The Feldman Family

I've got Georgia on my mind!

2012-02-05T21:31:00.005-06:00

Why is that you ask? I'll get to that in a second...but first of all...who ever says Minnesota nice has never been to southern Georgia...oh my goodness those people are nice. I've never been treated so good at a restaurant or anywhere for that matter. They were so helpful and always saying "yes ma'm". As you can guess Jon and I were in Georgia this past week...well from Wednesday to Sunday...and even though it hasn't been a bad winter in Minnesota it was so nice getting off the plane to 75 degrees and sunny and palm trees! :) And why Georgia you ask...why is Georgia on my mind?!?! Well...it's because my baby is down there...growing in his or her birthmom's tummy! What?! Did you read that right?! Yes you did!!!!! Can you even begin to believe it??!!???!!?? I know that I sure couldn't when Heather first got ahold of us via e-mail. Here we were grieving the loss of Oliver...and then we get this e-mail from a lady in Georgia wondering if we would like to adopt her baby (and by the way...we do know if this baby is a boy or a girl...but we are choosing to keep it a secret from all of you blog readers....just for fun!! So...when I get a poll going on the side of the blog you'll have to start placing your bets!). We really didn't even have to think about it...of course we would love to! So we made plans to travel down to meet her. Let me just tell you...we had a blast! We all hit it off right away and we even were able to go to a doctors appointment and feel the baby move and hear the heartbeat...it was so cool...thank you again Heather for that! It meant the world to us to be able to do that! Anyway...we spent a lot of time hanging out with Heather and her family, her son, her friends, and even with the birthdad. It was a great time getting to know everyone and again...thank you all for making us feel so welcome :) We cannot wait to go back in April to spend time with them again and to meet our new baby :) I'll have more details on all of that later when the time gets closer and we know more of the details of when the baby will be born (it's going to be a c-section so we are lucky that it can be scheduled so we can be there when he/she is born!!) :) Okay...I feel like if I keep writing I'm just going to start babbling because I am so tired...but I am so excited about our news that I just wanted to share it with you all before I go to bed tonight :) And again...thank you Heather...we loved meeting you and getting to know you...thanks for hanging out with us...and thank you Nick...we loved meeting you too and spending time with you as well. You are giving us an awesome gift and we are so grateful. Always and forever! We can't wait to see y'all again in April!!!

Here we are in Savannah with Heather (and baby of course!)...we love Georgia!!!

Curious George Birthday

2012-01-31T21:32:00.004-06:00

For Natee's birthday there was only one choice of themes...Curious George of course! He is her favorite! I think she could watch him all day long and not get tired of him...thankfully I don't find him annoying at all :) So here are a few pictures from her party...I'm pretty sure she had a good time :)

Cake and cupcakes...of course :) My mother-in-law picked through some runts to get me a bunch of banana's for my cupcake toppers :)

A candy table where George was the center of attention :)

Natalee was trying to be so patient and wait for her party so she could have a cupcake...you'll see later that she couldn't put it down!

Natee thought Bennett need to wear his party hat!

Making a wish!

"Okay I blew them out mom...can I have a cupcake now?!?!"

Yep :)

"hmmm...maybe I want cake too!" :)

Love it! :)

Family shot! Notice...cupcake is still in hand...and mouth!!

Happy Birthday my sweet girl! Glad you enjoyed your birthday!!

Happy Birthday Natalee!!

2012-01-25T09:56:00.005-06:00

Oh my goodness...my dear Natalee...I can't believe that you are TWO years old today! Where has the time gone?! I remember two years ago how nervous I was...we left early from our house that day because we knew that your birthmom was being induced and we wanted to be close when we got the call that you were born. I just couldn't believe that I was going to become a mommy that day...I was just praying that all would go smoothly with your delivery and that your birthmom wouldn't change her mind. I couldn't blame her if she did...look how cute you are!! And you are such a sweet girl...you brighten up every one's day that you come into contact with :) On the day that you were born your daddy and I just shopped and hung out in the town that you were born in...just waiting to get a call...well at 3:53 p.m. we got that call...we found out that you were born at 2:24 p.m. and that you were perfect...and they said that we could come up and meet you now...we were so excited! And when we saw you for the first time...we knew that you were ours! We love you so much Natalee and can't wait to watch you grow up! Happy 2nd Birthday my sweet girl!!

