Ready to Rodeo

 

It's always a good idea to give the boots and hat a test run before the big day!

Rodeo Princess

 

Does this picture get you in the rodeo spirit? One of our many errands brought us to good old Cavender's, where they're not afraid of asking a pretty penny for their leather and cowhide! Mark got in touch with his inner cowboy by trying on boots while Natalie checked out the hats. She's got a western day, stock show day, and the actual rodeo to prepare for, so she needed to get her wardrobe in order.

A funny conversation happened as we were walking towards the store:
Natalie: Is this a cowboy store?
Me: Yes, it is.
Natalie: Do cowgirls shop here?
Me: Yes, cowboys and cowgirls shop here.
Natalie: Do cowkids shop here too?

It was a successful shopping trip. We didn't leave with any shirts that need starching or Wranglers!

Future Big Sister

Natalie's got some exciting news to share - she's going to be a big sister! She's looking forward to playing with her new sibling, although we explained that would be a couple of years down the road. I'm sure no matter what she'll be helpful, loving, and will keep the kid in line!

The due date is July 15th, and if you think that's coming up pretty soon, so do we!

Yesterday was my first appointment, and I found out I'm sixteen weeks already. I got the works since it was like having a first and second doctor visit all rolled into one. They did an ultrasound and could barely squeeze the baby into the picture because it was so big already. I remember seeing Natalie's first ultrasound at around ten weeks and she was peanut sized. I wasn't expecting to see developed arms, legs, etc... A strong heartbeat was present, and measurements helped determine the due date.

It was quite an interesting and informative afternoon to say the least! The pregnancy is almost half over already, and somehow I've managed to miss most of it!

Before my second appointment (which really should be the third appointment) an ultrasound should be done. That should just be a couple of weeks away. We look forward to keeping you posted!

P is for Packing Popcorn

Every week Natalie has to bring something for "show and share" that begins with the letter they've studied for the week. The letter of the week was "P." It just so happened that Mark received a box this week that had a bunch of green packing popcorn in it. Natalie decided to bring it to Pre-K today in eleven individually wrapped sandwich bags, one for every student in the class and a bag for her teacher. I'm sure her teacher must have loved taking home her own bag of the stuff! Next week's Q might be somewhat of a challenge. There's the ever popular quilt. Anyone have any other creative suggestions?

Butterfly

 

Tonight we ate at Perico's where a baloonist made a balloon butterfly for Natalie. I think she made the largest butterfly in her repetoire!

Dentist

Since I go to Natalie's dental appointments, she wanted to go along to mine yesterday. I packed a mystery basket for her (just a clever name for some items I threw together last minute at school before I left to keep her entertained.) She was really excited by the basket, and I told her she couldn't peek until I was back in the room in the chair. She was quiet and so good the entire time! The people in the office always love to talk to her and she enjoys the attention. When it came time to schedule my next appointment, Natalie and I got the same day at the same time. They said now that Natalie is five she doesn't need to have a parent accompany her in the room. We'll see how that one works out! Natalie is thrilled to be a big enough girl to handle her own appointments. :)

Weekend Roundup

The weekend adventures started at everyone's favorite home improvement store, Lowe's where we were looking for a new faucet for our kitchen sink. I know...exciting! We found one we liked that was marked at $118, but couldn't locate it on the shelf. When Mark asked an employee he discovered it was mispriced. It was actually $218, quite a large difference. After some negotiation with the manager we ended up paying the lesser price on the faucet. Now we just have to figure out how to install it and the new/used sink we have. That is not my area of expertise!

Natalie started learning her new dance routine for her June recital on Saturday. Since they tap danced at the Christmas recital she and her class will be doing a ballet routine. She seems to be excited about it.

This morning we ate at The Magnolia Pancake Haus. It was scrumptious! The pancakes were fabulous as was everything else. Natalie and I shared the silver dollar pancakes and she ended up eating more than I did! I think she's going through a growth spurt.

One of the highlights of Natalie's weekend was buying pink cowgirl boots. Last year she wanted a pair, but her feet just weren't big enough yet. This year her feet fit into a pair perfectly. The rodeo is coming up and she has a stock show event at her school where she gets to "show" a farm animal. She'll wear her boots for that event. We bought rodeo tickets and are taking her for the first time in a couple of weeks. We thought the pink cowgirl boots would be a nice addition to her rodeo wardrobe. She'll get to see an actual rodeo that day plus stay for her first concert, Lady Antebellum. We bought her the CD today so she would recognize some of the songs they sing and hopefully enjoy the concert. She has a lot of things to look forward to!

GI Appointment

Natalie is completely off her invasive mustard colored medicine! She had a followup appointment today with the GI doctor to see how she's doing off meds. Everything is just fine. If her symptoms flare up she'll have to go back in for a visit and virtually begin the entire process again. As of now she'll come in on an as needed basis. That sounds good to me!

