right?). Sarah's eyes grew wide and her expression puzzled. "Because the baby is Jesus?!"

Oh, dear. Didn't see that one coming! I probably should have. But now Sarah knows the right birth date for her new cousin, and that although the baby will be very special, he/she isn't on that level!

Halloween

Friday night, Sarah, Natalie, and I went to a party at our church (Nelson had to work). Sarah dressed up in her Halloween costume (she was a bee). I put Natalie in a cheerleader outfit that Grandma and Grandpa had bought Sarah when we went to Florida.

Sarah was two when she wore this outfit. Natalie is seven months. Hmm. (To be fair, it was a little big on Natalie...but only a little.)

Saturday night, Sarah trick-or-treated in Greeneville. She is loaded up with candy and treats. Thankfully, she likes to share. :)

Here are some pictures of the girls all costumed up.

My dad took these photos, so I'm not sure what Sarah's deal was in these first two pictures...she looks like a mean bee, for sure!






Oh, much better! A happy bee!




Now a silly bee...




Still silly...




Even sillier...




Natalie in her cheerleader garb.






Natalie and Mumsy hanging out before we put her costume on.




I'm not exactly sure when this picture was taken. But doesn't she look pensive?




P.S. At a recent doctor visit, Sarah, age 5, weighed 32 lbs. Natalie, at 7 months, weighed 16 lbs. 1 oz. Anyone want to take bets on how long it will take Miss Natalie to catch up to and then bypass her big sister? :)

not smiling

I really wish I could get a good picture of Natalie smiling. Her whole face just lights up, and it's beautiful. Alas, she continues to elude my attempts with the camera. But here are some photos of her...not smiling.




Sarah is always willing to perform for the camera.




So solemn...




She's very close to being able to crawl...just hasn't quite figured it all out yet. Hey, Dad, like the UT onesie? Gotta train 'em early! :)




Sarah, very willingly smiling.




Last night, Sarah was running back and forth in the downstairs hallway. Natalie was watching this intently. She was studying it. Her eyes followed Sarah's every move. And her body would jerk every so often. You could tell that she was trying to figure out just how Sarah was doing all this running business, and how she (Natalie) could take off after her!

Oh, and you want to know how to really make Natalie cackle with laughter? One, be Sarah and jump up and down. Or two, say (with great enthusiasm), "YAY, Starbucks!" She'll always at least grin at this, but usually it's enough to make her howl with delighted laughter. Is she my girl or what? ;)

quote of the day...

"I hate tough love. It hurts!" So says Sarah. :)

Out of the mouths of babes.... ;)

pictures

I've had pictures hanging out on the camera for awhile, needing to be transferred to the computer so they could be posted here. For some reason, I haven't gotten it done before now. And I don't remember the circumstances of all of the photos. Sigh. Oh, well--here they are anyway.

(I wish you could hear Natalie squealing and laughing right now--that would definitely be blog-worthy! I keep trying to get a picture of the HUGE, ear-to-ear grin she has on her face right now--but she stops smiling the instant the camera clicks. She starts again as soon as the picture as been snapped. I have all these pictures of a solemn baby, who was smiling and laughing a split second earlier and will be again a split second later. Sheesh.)


I think this was from when Natalie first started sitting up...




See how steady? She can even reach for toys!




Sarah likes to feed Natalie.




Should have cropped this picture...oh, well.




Anyone want to place bets on how long it will take me to get he pictures I took today on here? :-p

holy frijoles!

When Sarah was beginning to eat solids, as a first-time mom, I followed all of the "rules." We did rice cereal first, then other grains. We started with orange vegetables before green. We did veggies before fruits. I think I waited a week after each new food before introducing another. And so on and so forth. I was so afraid of doing something wrong.

I'm a bit more relaxed with Natalie. I've done a lot of just pureeing whatever happens to be in the house at the moment (or mashing it up, in the case of bananas), and we are adding new things all the time. She is a big fan of applesauce, bananas, sweet potatoes, and squash. She's not real sure yet what she thinks of avocado, carrots, or Cheerios. Teething biscuits are a hit. Tonight we're going to give peas a go. But last night she cracked me up completely with something that I did as a lark honestly.

I was making tacos last night. When I do homemade tacos, I like to have black beans seasoned with cumin and garlic. I got the idea of pulling out a few beans for Natalie to try before I seasoned the rest of the pot. I scooped some out, added the cumin and garlic to the rest, and finished up cooking. I didn't really think Natalie would go for black beans, but I figured they were easy to mash and good for her to try.

Oh, my goodness. Apparently Natalie is nuts for black beans! She absolutely scarfed them down. I could not feed her fast enough. And clearly I had NOT pulled enough beans from the pot. She had eaten the entire bowl and would kept going, but I had no more unseasoned beans to give her!

I think I'm going to nickname her "Frijolita". :)