Craig's parents drove out to spend the 4th of July weekend with us!

 

July 2 ~ My mother-in-law so graciously offered to watch Natalie for the day so I could spend some time alone!  First thing's first...I slept in!  Then I went and had lunch, browsed the mall and bookstore, and got a pedicure.  I had never had a pedicure before and always wanted to try it...boy was it nice!  It was a great time and a much needed break for me!

 

July 4 ~ We think Natalie is finally getting her first tooth!  She was extra, extra fussy and just wanted to be held all the time.  We all had breakfast at the Brick Haus at the Amana Colonies...yum!  We also stopped by the park in Coralville to check out the holiday festivities.  It was really hot and Nat was really cranky, so we headed home before too long. 

Natalie was in no mood for the fireworks and fell asleep by 8pm.  I was a little sad that she was going to miss the fireworks on her first 4th of July, but she really needed the sleep.  So Craig and I met up with the Pierce family at City Park to watch the fireworks show while Nattie stayed with her grandma and grandpa. 

 

July 6 ~ Natalie's first 2 bottom teeth are starting to show!!  They sure are sharp, and she loves to feel them with her tongue.  Playgroup was at Laura's house today since the weather was sort of nasty.  The babies had a fun time sharing toys and being loud together!

 

July 8 ~ What a little drama queen!...Nat has started doing a "fake cough" and then laughs at herself while performing. 

 

July 9 ~ Craig worked late and was not able to take Bailey to the veterinarian today, so Natalie and I ventured out to take him.  It is not an easy task trying to juggle both a dog on a leash and a baby!  But Natalie was mesmerized by a fat orange cat that kept meowing in the waiting room.  After we were done at the vet's office we visited daddy at work for dinner.

 

July 10 ~ Brian and Shawn Pierce invited us to their house tonight for dinner and to let the kids play for a bit.  Luke is now almost 11 months old and crawling all over the place!  He shared his toys with Natalie and gave her plenty of nice hugs :)

 

July 11 ~ Natalie is now saying her second word...Da-Da!!  It is just too cute!  She had started with Ma-Ma last month.  I think she is also trying to wave bye-bye, but she doesn't do it too often and she waves to herself instead of to you.  She is still trying to crawl and is very frustrated.  She also attempts to pull herself up to stand, but is finding it very difficult...all the big toys she uses can't take her weight and topple over.  Of course our furniture is sturdy enough to use, but not interesting enough for her to try!

 

July 13 ~ Playgroup met at the new Family Aquatic Center in Coralville.  It was super hot today, but nice and cool in the water!  Natalie especially enjoyed the little water spouts they had coming up from the ground...a few of them were just her height and made her laugh!

Later that night Craig and I took Nat over to the library for a children's concert performed by Jim Gill.  He plays the banjo and sings silly songs.  Natalie was pretty content for most of the time we were there.

 

July 15 ~ Natalie and I attended Wee Read at the library again this morning.  We also checked out a couple children's videos to watch at home.  We ended up picking a Veggie Tales one and a Baby Einstein one.

All the moms from playgroup finally got together for a night out alone!  We all met over at El Ranchero restaurant for dinner.  It was fun getting to know each other more and being able to eat without little, curious baby hands flailing about!  We definitely need to get out more in the future!

 

July 16 ~ Craig's parents came out for the weekend to look at some houses for sale with us.  We are still looking around for a potential new home, but not yet ready to take on a larger mortgage.  We all spent most of the weekend touring open houses, but we did get to share some nice dinners together in the evenings.

 

July 20 ~ Natalie had her 9 month doctor's appointment today.  She currently weighs 21.5 pounds and is 29 inches long!  That puts her in the 90th percentile of babies her age.  She is doing really well!

 

July 23 ~ This weekend was sort of a repeat of last weekend...haha!  Craig's parents drove all the way back out here to see a house that we fell in love with during the week.  It is a great house in North Liberty, Iowa.  We are still in discussion about it and doing some planning, so we'll see what unfolds during the next few weeks. 

 

July 24 ~ Natalie pulled herself up to stand for the first time!  She used her activity saucer toy to perform her feat in front of her grandma, grandpa, and daddy.  I was in the kitchen and missed the whole thing, but did hear the crying when she eventually lost balance and hit her head on the toy!  Ouch! 

             Another thing that Nat has been doing for awhile is playing peek-a-boo!  If you place a blanket over her head (or your head) she'll remove it and smile real big.  She'll also try to play it by herself by lifing the blanket up over her head and back down again. Also for awhile now...if you say "rockity-rock" she will rock back and forth where she is sitting.  Grandma and I have also been teaching her how to clap her hands.

 

July 27 ~ Natalie started crawling today!!  I had her on the kitchen floor and she was just crawling everywhere!  The first thing she discovered that she could get into was the dogs' water dish.  Before I knew it, she had splashed water everywhere!  She also enjoys playing with "the baby" she sees in the full length mirror in the hallway. 

 

July 29 ~ Nattie has perfected the art of clapping her hands...she now does it all the time and loves it.  She is also getting the hang of eating more table foods.  Her new foods are cheerios, graham crackers, and green beans.

 

July 30 ~ Craig and I took Nat to get her 9 month pictures taken.  We brought her favorite stuffed elephant (Ellie) and her blue rocking chair (which first belonged to her Grandma Bair and then her mommy) with us as props.  She took some really cute pictures with Ellie, but had a little more difficulty keeping steady in the rocking chair.  We may try the chair again when she is a little older. 

 

July 31 ~ Tonight Craig, Natalie, and I went swimming at the Coralville pool.  The bank where Nat's savings account is held had a free pool party for all the kids and parents.  As always, Natalie had an awesome time splashing and playing in the water.  Craig and I even got to take turns on the water slides...it had been a long time since we'd been on a slide!