belly button...

nataley faye bay knows where mommies eyes, nose, mouth and belly button are... still working on finding hers!

i may as well catch her up really quick while sitting here.
she says:
hi
dada
eyes
lexi
and she clucks her tongue whenever she sees alyson or is hungry.

she eats whatever is in her hands path.
she likes to pull out the trash, and unravel the toilet paper.
she shakes her head at "no no"

oddly enough she self taught herself not to suck her thumb anymore.
seriously, she gave it up herself cold turkey just after she turned a year!

working on cutting that 4th tooth!

still as cute as ever...

a special day for my special girl...

today was a big day for alivia...
not just because it was her birthday but because this was her first day without her big brother.

i wasn't sure how she would be taking it, i feared she would think she would be going to school too.

so...
i made the day extra special for her.
she got her very first hair cut
(which made mommy a little sad).



followed by her very first manicure/pedicure combo!





and let me just say...
simply adorable!
i took in every girly second, and i can tell by her look of utter amazement...
she did too.

splendidly fun, girly mama daughter time!


later we picked up daddy and sissy and headed down to the cookie mall for lunch and build a bear...
just daddy and all his girls. :)
as you can tell by alivia's creation, she has a bit of an imagination....





a day i will never forget filled with girlish giggles and smiles.

soaking in summer...

can you even believe that this summer is quickly drawing to an end?
seriously, where did it go?
we fit in plenty of fun summer things, not all that i wanted to...
but...
we do live in florida, so we still will have plenty of hot days and weekends to squeeze in some other fun activities.

levi and alivia both really took a liking to the pool.
i asked them yesterday what was the most fun they had this summer and what they wanted to do yesterday, while telling levi that pretty soon he will be in school and won't be able to do the things he is used to just doing....

i planned on taking them back to the aquarium (because i thought forsure that is what they were going to say)...
but, much to my surprise they simply asked to go to nana and papa's house and swim.
so, that is exactly what we did.

they learned so much this summer.
i am so proud of both of them! both are able to "save" themselves should they ever fall in.
alivia finally will jump in (only when i am in the pool and she can swim to me if she is without her hot pink tube)

and levi, well he is s true little fish.
constantly saying "mom, watch this" or "mom look what i can do".



here is their most fun thing about swimming...
jumping in!
if you look close you can see alivia jumping right in too!

attention, attention...

we have a new swimmer in the family...

yes, yes it's true after three short lessons with miss ashley and one fun time swim with aunt kathleen levi is an official fishy!

he's jumping right in, swimming this way and that way. taking breaths and going back in. he's diving for deep sea toys. laughing and having an absolute blast the whole time he is in the water. hard to believe that just three short weeks ago this the boy swimming around with no floaties was the same boy who feared for his dear life at the thought of even sticking his mouth in the water!

my oh my,
what a quick, sharp learning, handsome squirt i have on my hands.

p.s...
may i not forget to mention the fact that i finally got alivia away from the steps as well,
even if it is only with her hot pink tube...
it's a start!

the last day...

sorry,
i wasn't exactly feeling the best last night, so i didn't feel like blogging.

but my dad...
"the situation is far from ideal". that's what my mom told me on the phone yesterday afternoon.
apparently, my dads heart had a bit more damage done to it with the heart attack then they originally thought.
it's only working at 40% right now.
and the scar tissue around the stent is building up and causing the stent to collapse which is causing blockage.
the problem is that the stent is in the main artery and it is a little too close to another artery for them to feel safe to go in and do another surgery. so now they wait. the doctor wants to take a look at things and see if maybe he can control the blockage with some more meds. which has me a little worried cause his blood is already so thin. they want to wait it out a couple weeks before they decide the next step to take, but something is going to have to be done. so, keep him in your prayers.


the kids had their last day of school yesterday...
i didn't think it would be, but it was kinda sad. it's funny how attached the teachers get, and when they teared up...
well, being how sensitive i am it made me tear up.
but i survived it...
barely, but i did survive....

yikes! and that's not even "real" school. how will i be when they start kindergarden, graduate it... high school, college!
time goes by too quick i tell ya!


anyhow,
for me it is officially summer!

go ahead, let it rain...

i would never call myself a fan of the rain...

i get the fact that we need it...
but when it's gloomy outside i can't help but feel a bit gloomy myself.
(this is only true for the daytime. cause i LOVE to sleep when it's raining, thundering and lighting outside).

anyway,
i'm sick of this rainy week. i feel cold and trapped.

the morning started out dreary but the sun peaked it's head through long enough for levi and alivia to splish and splash during "water day" at school. and then the murky skies returned.
(pictures to come... i forgot my camera and had to rely on kims).