Dogsitting

We're dogsitting for Schatze this week. He likes Natalie, his best friend, and that's about it! Every night he's crying at her door wanting to sleep with her. She is a strictly no animals allowed in my bed kid, which is fine with me. We've had to put a plastic gate up so he doesn't run to her room and whine outside her door. What a baby!

MLK Day

What better way to spend MLK Day then going to everyone's favorite cardboard pizza place, Chuck E. Cheese's! Natalie and I met Ethan and Grace, two of her friends, at the horrible cheese place to spend some quality time playing. The place isn't actually so bad at 9 am. We practically had the place to ourselves, there weren't any obnoxious birthday parties going on, and you could actually have a normal conversation. Amazing! Natalie had a blast playing games with her friends. We left before it started getting crowded and the hideous smell of cardboard pizza littered the air.

Since it was a halfway nice day today without any rain, Natalie got to spend some time outdoors playing on her jungle gym, riding her scooter, and bike. She even fit a short playdate in with our neighbor.

Extra vacation days make me not want to go back to work too badly. This is the last vacation day until spring break. It's going to be a looooong stretch!

Pecos Bill

Today was a rainy, gloomy day...a perfect day to go to the children's theater to see the play Pecos Bill! It seems like it's always raining when we have to drive downtown, so we've grown accustomed to it!

We carpooled with our neighbors and met Poppy and Grandma downtown. Natalie really loved the play, especially Pecos Bill with his extraordinarily large yellow hat. The music, dancing, and dialogue in the play were excellent. It's a must see if you like plays based on children's books. We're looking forward to their upcoming shows, If You Give a Pig a Party and Pinkalicious!

A Visit to the Dentist

It seems all we do during the school year is go to medical appointments! Today Natalie had her regular six month dental cleaning. She complained about going, but was an angel once we arrived. The staff is always so personable and friendly to her and she eats up the attention. She was great through her x-rays and cleanings and didn't even whine during her flouride treatment, although it didn't appear that she liked having the fluffy white stuff rubbed on her teeth. The dental assistant noticed that her bottom two front teeth are ever so slightly loose. That was exciting news to Natalie as she looks forward to the day she looses a tooth.

At the end of her appointment she picked out her favorite color toothbrush (purple) and a plastic toy lizard. As we walked out to the car she mentioned she was glad it was all over.

Flu Shot Drama

Today was Natalie's 5 year checkup with her pediatrician. I know she turned 5 two months ago, but one year I called too late for an appointment and was given January and now I cannnot switch back to November due to insurance purposes.

Natalie's grown 3 1/2 inches since her last visit a year ago, which seems like a lot to me. Her pediatrician swore she looked like a first grader. Her weight and height are in the 75th percentile and everything else looks good. It's nice to have a regular boring doctor's visit once in a while!

There aren't any shots at five, but we opted for the flu vaccination. This year the booster is combined with H1N1 all in one shot so it's more convenient. There was major arm drama afterwards. She couldn't eat with that hand or do much with it, and of course at bath time she could only wash from her elbow down so as not to disturb the bandaid. She really loves the pink cammo bandaid and, of course, doesn't want it to fall off. I told her eventually it would come off. Only time will tell if there's more arm drama tomorrow.

Digital Pictures Galore

Natalie gets an allowance every Saturday. She knows she's supposed to save half and can keep half to spend. She finally saved enough money to buy a digital picture/video camera attachment for her Leapster Explorer! She's been taking lots of pictures! I haven't sat down to do much with it except for initially connecting it to the computer, so I'm not sure how everything works. You're supposed to be able to make a digital photo album, incorporate pictures you've taken into the learning games on the contraption, make cards, and shoot short videos. Get ready to have your picture taken next time she sees you!

Card Queen Part II

Last weekend we bought our own crazy eight card game and the 40th anniversary edition of Uno. Guess what we've been playing every night during dinner? You guessed it! Every night! Natalie's really good at Uno and pretty competitive. She multi-tasks playing cards while taking bites of dinner. We've been playing from the time we get home until it's time to get ready for bed. She loves it though!

Back to School

Monday was back to school for me and Natalie. She wasn't happy about going back at all. She liked lounging in her pajamas half the day and being on a leisurely schedule. She hasn't wanted to wake up in the morning. I'm sure she's fine once she gets to school, but it's definitely a transition period for her! I know the feeling!

Card Queen

Natalie is a regular card shark! She loves playing the card game Crazy Eights! She played most of Thursday afternoon and Friday with her Poppy and Grandma. Yesterday she got in several good games. She shuffles, deals, and wins quite a few games. Her next step is working on recognizing suites and learning their hierarchy so she can start playing wagon wheel, hand and foot, and various other card games we enjoy playing. I'm sure it won't be long!

 

Happy New Year!

Natalie celebrated the New Year with us and our neighbors. She played with Bella and a couple of other new friends that came over, they ate, and watched fireworks. It was a late night for Natalie. Happy 2011!