Busy bodies!

Sorry for the hiatus, but we have been a busy family!  Let's see if I can capture what happened in the last three weeks...

Rick turned 35 on St. Patrick's Day and I got the feeling that he was a little down about this milestone birthday.  We had talked about doing something fun, but we never made plans with others because what he really wanted to do was spend some time outdoors but the weather is still pretty iffy that time of year.  I decided to see if all of the friends that were invited to our cancelled Super Bowl party were available.  They were and somehow I managed to pull off a surprise party with the help of our awesome friends.  I took Rick out to eat (with reservations that I had made) and when we arrived at our table there were 6 friends already seated.  He was so surprised and it was a lovely meal.  Meanwhile, our friend that was babysitting Natalie was decorating our house and when we arrived home it was ready for a party!  We played a game and had some drinks and had a great time.  You know you're old when you had a great time, guests help clean up, and everyone's in bed by 11.  We had so much fun and even though Rick is the ultimate planner, he loved the surprise!

The following weekend my mom came to visit and we had a nice girls' weekend.  We went shopping, planned Easter dinner, and sadly watched the Cyclones lose.  Natalie loves her grandma and we had a great weekend.  The weather was nice and we were fortunate to spend a lot of time outside.

That weekend my dear friends Jane and Wyatt were in town as well.  While Natalie and Grandma had some quality time, the three of us went out for dinner and caught up on life.  It was so good to see them and just talk, just the three of us.  It's funny because I miss them but then again we never were all together at the same time for an extended period of time; our friendships were built in spite of the space between us.  As we get older I realize how unique this friendship is, and how special.  It was so good to spend time with them.

This past weekend, we celebrated my friend Angela's 30th birthday.  It was a little black dress night with some very lovely ladies and had some surprises including a limo!  It was so good to have a girls' night out, especially with those lovely ladies celebrating such a wonderful young woman.

Natalie has been doing well.  She loves to be outside and the weather is finally cooperating.  Every day we're walking or playing in the backyard.  Love that she loves the great outdoors!  She loves to just run in the backyard and she squeals with delight.  We're going to get some outdoor toys, so hopefully she'll enjoy them and I'll have an update soon.

Her 15-month check-up went well and she is still very tall--97% at 32.75 inches and her weight is creeping up as well (22 lbs 4 oz, 64%).  Finally doubled that birth weight which I think "normal" babies reach by 6 months, but she didn't get a normal start.  Growing well, still don't know where she gets that height!

The other big Natalie news is that she might be a potty prodigy.  About a month ago, she made a big deal about wet diapers on the weekends.  She would grab at herself and then pull out all of the changing supplies and lay down on the changing mat.  I know it's far too early for this, but I also couldn't ignore the clear signs that she was uncomfortable wet.  We bought a little potty and she honestly used it within 30 seconds of putting her on it for the first time.  I haven't really been pushing the potty (she uses it in the morning and before bed) but I did teach her the sign for potty and in the past few days she has made the sign before having to go.  Success!  The frustration is that daycare said they can't do any "formal" potty training until she gets to the next room (2 year olds), but until she really gets good at it I won't worry too much about it.  It seems that one weekend day she seems interested and the other she doesn't, but I am happy to put her on it when she asks.  She seems to prefer to poop in the potty which means I haven't changed many dirty diapers in the past few weeks.  I would be lying if I said this doesn't make me insanely happy.  We'll see how it goes, but so far so good!

Looking forward to a slower week and nicer weather!