We left Iowa on the 30th.  The drive was really relaxing. Nattie behaved well in the car, though we did have to stop a couple times to stretch and such.  On the way we stopped at a gas station and I let her pick out some candy and a stuffed animal there.  Most of the way to Illinois she watched videos and commented on the scenery while I listened to the radio.  We arrived in Illinois just in time to have Sunday meal with Craig's parents.  Craig's brother, Michael, was there for the week as well.  He is in a transition right now - he just left his apartment and accounting job in Texas to start law school.  He'll be going to school in Chicago and living in a studio apartment in a big, tall downtown building.  In between moving from Dallas to Chicago, he spent two months touring around Europe.  So Natalie and I were really happy to see everyone!  Nat loves to be silly with her Uncle Mike, even though it always takes her awhile to warm up to him.

              On Monday, Nat and I drove out to Lexington to see my friend Sara Emberton and her kids (and their guinea pig).  The kids played while Sara and I talked.  In the evening, Nattie spent time with her grandparents while Sara and I hit the town for a bit.  We started with dinner at Chili's.  From there we did some shopping.  I found a cute shirt and Sara helped me pick out a ring.  Since my wedding ring was too tight, I felt I needed something temporary to wear so my finger wouldn't feel so naked.  Found a really cute ring for eight bucks...what is funny is that I've received many compliments wearing this new fake, cheap ring...haha!  But I can't wait to wear my original ring again soon!  We ended the night with book-browsing and cheesecake at Barnes and Noble. 

          On Tuesday Natalie and I had breakfast over at the McDonalds on Main Street - which is where I worked during my highschool/early college years.  I like to stop in there every now and then when in town.  Steve Petty was still there working after all these years.  He noticed me right away and came over to give me a kiss on the cheek and a hug.  Natalie just sat there with this concerned look on her face.  After Steve left she asked me why that man kissed me.  I explained how I knew the man, he was a very nice man, and how it was just his way of being polite.  But I did make sure to call Craig later to tell him about it...didn't want him thinking some strange guy was kissing me in front of our child...Craig thought it was funny :)  After breakfast we went over to Tipton Trails splash pad where Natalie had a fun time getting wet and running around.  It was SO HOT outside...so we only stayed for like 45 minutes or so.  If we visit for a week next year, maybe we'll have to come a little earlier or later so it's not so hot.   Natalie took a nice long nap on the couch when we got back to her grandparents' house.  In the evening we went with Grandma and Grandpa Essington and Michael to dinner at Olive Garden.  Natalie wasn't real interested in sitting in her seat. She was everywhere but her seat - under the table and walking around the table. She was still being quiet and not running, so that doesn't bother me too much. Good thing it wasn't too crowded there and we were seated at a corner table out of the way. 

              On Wednesday we went to Eastland Mall for a bit.  Had some lunch, rode the carousel, and did some shopping.  After the mall, Grandma E took us to the McLean County Fair.  Natalie rode a bunch of rides and even got to play a game and win a prize.  We also walked around and looked at the animals - lots and lots of bunnies, and Nat had to pet each one!  Once again, it was a super hot day so we didn't stay too long.  Nattie was able to spend another evening with her grandparents while I attended a Girls Night Out with some old friends.  Sara Emberton, Christi Rock and I met for dinner at Olive Garden (yeah, I had just eaten there the night before.  But that is okay because I love it).  Sara's neighbor and good friend, Ginnie Hilt, also joined us.  Christi and I had both met Ginnie before but had never really spent a lot of time with her.  We agreed that she was a really fun gal to talk with.  We all spent a few hours at the restaurant just gabbing away.  It was an awesome time!

