So let's work backwards:
Today we celebrated Father's Day.....and Chad worked his butt off. He was up at 5am-ish working in the yard! So much for relaxing and taking it easy huh! In our defense we did cook him up a big breakfast...although it was pretty lame as I was trying to juggle the kids at 6am and a kitchen. Most all the food was cool (if not cold)...but Natalie showered him with cards and gifts and pictures to hang up in his office.
Chad and Natalie put in their garden! They bought their tomato plants several weeks ago and transplanted them outside today...along with bell peppers. Natalie loved it, although Chad admitted she was more in the way than helpful....but she got such a kick out of it. And it turned out great. They also planted flowers, and we had to teach Nat that these flowers are not to be picked: picking wild flowers is one of her most favorite things to do.
Her first tomato
Two days ago (Friday June 19th) I was in another room and heard Nat scream pretty bad.....now she is a slightly dramatic kid so I wasn't too worried.....but I quickly learned she was hurt. I found her in the family room next to the rock fireplace covered in blood...coming from her head. She was running to a hiding place and tripped and slammed her face right into the rock wall. Luckily she missed jabbing her eye.....but she had a deep cut two inches above her right eye. I took her into the Peds office and she got three stitches. She was so freaked out by the blood (we were both covered) (I had no idea heads bled so much)....but her fear was quadrupled when they wrapped her in a big blanket to do stitches (think straight-jacket). She totally panicked...as did I just watching. She put up one valiant fight. It took four of us to hold her down and still while Dr Berger stitched her up. I cried...I felt so so bad for her. She was begging us to let her go saying, "Momma, it's too tight, I am too hot. I don't want to be snug like a bug in a rug Momma. Let me out." It was awful. We survived and now she is happy to swap out different fun bandaids each day- her favorite is Hanna "Ontana".
She is back to her same old self just a couple of hours later!
Brett was caught playing footsie...yes, flirting footsie. We had Maddie and Emma over one night and Brett sauntered right over to Maddie (who is three weeks younger) and put on the moves! He was all about footsie.....just a preview of years to come they tell me.
The beginning of June we travelled to Colorado for Nicole and Blake's wedding...and Natalie was the flower girl. She had us worried....the night of the rehearsal was rough. She was PAINFULLY shy. She did not look up at all when walking down the aisle.....she stood up at the front with her fingers in her mouth....not a smile to be seen. She was pretty nervous/shy. We gave her a huge pep-talk and she did great the next day.
Waiting for our curls to set!
Natalie and Clayton
She was still nervous.....in fact she forgot to toss flowers while walking up the aisle.....but she remembered at the end of the ceremony....and tossed them behind the bride and groom...LOL
She was a trooper....in her dress ready to go by 2pm (without a nap for the day) and handled two hours of pictures...then the wedding...and then another hour of pictures. She had had it finally....and had a mini-melt down which she blamed on her "itchy dress." She begged me to let her go to bed. "Mommy, I just wanna eat and then go take a nap. I am just so tired Mommy.
Grandma trying to protect her from the "itchy dress." Brett was a handsome baby himself...looking adorable in his little suit and tie.
He is all over the place now......crawling for weeks, walking along furniture, making his momma crazy! His sweet little personality makes our days! His new favorite game is the "pacifier pop". He takes a paci and sticks it in our mouths and pulls hard and gets a kick out of the popping sound it makes. He laughs so hard. I will be kicking myself the first time the entire household comes down with an illness at the same time......but for now, we aren't scared of letting germs get the best of us. He is starting to wave...especially at himself in the mirror. He has not said "momma" yet, but you can bet he will point out each animal mount hanging on the wall...Chad taught him of course.
He is a stubborn little guy: when Natalie was learning not to touch things, it took one hand slap, maybe two.....this kid.....he just keeps going back for more. He gets into everything.
The week before the wedding I went on my Annual Girls Trip: My mom, sis Jaime and Stephanie and Leah celebrated Jaime's 30th birthday on a cruise in the Bahamas. We had a great time...the weather was a bit lousy (rained alot, and if it wasn't raining it was so hot and humid your face melted off) But it was sooo great to be away on vacation. I could have been cruising the city dump and been thrilled.
The Big Three: our Nassau excursion: dolphin watching, snorkeling and kayaking.
While I was on my trip Janice came to Flagstaff to spend time with Chad and the kids. She gave Chad the chance to work a couple of days and they all got some great quality time in with Grandma. I laughed so hard when I saw her pictures: wait till you see what she dressed Natalie in. LOL LOL I guess it was my fault as last years clothes are still in a drawer. LOL Nat looked like a raggamuffin squeezing into high-waters. LOL (Janice- you know you're the best still). It was hysterical.
They had lots of fun....went to the movies, out to eat, checked out our future camping site in Williams, and the kids experienced their first fishing trip. Natalie LOVED it. She out-fished her daddy three fish to his two. Her Barbie fishing pole was a hit. Although she is still a bit like her momma: she refused to touch the fish! LOLNatalie had so much fun with Grandma...and was thrilled to see her in Colorado four days later.
We celebrated Mother's Day in Phoenix. Baby Brett got his first experience of the pool. He loved it.....but boy is that kid WHITE. He does not have one bit of my coloring to him. He had fun hanging out in the baby pool sling thing. Nat is super comfortable in the water....and looking forward to another round of swim lessons (starting tomorrow)