Look at you! This is you from last year!

And now look at you...my how you've grown up!

And for all of you out there...I'll try and get her pictures from her party on here soon! She had a great time at her party on Saturday...it was Curious George themed...she loves George! :) Have a great day!! We sure will...we are celebrating! :)

3 Months - Bennett

2012-01-11T17:22:00.000-06:00

So since Mr. Bennett is almost 4 months old I figured I better get his 3 month pictures on here! :) He's getting so big! He is really smiling now and giggling...it's so cute! And he has already rolled from his tummy to his back a few times...Natalee didn't do that til I think she was at least 5 or 6 months...I think I'm going to have a real mover on my hands! And I think I also have a good sleeper on my hands too! He's been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now and I am really enjoying that! Last night he slept from 10 to 8:30 so now I think I am going to start moving up his bedtime :) Although I do really like cuddling with him once his sister goes to bed...so maybe I'll just move it up to 9 or 9:30 for now :) Well I gotta run...hope you enjoy all his pictures...he's so stinkin' cute!

Quick Update

2011-12-30T07:50:00.000-06:00

Hi there!

I've been meaning to get on here to give you all a quick update on how we are doing...but the week has gotten busy and gone by quickly...which I guess is a good thing :) We are doing good...some days better than others. We've been just getting back into the swing of things of every day life...Jon went back to work this week and I've been at home with the kids. I think they both got a little spoiled by us both being home last week...Tuesday was quite the adjustment...and a very long day! haha! Physically I am starting to feel better...I was just having such bad cramps for awhile there but they are seeming to go away which is nice. So all in all I would say we are doing good...which is in huge part to all of your prayers...its so wonderful knowing that there are so many lifting us up in prayer at a time like this...I have said it before and I will say it again...you all will never know how much this means to us :) There are just times you feel like you can't pray for yourself anymore and it's nice to know that others are doing it for you :) We are going to have a little memorial/graveside service for Oliver on Saturday at noon out at Valley Grove...I think it will be a nice time to just remember him and lay him to rest. We are going to have my uncle say a few words and my grandpa and then just put him next to his siblings...Jon is actually going to dig the grave this time...and as we did with the boys and Emmalee we will do the burying as well...with Emmalee Jon just picked up a shovel and started doing it...and then with the boys all the men there took turns...it turned out to the be the hardest thing I've watched and the best thing all at the same time...all of them were just taking care of us and our babies...it was a very neat experience...so we are going to do the same thing this time as well. You can be praying for the day...that it will be nice (it is suppose to be in the 40's on Saturday) since we will be outside for a little while and that it will be just a nice time of remembering sweet Oliver's life...I know it will be hard and tears will be shed but I'm also praying that it will just be peaceful. Well I'd better run for now. Again thank you and if I don't get on here before Sunday....Happy New Year!