                On Thursday, Natalie and I spent a couple of hours at the Children's Museum.  She had a blast - climbing the little rock wall, sliding, playing in the water, etc.  Her favorite thing was the new art wall where kids can paint directly on a plexiglass wall, clean it off themselves, and do it all over again.  And it is cool for the adults because you can watch them make their creation from the other side of the glass.  Natalie did act up once in the museum.  She wanted to drive the pretend car, so she told another boy who was already driving to switch places with her.  When he said no she shot him the death look and hit him.  When I told her that that was not nice and to get out of the car, she proceeded to fling herself to the floor and have a tantrum.  So pregnant mommy ends up scooping her up off the floor and carrying her in a football hold to the other end of the museum.  After me telling her that we'd be leaving if that happened again, she said she was sorry and we went back to having a good time.  Whew...being a mom is hard work! :)  After the museum we drove over to check out the rental house my dad is fixing up.  Actually the house was the same one my family lived in during my high schools years.  My dad still owns it and rents it out.  Later that same night Natalie was talking about the house that Paw-Paw "built" and said that he was "Bob the Builder"...haha!  After we had walked through the house, my dad took us out for lunch at Ming's.  Yummy....I love their salt and pepper shrimp!  Paw-Paw Bair taught Nattie how to use chopsticks and she actually succeeded at picking up some food with them.  In the evening we went back to the Children's Museum with Craig's parents.  Nat had the most fun in the pretend restaurant making food for Gran and Grandpa.  We ended the evening with dinner at McDonalds. 

              On Friday I took Nat over to Anderson Pool in the morning.  They have an excellent kiddie area.  It is completely closed off from the big slides and deeper water so that is nice.  They had all kinds of sprinklers, a big submarine that was a slide, and then even a miniature version of the big kid slides.  Natalie went down the bigger slide by herself a couple times, but ended up hurting her knee and wouldn't attempt it again.  After a few hours of swimming we drove over to Mom Essington's workplace to visit.  Then we got some icees and went back to the house to relax.  In the evening, Grandma & Grandpa took Natalie over to McGraw Park to play.  I didn't really want to hang around the house, but didn't have any plans either.  So I just drove around town for an hour or so.  It was really neat just looking around and noticing all that has or has not changed in the last few years. 

             On Saturday, Natalie and I went over to Aunt Diana and Uncle Mark's house for lunch with my mom's side of the family.  Took some time for Natalie to warm up.  Didn't take long for her to start having fun with cousin Amber though...Nat loves her a bunch!  After lunch some of us went to Miller Park Zoo.  Nat got to ride the carousel with Amber.  We saw lots of animals there - Nattie's favorites being the seals, meerkats, and wallabies. 

            Sunday was kind of a lazy day of playing and napping.  We did go back to Tipton Trails splash pad in the evening with Grandma & Grandpa.  Being later in the day there weren't too many kids there, so Natalie got bored easily.  But she did spend a lot of time on the playground equipment. 

           Monday the 7th was our last day in Illinois.  I packed up our bags, Mike helped me load them up, and we were on our way home.  But first, Nat and I stopped at the Embertons' home one more time to see them and say goodbye.  Sara set out some lunch for everyone and we just let the kids play.  The trip home wasn't bad...even despite the fact that we sat forever in a traffic jam outside of Morton, IL...never thought that I'd be stuck waiting for cars to move in a small town....oh well.  When we arrived back to North Liberty, IA we picked up Daddy in our driveway and went out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse.  Then Daddy showed us the big surprise when we came back home.  Craig had finished painting both Natalie's room and the baby's room!  He had also put together all of Natalie's new furniture for her "big girl room" (a bed, dresser, bookshelf, and table with chairs).  That night he even finished up putting the baby's crib back together and moving all the furniture into the nursery.  It all looks so good!  The walls in Nat's room are yellow and pink.  All her furniture is white.  Her curtains and bedding are a butterfly theme.  She has a table and chairs in her room so she can color...and I plan to hang a bulletin board on the wall to display her artwork.  It is too cute!  I always wanted matching furniture in my room growing up - while in the end it didn't really matter - I still thought it would be neat.  The walls in the baby's room are a sage green and cream.  We are re-using all of the bedding and furniture we used with Natalie.  So there is a crib, dresser, bookshelf, and the glider rocker chair.  I'll post pictures as soon as we get a chance to hang up some of the wall decorations!

 

Aug 8 ~ Craig, Nattie, and I stopped over at my doctor's office in the afternoon to hear the baby's heartbeat.  I had been a little nervous because the baby didn't seem to be moving around like it had been, so I wanted to make sure she was alright.  Everything seems to be fine!  In fact, the baby could hear her own heartbeat from within the womb and started moving around a bunch.

              Natalie spent her first night in her new bed.  Last night she slept with us.  I read her two books and made sure she had all her favorite things with her.  After the second book she snuggled under the covers and went straight to sleep.  She didn't wake up once during the whole night.  We keep the gate at the top of the stairs closed now at night so she can't get up and come downstairs without our supervision.  You could tell she was really proud that she had slept in the big girl bed...and we were so proud, too!

