Growing

Natalee is growing so fast.  I can't believe she is so big already. She outgrew all of her newborn clothing weeks ago.  I even noticed that her cry is starting to sound different and not like a newborn.  She turned 7 weeks today. She seems so much happier everyday.  She makes cute little noises now and sometimes snorts.  

I am having an easier time taking care of her now too.  She is a good baby and has decided she loves her swing. Which gives me time to actually get things done.  Like update my blog.  I took a longer maternity leave than originally planned. I am going to go back 3 days a week starting after Labor Day. Which gives me a total of 10 weeks off.  I can't believe the leave is coming to an end.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  It seems sad to be away from my baby but at the same time it will be nice to get out of the house some and do things.  

My sister Lynette and friend Kristi are taking a cake decorating class right now. It has been fun but a lot of prep work.  Hopefully after the class I will continue to make things.

I am also working on a baby book scrapbook for Natalee. I'm hoping to get most of it done before my maternity leave is over.  It is looking pretty good so far.

Zak and I are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary tomorrow.  WOW huh.  I don't think we will do much this year. We are hoping to go out to lunch and take Natalee with us. Then we are going to my niece Zoe's first birthday party.  

Hi

Everything is going pretty good here.  Natalee is still growing like crazy.  She is already 9 lbs.  She is now reaching out at things and loves to watch the mobile on her swing.  She has her good days and her bad. Yesterday she barely slept and was fussy all day long. We had an interesting dinner at the Melting Pot.  However she slept for 4 hours at a time last night which really helped me get some sleep.  I actually woke up after 3 and was surprised she wasn't awake.  We are going to Bless her at Church over Labor Day Weekend.  September 6th.  That day is also my birthday, along with my twin sister and my oldest sister.  What a great day that will be.  My parents are coming to visit and my twin and her family.  

We have had Zak's parents here for the past week and my friend Natasha and her husband Brandon are coming this weekend.  What great fun!! 

Oh, and Natalee is already a month old :(  How fast it goes.  

Less pics this week

We have barely taken any pictures this week of Natalee.  It has been a busy week since Zak has been working and had some extra meetings this week.  We finally took a few pics today.  It sure is nice having both of us around to take care of Natalee this weekend.  I'm actually attempting to scrapbook.  Crazy huh.

Natalee Jo is a keeper

Natalee is still doing very well.  She tried my patience on Wednesday and pretty much cried when she was awake and didn't want to sleep much.  Then yesterday she was an angel just like today so far.  I have been a bit nervous to take her out of the house by myself.  So today I'm going to try it.  I'm taking her to a friends house for a little while.  Hopefully everything goes smooth. Luckily it will only take about 10 minutes to get to her house.

I thought I would also post some of the new nicknames we have for Natalee.  

Zak likes to call her "stinky binky".  She loves her binky. He also calls her "sista."

Sometimes we call her "pumpkin" or "pumpkin eater" when she wants to eat constantly.

I still try to call her Natalee Jo.  However the name is quite long.

Natalee's grandma Stoney left this last Saturday. It was hard not having her here but we are doing ok. I mostly noticed how I can't have any free time when I want it. When she was here I could ask her to hold Natalee and I could do what I want.  Now that I'm just home I don't get that luxury.  Natalee's other grandparents (Strattons) are coming to visit in one week.  Zak took a few extra days off when they are here. That sure will be nice.  Then my friend Natasha is coming to visit the next weekend.  I'm excited since she hasn't been here since we moved.

Well I had better go get a few other things done while I can before the little angel wakes up.

Joleen  

Her sneezes are cute

Natalee is just so awesome. I can't get enough of her. She is just so dang cute. One of my favorite things--I know this is weird--is when she sneezes. She winds up for a sneeze the same way they do in cartoons. Ahhhh Ahhhh Ahhhh Choooooo!. It is so incredibly adorable. I laugh every time she does it.

Natalee Jo

I thought I would post a few more pics. The first one was taken a few days ago when she was snuggling with me. She loves to be held. The second one was taken her second day home.  I just loved the close-up.

Everyone is good here.   Zak has been back to work and we love it when he gets home. Natalee had her second doctor appointment and she gained 10 ounces since last week.  She had lost a little the first few days home. So now she is 7 lbs 12 ounces.  We already started putting her in size one diapers which makes me a little sad.  She sleeps really well and has been pretty much an angel on our few outings that we have had.

Well I better go take care of her since her Dad needs to go to work.

Joleen

New Baby, less computer time

I thought I should do some updating on here since we only have 2 pics on here of our new baby and she is already 10 days old.  

Everything is going great here.  Natalee is an awesome baby. Barely cries and makes a lot of cute faces.  However she still takes a lot of my time and I barely get anything done.  Luckily Zak took the first 10 days off and my mom is out here 2 weeks.  I couldn't do it without them.  I'm a little scared when I have my first day alone.  

Natalee had her first doctor appointment on Friday and he said she was perfect.  We agreed.  She has been on 2 shopping trips and to my pharmacy twice.  All of these trips she has been a little angel and slept most of the time.  Lucky us.  

We have had lots of visitors here and it has been fun.  My nieces Avery and Libby have been over 3 times already to see the baby.  They adore her.

We are so thankful for all of the help we have received.  We had meals brought in by friends and members of our ward.