Wow!  The weeks and months are just flying by...it will be January before we know it :)  Thought I'd start with a little general update on Natalie.  She is growing so fast!  If I could pick one word to sum up my days at home with my daughter it would have to be CONVERSATION...she is a talker!  She is constantly asking me questions or telling me about something.  I really do love it though...I'm glad she has a lot to say! (well, most times at least)  Right now her favorite books are The Very Busy Spider, Ten Little Ladybugs, My First Colors Board Book and also her Toddler Bible.  In fact, she insists that the Toddler Bible go into the crib with her at bedtime. Her favorite videos are Baby Songs-Animals, Toddler Sing-Along Time, William Wegman's Alphabet Soup, and It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  It's cute when she comes up to us and asks sweetly "Watch Great Pumpkin?"  The most exciting new thing lately has been that she is learning colors!  She definitely knows what green is and sometimes red and blue.  She'll say "green socks" or "red hat", etc.  She is still really into music and singing...her favorite songs to sing lately are Bingo, Mary Had a Baby, and Who Did Swallow Jonah?.  She is very into equality...such as she was very concerned the other night about what would happen to Daddy's piece of corn since he wasn't home to have dinner with us.  So I had to assure her that Daddy would have his corn later.  She talks about family members who live far away like Michael and Jason (uncles), Paw-Paw (my dad), and Grandpa and Gran/Gramma (Craig's parents). The other day she put on a t-shirt that her Grandma and Grandpa Essington had given her...she remembered who gave it to her and she said "Gramma shirt!".  We'll pass by familiar places while in the van and she'll name them or ask to go there...like the mall, the park, the ice-cream store, or the aquarium store.  She is such a caring little girl...if her babydoll falls out of the stroller she picks her up gently, cradles her in her arms, and says things like "You ok honey?", "What happened?", and "Shhh...it's ok - good girl".  She'll also hug her and say "So much, so much" which I think is her way of saying "I love you so much" since that is something I say to her a lot.  We have started implementing time-outs now with Nattie and I think it is working!  We've decided to use the stairs as her place to sit for them - I mean, how much fun can one possibly have sitting on the stairs?  So far she's maybe had 3 time-outs...all of them for either hitting me or the dogs.  She usually won't sit there by herself - so we place her on the step, get down in front of her at her level, and sort of hold her down gently at her hips while we explain to her why she is being disciplined.  We have her sit there for 1 or 2 minutes and then she usually will ask for a hug and say sorry when it is all done. 

 

 

Nov 1 ~ Ashley was kind enough to watch Natalie this morning so I could go have coffee with Amy Smellie!  We met at The Java House for an hour or so to talk and pray for our Hearts In Touch small group.  It was such a good time!  Oh, and the coffee and tiramisu were excellent of course!  I really appreciate Amy so much...she is so insightful and easy to talk to.  And she is really good at knowing when to say something and when not to.  This is my second year having her as mentor mom in my group at HIT and I am so happy she is there :)

 

Nov 2 ~ Today was Hearts In Touch, and it was our group's turn to help out in the nursery.  HIT has a few regular nursery workers, but it was decided that each group would need to help out this year as well to have enough staff.  Monica was in the toddler room while Amy and Steffany worked the two year old room.  Otherwise we were pretty well-covered.  I floated from room to room and helped where needed...though I spent the majority of the time in the infant and toddler rooms.  All the women did an awesome job!  I put Natalie in the two year old room today for the first time.  She seemed to really enjoy herself!  It's a smaller room, but they are a little more structured with snacks, coloring, and sometimes dancing/singing. 

 

Nov 3 & 4 ~ Well, it was a long couple of days for Craig!  He ended up working something like 30 hours straight to help with a project at work!  Nattie and I were missing him quite a bit, too.  Finally he came home on Friday evening and we decided to go to Lonestar for dinner before Craig went to sleep.

 

Nov 6 ~ Today was the last meeting of the New Members Class at Parkview!  I guess we don't officially become members until after the new year when we are "presented" to the church board, but we are happy we have completed the class! 

            Later in the afternoon I went and got my hair cut...I decided I had had enough of the long hair and had it cut just above my shoulders. The hairdresser also put some layers in it so I could flip it out and do a few different things if I want...still don't have the hang of how to curl it so it flips...oh well.  Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike going to the hair salon?  I'm just not much into small talk, and that seems to be the norm there. 