Empty

2011-12-24T09:58:00.004-06:00

I feel so...empty. There...I said it. And before you jump to conclusions...no...I am not depressed...it's not that kind of emptiness I feel...my womb is.......empty. And I feel it. So so much. My tummy is gone...well not gone because I've always been chubby...but it's not hard and round anymore...it was just starting to get that way...I loved it. And there is no mistaking any sort of bubbles for movement...they are now...just bubbles. I know for a fact that I felt him move once...I just know it...I was just over 15 weeks at that time...I was sitting at the computer like I am now and I just all of a sudden felt this little flutter with a couple little taps. Now seeing how tiny he really was it is amazing that you can feel a baby that small...but I know that I did...one time. I just was not done being pregnant! There...I said that too! And I'm kinda mad about it! It was just getting to the good part...the not being sick anymore...the having more energy...the start of feeling little flutters and kicks...I was NOT ready to be done. But here I sit...empty...feeling a little sorry for myself. Oh well...I'm going to for a little while. Because I know that I will pick myself up again...I will be fine...but I also think it's okay to grieve. Yesterday was a bad day. One of the worst...I've been okay during the day for the most part...it's the nights that get hard for me...but yesterday...I cried a lot. I think it's because I've had time to really think about what happened...and what is not going to happen. Bennett and Oliver would have been such great playmates...how cool would that have been to have a brother that close in age to you?! I think they would have loved it. There are so many little things...plans that we had...I kept thinking how busy we would have been...but it would have been a good busy. I keep thinking how cool it would have been to have a baby placed on my chest right after he was born. I keep thinking how fun this summer would have been or how fun it would have been to have Oliver and Bennett dedicated at church at the same time. Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts...run through my head all day long. And yesterday...they just hit me like a ton of bricks...probably because I was feeling so...empty. We are still waiting on the results of the autopsy and genetics testing. We decided to do this so that we could have some closure...and just in case we ever do decide to pursue having another baby...it would be nice to know if there was something genetically wrong with us that would say...no...do not try and have another baby...that one won't live either. Then we could say...Okay...not going down that road then. I told Jon yesterday that it would almost be easier to have a result come back like that...with something being off in the genetics...because then we would know...and because if it doesn't come back like that then we have another "fluke" baby...all of our babies have been "fluke" babies...there was no reason for Emmalee to have a heart defect...it was just one of those things. There was no reason for the boys to come early...my cervix was fine carrying Emmalee...they never did find a reason for my preterm labor...I still to this day think that Owen was just settled too low and put too much pressure on my cervix...but there was no way to diagnose that. And this baby...well we do think that we know why...after looking at him after he was born Jon noticed that towards his belly button the umbilical cord was really tiny...almost twisted...so he called the doctor over...and he said that he think Jon is right...he thinks that he was a very active baby and might have just twisted himself enough to twist the umbilical cord and ultimately cut off his life supply. That would definitely be a "fluke". By the way...I hate that word. God doesn't have any "flukes" in life...He has a plan for everything. So time will tell what we find out...I hope that they call us sooner rather than later...it's already been a long week of waiting. And I'm not sure why it's so hard to wait and hear...I guess I just want an answer this time.

Before I wrap this post up I just want to make sure that you all understand that I am okay...I am just sad and bummed. We were so looking forward to this baby being born in May and adding to our family. It was nice this week because someone actually gave me some validity to what I was feeling...we've had so many tell us that it's a good thing we have two kids to love at home...and while I know that is so true and I am so thankful to God for blessing me with the two kids that I have...they don't take the place of Oliver...or Emmalee, Owen and Cooper. They do however make it easier to cope and they keep us busier so we don't have as much time to think about our losses. But Oliver has stolen a little more of my heart that I won't get back until I am fully restored in Heaven. And I do hug Bennett and Natalee a little tighter now and tell them I love them so much...because they are my world and God has blessed my life, our lives, with them...and given us a great responsibility to be their parents...and we take that job very seriously. I just had to say that little piece because I don't think people fully understand if they haven't lost a child/baby. We still miss those little ones...Natalee and Bennett never took the place of Emmalee, Owen or Cooper (and now Oliver)...but they did make our lives brighter...we give God the Glory for that. God is good...all the time. And one more thing...I know that pregnancy is hard and uncomfortable...especially in the end...but for those that are pregnant now I just would encourage you to not complain too much about this great gift that you have been given in carrying a child. There are so many that I have met that would have loved to have had the chance to carry and trust me...all the aches and pains are not nearly as bad as the empty feeling I have inside of me right now...that I promise you.

