Paula, Gina, and I  met at Morrison Park in Coralville with the babies for some playgroup time in the evening.   It wasn't quite the same as meeting in the afternoon considering we were all so tired, but we are determined to keep the playgroup going as best as we can!

 

Sept 2 ~ I took Natalie over to a Kindermusik demo class today.  I've always wanted to see what the program is all about.  It's a nice class, but I think Nattie would enjoy it more if she were just a little older.  She'd rather crawl around on the floor than sit still and play with the instruments...haha!  There is a similar class at Parks and Rec that is way cheaper, so I may enroll her there until she's older.

     Natalie is starting to show alot of affection lately!  Her newest thing is throwing her arms around my neck (or tugging my hair) for a hug.  Sometimes she'll even add a little open-mouthed kiss on my cheek.  It is the coolest thing!  She also tries this with our dog, Brigit....they have become good buddies.  Bailey still isn't sure about Natalie, though. 

 

Sept 3 ~ Well, Craig and I finally sat down to make an offer on the house in North Liberty...but someone beat us to it!  Wouldn't you know, the house had been on the market well over a year...just when we were ready, it was gone!  We are a little bummed...but we realize that God has other plans for us. 

     Craig's parents came out to spend Labor Day weekend with us, and to help us with Natalie on Saturday.  It was sure nice to see them again!

 

Sept 4 ~ Craig's parents watched Natalie overnight while we attended a wedding in Cedar Rapids.  It was the wedding of Matt and Amy Hudson.  Matt is a friend of Craig's from work.  The ceremony and reception were both very nice.  The reception was at Crown Plaza Five Seasons up on the 16th floor...so there was a great view!  We sat with Brian and Shawn Pierce (also from Craig's work).  Craig had tried to book us a room earlier, but they were all full.  So he got us a jacuzzi suite at the Heartland Inn not too far away!  It was a wonderful, relaxing night!

 

Sept 5 ~ After our stay at the hotel, Craig and I met up with his parents and Nattie at Iowa River Power Company for brunch.  Yummy as always!  Then we looked at a couple houses and stopped at the mall for ice-cream.  This was Natalie's first big bite of ice-cream...her lips were smacking away! 

 

Sept 8 ~ Natalie and I met up with a couple of the girls from playgroup (Laura, Gina, and baby Natalina) for soup, salad, and breadsticks lunch at The Olive Garden.  Even though we were a bit rushed for time, it was nice to catch up with them!

              That night, I drove Nattie over to the Pierce's to stay for a few hours while Craig and I met with a builder to talk about what it would take to build a home.  We left the meeting feeling a little overwhelmed and bummed...we decided it is just way out of our price range right now to build.  Oh well, our time will come someday.  Natalie seemed to have a good time playing over at the Pierce home with baby Luke!

 

Sept 10 ~ Gina and I met at Morrison Park today for a little play time with our daughters.  The babies aren't so much interested anymore in playing with each other, but are more fascinated with pulling grass and sticking it in their mouths! 

                Natalie had her first little accident today that resulted in a bruise on her cheek.  She was playing with an empty Pampers box and fell right in on her face!

 

Sept 11 ~ Craig was up bright and early this morning to go tailgating for the Hawkeyes game.  He told me later that it took well over 2 hours in traffic just to cross town into Iowa City!  This place is crazy during game time!  I would have liked to have joined him, but I didn't think Natalie was ready to spend that much time out in all that chaos.  Not to mention how hot it was today!  Nat and I went consignment shopping instead and found some great deals on children's clothes.

 

Sept 12 ~ Today we spent some family time at the mall.  Craig got to see Nattie in action over at the play area and coin rides!  We also stopped playing long enough for lunch and ice-cream.

 

Sept 13 ~ Tonight I went over to Curves to check out their exercise program.  A girl there gave me a tour and showed me how to use all the equipment.  I got a really good workout and enjoyed it so much!  I decided to do something good for myself and sign up!  The goal is to work out 3 times a week at about 30-40 minutes each session.  They also weigh you and take your measurements each month so you know your progress.  I had always heard great things about their program and am really in need of some more energy and hopefully a little weight loss.

                What is new with Nat??  She is growing so quickly!  She now tries to say "dog"...when she sees or hears the dogs she says "daw"!  She has also tried to stand on her own a few times during the past week, but gets scared when she does.  And she is doing a wonderful job drinking water from her sippy cup throughout the day! 

 

Sept 15 ~ Today was Hearts In Touch meeting at church.  The topic was really great...it was about how certain influences affect a child's lfe.  How with the correct love and discipline they can be shaped into wonderful human beings.  One of the nursery workers said that Natalie was acting pretty sad and tired, so she brought her in to me about 15 minutes before the meeting was up.  After the session, our small group table went to Burger King for lunch.  I got to chat more with Ashley.  She is the mother I met last week who is close to my age.  Natalie and Ashley's son, Jacob, seemed to get along well.  They both kept waving their arms and laughing at each other while sharing Cheerios! 

 

Sept 16 ~ Playgroup met at the park in Coralville today.  Actually, it was just me and Gina with our babies.  Laura was able to join us for a brief time before the mosquitos came out and we all decided to call it a night.  It's getting dark outside earlier and earlier, so we probably won't be having time at the park in the evenings anymore. 

 

Sept 17 ~ Had my third workout at Curves this morning!  I've been trying to make it in there before Craig leaves for work.  So far so good!  I've definitely noticed my energy level going rising this week.  Later in the morning I decided that Nat and I deserved a morning out on the town.  We went to McDonalds for breakfast (she loved the hashbrowns and yogurt parfait!) and then over to the mall play area before nap time. 