          

Nov 7 ~ Nat and I went over to Morrison Park in Coralville today...what a beautiful fall day!  She was a little reluctant when it came to getting anywhere near the ducks...I think she is going through a huge mommy attachment phase right now.  But playing at the park was a blast as usual! 

 

Nov 8 ~ Took Nattie over to Barnes and Noble for storytime this morning. Kim Anderson (one of our Hearts In Touch moms) was there translating the story into French today!  They do that from time to time...the story lady (I forget her name - shame on me) will read a page in English and then someone will be sitting there next to her repeating that same page in Spanish, French, etc.  It's really kind of neat.  I let Natalie run around in the play area a bit, and then we met Daddy for lunch!

             Craig finished his first class today at the university!  He still has a group paper to complete, but he is pretty confident that his final grade will be good.  Yeah, Craig!!

 

Nov 9 ~ A bunch of HIT ladies came by today with their kids for a playdate!  It was a full house and a wonderful time!  It was me, Ashley, Steffany, Heather, Janna, Molly, and Amy.  Some of the women even had a few extra children with them (kids they babysit for)...so there were a total of 10 kids in the house.  It looked like a toy store exploded in our home...but that was completely fine because it seemed like everyone had fun!  Oh, and one of our ladies is expecting again - Janna - this will be her third child!  And I don't think I ever mentioned before - Molly is expecting her fourth child! 

            On a sad note, my dad called this morning to tell me that my brother and his girlfriend lost their baby.  They were due to be parents by April. I don't know the specifics right now, but I'm sure they are devastated.  I am crushed as well...I was looking forward to being an Aunt.  So please be in prayer for my brother Jason and his girlfriend Nichole during this time. 

 

Nov 10 ~ Natalie helped me prepare dinner tonight!  It was just one of those easy box dinners, but she helped do things like pour water & gravy into a pan (that was not on the stove) and stir. She stood on a kitchen chair that I had pulled up to the counter.  She was so excited and kept saying "cookin'!, cookin'!".  We told daddy about it and he was very happy:)

 

Nov 12-13 ~ Choir sang this weekend and it was great as always!  My favorite song was a new one for our congregation called Unfailing Love with lines like "Praise you God of Earth and sky, how beautiful is your unfailing love.  Unfailing love.  And you never change - God you remain the Holy One and my unfailing love."  Something that Pastor Gilmore said today really stuck with me.  He said that "Those who do not devote themselves to prayer are either unconcerned or over-confident."...wow, that makes so much sense to me!  After service on Saturday night we tried out the Family Connection - it's a time for children and their parents to spend together after regular service/nursery/Sunday school class...there is music geared toward the kids, skits, etc.  It was kind of neat actually...all the kids were up dancing and having a great time praising The Lord!

                  Sunday evening was Family Game Night at the home of the Kroegers!  Let me tell you, I haven't laughed so hard in quite awhile!  Us adults played men against women in two different party games - Taboo and Scattergories.  What a riot!  I am really enjoying these game nights once a month...we just have to keep having them!  The kids had fun as well...they mostly just played with toys in the middle of the room.  Oh, and the bacon-wrapped weenies that Craig made were yummy!

 

Nov 14 ~ We had our official first bit of snow for the season today!  Actually, it started out as cold, wet slush and then turned into snow...but because of the wetness it really didn't stick much.  Nat was excited and yelling "snow" as we were heading out of the Walmart. 

              Craig, Nat, and I attended one of Parkview Church's congregational potlucks and meetings tonight.  The first 45 minutes is a family potluck...the VanRoekels were there, so we sat at a table with them.  It was nice talking with them again, plus Craig got to meet Tricia's husband Eric so that was cool.  And of course, Nat was thrilled to see Josh...she was hugging all over him :)  After potluck there is a little bit of praise and worship time.  Then the children go to nursery while the adults talk about church business, etc.  Tonight was about the plans for expanding the church building. 

 

Nov 15 ~ Nat and I went over to Barnes and Noble storytime again this morning.  Actually, we missed the storytime portion but made it in time for the craft.  The Children's Museum is celebrating an anniversary, so the kids colored party hats and had mini muffins to snack on.  Kim, Steff and I also took our kids over to the museum to play since it was free admission today!  Poor Nattie...this boy started just pounding her with his fists because she was sitting at the top of the slide for too long!  Luckily, Kim came to her rescue when she heard her squeals...Kim just flew up the slide in one big flourish and scooped Nattie up while scolding the boy.  I was totally thankful for Kim, but felt bad that I didn't recognize my own child's cries...probably because she had never been pounded like that before!  So I have now deemed Kim "SuperMom!"  After the museum, Steff and I had lunch with our little ones in the food court and then did some shopping. 

