Monday, August 19, 2013

Natalie Rae

On December 6, 2012, God blessed our little family with another precious baby girl. Natalie Rae Shankland was born in Denver, CO, at the Mountain Midwifery birth center weighing 6 pounds 14 ounces and 20 inches long. But lets back up a bit...

This was me, on her due date. Yikes!
December 1st was the original due date I was given for Natalie, but she just wasn't ready to meet us quite yet and made her poor mama wait another week. For the last month or so of the pregnancy I was having regular, time-able contractions and at least a dozen times I said THIS IS IT! LETS GO! but they would always stop. It got a little frustrating! (Our doula was such a great help to me in that time, I really don't know how I would have made it through without her!)

When Natalie did finally decide it was time though, she wasn't messing around. We left for the birth center right at rush hour (of course) and got stuck in evening traffic. That was NOT a fun car ride, let me tell you. She was born about 20 minutes after we arrived at MMC. It was close! Rob said he really thought she would be born in the car, and I can't say that thought didn't cross my mind a few times too.

It was a wonderful birth and went pretty much according to plan. She was born in the water at 6:32 PM. Because it was so fast we didn't even get a chance to bring the "Go Bag" in from the car. We had music, snacks, relaxation stuff, you name it and it was in that bag, and none of it got put to use. I was ok with that though! 3.5 hours of labor was MUCH preferred to the 19+ that it took for Emily to arrive. I'll take it.

Meeting her sissy for the first time.

Sister love from the very beginning.
We were home about 4 hours after she was born (can I say again how much I loved MMC?) and got to settle in right away and sleep in our own bed rather than at a hospital. Rob waited on me hand and foot for the entire first two weeks of Nattie's life and we pretty much just snuggled on the couch and got to know each other. It was wonderful! I couldn't ask for a better husband. He had to leave for work for two weeks just a few days after Emily was born, so it was really great to have him around this time. These girls sure love their daddy!

My Loves
Nattie 1 month, Emily almost 3
3 months old
Her first 4 month photos
Trying food for the first time, 6 months old. Who needs the avocado when you can eat the bowl?
Happy 4th of July!
Enjoying the sun
8 months old

My girls!

She's getting so big!
At 8 months old Nattie is sitting up all on her own, rolling all over the place, scooting and spinning on her tummy and trying to army-crawl. I'm thinking before the end of the month she'll be crawling! Yikes. She makes lots of different sounds but doesn't babble much yet, and I'm thinking that's because she's a thumb sucker and always has her hand in her mouth. At this point though that's fine with me! Emmie talks more than enough for both of them, haha.

Natalie had a few reactions to food when we first started to introduce it so we are going slow with the table food for now. But she loves pretty much anything we've given her (even if it doesn't love her) and is eager to try more. She eats anything we put in front of her! It's a nice change from Miss Picky Pants Emily. :)

I don't know where the last 8 months have gone, but I have to say that I'm really happy with where we are now. Our days have been full of laughter, tears, frustration, sleepless nights, more sleepless nights, more laughter, and lots of love. Nattie is such a sweet girl. She loves her mama and adores her daddy, but her big sissy is really her favorite. All it takes is for Emily to come into the room and she has Natalie's complete attention. It's so amazing to see them play together and love each other. We really are blessed to have these two beautiful girls in our family! Even if neither one of them would ever take a bottle or sleep through the night. Have I mentioned we've had some sleepless nights? Perhaps if she starts to sleep more I'll be able to post more. Well, one can hope anyway, right? 

Here's to more fun, more laughs, more smiles and giggles, and of course more love. God has blessed us richly and I am so thankful to Him for it! I couldn't imagine our family with out this sweet baby; she brings us so much joy. We love you Nattie Roo! I can't wait to see the girl you become. 

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Preschool Time



Quite a few things have changed for us over the last few years. We moved to the Denver area, had a second beautiful daughter, Rob changed careers. It takes a lot to keep going some days, but we're doing it! I love our little family and wouldn't change it a bit!

