growing up fast

natalie looks so grown up. i feel like in the blink of an eye these could be her senior portraits.


i think she looks like her cousin silas in this one:

silly girl part two

i always think i'll remember the funny things natalie says but i never do. the key is to get the paper started and then it's ready to quickly jot something down! here are some of her recent lines:

*(giving tinsley a tight squeeze) aaahhh tins, you're the best dog i ever seen.

*aunt jen, do you want to play with my toys? okay then, you have to obey and then you can play with them.

*mom, it's daytime. your eyes can wake up now.

*that's for mom's only because it's spicy.

*i'm too old for goldfish but i like other snacks.

*it looks awesome!

*mom, that's a cool playground.

*mom, you're always hungry.

*will you lay down with me? i won't mess around.

*twinkle twinkle little star, how i wonder what you ate for breakfast

*you look gorgeous

*totally (yes, she's said this about three times now. she kind of hesitates and looks at me to see if the context is right. and it is! i laugh out loud! i don't know where she learned that one!)

there are some words she says wrong that i wish she would never get right. it's so sweet:
*reNember (remember)
*ant buvva (umbrella)
*sumping (something)
*wemma-ade (lemonade)

natalie LOVES mixing things up...shoes on the wrong feet, clothes backwards, mis-matched jammies, wrong lyrics to songs, wrong letters/numbers/colors/shapes. tinsley is a cat...she thinks it is the funniest thing to intentionally do the wrong/backwards thing.

she also loves playing pretend and being a mommy. she's a very good mommy too! she'll talk to me in a high-pitched voice and call me baby or girl. she'll touch the side of my face, look me in the eyes and say, "did you go poop, baby?" or "let's have a picnic, girl." she cracks me up!

silly girl

while i was in the shower, natalie climbed onto the counter and got her ponytail holders from the medicine cabinet. she put them on her ankles and legs and shaking her head said, "it doesn't hurt, mom."

here she is with her bouquet of playdough/popsicle stick flowers. they smell great! and so creative i thought!

i think it's hysterical that she picks tennis shoes to wear with her skirts and dresses. she puts her shoes/flip flops on the wrong feet 100% of the time and always has. if we try to change them she'll say, "no, then they'll be on the wrong feet."

here is an outfit she picked out all by herself. she said she could wear it because it was cute!

i think she's so cute she can wear whatever she wants!

and she makes a great funny face!

i walked in my room to find that she arranged her babies on the chairs and had my camera around her neck trying to take their picture! after i helped her take a few she wanted to get in one with them. evie is on the stool and two noras are on the chairs. notice the red electrical tape on the chairs too. she loves tape! and it's everywhere!

natalie moved my shoes off the rack in my closet so she could put her shoes there. (i know, what's the point of a rack that only holds two (of my) pairs of shoes?!)

the last day of dance class was "beach day" and the girls got to wear their bathing suits.

tinsley

tinsley loves naps up on the beds!

he also loves hugs! (or does he?!)

everytime we leave home natalie tells tinsley to be a good watchdog or a good boy.

this day tinsley was a cat, and she was named zemy/zemmey/zemmie. (however you spell it!)

jen's visit!

my sister was surprised with a birthday weekend to come visit me! it was like a gift to me too! thank you, ron! we vowed to exercise everyday and eat very clean! on friday we walked around lake calhoun and then had delicious fish tacos at the tin fish.
fried cod taco. amazing. huge. we also shared a glass of red wine.

happy hour at loring kitchen and bar.

there we are in the window! i finally got to be one of the people i'm jealous of when i'm taking tinsley for a walk or finishing up playing at the park across the street.

natalie entertained herself by swinging on this chain. LKB is probably happy we don't go there too often!

after happy hour we got massages at the aveda institute!
saturday morning we went back to the aveda institute and got facials. then walked to a coffee shop and had lattes and a scone. next were mimosas and fried mozzarella at the bulldog northeast.

we went and saw sex and the city downtown and then came back to punch for amazing neapolitan pizza.

and they have a punch card (ha ha) when you buy 6 pizzas you get the 7th free. that will be easy!

this face of mine was only the first of many times i made this expression this night. when we were at the coffee shop we saw that kris allen (american idol winner a couple seasons ago) was going to be playing at a small venue right by our place. we thought it would be funny to check it out! the tickets said no cameras and being the rule follower that i am, we took these pics before we went and then left the camera at home. of course once we got there, everyone had cameras and was shooting away! hence the face again. and THEN, if you bought merch he would autograph it after the show. my sister bought his cd for her boys and we were the very last ones in line. not kidding you, he got up from the table right before it was our turn and did not meet us. yes, the face again.

when natalie was looking at these pictures she said, "is that aunt jen?" me: yes "who is that making a mean face?" i wish i knew how to photoshop so i could edit the cute ones of us together.

"happy birthday, aunt jen! are you going to share that with me?!"lunch and cupcakes back at the bulldog

kramarczuk's meat market also in northeast. just so JR could drool over what he wanted to throw on the grill.

needless to say, we only walked the one time and did not eat well. at all. but it was a great weekend! special thanks to JR too who watched Nat so we could go anywhere and not be on any timeframe. thanks!

memorial day weekend

saturday morning started at anodyne coffeehouse.
mocha, breakfast burrito and cranberry almond muffin. yum!

super cute and lots of menu choices. found it because we had a groupon but we'll definitely go back!

natalie played with chess pieces while i took pictures and JR read the paper.

i was just messing around...

but you can't do these techniques on people's faces!

then we went to lake calhoun. we were so blessed to have such gorgeous weather!

swings aren't just for kids! (although adults don't fit in the baby ones so well).

something i love about it here is that you have a beach vacation right next to the city.

seriously, downtown is ten minutes away.

dinner on the grill was perfect!

sarah and i canoed on isles on sunday.

and if you know anything about canoes, yes, i'm rowing backwards. i thought it was more fun to face sarah than her having to look at my back!

then sarah and the luccos came over to grill out on our rooftop. emerson is such a sweetheart!

monday was lake nokomis. sorry, but my least fave so far.still a great family outing though.

i asked this group if i could take a picture of their bbq. some people just know what they're doing. although the cook was annoyed because this girl grabbed the fork away to pretend like she was cooking! ha ha

and then this woman waved me over and said, "come, take a picture of just me. i want to be by myself. oh, wait, my boy can get in it."

and then this girl said, "here, i blow bubbles."

really, i wish i had the confidence.

then we went back up on the roof and enjoyed the final hours of the holiday.

it was a perfect weekend. basilica, i'll be seeing you soon!

natalie's new rooftop friend, tucker! i love that she's a dog lover. (she said i can love cats because she loves dogs).