 

               Tonight we went to JCPenney in Cedar Rapids to have our pictures taken!  Having a family picture taken is a tradition that Craig and I want to do every year...so far we haven't missed a year since we've been married!  We also had some individual photos taken of Natalie for her two year birthday.  For the family pictures we wanted to be real colorful and casual and wore different color sweaters.  For Nat's pictures we dressed her in her green corduroy fall dress.  Natalie did an awesome job this year and it was easy-going!  After pictures we had some burgers and fries at Wendys. 

 

Nov 16 ~ This morning was Hearts In Touch.  Becky Kastendick spoke about becoming a mother of prayer - her theme scripture being Lamentations 2:19 Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children...   For me, the best part of today was our small group time!  Two new moms joined us at our table today!  One was a lady named Birgitta who is from Sweden and her daughter goes to school with Amy's daughter.  And we also welcomed Lea who attends the Jewish synagogue in Iowa City...I believe she had stated that she had either seen one of our flyers or heard about our group and thought it sounded like something she was searching for.  I am really excited about these two ladies and hope they keep attending HIT...I think we'd all be richer for knowing them!  We had just a fabulous time of group discussion about prayer!  Also, shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child were due today.  Nattie and I put together two shoeboxes of toys, candy, and necessities for children overseas for Christmas. Nat helped me pick out the items for the boxes and I did the filling and wrapping. 

               Choir rehearsal was in the evening.  We've already started practicing our pieces for this year's church Christmas production!  It seems like everyone starts preparing for Christmas earlier and earlier each year...a local radio station has already started playing just straight holiday music, one of the neighbors has their outside lights and decorations up, and the stores have been putting out their holiday stock since Halloween!  I know I complain about this plus the busyness of the season every year, but secretly I think I like it :)

 

Nov 17-18 ~ Craig pulled another one of those all-nighters again at work the past two days.  So it has been a tiring and hard time for all of us.  I just really hope that the company appreciates all the time and work Craig has been giving.  After coming home from running errands Friday afternoon, Nattie was so thrilled to jump into our bed and hug her Daddy! 

                  Mom and Dad Essington came out for a weekend visit!  The main reason for the trip out was that Craig's dad wanted to help Craig put up the ceiling and the lights in the basement.  We sure appreciate the help! 

 

Nov 19 ~ While Craig and his dad worked on the basement, the rest of us (Mom E, Natalie, and I) drove out to Cedar Rapids to check on some lighting fixtures. Then the three of us headed back into Coralville where we walked the mall a bit and then picked up lunch for everyone. In the evening we had dinner together at home and watched Charlie Brown Christmas. 

 

Nov 20 ~ After church in the morning, Mom and Dad E treated us to brunch at The Sheraton.  Natalie has gotten a cold and we suspect is also cutting some teeth, so she hasn't been feeling the greatest and was cranky during the meal.  But she was still energized and ready to play at the park in the ped mall!  I had my camera and snapped a few pictures...also took a couple photos of some buildings around Iowa City...have you ever noticed how appealing it is to take pictures of buildings and such when you are visiting a different city, but that not many people take pictures of the buildings in their own city?  That's why I thought I'd snap a few here.

               Well, we have Christmas lights on our house for the very first time ever since Craig and I have been married!  My magnificent hubby hung strings of icicle lights from the eaves of our home today and they look so nice!  We all had to go out to the street and watch as he plugged them in.  Natalie keeps saying "Beautiful lights! Daddy did it!".  Oh and Nattie is also getting into the spirit by telling everyone that Santa says "Ho, Ho, Ho". 

 

Nov 21 ~ Craig and his dad continued work on our basement this morning and afternoon.  Grandma gave Natalie a good soak in the tub and we dressed her in the new Christmas dress her grandparents bought for her!  It's a darling little navy blue corduroy jumper and white stockings with holly running up the side. Grandma wanted to take her over to Walmart to get her picture taken in her pretty dress. Once again, Natalie did great posing for her pictures!  For dinner, we all went to HuHot and it was delicious. 

