Life, Recently

I've been AWOL from the blog for too long. I think about posting and then get lazy because I don't want to upload pictures to the computer and every post is just better with pictures! Natalie is now 15 months old! Her vocabulary has expanded overnight, which never ceases to amaze me. She went from saying mama, daddy, Layla, and dog, to saying bubble, banana, yes, ball, bye, hi, cracker and cheese (she had a mini-meltdown in the grocery store the other day when she recognized the cheese sticks and thought she could have one as a snack and I told her "no" and that we had cheese at home.). She said "hungry" once, which was really cute. She'll say a word one time and then never say it again or say it a few weeks later, so I've forgotten a few words, I'm sure. Can I just say that I am so thankful that she hasn't learned the word "no" yet? I made a point of being a little more specific when trying to correct her behavior, so instead of just saying "no" a hundred times a day, we say, "do not touch xyz" or "put that back". It still gets redundant, but at least she's not repeating "no" back to me - yet. I know the day is probably coming...

Around her birthday, she also started using the signs for "eat", "more", "please" and "all done" (she doesn't sign "please" or "all done" the "correct" way, but she uses her versions of those signs consistently so we know what she's trying to communicate. We're working on saying "thank you", but since it's so similar to how she blows kisses, I think she's a little confused. But, the blowing kisses thing is adorable!

Tantrums have started to becoming a little more frequent, especially since I've been babysitting a 2 year old little girl for the past couple of weeks. Natalie has had to share Mommy and that's been an adjustment, but I think it's been good for her social development. Figuring out how to effectively discipline her is a challenge! She understands so much, so I don't want to underestimate her ability to learn from my correction, however I go about doing that. 

Alex's sister moved and gave us her swingset a few months ago and Natalie LOVES it. She quickly learned to climb up the "rock" wall and onto the platform to go down the slide. It's amazing to me how grown up she seems now. My baby became a toddler overnight! The thoughts of her becoming a preschooler are seriously overwhelming. I want to just savor every second of her just the way she is, right now, and never let her grow up any more. As much as I'd love to have another baby, I don't want to wish this alone time with Natalie away. I know that her time as my only child isn't going to last forever, so I want to make every moment count. I have grown to love our time together before bedtime. We pull out her Rhyme Bible Storybook and sing "The B-I-B-L-E" and she pats the Bible and sings "B-I-B-I-B-I". She sings that a lot during the day, too. Melts my heart.

The past month has held a lot of "firsts". I forgot my camera when we went to her first Easter egg hunt, but I think I remembered to capture the other firsts she experienced:

It's crazy to me how quickly Natalie is changing and becoming a little girl. I just remembered another "first" that I forgot to capture: first time getting her fingernails painted! I was shocked that she stayed still long enough for me to paint them, but sure enough, she did! I was painting another little girl's nails and Natalie held her hands out, too. I loved getting a glimpse of the girly-girl side of Natalie that has slowly, but surely, been developing.

Later this week, I'll experience another "first" in motherhood: leaving my baby overnight. I'm going on a women's retreat with a small group from church Friday night through Sunday morning. I'm really nervous about being vulnerable with a group of women that I don't know very well. The retreat is all about encountering God in a deeper way, getting rid of ungodly beliefs and overcoming strongholds, so I'm trying to build my expectations to receive something amazing from the Lord!

Well, that's kind of my life in a nutshell at the moment! Hopefully I'll start writing more often again...