 

Sept 18 ~ My friend, Jessica Winner, came to Iowa for a day trip today!  She brought her 3 year old son, Alex, with her.  Of course I was happy to see them, and Natalie just loves to interact with older kids :)  We all went over to Burger King for lunch and then over to Morrison Park for some play time.  Natalie's time was mostly spent putting leaves, sticks, and rocks in her mouth...as fast as I could take them away she'd pop one back in!  After the park we took the kids to the play area at the mall.  Alex had a blast climbing on all the equipment, while Nattie became more of an expert in crawling through the tunnels.  It was a nice visit, and I hope Jess and Alex had as much fun as we did!  Craig spent his day golfing, so of course he had a great Saturday as well.

 

Sept 19 ~ Craig, Nat, and I drove over to The Brick Haus restaurant at The Amanas for pancakes this morning.  Later we looked at some more house possiblities.  We actually found one!  It is in North Liberty in the Penn Heights subdivision.  It's a multi-level home which means there are 3 separate floors that kind of flow into one another, plus a basement area. I won't go into too much detail until we can safely say it is our house. We are excited because it has many qualities we are looking for and at a better price than we have been seeing lately.  We are going to make an offer!

 

Sept 20 ~ Tonight we made an offer on the house we saw yesterday.  Just as we sat down to make the offer, our realtor told us that they lowered the price of the house today!  How great is that?  Now we just hope that our offer is accepted with the minor conditions we added...we would like hardwood placed in the kitchen/dining area, a gas line run to the laundry room, and a little larger appliance allowance. 

 

Sept 22 ~ Tonight was Gina and Natalina's last night with our playgroup.  They will be loading up to move to Michigan this weekend.  All us moms and babies met at Bennigan's for dinner and then spent some time at the mall play area.  Paula gave Gina a children's book about Iowa to remember us by, and we had the babies place their handprints on the inside cover.  It will be strange without the Tunzi family as part of our group...we've watched baby Natalina grow each week for the past 7 months and have enjoyed many good times!

 

Sept 23 ~ Our offer on the new house was finally approved and settled tonight!  Included in our offer are hardwood floors in the kitchen/dining area, gas line in the laundry area, upgraded appliances, central vac system, and we get to pick our colors for the counter tops and carpet from their basic selection.  Now we just have to sell our home by the end of October...whew!  That sure doesn't sound like alot of time to me, but hopefully it will happen :)  We are lising it with our realtor, Tricia Van Roekel of Lepic-Kroeger Realtors, so that we can reach more people than we did trying to sell it ourselves.

 

Sept 24 ~ Well, our house is now on the market!  The sign went up in our front yard today.  We are also very pleased with the flyers that Tricia printed out.  Now we are on our way to Illinois for the weekend...I think we are all excited to get away and enjoy some different scenery for awhile!

 

Sept 25 ~ Craig and I got up early this morning to participate in the 1st annual Illinois Military Ministry Golf Classic!  My uncle Jeff and cousin Nick coordinated the event, so we were asked to be a part of the golf tournament.  All proceeds went to Campus Crusade for Christ.  Craig and I golfed as a team with my dad and his girlfriend, Deanna.  I had never golfed a day in my life, but I managed to hit a few without too much damage...haha!  Not sure that golf is my thing, but the weather was nice and I liked riding in the golf cart.  Oh yeah...I almost forgot...we won a package of golf balls and a hat for having the worst score of the day...couldn't have done that without my help!

               Later that night Craig, Nat, and I drove out to Lexington for a short while to see the Emberton family.  We got there kind of late, so baby Tyler was already asleep...but I got to sneak a peek of him in his crib.  Sara made an awesome cheesecake...Natalie liked it just as much as I did!

 

Sept 26 ~ Today we went to church, had a nice lunch with Craig's parents, then the three of us went over to visit my mom's side of the family.  Natalie was most intrigued by my aunt's dog and the buttons on her television set, but she did find the time to give lots of smiles to her relatives and even kisses to cousin Tara! 

                

Sept 27 ~ Nattie keeps asking where the dogs are...she keeps repeating "daw??"  or "og??"  She also keeps throwing Cheerios on the floor for them to pick up. We left the dogs with Craig's parents again so they wouldn't be making noise while we try to sell the house.  So I just keep telling Natalie that the dogs are on vacation at grandma and grandpa's house and that we'll see them again in a few weeks.

                Craig had his Bi-Annual Flight Review today.  He told me he did really well considering he hadn't really flown in the plane since I was pregnant with Natalie!  Once some things settle down more around here (and we can find the time and money) maybe we'll all be able to take a few short flying trips. 

 

Sept 29 ~ Natalie's 2 front teeth are starting to show!  Needless to say, she hasn't been a happy camper this week...she doesn't deal with teething very well and has also had a cold and some tummy troubles.  We were not able to go to the Hearts In Touch meeting today, so I am without much adult interaction and am feeling the frustration...but even though being a stay-at-home mom can be rough, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world and feel very blessed!

 

Sept 30 ~ Natalie passed her cold on to me, so last night and this morning I wasn't feeling well at all.  Thankfully, Craig agreed to stay home from work to help me out with Natalie and allow me some rest. 

                Later in the evening I was feeling a little better, so we all ventured out to choose the countertops and flooring for our potential new home!  We stuck with pretty neutral (but nice looking) colors...I figure if we need some color in the house I'd rather accomplish that with paint or other less permanent ways!  Craig also showed me the appliances he had picked out...very nice!