 

Nov 23 ~ Got up this morning and headed over to the church.  I met with Scott to audition for the solo for "Emmanuel" - a song our choir is singing for the Christmas production.  I was not at all pleased with the way I sang...for the most part, I don't do very well at auditions.  I don't have too much problem singing in front of a large group of people, but something about singing in front of only one or two people makes me nervous...it's just too intimate or something.  I could have done at least three times better than what I did today. 

              Soon I was trying to put the events of the morning aside as our family got ready to drive to Illinois for the Thanksgiving holiday!  Natalie rode out there with her grandparents while Craig, the dogs, and I drove in our van.  Before leaving Iowa City, Craig and I stopped for lunch at Old Chicago and had some pizza.  It was a nice little drive out to our hometown of Bloomington-Normal. 

              Later in the evening, Craig and I were able to go on a dinner date together.  We ate at Ned Kelly's Steakhouse and also just drove around town for awhile.  Natalie had a good time playing toys with Grandma and Grandpa...and also getting reacquainted with Grandma's collection of Hallmark singing snowmen!  Mom Essington later told me that after I left for dinner Natalie was saying "Mommy, come back"...that just broke my heart!

 

Nov 24 ~ Happy Thanksgiving!!  Craig, Nat, and I had Thanksgiving dinner at The Shepherds' house with my mom's side of the family.  We ate lots of great food and sat around and talked. Natalie was given a new Little People toy by my aunt and uncle, so that kept her happy and busy...she also chased the two dogs around. 

 

Nov 25 ~ Us Essingtons spent the morning enjoying Krispy Kreme donuts...and Craig also helped to put lights up on the outside of his parents' home.  In the afternoon, Craig's parents brought Natalie over to her Grandma's workplace to see a few people there.  So Craig and I ventured over to Eastland Mall and around town to run some errands.  I love the smell of the mall this time of year...you can smell the sugared nuts and the coffee shop!  In the evening we had Thanksgiving dinner at the house with Craig's parents.  Kind of a different holiday this year...it was just the five of us around the table with tons of food...even with many family members being far away, we still had a great meal and lots to be thankful for! 

 

Nov 26 ~ Time for Turkey Day part three!  Craig, Nattie, and I celebrated a third Thanksgiving meal at my Dad's house with The Bair side of the family!  My dad deep fried a turkey and it was yummy!  There were plenty of young cousins there, but none quite young enough to play with Natalie.  So after awhile, Nat was pretty cranky and tired.  I drove her back over to Craig's parents' house so she could wind down from her busy week.  After dinner, the guys gathered around the kitchen table for a friendly game of poker...kind of a change from previous years of the men playing Risk.  Craig ended up winning in the end, and he was happy to hand over his winnings to me (well, ok...I am exaggerating the "happy" part).  I had called up my friend, Sara, earlier and we were going to meet for coffee at the mall later that night...so I thought the money would be best used toward pedicures for both Sara and myself :)  Yes, Sara and I got our pedicures and it was fabulous!  We decided we just may need to do it next year as well!  We also did a little shopping and Sara treated me to ice-cream.

 

Nov 27 ~ After church, we had lunch at home with Craig's parents.  Natalie played with her grandparents for awhile.  She practiced counting with her Grandpa - she can count all the way to eight now!  She also got to play with the Little People set with her Grandma.  Craig and I packed the bags to go back to Iowa, but made some time to have some pie before leaving.  Oh, and I received an early birthday gift from Craig's parents...a gift certificate to Zenders Spa in Iowa City!  Think I'll save that one till the holidays are over!

              So it was back to Iowa for Craig, Natalie, the dogs, and me.  I don't know...there were definitely some good parts about Thanksgiving, but I personally just had a hard time getting in the mood this year.  I can't say there was any real specific reason...just felt kind of blah, stresssed, and disconnected.  Part of it may be that the holidays seem to be sort of rushed this year...it's hard to explain.  And part of it may be that some of our family members can't seem to get along anymore...not that there were any outward feuds or anything...the truth is just that each side of our family has their own issues.  All of that aside...I wasn't too pleased with my attitude and lack of cheer.  So I just continue to work on myself and keep praying that I can feel more of The Holy Spirit within me...to truly just enjoy the rest of the holidays with a sense of peace and comfort.