Okay...this post is all over the place...I guess that's kind of how my mind is working these days. I pray that you all have a very Merry Christmas. And I pray that the little baby that came to Earth over 2000 years ago, named Jesus, resides in your heart this Christmas and always. He's the only One that can fill true emptiness inside of you...I'm so thankful that He lives in me.

December 20, 2011

2011-12-21T17:30:00.003-06:00

It was a beautiful day...a hard day...but a beautiful day. It was the day that we got to meet our little Oliver Davies Feldman...what a beautiful boy he was. He was so tiny, weighing in at only 2 oz and being 5 inches long. But he was perfectly formed...from his tiny little hands and feet, to his little eyes, his tiny little nose and perfect little mouth...it was so precious...he had his little hands and arms tucked up around his head...like he was sleeping on them...just like I do at night...I guess he was a little like me...but really...you could tell already that he was going to look like his daddy...those Feldman genes are strong! We were so glad that we were able to tell if he was a boy or a girl...because we really did want to name our baby...they said that if they couldn't tell at that time then they would run a test with the genetics to be able to find out...I'm so glad that we knew yesterday...it just made the time that we spent with him even that much more special. We decided to name him Oliver Davies after two of our favorite doctors that we have met down at Mayo. Both of them are so special to us and both of them have just been so good to us...giving us great advice and council and both have just been there for us and we trust them completely. Dr. Oliver was one of the doctors that we had with Emmalee (our rock at that time...we always looked to him when other doctor were telling us what we should do) and Dr. Davies has been our doctor with all of our babies...he's the one we see on a regular basis...he had us coming in every two weeks just to check on everything because this time he was going to get us a baby to take home. Well...we all know how that turned out...it wasn't in God's plan again this time...He has other plans for us...and He had a plan for Oliver's short life too...all 119 days he lived inside of me. We know that we'll see an impact from his life someday...it may be in Heaven but we know that his life was not in vain.

I'm going to close this post for now...I'll write more of the details of yesterday some other time but for now I just wanted to tell you a little more about my littlest baby boy...he really was sweet...I wish I could have kept him a little longer.

Three little words...can say it all

2011-12-19T08:03:00.003-06:00

"This just...(long pause)...sucks". Those are the words that came out of my doctors mouth on Friday after he came in to confirm what the ultrasound tech (and us) had just seen on the monitor one minute before. As he ran the ultrasound wand over my stomach my heart couldn't stop beating hard and fast...our baby, who was so active 2 1/2 weeks ago, was still...with out a heartbeat. It hardly looked like a baby, as it was all curled up and lifeless...I couldn't believe what I was seeing...and I could stop the tears from coming...why God why?!? I don't understand...I really don't. I still don't as I am writing this but I do know the One who is in control and I trust...even in the hard times...I know there is a plan...even if I don't particularly care for it! Our doctor talked to us about our options...we are 17 weeks along in this pregnancy and so we could either opt for a D & E or induced delivery. He sent us home to think about it over the weekend...he didn't want us making any rash decisions. To be honest it would be so much easier to just get put under and have the baby taken out...but the procedure is kind of invasive and the baby doesn't come out whole...we wouldn't be able to see or hold him or her. So...we have decided to do induced delivery. I would be lying if I didn't say that I was really nervous about this...I don't know how it's all going to go...how long it will take...how painful it will be...if there will be any complications that will end up requiring surgery anyways...there is so much to think about...I'm going to drive myself crazy! Also, we don't know what the baby will look like...they are so delicate at this stage and so I just pray that delivery is gentle on him or her. I feel like I am just rambling now because of my nerves so maybe I'll just stop and just ask for prayer...just pray for wisdom for all involved and for the peace and strength that I know only God can provide. I'll keep you all posted.

Due for an update...

2011-12-08T22:42:00.000-06:00

I figured I was due for a real update...not just pictures...so here's a little of what we have been up too...