when we got home i actually googled something to do with the kids inside our house. and the first thing that popped up was making your own playdough....

so, that's just what we did.
blue and purple to be exact.

and we had fun! the home made playdough quickly turned into pulling out all the store bought stuff.
we sat there making creations... rolling and cutting, this color and that color...
and the next thing i knew, we had been sitting and creating for over two hours.

so i guess what i'm getting at here is...
that although the rain isn't my favorite thing in the world, it really isn't so bad when it is accompanied by my favorite little hands and a bit of imagination!


ps...
nataley is FINALLY cutting her first tooth!
it's been there almost to the surface for months now....
but you can actually feel the ridges of it now! YEA for her! she won't be one and toothless after all!

"hi"...

little miss nataley faye has amazed me!

seriously,
this girl is so happy i think it has made her a little slow to some milestones.
she just doesn't care. she is always happy wherever you put her and she doesn't bother or is ever even tempted to try and figure things out on her own it seems.

but today i heard her laughing away (as usual) after a nap...
i cracked the door open and there she was SITTING there all by herself with a huge grin on her face.

turns out she is a fast learner when she wants to be.
cause seconds later, when i laid her down to change her i got up to grab wipes and when i came back there she was again SITTING with a big grin.

and now....
for YOUR enjoyment

nataley faye sitting up all by herself. and the added bonus of her waving "hi" specially for you. ;)

she's a mover...

i'm feeling a bit better about things now.
i've had a few days to really mull it over and pray. not that i hadn't already concluded to the fact that god is in control and what he wants will happen. but my heart has been given peace about it either way.
my life is blessed and i am thankful.
please continue to keep us in your prayers though.


on a separate note....

little miss nataley faye is now among the mobil.
she has been having at it for weeks now rocking back and forth....
moving backwards.
but this evening she figured it out!

i now literally have three to chase around! :P

three piggies in a tub...

nataley faye upgraded her bathtub apparel tonight.
that's right! she can now sit up and splash her hands and feet in the water with the rest of the gang!
honestly, where has my tiny one gone? time is zooming by far too quickly for me!



she throughly enjoyed herself for over 20 minuets. grabbing every toy that floated her way, and kept reaching for alivia's hair.... naturally! i could see the "it's about time mom! what were you waiting for?" look on her face the entire time.


i had that bath chair with alivia and it still is fabulous to me! and as you can see i can get all three of my little piggies in the tub at the same time!

speaking of the chair. alivia got caught in it tonight. i had brought it in from the abyss shed and went quickly back over to drop off the old one. mere seconds passed before i was back into the family room where i found alivia freaking out and screaming in a teary wreck "help mommy, i go stuck!". and stuck she surely was. it took me nearly half an hour before i got those chubby little legs (which by the way she had both of in one side) out.
right when i had decided to give up trying to bend her lower limbs in ways they should not bend all by myself i thought it best to call in my reinforcement (aka.. my hubby, brian, and daddy). the ordeal had already made quite a sweaty mess of both her and myself.... and then suddenly, her foot popped out!
thank heavens!

***************************************************************

levi almost lucked out on sunday. you see, brian has a hard time saying no to "his boy". and levi kept begging and begging him for a rabbit with those big blue pouty eyes of his. and my husband was almost crazy enough to give into his only sons wishes (as usual). i keep praising god because the pet store was out of bunnies on sunday so my boys settled for and brought home two swimming frogs.
add it to our ever growing list of emrich pets!
we now have:
1 dog
2 cats
2 hermit crabs
1 fish
and now 2 swimming frogs.....
pretty soon we will have our own zoo, and we can make some money by charging people to come visit the animals! ;)

the fake cougher....

one of the cutiest things i recall from when alivia was a baby was the "fake cough". well that and all the kisses she gave. she would go at any and every thing with an open mouth giving kisses.
anyway, i still have a somewhat lingering cough from the cold i had a few weeks ago. today i was getting all the kids in their seats after school and sundenly had a bit of a coughing spell. i would cough and then i would hear a faint little cough come from nataleys way. at first i thought she was really coughing herself, so i went over to test it out. i coughed and then sat there and watched to see what she would do. it made me laugh cause i could really see the effort that was made to get that cough sound out ... so, i can officially say nataley mimics coughs now! and it still is just about the cutiest thing i ever did see!

