Little Natalie is one month old!

Well gang, Mom, Dad and lil' Nat-Nat made it through our first month together and everyone is healthy and happy (albeit very sleepy)! It's been a fun and joyful yet challenging and nerveracking time for us as rookie parents, but the deep new love that Natalie brings to our family is worth every dodged spit-up, radioactive diaper change and 3:00 am banshee-worthy freak-out. It's been priceless just getting to know her and to see the first sparks of her personality begin to flicker and emerge. She's becoming so attentive and curious about her surroundings. I get a kick out of watching her react to the things around the house that we take for granted (appliance noises, the light and shadow patterns from the ceiling fans, the dust buster, the picture of squiggly lines above her changing table, etc.). Everything is brand new for her, as it was for all of us at one time. I also enjoy seeing and hearing Nat interact with Erica, she loves her Mommy's sweet, soft voice and comforting cuddles.

Natty-Bug is wasting absolutely no time on getting bigger. She's been eating really well and packin' on some baby-chub. At her one-month checkup, we learned that in two weeks she had grown an inch and gained more than a pound! She's now 8 lbs 14 oz and 21.25 inches long. Mom says she reminds her of a "Hungry Hungry Hippo" at feeding time :)

More later but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy some of these latest shots of the little Spazmonkey! (Please note this pic of Nat praying that we don't dress her up like a gangsta again).

GANGSTA

What up G-funk?!?! It's Natalie kickin it with Dad in her papason.

What can i say.... she was passed out and we can't pass up a moment like that to torture the poor kid. I'm sure we'll have more inspiration as Halloween comes around which just happens to be our favorite holiday - with the exception of Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Auntie Lisa's Visit

Yeah! Aunt Lisa came to visit to day and brought over lassagne, garlic bread and salad AND flowers! It was a nice treat to see Lisa and have lunch made for us. Natalie was very excited to spend some time with her "Aunt" and is looking forward to hanging out with her again.

What a FACE!!!

Ok, here is a collection of some of our favorite faces from this kid. No matter what, she makes us laugh and her many expressions....they're just priceless. I'm sure some day she'll be asking us to delete these.

Bathtime

Now that Natalie is 4 weeks old, we're starting to get the bathtub thing down. At 6pm every night, Natalie eats dinner and then we get ready for her bath. She's got this great little duck tub that our neighorbors gave us and it makes this quack sound when you press it's bill which I can't help but press a million times during her bath (i LOVE ducks!). While one of us undresses Natalie, the other one gets the bath water ready and the towels set up. She loves getting in the water on most days and the duck towel helps her stay warm while she's in the water. Dad loves to give her a bath and play with her in the tub. Afterwards, I dry her off and give her a little baby massage which she seems to enjoy. We play with her toes and do "Little Piggy" and then get her dressed for bed and sing lullabies to quiet her down before she gets her 8pm feeding. She's so cute!

First Walk around the Neighborhood

Now that the weather is nice here in Texas, we decided to go for our first walk around the neighborhood. It is also a great excuse to get out of the house and get some fresh air. These pictures are from our first walk around the neighborhood with mom, dad and little Nat Nat. Since then, Natalie and I have been going on walks after she eats at 4pm.

Pictures with Mom and Dad

Here are some pictures of us with Natalie when she is 3 weeks old. She was just too cute and we had a lot of fun with her this day. She's finally starting to look at us and we're loving it!