Lately we have been trying to get the perfect Christmas picture...don't know that it is going to happen...we tried it the other day when it was snowing...I like them but the snow is a little distracting...then we took some when we got Jon's family together for a group shot...but everyone looks a little cold...oh well...next year I'll just have to get my butt in gear and get a picture taken in the fall...of course that wouldn't have worked for us this year anyway seeing as though little Bennett wasn't in our lives yet. Which I don't know if you know this or not, but we are so so glad that he is the newest member of our family...we are all so in love with him!! But back to the pictures now...here are a few of them that are in the running for the official Christmas card picture...not sure which one I am going to use yet...feel free to voice your opinion...but don't feel bad if I don't choose yours :) hahaha!

And then like I mentioned we took a group shot of Jon's family and the other day at church we took an impromptu picture of my family...I guess we all were a little behind this year...God must have done that to us because He knew that Bennett was coming into our lives :)

And Miss Natalee is doing great...she loves Loves LOVES her baby brother...she is always wanting to hold him and kiss him and rock him and help feed him and get diapers and wipes...she really is a good little helper for her momma! The only thing that she is doing now that we are going to have to stop is now that baby has a nuk (or a paci) she thinks she needs one...so we have to be careful where we leave them or they end up in her mouth...but the other day she came around the corner and this is what she looked like:

Too cute isn't she! She got those big glasses from one of the ladies in town and she loves them! hahaha! Other than loving being a big sister she is also talking more, expressing herself more (in good and bad ways) and really starting to copy what you do...so I have to be careful!! She is a delight...even when she is naughty (I swear the terrible twos have already started!!) and I am so blessed to be her momma!

Bennett has been a very good baby...we had him into the doctor last week and he is in the 93% for length and 80th for weight! So I guess everyone was right when they kept telling me that he is a big boy :) He's a very good eater (most of the time) and a pretty good sleeper...we've had two nights in a row this week where he has slept through the night! Last night it was 4 a.m. and I still thought that was pretty good...at least they are nice long stretches at night and he only gets up once in the night (if at all!). He's really starting to smile and coo and watches his sister very closely! All in all he's doing good and I'm sorry...I have to say it again...we are so blessed!

The picture below was after one of our photo sessions...he was worn out!!

Lately I have been thinking about Emmalee, Owen and Cooper...their lives and our time with them have just been replaying in my head a lot...I miss them so much and yet when I see the blessings of Natalee and Bennett that God has given me here on Earth I am reminded that this was all part of the plan...I was meant to be Emmalee, Owen and Cooper's mommy but only for a short time here on Earth...their lives were meant to touch others but they were never meant to stay...Natalee and Bennett are the ones that are suppose to be here in our family...they are the ones that I am suppose to be taking pictures of all the time and posting to the blog...they are the ones that will always be in my Christmas pictures...but...I can't help but miss my other babies. I always will...simple as that...their memories will always be fresh in my heart and mind...but it doesn't mean I have to dwell on the fact that they are not here...God has seen to that...He has blessed me beyond measure and He is really keeping me busy with my kids :) The other day we were singing "Blessed Be Your Name" at church and I think this was the first time that I sang it and I didn't start to cry...especially by the time you get to the words: You give and take away...you give and take away...my heart will chose to say...Lord Blessed be your Name. It is true...He does give and He does take away...but He doesn't leave you during that time...and for us...He didn't just leave it in the taking away...He also gave to us...and the blessings that He is giving to us...well they are more that we could ask for or deserve...sometimes God does take away...but when He blesses...sometimes He really blesses...

you see....