i also do need to say that this child is crazy about hair! short, long, furry.... it doesn't matter!
alivia has gotten to the point where she trys to avoid walking past nat cause she knows that the little hands will reach out and put a death grip on her curly locks.
i say it at least ten times a day but every child of mine is so different. they each have their individual things that crack me up (and their own things that make me want to rip out my hair). nataley is my first hair puller and thumb sucker. levi was always obsessed with balls! every kind of ball would amuse him for hours at this stage. if it wasn't round he didn't give one hoot about it. alivias obession was putting everything to her mouth. chirs, books, hair ties, and if she couldn't bring it to her mouth she would bring her mouth to it. didn't matter what it was it went into the cave on her face.... i quickly learned how to remain calm and stick my fingers down her throat to pull out whatever little piece of something she had in there!

nataley is getting too big too fast for me....
makes me wonder, maybe just one more.......... maybe?

check up...

a semi frozen me was up and out of the house bright and early this morning. i always schedule dr appointments right after the kids have to be at school. i mean well by doing it. i have the hopes that i will be swift, and my agenda will be well planned out so that i can run to the appointment and not have too much time to kill before having to pick the older guys up from school. unfortunately, it never seems to go as planned right from the moment i wake up. i feel rushed, and when i feel rushed i get a little on the mean side of the spectrum. today was just the same but we did make it on time to the nataleys first appointment with dr. sourtherland.
i love her! the appointment went so incredibly well. she spent nearly 25 minuets "catching up" with nataley. very kind, very knowledgeable.

nataley faye:

6 months
weight: 16 lbs
height: 26"
head circumference: 161/2"

*she is now sitting up all on her own.
*grabs everything within her reach (her favorite is my hair!)
*she can pass objects from one hand to the other.
*she has started to grab her feet, although she doesn't appear as though she is very flexible!
*she has started babbling with single syllables.
*she is still all smiles, and a joy to be around!
*she has started to cut two bottom teeth (which i didn't think was possible, neither levi or livi cut their first tooth till nearly a year... but they are coming, i see em)


i may as well take the time to "catch up" levi and alivia too.....

levi:

*has more then caught up on his speech issues.
*loves monster trucks, and is anxiously awaiting going to see "monster jam" with brian next month. his favorite truck is "blue thunder"
*he knows the days of the week and months of the year in order.
*he can free handedly write his first and last name, and recognizes every letter of the alphabet by sight.
*he is a closet singer.... he loves to sing, but the second you look at him he stops!



alivia:
*her favorite thing in the world is mermaids, she likes to be called princess ariel.
*she is starting to talk in more complete sentences, her favorites being "no mommy, not yet" and "i can do it myself mommy!"
*she still has no fear. she will do anything levi tells her to do, without the concept that she may get hurt.
*she is pretty much fully potty trained. i still put pull ups on her at night, and they stay dry 6 out of the 7 nights of the week. but she is fully trained during the day.
*she loves nail polish, and body spray.... she makes me help her with them daily!
*she fully dresses herself, and will make you wait while she puts on her shoes... she will never allow me to help her with clothes anymore, even if it will speed up the dressing process!

panties for alivia....

that's right! this girl is well on her way to no more diapersville. she has actually been ready for awhile now. but, mommy has been a bit lazy, busy, and tired! we started a few months back and after the first accident i decided that i was the one who was not ready, and pushed it off until now. the kids are on school break till january 8th, so what better way to start off the new year but to have two down and one more to go!
yesterday was the first official day. just like with levi, when she woke up i took her diaper off walked her over to the kids bathroom. i sat her down on the potty and explained that she is now a big girl, and big girls go potty on the potty. i placed those cute little 2t panties on her and told her she had to try and keep them dry. the next part will show just how ready and how lazy i have been. my little girl did not have one accident all day! not only that, but when she would have to go while we were at home she would run over to her potty.... pull down those tiny panties, go, empty her little potty into the big potty, and flush! towards the end of the night things got a little more risky when i decided to take the kids over to yoder's to have dinner. half way through the meal when daddy was walking past she got up, i thought she was following him. he turned left, and she turned right. i ran over to go grab her hand and she said "no mommy, i need to potty". i called brian over and he sat with levi and nataley while i took my big girl over to the restroom. dinner went so well, that i decided to stop at SAMS to pick up my pictures on the way home. she made it dry the whole time, and when we opened the house door she ran to the bathroom and went all by herself.
i'm not saying she is in fact official yet, but i do believe we will be there within a week or two!
when i potty trained levi, it was just as smooth. which actually makes me wonder....... how will nataley be?

party of 5, please!