 

Aug 11 ~ Nattie and I went to the library and the store today.  Nat loves the library, though she doesn't care much for picking out her own books.  So I do the choosing while she plays puzzles and talks with other kids.  Craig went to Mark Flanders' house tonight to eat and play computer games with some guys.

 

Aug 12 ~ Tonight was Family Game Night and we hosted at our house.  The Andersons, the Kroegers, the Brezinskis, and us.  The kids were surprisingly mellow the first half of the night....then of course they were all hyper and running around chasing each other the second half :)  We spent more time eating and talking than anything.  Though we did end up playing a round of The Newlywed Game.  Soon it was meltdown time for the kids and time for everyone to call it a night.  It wasn't long after everyone left that Natalie zonked out on the couch while Craig and I were cleaning up.  In fact, she was so tired that she didn't even wake up when she happened to fall off the couch!

 

Aug 16 ~ Tonight was choir rehearsal.  It felt so good to get out of the house and to be singing.  I haven't been to rehearsal as frequently as before because of feeling so tired due to pregnancy.  And golf league is over for the season for Craig, so he was able to watch Nattie. 

 

Aug 17 ~ I was so proud of Natalie today!  We were at the North Liberty Library.  I told her before we went inside that when I say it is time to go then it is time to go.  She said "Okay, Mommy".  She sat with another girl and played computer while I was picking out some books.  When I was done I got her attention and mouthed to her that it was time to go (she had a headset on).  She calmly took off her headset, handed it to the other girl, and said "My mom is calling me - I have to go".  And then she waved goodbye.  It was so cute!

 

Aug 18 ~ I took Natalie over to Barnes and Noble for storytime in the early evening.  Normally we go to the Tuesday morning storytime...but I had heard that they were going to have someone dressed as Winnie the Pooh tonight, so I thought that would be fun.  Come to find out that they have a character there every third Friday of the month - so we may have to come back next time as well.  Natalie was excited to see Pooh but did not want to touch him or come too near.  She is the same way with all people dressed in costumes.  She said "Mommy, Pooh Bear is big!!".  But she enjoyed just listening to stories and looking at him.  She was disappointed that Piglet was not going to be showing up that night :)

 

Aug 19 ~ Craig had Pearson golf tournament all day today.  He golfed with Brian Pierce and they won second place.  For the past few years Craig has held titles within the work golf league...taking care of different tasks such as planning the tournament, collecting fees, obtaining prizes from local businesses, etc.  It's become a little too overwhelming, so he is passing on his duties from here on out so he can just have fun.  It's a lot of hard work - I don't blame him. 

 

Aug 20 ~ I sang in choir this morning...such a good time!  We sang Amazing Grace, Forever, Your Grace is Enough, How Marvelous, and Enough.  After church our family went to Red Lobster for lunch.  There was an older gentlemen at a table near us eating by himself.  Craig told our waitress that he'd like to pay for the man's meal.  After awhile the waitress came back out from the kitchen saying that she had been back there crying because she was so touched by what Craig did.  I was touched as well.  Craig would probably hate the fact that I am posting a journal entry about this, but I just want to remember it. 

 

Aug 21 ~ Natalie and I are working more seriously on potty training this week.  She does show interest in it, so I'm wondering if it is just me that has been too lazy.  We'll see how it goes...if it seems to be the wrong time then we'll just wait longer.  I'm in no real hurry, especially since she is home with me anyway.  So I stocked up on more underwear and decided she would wear them all day (even in public) with the exception of naps and bedtime.  I also made a potty chart and put it in the bathroom.  She is excited about the chart.  If she goes pee in the toilet she gets one sticker and if she poops she gets two stickers.  At the end of the day we count the stickers and she gets the same number of M&Ms or Skittles as there are stickers on the chart.  The girl loves candy and chocolate.  So today was the first day.  It's a lot of work and exhausting!  I think we were in the bathroom just about every half hour.  She did end up peeing about seven times in the potty and I had to change her underwear three times.  She refused to poop in the potty...she held it all day and said it was "scary" to poopie in the potty.  By about six in the evening she was ready to call it quits and asked for a diaper.  So we didn't make a big deal of it and I just went ahead and put a diaper on her.  The third time she had gone in her underwear it had soaked through her pants onto the couch.  Luckily I kept my cool and I don't think it caused much damage.  It's just a couch right?

