11 Months and Christmas

Yes...you did read that right...our baby is now 11 months old! Christmas day was her 11 month birthday! Remember last year when we all were praying for a Christmas miracle...well...this year she was here to celebrate Christmas with us. December has really been a month of remembering for us...it was one year ago on December 9th that we found out that Natalee was going to be a part of our lives...or at least we hoped...something could have changed but as we know...it didn't and her birthmom gave us the greatest gift by choosing us! God is so good! So anyway...I know it's been a while since I have gotten any pictures on here so there will be a picture overload at the end of this post (you're welcome Jodi!)...but first here's a little recap on what Natalee has been up too...she has officially started to walk...she got a push behind stroller for Christmas and that's all it took...she got so confident that now she leaves the stroller behind! Yikes...the last week has not been the same....I have a lot more picking up to do! She was definitely spoiled at Christmas and loved opening her presents :) She loves trying new food and Jon gave her her first pickle...which she loved! Still no teeth...I think we'll just buy her dentures ;) No new words really...she does say dada but not on a regular basis. Her new trick is "Soooo big" and she puts both arms (or at least one) in the air. She will also give you a five if you put your hand out and ask her too. She loves to give kisses and is starting to squeeze back if you ask her for a hug! I weighed her on our scale yesterday and she is up to 22.2 pounds! And my arms feel it...I'm building muscle every day :) I guess that's about it for an update. We had a great Christmas...celebrated a few different times :) We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas as well...and that with the busyness of it all that you remembered the TRUE reason for the season...that Jesus came to the earth as a little baby to show us how to live and then to die on a cross for our sins...God is good...all the time! And we hope you have a Happy New Year....Jon is in a wedding tonight so those are our plans...congrats to Edwin and Shelby...we plan to party 'til we drop...or at least until Natee does :) Well hopefully this wasn't too long of an update to read...and on to the pictures! Here's to 2011!

Natalee and Ole in their red and white Christmas outfits

Natalee opening her stroller

Natee and Ole in their matching jammies from Grandma

Natalee opening her music table from Nana and Papa...look how many helpers she had just in case she needed it :)

Opening presents at home

Look at all my loot!

In another basket!

She was just too cute in her swimming suit...chubby little thighs! We stayed in a hotel when we went and saw my grandparents...she liked the pool after awhile...it was kind of cold.

Alright...that's it for now! Take care!

Wow! It's been a long time!

So sorry I haven't posted anything in a long time! Our desktop computer will not hook up to the Internet and I've just been waiting and hoping that it will fix itself...but I think I'm going to have to take it in and spend some money on it...and so now I'm using our laptop which is super slow but I thought I'd better get on here and say something or none of you will read my blog anymore! ;) So needless to say this will probably be very boring 'cause there won't be any pictures of my cute girl on here...maybe sometime later this week I can get some to load on here but I don't have the time to do it now. Anyway...we are all good here...can't believe Christmas is this week! We actually celebrated with both of our families this last weekend and it was so much fun...and Natalee got so spoiled! :) I know my mom had a lot more fun shopping for her two grandkids this year! Natee got a stroller from my mom and dad and she loves it...now she can go where ever she wants too! She will be walking on her own before I know it...she's starting to get a little more brave and taking a step or two if she needs too. Let's see...what else is new with her? She still doesn't have any teeth...she says bababababa (bottle) and mamamama (and I think that is for both Jon and I...she hasn't gotten the dadada down yet :) )...she loves to give kisses...she raises her arms when you say "so big"...she loves trying new food...she has waved bye-bye and hi for awhile but it's getting more consistent....and she's trying it both ways...up and down and side to side :) Life at our house is busy but so much fun! Well I'd better wrap this quick up date up because I hear a certain someone upstairs talking :) We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! And remember...Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

10 Months

Our little turkey was 10 months old on Thanksgiving! It's so hard to believe that she is growing up so fast! She is very active...she figured out the crawling thing now but prefers to be up and walking...and she does that by holding on to anything she can...she now just leans against the walls for a little support and makes her way around the room that she is in...she has started to take a few steps by herself, which is scary...I think full blown walking will be here before I know it! She enjoyed her first Thanksgiving meal and wants nothing to do with baby food anymore...still no teeth and no sign of any...she babbles all the time and has started to say hubba bubba whenever Jon says it...no momma or dadda I guess :) She's good at giving kisses and has the waving thing down....and overall she is such a good baby and we are blessed! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and here's to the Christmas season!

Feel free to add your own captions to those last 3 photos...she is such a ham sometimes :)

Drum Roll Please................

Well here it is...this is what my sister-in-law, Annette, and I have been working on. After loosing Emmalee, someone gave me a necklace with her name on it...and I loved it. And when the boys died, Annette found out where Emmalee's necklace was made and got me one with their names on it...and I loved it! It is just so nice to be able to wear their names on your neck and be able to carry a reminder of them with you. And so...after Annette gave me my necklace we started talking about how we would like to be able to make these necklaces too...I wanted to be able to make them for others who had lost because they had meant so much to me...so we started doing our research and found out how to make them. I have been able to do a couple (unfortunately) for some moms who have lost their sweet babies just recently and Annette just heard of another family that just lost their little baby so we have another one to do. But as we got making these necklaces we realized we really liked doing it and started making more for ourselves and then realized that others might like them too...so without further ado...here is:

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So what do you think?!? Pretty fun huh?!?! We think so. They are all sterling silver with a sterling silver chain. We do custom orders so if you want anything just let us know...we can put names, dates, whatever you want...we have a lot of different images so ask away and we'll let you know what we have :) And I need to get better at taking pictures of them...I think I need a light box or something...if any of you have any tips for me I will take them :) And if we get going on this we hope to be able to get a website or at least a blog up and running so that you can see all the different ones that we have done :) Right now, since we are new, we are offering them at a low price...our prices are:

Small (like the flower ones with colored disk): $20 with the chain

Medium (like the rectangle dandelion or the owl): $25 with the chain

Large (like the bird with hope or the square hope) $30 with the chain

If you would like just the charms without the chain or if you want more charms added to the chain please contact us for prices. thirdtimedesign@yahoo.com

And you might be wondering where our name came from...well...you know what they always say...the third time's the charm! Well...thank you for letting me share this with you! They do make great Christmas gifts (shameless plug!!)...or any kind of gift! Take care everyone!