YEA! that statement makes me so happy! back (just about this time) last year i anxiously walked over from the gift shop to the restaurant to tell my husband that we would be adding onto this family. growing up in his family's restaurant he often thinks in restaurant terms... so his reply to the news didn't shock me in the slightest. his jaw dropped and he said "that is a party of five, shannon.... a party of FIVE!!!!
why am i remembering that moment... could be that it was practically one year ago, but the main reason is yesterday for the first time he got to say "party of five". we rarely get to go out to eat as a family. brian works a lot of hours, and there really isn't much time. but the main reason is he knows about children in restaurants and he simply prefers to not deal with the hassle. but, yesterday after church when we got into the car, levi asked him for pumpkin pancakes! seeing as how yoder's isn't open on sundays, we headed over to cracker barrel. there is no story to go with this event, but rather the memory of him realizing the fear in his head one year ago, is now really and truly the reality..... and it wasn't near as bad as he thought it would be. although, he did say in the car on the way home he still didn't enjoy it.... i think that the thought of it just is a little stressful to him, and he is so on the look out for bad behavior that he can't possibly enjoy his meal, so what's the point?
i do however, think of this as a milestone....
the kids were both well behaved, and ate good...
so perhaps, this won't be the first and last "party of five" meal we have out in the public eye. :)
(hehe... that just cracked me up.... "in the public eye" like we are celebrities or something). :D

pretend it's peanut butter naneee

you don't have to tell me twice...
as soon as DOCs gave the OK to start food, i was at the store buying all the things i would need.
JUST KIDDING!!!! i actually have somewhat been dreading this day. levi, (that lucky first born child of mine) got things right off the bat with an extreme excitement on both brian and my part... alivia, pretty much skipped baby food and went right to the real stuff... she was practically 4 months old and i was shoving grains of rice in her mouth.
by this stage in my parental wisdom i know that baby food is a time consuming hassle! they really arn't gaining anything from it in my mind (calorie wise) and it is just one more thing i have to try and cram into my already non stop day.
however, that sweet little face of hers deserves to have the "first foods" photo, and that is just what i did today! tomorrow, she will be just like alivia, getting the foods we eat as mashed up as i can make them with my finger. :)

this story is kind cute though, at least i think so.....
the only fruit i had in the house were peaches, so nataley fayes first food was a peach (with hint of yummy breast milk of course). so, as i pulled out the good old food processor levi and alivia came running over to see what i would be baking. i quickly explained that there wasn't going to be a dessert but that we were going to be feeding nataley her first taste of real food. levi, bless his heart decided that peaches were not going to be the best choice and pulled out his favorite food.... peanut butter! it took me about 10 minutes of arguing with him before he was entirely convinced that babies can not eat peanut butter...


finally nataleys BIG moment! she ate it right up, and did really well! i let the kids each have a turn helping feed her and when it was levis turn, he softly patted her head and said.... and i quote "mommy said peaches are nummy, but they are gross.... pretend it's peanut butter naneee" nataley smiled so big at him, and the whole minute kinda made me melt! it was rather cute! and i think it wins shannon's "favorite moment of the week award"!

changes/ well baby visit

BIG changes in our home today, big changes!
the beginning of the day was a bit of a challenge, nataley had a well check up at 8:45am and the kids had to be at school at 8:30. i was silently planning on brian to help me in one of the two areas, but anyone who knows our family well enough would know that this was a silly thing for me to do the week before thanksgiving. he had to be up and out the door early and couldn't do anything about it. so, there i was at 11:30 last night gathering all the things up i would need in the morning to get 3 children up, fed and out the door by 7:45am. thankfully, everything went rather smoothly, and there was enough time for levi to be his lagging little self as we walked into school.






i don't know what it is about my little nataley that makes me so happy to take her out. people always point out babies, cause come on, they are ALL so darn cute! but with nat ( i am trying out different nick names for this child to see what feels right, currently she is nat) everyone always stops me to tell me how bubbly and happy she is. it was no different at dr. fethermans office today. all the nurses and receptionists were in awe of just how easy it is to crack this little girl up, i really love it and the attention that goes along with it (maybe kinda weird of me but true none the less). anyway, she passed with flying colors, and is now ready to start some foods! so yea! we get to start that road again :)

Nataley Faye:
4 months old
weight: 13lbs 11oz
height: 24 1/4"
head circumference: 15 3/4"

looking back on levi and alivias charts nataley is still the largest at this point, so maybe she will actually be a taller one?
the only thing that left me thinking as i drove home was a remark from a nurse who was a little surprised that we don't have her in a crib in her own room yet. i have always been late to do that with the kids. call it laziness on my part, cause that is probably what it is. it just is easier in the middle of the night, cause lets face it, i don't handle little sleep well.
but i did get to thinking that maybe this lady was actually right and decided that after i got the kids from school i would head on down to baby world and get alivia a toddler bed and let the girls have their first official night in "the girls room"!





now its 9:06... and all is quiet and still, and went just like every other night in our house (except different beds)....
let just hope and pray it remains that way throughout the night tonight! ;)