 

Nov 28 ~ Found out today that I was not chosen for the choir solo.  Not shocking news to me, but not the best news either.  One of my fellow sopranos, Maria Fruit, will be singing "Emmanuel".  She has a nice voice and was one of the top three gals I figured would be considered.  Scott stated in his email to everyone that he's going to work on making more solo opportunities available in the future. It is great that he is willing to do that...I can see how it becomes real easy to just play it safe and just pass out the solos to those you know you can count on to sound good - it saves him the time and stress of holding auditions. My less-than-wonderful audition this time around is not going to deter me from trying again later...try again I will!  Solo or no solo, I am so happy to be part of the choir..I love singing with the group and trying to make it all blend together.

 

Nov 29 ~ Nat and I went to Barnes and Noble storytime this morning.  Ashley, Heather, and Kim were there with their kids as well.  I told Nattie she could ride on the carousel there at the mall.  It's really cool how she is able to make some choices for herself now.  She told me (in her own 2 year old words of course) that she'd rather ride the kitty-cat character than the pony character on the carousel. She also tells me which toothbrush she wants to use in the morning (she has 2).  It's just amazing how much growing Natalie is doing lately!  She now bows her head when we pray at dinner (usually simultaneously while eating her food!).  And I actually am starting to feel like we have real two-sided conversations with her. For instance, I recently was telling her that we were going to go to Gabe's house the next day. She then asks "See Jake?" and I said "Well, I don't think Jake will be there because his mommy has to work tomorrow."  Natalie then says "Jake's mommy work?"  I said "Yes" and then after much thought she says "Nattie's mommy choir?" I said "Yes, Mommy sometimes goes to choir".  Then she says "Daddy works". It seems like we talk back and forth like that alot more often lately.   We also had a discussion recently about the dogs.  Natalie was sitting on the potty and she asks "Dogs pee in the potty?" and I said "No, doggies go pee-pee outside." to which she just replies "Oh."  Natalie has also shown signs that she is understanding the concept of possession...She'll just gab on and on for several minutes straight about "Mommy's shirt, Daddy's shirt, and Nattie's shirt" etc.  Oh and one more thing...Daddy is proud because she now says "Go Hawks!" and "Go Hawkeyes!" when she sees football on TV :)

              Craig, Nat and I drove over to JCPenney in Cedar Rapids to pick up our family portraits.  Nattie and I rode the escalator up and down while Daddy was in the restroom!  Then we all went over to Ryan's Buffet for dinner.  We passed by lots of homes and businesses displaying their Christmas lights...Nattie would exclaim things like "Pretty lights!" , "Another one!", and "Look at them!".  We also listened to some of my choir rehearsal CDs in the van and Nat was singing along with some of the songs! 

 

Nov 30 ~ Nat and I went over to Heather's house for playgroup time today.  Steffany was also there with Gabe.  We all had some bagels and good conversation while letting the children play.  We talked about how our Thanksgivings went and about our upcoming plans for Christmas.  At the end of playgroup, Nattie said bye to all the kids and also said "Bye Gabe's mommy!"

              I finally was able to finish putting up our holiday decorations!  Craig put together the tree last night and decorated it with lights and garland.  Natalie was so excited seeing the pretty lights and she even helped to place the angel on the tree top!  So I finished up decorating the tree and inside of the house this afternoon.  We fill the limbs of our tree with various ornaments from past Christmases...I feel it's the only true way to decorate a tree...so many memories from some of those ornaments!  Natalie wanted to touch them all and point out what they were...she'd say things like green ball, red ball, snowflake, Santa Claus, snowman, lion, sheep, teddy bear, pinecone, and angel. And she also says "Christmas tree" now!  After finishing up with the tree, Natalie and I sang "Jingle Bells" and "Jesus Loves Me". 

                 I spent my evening at a long rehearsal for Parkview Christmas program.  This year's production involves choir, other vocalists, orchestra, and actors so we have a lot to mesh together. Our choir is having a difficult time due to some issues with audio and lighting.  There are quite a few bugs to still work out this week, but with God's help it will turn out fine...it always does :)  I am sitting in the front row between Tricia VanRoekel and Maria Fruit.  As I mentioned in an earlier journal entry, Maria is doing the "Emmanuel" solo...I took it upon myself to sit next to her and get to know her a little better so that I would be forced to deal with some lingering feelings of jealousy.  I am trying to be honest and rid myself of any bitterness I may be harboring...nothing against her, just my own feelings of inadequacy. I hate having those kinds of feelings ya know?  Anyway, I am really hoping that things run smoothly for the upcoming weekend and that the audience (and everyone working on the production for that matter) can walk out of our church feeling uplifted! 

Psalm 30:11-13 ~ You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!