I'm a Winner!

I thought I'd tell you that just in case you didn't already know! hahaha! Actually, though, I am a winner...I entered an essay contest sponsored by one of our local shops (Rare Pair)...they have really cute shoes, clothes and accessories...anyway I saw in the paper a couple of weeks ago that they were holding an essay contest...you were suppose to write about a pair of shoes that made a difference in your life...and when I read that I all of a sudden had a 400 word essay in my head! :) hahaha! So...I decided that since I had this in my head I should write it down...you could only use 400 words...and so guess how many I used...403...so I had to get rid of a couple! :) You know...'cause I like to overwrite my thoughts sometimes :) Anyway...I decided to enter and I got a call that I was the 1st place winner! Yea! I was on Cloud 9 all last Thursday...I didn't know winning this contest was going to be such a big deal to me...but it was. She said that they voted and that they liked my story the best and it was the most well written...I don't know about that but...anyway...my prize was $150 gift certificate for a pair of shoes...so last night Jon, Natalee, and I went pick out my shoes...do you want to see them? Okay...here they are:

Cute right? And yes...they are UGGS...I would have never bought myself a pair otherwise so I thought I might as well get them ;) I did end up paying a little bit for these pair 'cause I wanted the ones that had the leather on the outside so that they would stay nicer for a little longer...but they are so soft and warm...I guess that's why people buy them, huh?!?! So anyway...I just thought that I would share my happy news with you all. And oh...if you want to read my essay...well I'll put it on the end of the post...just for you :) In other news...all is good with us...can't believe that Thanksgiving is on Thursday and that Natee will be 10 months then! She is really growing up on us fast. She is into everything now...she has figured out the crawling thing and she is moving at a good pace on her feet when she is holding onto anything...the table in the living room is her favorite. I think she's getting to the point of being done with baby food but she still doesn't have any teeth so I don't want to give her too much table food...even though I know she can gum it with her gums. And that's about it...oh...and check back here sometime this weekend so you can check out what my sister-in-law and I have been up too...once you see them I know you're going to want some made for you too! :) But I don't have time to get the pictures of those up right now so you're going to have to wait :) Sorry! Okay...have a great day and here's my winning essay (I just love saying that! Sorry...I know that it's annoying!!):

Pink Shoes

by Ali Feldman

A pair of tiny pink patent leather shoes has made the biggest difference in my life. They are a reminder to me of my journey in becoming a mommy. Ever since I was little, I have dreamt of being a mom, and after many years of trying my wish came true on April 10, 2008, when my beautiful baby girl, Emmalee Ann Pearl, was born. A girl! The dreams of all the clothes and shoes I could buy for her started dancing in my head. But our little girl was born with a heart defect and after open heart surgery and 13 days on earth; Emmalee had to go home to heaven. Little pink shoes would never be bought for her. After Emmalee, we also had twin boys, Owen and Cooper, that were born prematurely and they joined their sister in heaven after only a few short minutes with us. After their death we were crushed but we were not going to give up on our dream of becoming parents (and me becoming a mommy!) and so we decided that we were going to adopt. In September of 2009 we were approached about adopting a little baby girl and of course said yes. The papers were signed, and so of course I needed to go shopping and buy cute little clothes and a tiny pair of pink patent leather shoes for her. They were way too cute to pass up and leave in the store! Shortly before we were to take her into our home, her birth parents changed their minds and kept her. Devastated, I took the clothes back to the store, but not the shoes (or the pink sweater that matched them)…I was going to have a daughter to wear those someday. And that day came on January 25, 2010 when Natalee Ann came into our lives. Her birthmother picked us and never looked back. She chose life for Natalee and she chose us to be her parents, and we are so grateful. The first time I put those tiny pink shoes on Natalee I beamed. They were way too stinkin’ cute on her! And now as I sit here on this snowy afternoon I think of that day and those shoes, now too small for her, and I smile. Those pink shoes are a reminder of our journey and a reminder to me that I am…a mommy.

9 Month Photo Shoot

As you can see...my model was picture perfect again :) Just thought I'd share with you Natalee's 9 month photo shoot...hope you enjoy! Oh...and a little update on Natee...she's becoming way too grown up on me lately...she just cruises around the furniture now...and she has no fear...which has lead to a few bump and bruises :) Nothing major...yet! haha! :) So...that's what Natee's been up to lately...discovering the world! Enjoy her pictures :)

Fall......

I seriously don't know how it is possible to fall in love with someone more everyday(...except that I do...I love Jon more today than I did on the day that we got married...) but man alive...this little girl makes me fall hard every day...so I thought I'd share some of our Fall pictures with you today...and make you fall in love even more too! Enjoy!

So sweet

The sticking out of the tongue is cute now....I don't know if it will be later! haha! :)

She liked these pumpkins...which was good...I think she was getting tired of me taking pictures!

All our little pumpkins :)

Happy Halloween!

Have you ever seen such a cute smile on a bear?!? ;)

Her make-up wasn't perfect...it's hard to get a 9 month old to sit still!

What a cute little cub with her pumpkins!