With Emily quickly growing up and Nattie now deciding she needs to follow suit (darn babies that don't stay babies!), we've started to look more at the future for our girls and what we want that future to look like for them. In that vein, something I have become passionate about is homeschooling. Rob and I have decided that homeschooling our girls is the best option for them. I have some teacher friends (whom I love) and I know there are lots and lots of really great teachers out there, but the public school system in this country is failing. With the introduction of the Common Core State Standards, it has become even more apparent to me that homeschooling is the right choice for our family. I have always felt God leading me in that direction, and I'm going to teach both girls at home as long as that remains possible. I am so grateful to have this opportunity; watching my kids learn and discover new things is amazing! What a blessing to be able to be around for those moments.

So far, it's been great! We did a little informal learning with Emmie last year, but being pregnant (and huge) it was pretty hard to keep up a good schedule with her. I found a great curriculum that we love called My Father's World, and by supplementing with a few extra things I think she's going to learn a lot this year. We've completed one week so far and Emmie loves it! She is so eager to learn and soaks things up like crazy. I may be a bit biased, but I think she's the best preschooler ever! :)

First Day!

Counting days on the calendar

We had been doing a little school here and there over the summer so we started this year in the middle of the alphabet. This week was "I" for Inchworm.

She LOVES to do the dots!

This is part of the My Father's World set we got. It's fantastic!

Matching capital and lower case letter "I"

Painting is another big favorite!

Violet the puppy came to class today. :)

I am SO proud of my big girl. She loves to learn and works very hard, even when she gets frustrated. She's always got a smile on her face and a giggle to share and it's a joy to be her teacher, and her mama! She's our little monkey and we love her so much! I can't believe she's already three and in preschool. Sheesh.

And I can't end without sharing the love. Little sister Natalie is our other joy! 



She's 8 months old now and growing like crazy. She love her mama and daddy, but truly adores her sissy. The best thing in the world is watching them play together! Emmie is great with her and they can laugh and play for quite a while together. I am one blessed mama!

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Absent. . . Again!



Yes, it's been over a year since I last posted. Life gets busy, you know?

So. Things that have happened in that time:


  • We had a baby! 

  •  
    On December 6, 2012, our second daughter, Natalie Rae Shankland joined our family
    (Much more about her later!)


  • We celebrated a great Christmas!



  • Emily turned THREE! (Funny how they just keep on growing up...)


  • Rob joined Shankland and Associates and is now a part of his parent's family business. He is doing great and I couldn't be prouder.
  • We took a couple of mini-vacations! Once to Spokane and Seattle, and then later to Texas. Fun stuff!
  • Emily started a new ballet class, and started preschool! She loves both, of course!


  • I love looking back at the posts here and all the memories of Emily's first year and our family. Hopefully I'll be able to start this up again now that all the dust has settled! Well, is settling at least. :) Our family is a little bigger, a little busier, and a lot better these days. Here's to enjoying the adventure!! 

    Tuesday, May 15, 2012

    Mama’s New Toy

    Today we finally did it- we got a mini-van! Yay!!
    Here is our new van, a 2003 Honda Odyssey. It's dark sparkly blue with grey leather, DVD player, heated seats, all the goodies. The middle seats can come out and the back folds totally flat for lots of storage. It even has hooks in the back to hang grocery bags on so they don't spill! I love it. I don't care about all the mini-van, soccer-mom stuff, people that make those comments are just jealous. :) The best part is all the room we have now, and the sliding doors (that won't ding the car next to me when it's windy here- and it's ALWAYS windy here). I'm a happy mama!
    This was at the dealership before they washed it and got it all ready for us. It’s not that dirty now!
    Dealer Van
    Front seats, and Emmie’s seat. She loves being able to sit up high and see out the windows!
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    DVD system. I’m not sure we’ll use it much, but it’ll come in handy on long drives I’m sure.
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    Mama’s seat!
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    (Please ignore the mess in the garage- it's LOTS bigger than my old car and we had to move everything around to fit it in there.)
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    LOVE LOVE LOVE the power sliding doors. That, really, was the selling point for a van for us.
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    See the grocery bag hooks? Awesome. (Also pictured is our fancy fix-a-flat kit and our emergency bag! Always good things to have in the car.) It came with the tray and the cargo net, too.
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    Lots of room!
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    So, there you have it. Our new van! I’m excited to have the extra room and a good, safe car for our family. Plus, it’s a Honda! Can’t beat that. :)
    Anyone want a ride?

