Happy Birthday Natalie!

Visiting the Brookfield Zoo

We had a wonderful time visiting the zoo with the Block Family on May 7th. We celebrated Natalie's friend Darwin's 2nd birthday. There was cake and presents! Natalie's favorite part of the zoo was watching the polar bear swim and also riding on the merry-go-round. We were there for almost four hours and we still only saw a small part of what the zoo has to offer! Good thing we have a membership and we can go back soon! We still would like to visit the Children's Zoo and the Ray's and see the penguins and the dolphin show! I think the zoo is going to be a big part of our summer!

Wonderful Easter Weekend

We had just a wonderful Easter weekend. Natalie loved the Easter Egg hunts, and all the running around outside. It was a teeny bit chilly Easter morning, but still nice weather to be in the backyard looking for eggs. Kevin and I started out the weekend Friday night with a super fun Jonathan Coulton concert down at the Park West in Lincoln Park. Then bright and early on Saturday morning we took Natalie to an egg hunt at Mariano's supermarket where she got to meet "The Big Bunny". Then she got to go downtown with her Grandma and Papa to a birthday party at the Gymboree while Kevin and I took a much needed nap. Then everyone gathered for Mexican food at Pepe's Saturday Night. Sunday morning Natalie hunted for eggs at our house and then in Grandma and Papa's backyard. Then we went to Dawn's house for a nice Easter dinner where Natalie got to play with her big cousin Jessica. All in all, a lovely few days. We are so blessed.

Easter Egg Hunt

Spring is almost here!

Today was an absolutely beautiful Spring day. We took Natalie on a walk, we played on the swing, she went down her slide numerous times and we practiced hunting eggs for Easter. Here are a few photos I took during the late afternoon. We had just gotten home from Cousin Connor's birthday party where she received bubbles in her party swag bag.

Rolie Polie Olie

Well, we just finished watching Rolie Polie Olie and the baby bots for the hundredth time. Natalie requests this video every morning. She thinks it is hilarious. 21 month old senses of humor are interesting. I am amused that is has a character called the pirate of pleasure.

Fun in the SNOW!

Mostly Natalie liked to EAT the snow. YUMM.

Little Drummer Girl

Natalie liked playing the drums at Kohl Children's Museum.

Natalie Sings the ABC's

Natalie is getting to be a real pro at lots of different songs. She currently LOVES to sing the ABC song as well as Row Your Boat, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and there are still some Christmas songs we hear snippets of every now and then. She is obsessed with her two teddy bears that go everywhere with her and she also loves all the Bill Martin/Eric Carle books from the library. Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See gets read MANY times a day. We also love to read all the Elmo Look and Find books over and over. She remembers what is behind all the flaps and can even recite most of the words on each page. She is one smart cookie!!

Family Christmas Picture

It wasn't easy, but we managed to get a family picture under the tree. Natalie was loathe to sit still especially with 20 other people milling about for her to play with. She did eat some of Christmas Eve dinner and she loved opening presents with cousin Connor. We love our happy little family.

Natalie and the Wonder of Christmas

Natalie was a big fan of Christmas this year. She continuously sang "Up on the House Top" and "Jingle Bells" with a lot of her own words of course. Her favorite gift was a Little Tikes basketball hoop. She still tells people Merry Christmas when they leave our house, even though it is the end of January.