                 I also took Bailey to the vet this morning.  He's had a rash on his underside for a few weeks now and it's just not going away.  They took a urine sample the other day but didn't find anything wrong through that...we had thought maybe he was leaking urine and his rash was a urine burn, but that test turned out negative.  So the vet looked at him and said he thinks he has a staph infection.  So we have Bailey on antibiotics and steroids for a week or so.  If it doesn't clear up they'll run him through another dose of medication and if that doesn't help they'll think about testing him for allergies instead.

 

Aug 22 ~ Today was a busy day!  I asked Natalie if she'd like underwear or a diaper today and she said underwear.  So I made sure to bring extra undies and pants to the mall with us.  We went to storytime at Barnes and Noble where she saw her friends Jake, Fiona, and Sophie. Near the end of the storytime craft I asked if she had to go potty.  She said yes so we went into the restroom.  Found out she will not go potty in the public restroom.  So I explained to her that if she wanted to wear underwear she had to go on the potty or she'd have to be changed into a diaper.  She wanted the diaper.  I told her that it was okay and we'd try underwear again tomorrow.  She did go potty one more time at home in the evening.  After Barnes and Noble we spent some time in the play area with Ashley and her son Jake.  Jake had to go home so Nat and I had lunch at Panera and then rode the carousel.  Then we stopped in Gymboree to browse the clothes.  I never buy anything in Gymboree because even the sales are just so pricey, but we browsed around anyway.  After seeing too many t-shirts on sale for $22 (come on - you call that a sale?) I decided we'd leave the store.  When I told Natalie we'd be leaving she threw a fit and started screaming in the store. She wanted to stay and watch Sesame Street they had playing on the tv.  I immediately got down on her level and told her that we never, ever act that way in a store.  Then we proceeded to leave.  A store employee stopped me and started to say something about me disciplining my child...I thought she was about to go off on me and call me a mean mom or something...so here my mind was racing about what kind of reply I was going to give back to her...then she starts saying that she wanted to applaud me for disciplining my child.  She said you wouldn't believe how many kids come through the store in a day and are just out of control and the mothers let them act that way.  She continued on to say that what I was doing was good and to keep it up because I was on the right track.  Wow, that made me feel so great!  It's not often a mother gets to hear something like that said to her.  After Gymboree we checked out the sale at The Children's Place.  I ran into a cute dress for Natalie on sale...just so happened they had another one in a smaller size for our future second daughter.  Matching dresses!  So I bought the girls their first set of matching outfits. Just as I thought, Craig rolled his eyes and laughed when he saw them.  He says he remembers when his mom used to dress him and his brother in matching outfits.  I said that I doubt she did it all the time and that I won't do it all the time either...just sometimes you have to...it's just too adorable!  I bet though that the girls will at least wear similar colors on most days...I say that only because I subconsciously do that now with Natalie and myself.  Like I'll put on a blue shirt one morning and then realize that I had also put a blue shirt on Natalie...it just must be dependent on the mood of the day or something.  Anyway, after the mall we met Daddy at my doctor's office for my monthly prenatal visit.  Can you believe we are 24 weeks along already?  Everything looks good.  I gained 4 1/2 pounds this month.  I guess total I've only gained 6 pounds with this pregnancy so far...I guess I had actually lost some weight at the beginning - I knew I hadn't gained, but didn't realize till recently that I had lost. 

 

Aug 23 ~ Well, it's been officially two weeks that Natalie has been sleeping in the big girl bed!  I am happy to say that she has only left the bed one time at night - and that one time was very brief just to say that she needed a cup of water.  She goes right to sleep after her two books are read to her.  She loves books so much!  And she hasn't fallen out of the bed either (it's low to the ground so we're not too worried anyway).  She quietly comes into our room in the morning and says she is ready for breakfast.  The only thing right now is that she won't  nap in the bed.  I'm going to try harder to get her to do so, because she really needs those naps. For awhile there Natalie wasn't too sure what to think of the baby's room.  She saw her old furniture in there and was kind of upset.  She said things like "That is my crib and that is Mommy's rocking chair".  And a few days ago she said "After the baby goes back to her house I want to have the crib".  When I told her that her house would also be the baby's house, she cried a little.  But soon she was fine and I think it is starting to make sense to her now.  Natalie decided to wear underwear again today.  She went about four times on the potty and then after peeing twice in her pants she decided she wanted a diaper.