I am due....

at the end of May....

a beautiful blessing...isn't it?!?! :)

More details to come later...but prayers for a safe and healthy pregnancy and baby would be greatly appreciated :)

Bennett James Michael

2011-12-05T17:59:00.002-06:00

He finally has a name :) We debated this for a long time...but he's had one for a week now :) Now we just have to get everyone else used to calling him Bennett...but we do believe that it fits him...Bennett means "little blessed one" and we really do believe that he is a blessing to us and our family :) We also wanted to keep the name that his birthmom gave him because we know that it is special...and we really do like it too...Jon's dad is James and his brother's middle name is James...and my dad and my brother both have the middle name Michael...so it really does fit in our family! Anyway...just wanted to get on here and tell you that we finally have a name for our son...and well...I wanted to show him off a little too :) Here's some pictures of our little cutie!

Just some pictures :)

2011-11-26T18:19:00.001-06:00

You know...I don't like to brag...but I got some pretty cute kids :)

The Story

2011-11-23T15:05:00.000-06:00

Thank you so much for your patience as it has taken me longer to get his story on here than I thought it would! So without further ado...here is the story:

As most of you know we were chosen to adopt this baby this summer/early fall. But mid-way through the summer his birthmom decided that she wanted to raise him instead and so the adoption fell through. We were heartbroken and devastated of course but we had no choice but to move on with our lives and just keep praying for the baby and for his mom. I wanted so much to blog about what I was feeling but the hurt was just too raw that I never could...I just felt so close to this baby and to his mom and when she changed her mind everything changed and we no longer had any contact. In September we heard that he was born and that he was doing good...so we continued to pray for his little life and that if by some chance God wanted to open the door for us again that He could...and only He could! Well about 4 weeks ago, late one night I got a text message from his mom...she was checking to see how Natee was doing because Natee had just been sick with a stomach bug and I had posted on Facebook that I had just survived my first night with a puking child (the one thing I dread most about being a mom is having to clean up any sort of puke...except for spit-up...that is different...thank goodness Jon was home that night and he was my hero taking care of everything so all I had to do was rock Natee and only deal with a little bit of throwing up)...anyway...I got off track there...so she texted to see how Natee was doing and it just all lead to us talking about the baby (James) and how she was starting to think that adoption might be the answer. Talk about getting a little excited. So we all took time to really pray about it and see if this is where God was leading all of us. About a week later she came to visit us and boy did we fall in love right away! It was also so good to see his mom again and catch up with her and reconnect. And Natee fell in love right away too...she kept asking for "baby" and looking around to see where he was. After that weekend she had made up her mind that she did in fact want us to adopt him and so we went to the agency and our lawyers and got all the papers signed. We then had to wait for the custody papers to get signed by a judge and that took about 5 days...so on Monday, November 7th we met for lunch and after lunch little James was on his way home with us. It was such a good day :) And then since we have to wait 10 working days before it is all final we had about a week left of waiting...which actually went really fast...his birthmom assured us that she was not going to change her mind...that she had made her decision...but there is a little part of you that is on pins and needles that whole time...I believe that is human nature :) haha! So anyway...the 15th at 2:35 came and went and James is our baby boy now :) We are so blessed and can not say it enough...GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!!

Well this post has taken me about 2 days to write because I keep getting interrupted! It's definitely taken awhile to get used to having two kids but I think I will do just fine :) I just need to learn time management which has always been my problem....just ask Jon...he hates the fact that I'm always about 5 minutes late to everything...I swear I try I just can't do it...I can't be on time!! Oh well. Well I'd better run here for now...and just to give you a heads up so that you are not confused when you check on us later we are planning on changing his name...we love the name James Michael...it has meaning for his birthmom as she named him after special guys in her life and actually James is Jon's dad's name and Michael is my dad and brother's middle name so it works perfectly in our family too but we want him to have his own name and not the same one as his grandpa...plus there is something about getting to name your own baby...so we are still mulling over ideas and trying to figure out what his name is...we will let you know when we find the perfect one for him! :)

Remember...

2011-11-15T21:59:00.002-06:00

...this summer when I showed you this picture of our little ray of sunshine...

