A Few Extras

Here is a collection of some pictures from the summer.  I have more with stories but I figured I would post these ones all together.

Natalie has learned a lot this summer.  One thing was how to sit up by herself.  This however proved to make nap times more difficult.  This one particular nap time, she was crying for a while after we put her down and then all of a sudden it stopped.  I went in to check on her and she had fallen asleep like this!  It was pretty cute but she didn't nap for long.  

Another summer time activity that Natalie absolutely loved was going for walks.  I would put her in her jogging stroller and off we would go.  Ok maybe it wasn't that simple.  Of course Spencer would come with us so I started attaching his leash to a belt around my waist so I could keep him close at least.  Then trotting behind us a ways would be the cat.  At first Spencer would pull hard but after a few bumps of the front tire and a few kicks in the rear he got the point!  Now when we go, he walks right beside the stroller.  It is something that we all can enjoy.  Sometimes in the evenings we could convince Dylan to come with us!  

Natalie loves to feed herself.  I guess that comes with age right!  As you may notice, Tess has assumed position and is ready to pounce on any little scraps that fall!

 From her highchair Natalie can watch Spencer and the cat on the deck.  

A quick cuddle time with Dad!

Friend or Foe?

This is Natalie....

 and this is Tess....

 And this is how they play!

 (The tail is not actually going into her mouth, it just looks like it!)

The poor cat.  I am not sure how she puts up with it or how Natalie handles it but somehow they manage to co exist and get along!  They get jealous of each other when one is one my lap but other than that they actually do manage to get along for the most part.  Tess is learning to play gentle and Natalie, well we kinda let her play rough with the cat.  It deserves it most of the time.  Being a kitten she is very playful.  Along with that, we are not sure if she is entirely with it!!  She is a kitten off of one of the cats we rescued from our dog last year.  That cat got ran over this year and left three kittens.  Dad caught them all and managed to tame two of them down but this one was wild.  You could never catch it.  The night we brought her home, she was completely different....tame as could be.  Since being in the house, she has yet to hide and run away from us.  It would probably actually benefit her if she was a little more fearful of us!  Oh ya, the mess on the floor in the last picture, they got into the mail!  But what ya gonna do?! 

Cabin Getaway

This summer we had the opportunity to get together with the Paetkau family.  It has been a long time since we have all got together without a wedding to go to so we picked a date and all gathered for the weekend.  We stayed in a cabin just north of Kenora, On.  We had our own lake access so a lot of our time was spent out there.  There was no running water or electricity in the house but we had enough lanterns and flashlights to go around.  It was a fun weekend and I am glad that we got to go!

Friendships

When deciding what to write I looked for a quote that would define our friendship with Jaymi and Jared.  I couldn't find anything that was just right.  I know I have posted about them (or you!!) before but I don't think that anything I have said really expresses our gratitude for their friendship.  We always look forward to the time that we get to spend with them.  It is never for a long time but we can always continue like we have never been apart.  I have never had a friend that has stuck by me like Jaymi has.  I have watched her grow over the last few years into such an incredible person (you always have been).  I really admire her involvement with the church and community.  And Jaymi, Jared is such the perfect husband for you!  He is kind and caring and I can tell just how much he loves you.  I am glad that when we get together, we don't have to force the 'boys' to spend time together or give them some sort of dialogue to talk about!  It just comes natural to them.  

I did find the following quote that I want to leave with.

"A good friend is hard to find, hard to lose, and impossible to forget..."

Summer Storms

On August 10 we had a pretty large hail storm go through our area.  It's hard to watch it through the window damaging the crops and you cant do anything about it.  Here are a few pictures from that storm.  They were taken about five minutes after it stopped hailing.

 What was left of my onions.

Our patio table.

Summer

All I can say is Wow!!  This summer seems to have just flown by.  There were so many things that I wanted to do with Natalie this summer.  So many things I wanted to accomplish but yet the boxes beside my to-do list sit there empty.  I suppose there is still some time considering that summer break really doesn't mean much to our family yet!  So I am going to tell you a bit about our summer and will add pictures later as I decide which ones to post.  

This summer has been one of firsts.  There is the obvious 'Natalie's first summer' but she has developed so much more than just that and has passed so many milestones.  Just this week she has started to crawl.  She had done it before but nothing substantial.  Now she seems to have the idea down but would much rather prefer to walk.  When she is not over excited she will walk from one to another but as soon as we tell her she did a good job she starts to get wobbly out of excitement.  Then just this morning, I went to get her out of her crib and she was sitting there just waiting for me.  This was the first time that she has gone from laying down to a sitting position by herself.  My days are generally filled with incoherent blabber but that is all part of the learning experience.  As soon as we get into a group setting she usually goes completely silent as she is taking everything in.  She is still a very shy girl and seems to feel the most comfortable in my arms.  I don't mind it all so much but sometimes I would like a break!  Natalie's meal choices have expanded considerably and she absolutely loves french fries!  Along with firsts, a big one for her was meeting her Grandma and Grandpa Paetkau.  She is still a little unsure but that will come with age.  She took her first road trip to Winnipeg Manitoba and then on to Kenora Ontario where we spent a weekend in a cabin with the Paetkau family.  Also just recently we have added a kitten into our household.  It seems the mice have decided to move back in so we needed to take action in some way to help our situation while we make decisions.  Also we got to visit two of my sisters in their new homes!  

I don't really have much to say about Dylan and myself.  We just feel so incredibly blessed to have her in our lives.  When situations and other things in our lives bring us down, we can look at her and it seems to give us a completely different perspective.  

I guess that is the general overview.  Once I find some more time I will post pictures with stories!

Nine Months?!

Natalie is about to turn nine months.  Nine months, can you believe it?!  The last few weeks have been amazing to just watch her grow and learn so many MANY new things.  We spent a week with her cousins and that started everything in motion.  She saw what they were doing and immediately wanted to try to.  Well, so it seems!  She is starting to attempt crawling, but hasn't got the hang of it yet.  She has only made it about two feet.  I think she is a little intimidated by the many head dives she has taken from the hands and knees position!  Her walker is still one of her favourite places to be.  We are still taking as many safety precautions as we can so she stays safe.  She would much rather just sit and play on the floor than to be held.  She can sit there for hours just playing, talking and dancing to the music!  She will sit there and spin on the spot and scoot forward a little bit at a time to get to a toy that has gone too far out of reach.  She has 6 teeth..... four on top, two on bottom.  She is going through this stage where she has to feed herself.  We are trying to work through it but it takes a lot of patience and creativity.  Welcome to parenthood I guess!  As for Dylan and I, we are doing pretty good.  Busy but good.

Here are a few new(ish) pictures!

Who knows what she was thinking in this picture?!

Her vibrating teether

The yellow thing she is holding is the upright part of the stacker rings.

The threads must feel good on her teeth!

The joy of being a mom

In the front carrier

Chillaxin' by the campfire