Happy Spring

March is absolutely gorgeous in AZ. Well, late March. We couldn't ask for better weather. Here are some pictures, courtesy of Aunt Kristen, of Natalie in her element...admiring, smelling and picking flowers!



And I've been asked by a few of my long distance girlfriends to post a belly shot. This was a couple of weeks ago so I'm already bigger, but here are a few...


Only 9 more weeks to go...amazing how quickly time flies when you're consumed already with the life of a little one. We sure are getting so excited to meet this new little girl!

Morton Salt, anyone?

I just had to post these pictures of Natalie. They make me smile. One rainy Sunday we took my old plaid umbrella to church and guess who insisted on carrying it?...yes, the shortest one in family. It happened to match her outfit perfectly so she looked adorable as an umbrella with legs bouncing through the parking lot. Nevermind the fact that the rest of us arrived looking like drowned rats as it's a little tough to share the coverage at that height...even for her short mother.



We didn't get out the camera until we arrived back home so in the background is our garden...more pictures to come!

Be Our Guest

I mentioned in an earlier post that Nana and Papa Franc, and later, Aunt Kristen, joined us for the month of February and into March. Our house isn't large, but it seemed to accomodate us all very well. That's due, largely in part, to the addition of our new guest house. We are very grateful to have inherited the pop up camper trailer that Corey's family spent many of his childhood vacations in. It's been loved and enjoyed (and treated very well) for over 20 years and now we're about to give it a second life! And the added bonus is that during Phoenix months that aren't unbearably hot, it's able to sleep guests very comfortably in our backyard. We don't really have adequate accomodations for guests inside so this allows us a little extra space to welcome those visitors who are open to a little backyard adventure! (future camper pics to come!) Anyone want to visit? We have at least 2 and a half months left of PERFECT weather before we start to sizzle!

Here are some pictures of a really great month with Nana, Papa Franc and Auntie Kristen. (Thanks, Aunt Kristen, for the pictures)

Tucson Festival of Books

Last Saturday, Natalie and I drove to Tucson to visit Aunt Ashley and go to the Tucson Festival of Books. What a great event!! We spent the entire time in the children's area and it was so much fun. Natalie made bookmarks, got free goodies, participated in a story time that topped ALL story times (details below)and...the absolute BEST part was she got to meet some of her very favorite characters!

One of our favorite story book characters is Skippyjon Jones! Well, he was there...with his own Mariachi band! Hilarious. He danced around the crowd and this fairly large band just followed him wherever he went. I don't know who loved it more...the kids or the parents!

Skippyjon was the first character we encountered so Natalie was a bit leery at first. I wanted MY picture with Skippyjon so I persuaded her to join me.
Then it was story time. Four books were narrated as the page images were displayed on a huge screen WHILE the characters from the books stood nearby acting out certain parts. Totally captivating.
While another book was being read aloud, Natalie cozied up to the Very Hungry Caterpillar! It kind of got out of hand. The kid who was leery of the costumes a half hour earlier was now practically mauling the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I didn't get good pictures of this caterpillar cuddle fest because I was desperately trying to convince Natalie to let him go before she tipped him over! I lured her back to her seat with Goldfish crackers so that the poor caterpillar could take his place on the stage as his book began!

Then, as a totally unexpected highlight, we ran into Papa Bear...

and Mama Bear of the Berenstain Bears! Honestly, could this event be MORE perfect for Natalie? She LOVES the Berenstain Bears so much that it actually borders on obsession.

This Mama Bear hug was the most genuine of all Natalie hugs that day.

She didn't want to let this Mama go!

We ended the day with a $5 parasol that will either last 36 hours or 15 years but Natalie loves it. She now corrects anyone and everyone when they call it her umbrella. "No, it's a paratol...for the sun, not the wain" she says.

At one point during the drive home this is how I found her in the backseat!

What a fun day! Thanks, Aunt Ashley, for a great weekend!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We had the most fun making these rainbow cupcakes for an early St. Patrick's Day dessert last week that I had to post the pictures. Aunt Kristen and Natalie mixed up a storm...or should I say a rainbow...and they turned out so cute!

I found this recipe in a waiting room magazine while Natalie and I amused ourselves for 2 1/2 hours the other day as her eye specialist was running very behind schedule. (All is looking good, by the way...less than a 5% chance she'll need another surgery...Yeah!!) Now I feel like the waiting was totally worth it because we now know how to make these super cool cupcakes!!

And yes, I've come a long way from my "it's-a-bran-muffin-disguised-as-a-cupcake" phase to just totally embracing the Pillsbury white cake mix and food coloring galore! My toddler (and husband) are much happier!

Natalie and Aunt Kristen starting with a super white cake mix!

After dividing the batter into six different bowls, they started coloring each one!

Quite a color collection!

Then they poured the different batter colors into each cupcake cup, starting with purple and ending with the red.

Ready to see if this actually works!

They look pretty funky just like this.

But when you cut them open they look like this!! Too cool.

You're supposed to frost them white to look like a cloud, but we only had dark chocolate frosting in the house...no one seemed to care. Natalie, of course, needed to add rainbow sprinkles to hers! So fun.

Now if we could just locate that pot of gold....

Princess and the Potty!

Yes, we are happily diaper free in this house. Nana and Corey did it. I tried for 6 months...Nana came up with a new tactic (LURE the toddler into the bathroom with a jelly bean don't just reward her with one after a successful sit!) and the kid was wearing dry Dora panties within a few days! Thank you, Nana!

The first Sunday she went to church in panties she ran up to a pastor friend of mine and proceeded to SHOW her her new Tinkerbell panties. Lovely. The next week she actually used the potty during her Sunday school class and attempted to flush the toilet with her foot until one of the Sunday school teachers just did it herself to prevent an injury! Yes, I'm afraid that's one of my lingering germaphobic habits...I flush all public toilets with my foot and Natalie has apparently watched me do it enough to think that is the ONLY way to flush a toilet away from home!

Now she just acts, feels and looks all grown up! Wearing this princess costume (thank you, GGMa) is how Natalie likes to spend most days lately. I help her with her dress and put her hair up, she puts on her sparkle shoes (with socks), adjusts her berry fairy crown, grabs her wand and plays the part...a little too easily! The best part is, after hanging around inside for a while, she usually goes outside to help Corey in the yard wearing this outfit before I chase her down and change her clothes into more a more practical gardening outfit! We've done little to encourage this side of her...it's just emerged naturally as if she was pre-disposed to princess hood.

Thank You Nana and Papa!

Nana and Papa Franc came to visit for the entire month of February and I'm not sure how we would have survived those 28 days without them. I had a week long business trip mid-month and was a crazy busy girl before (getting ready) and after (getting caught up). I feel a little pathetic that my only decent picture of the three of them (Nana, Papa and Natalie) was in the driveway as they were heading out...I feel like that's when I emerged from my home office after a month of working way to much!!

Corey and I both had a lot of work deadlines this past month (hence the whopping 3 posts for the entire month of February!) and an already short month seemed to be shorter than ever! Nana and Papa were so helpful and we're so grateful they could come and enjoy some beautiful weather and spend time with all of us. They took Natalie to the park at least once a day, stocked our freezer, introduced me to fondue at home (which is so much fun!), helped plant our garden, helped with everything around the house and kept us posted on all olympic happenings (as Corey and I went to bed every night way before any sort of medal win or ceremony!). OH...and Nana (and Corey) potty trained Natalie while I was away on business. Future post about that to come!

Thank you both for a great visit. We loved having you here and appreciated all of your help during your time with us. Miss you so much!