    Friday, April 6, 2012

    Emily's First Dance Class

    I'm pretty sure there's nothing cuter than an almost-two-year-old at ballet class. 


    She loves her ballet shoes and her leotard!


    Posing before class with Mama.


    She loved running around the big room with all the mirrors.


    Learning to hold the bar.


    They got "sparkle wands" and got to march around the room.


    At the end of the class they took a bow. Too cute.


    This was after class was over. Can you tell she liked it?




    (I promise not to wait 6+ months until the next blog post. Lots more pictures to come!)

    

    Monday, August 29, 2011

    Chatterbox

    Currently, our little family is borrowing a house in Downtown Denver near the Zoo, a huge golf course, and (the best part!) City Park. A few mornings a week we get out of the house after breakfast and go for a walk around the neighborhood and through the park. It’s a wonderful place to push a stroller, and has a great playground for both little and big kids. I think it’s the main thing we’re going to miss about this area when we move!

    Lets go already!

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    Looking at plants with Daddy

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    The playground (in the distance!)

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    Happy Girl!

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    Her favorite thing is to find the most perfect piece of bark in the whole place.

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    On the way home, she wanted to hold Daddy’s hand. Very sweet!

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    This next picture was too cute to pass up, so I had to post it. (Just for the record, though, it’s completely the reason we’re joining a gym this week. Sorry to all of you that have to see how large my rear end has gotten lately… Yikes!) Anyway, Emily likes to walk with us along the path like this and point at all the geese. She loves the park! Getting her back in the stroller though is sometimes a little tough.

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    On a different note, I read an article recently that said a child Emily’s age should be able to say about 7 words. Um, I think we can check that milestone off the list! Rob and I counted as many words as we could think of that she says, and we stopped when we got to 50. She’s always been a chatterbox, but it seems like she picks up at least a couple new words each day now. Just so I can remember, I want to list some of the things she says most often:

    Bye-bye (she says bye-bye to everyone and everything! Tonight she said, “Bye-bye bubbles!”as we left the bathroom after her bath. Haha. :), hello and hi, sit, stand up, mama, daddy, blanket, book, ball, blocks, up, down, more, please and thank you (she will sometimes say these appropriately on her own) milk, cracker, noodles, apples, cheese (her favorite), hot, walk, outside, SHOES! (another favorite), socks, pants, shirt, hat. She says the names and makes the sounds of a few animals: puppy is her all-time favorite, and she also knows kitty, cow, pig, duck, chicken, birdie, and elephant (complete with arm motion for the trunk. I love it. :). She names body parts: head, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, chin, hair, arms, hands fingers, tummy, knees, feet, toes.

    She’s catching on to new things really quickly, also. If we point to something and tell her what it is, she’ll usually repeat it. Today in the grocery store I found a magazine I had been looking for, and like a total dork I said, “Yesssssssss!”. The next thing we know, Emily’s in the shopping cart going “Yesss! Yessss!” complete with the silly arm motion! She’s dorky just like her Mama it seems. She also loves to read books with us now, and sings songs and makes the hand motions like we do- her favorite song is The Itsy Bitsy Spider! I think I sing that one 27 times a day. :)

    Our little social butterfly has been to the church nursery twice now and they say she does great! She smiles and waves at everyone wherever we go, and loves the attention she gets back. I don’t think we have a shy kid, that’s for sure! I’m really enjoying watching her grow and learn, even if I think she’s getting to big too fast. Being a Mama is the best thing I’ve ever done. I have a friend who’s pregnant with twin girls and I am so, SO excited for her and her husband!! Little girls are absolutely wonderful, even if I do want to pull my hair out sometimes. I can’t imagine our life without our sweet Emmie, and I thank God every day that he gives me with her.

    Life is Good. (And tomorrow, to the gym!!!)

    Friday, August 12, 2011

    Parade!

    Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to our very first parade as a family! It was in Castle Rock with our friends Dan and Kamala, and their daughter Brinton. Fun!

    Look at all the people!

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    The girls

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    Loudest police car ever.

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    Fire trucks

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    Big tractors like Grandpa drives!

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    Spirit fingers! (The cheerleaders were passing us)

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    With Uncle Dan

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    Clap clap clap!

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    Their Liberty Bell

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    Cheese!

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    We had a great time and can’t wait to do it again. We love Denver! :)