 

Aug 24 ~ Wow, time is just flying by!  For example, I am writing this journal entry on Sept 7th...anyway...

               Craig, Nat, and I spent some time as a family at the mall tonight.  Grabbed some dinner in the food court and then played in the play area for awhile.  Ended with the Thomas Train set at Barnes and Noble.

 

Aug 26 ~ Last night, Craig spent time at Mark's house playing computer games while I did a ton of house cleaning.  So this morning I left Craig to take care of Nat while I went shopping for a few hours.  I'm happy to say that Natalie is pretty much set now as far as clothes for the fall.  Went to a huge sale at Kohl's and came away with 3 dresses, 2 pair of pants, and 2 shirts for Nattie.  And also a shirt and pair of shorts that will fit her next summer.  Also ran into 3 outfit sets for the baby for spring/summer.  All of that and I spent about $100.  Then I stopped at Goodwill and got a big bag of clothes for only $10...consisting of a shirt and 2 pair of pants for Nat and 2 shirts, 2 overalls, 3 one piece outfits, and a pair of jeans for the baby.  Most of the baby stuff is larger and won't fit till spring and fall next year.  I've found it is not easy to find good hand me downs in newborn size or in sizes larger than 2T (which is what I need).  But the sizes in between that are the easiest to find in good condition.  Unfortunately I didn't run into anything I liked as far as maternity...guess I'll have to wear the same stuff the rest of the summer...bring on Fall!!

 

Aug 29 ~ Had a Girls Night Out tonight at Perkins for pie.  It ended up being me, Heather, Kim, and Steffany.  We had a lot of really interesting conversation and some good laughs.

 

Aug 30 ~ Today was a trainers meeting for Hearts In Touch mothers group.  Basically the small group leaders, mentor moms, and hospitality team members meet for a couple hours to talk about how the up-coming year is going to be run and what is expected of us.  I decided to be a small group leader again this year.  I've had some concerns about how it is all going to work out once I go into labor, but I'm just relying on the fact that God is in control.  We learned that this year we are going to be working out of a Bible study workbook called Wisdom for Mothers by Denise Glenn.  So this will be something different than previous years.  In addition to being a small group leader, I've also volunteered to be part of the Hospitality Team.  I will be writing out the thank you cards for the HIT speakers and also doing the congratulations cards for all the families in our church who give birth to (or adopt) children.  I found out at the end of the meeting that my mentor mom this year will be Sally Wolinsky.  I've met her briefly a few times...she is also a really good friend of my mentor mom from the past two years, Amy Smellie.  Natalie did really well in the nursery today.  Though when I went to pick her up I went to check her diaper and it was missing :)  Lisa Nierman told me that Natalie was requesting to use the potty like every 20 minutes, so at one point they decided to just keep the diaper off.  Guess I may need to go buy some Pull Ups for church!

           I had choir rehearsal in the evening.  In a few weeks we'll be singing for the first time in the church atrium.  Parkview Church is yet again changing the service times around and actually even adding a service on Saturday nights.  They have a lot of pretty valid reasons for doing so...I'll refrain from going into detail about it...but we are all just in prayer that it all works out for the best.  So now we have services every Saturday night at 4:30 and 6pm and then two on Sundays at 9 and 10:30am.  On Sundays we actually have those two services in two different areas of the church because we have so many visitors.  So there is church in the atrium as well as the main auditorium. The people in the auditorium get to see everything live while the overflow of people in the atrium see it over the tv.  Well now the church has decided that the people in the atrium need more of a live experience - something they can participate in - so there will be live music in the atrium as well as the auditorium...the hard part being that it will all have to be timed correctly and such, etc.  So long story short, choir will sing in the atrium from time to time.

 

Aug 31 ~ Today we had a last minute lunch with the Northrup family.  The husband, Jamie, works at Pearson with Craig.  In fact, he also leads the Bible study that Craig attends on Wednesday afternoons.  Jamie, his wife Sarah, and their five kids live in Cedar Rapids.  They also have a sixth child on the way.  We had gone to their house for dinner a few months ago and it was a nice time.  Today we met at Old Country Buffet at the mall.  It's nice to see a larger family and how they all interact.