...and then I showed you this other little ray of sunshine...

...well here they are together...Sister and Brother!!!

Today at 2:35 p.m. James Michael officially joined our family through the miracle of adoption!

I promise I will have more details to share with you later but I just got him to sleep and I'm wanting a little sleep too! But I wanted to share with all of you our GREAT news! God is good...ALL the time!!!

When I grow up...

2011-11-08T11:02:00.000-06:00

...I want to be just like Daddy!

Last of the Summer Recaps!

2011-11-04T14:25:00.008-05:00

Okay...so here it is...the last of the summer updates...it's about time...it is November after all! Where did October go? No idea. Anyway...we ended the summer with two events...one being Ole's 1st birthday party...where did that year go? No idea. :) Anyway...here is Natee...all ready in her party dress going to Ole's party:

She looks kinda grumpy here...but isn't she still cute?! She was so excited to go and carry his present in with her ;) And as you can see from the picture below, Ole didn't lack in party goers or presents! Nor was he that interested in opening his presents! And one of the presents I gave him he hated...absolutely hated! He even cried! I gave him some jammies (which he likes) and then I gave him this really cute hat...a dressy hat to wear like to church or something...we tried putting it on and he cried and cried and cried...I still haven't seen him wear it to church so he still must not like it! Oops...I'll have to make a note to myself Ole not to buy you anything like that again! haha!

It was a Noah's Ark themed party and Britt did an excellent job planning his party...it was really fun! And her mom, Lynne, did a super job with his cake...check out that creation!

One family picture before Ole got to dig in!

Mmmm...this cake is really good Oma! I think I could get used to eating this stuff!

And as you can see...Natee took full advantage of Ole being busy with his cake to test out one of his new toys! :)

The last event of the summer was Jesse James Days...it's always the weekend after Labor Day and when it finally comes you know that the summer is over :( But we always have a good time going down and partaking in some of the festivities :) This year Natee was in the Kiddie Parade with her cousins...I think she had a good time and I know that she was the cutest little cowgirl around!

Here's the whole crew...waiting for the parade to start...it's kinda nice having the older kids because then you can go and actually watch the parade and not have to walk it yourself! And if any of you don't know what Mutton Bustin is...just ask my nephew Logan...he was a mutton buster this year at the rodeo and he walked away with a shiny belt buckle to prove it...way to go Logan! (Mutton Bustin is where they ride sheep...they hold on as long as they can...it's one of the best things and cutest things to watch at a rodeo) :)

I love it...Carter looks like he is so bored and Natee looks like she is having the time of her life! :)

And the best part?!? At the end you get a messy push up ice cream treat...yummy!!

Grandma and Grandpa even came down to watch!

And of course...it wouldn't be the Defeat of Jesse James Days without the big parade on Sunday...this is probably my favorite event of the weekend...I know some people can't stand parades but I've always liked them :)

Okay...now you are caught up on our summer...it's time for fall! haha! Actually this fall has been so busy but I don't have many pictures from it. Natee did not go trick-or-treating this year...when it came right down to it we both were like...nah...maybe next year. She was just going to wear her cowgirl stuff again anyway...and she had just as much fun staying home...picking out one treat from our candy bucket (a sucker!) and answering the door with mom...she loved seeing the kids out in all their costumes...and I was very surprised and happy to see that there were really no scary looking costumes this year! I hate those things! Anyway...hope you all have a great weekend!

Summer Recap #4: Watts Family Pictures and my Grandma

2011-10-18T10:21:00.006-05:00

Hi there! I'm back...with another summer recap...I only have one more after this one....and then I'll get back to regular blogging...maybe...you all know me ;) hahaha! It's probably a good thing that I am doing these summer recaps...brings back memories of warmer weather...which at the time I do not like but these last few days have been so chilly that I wouldn't mind having a few of those warmer days back...only a couple though...don't need any 90 degree days! Anyway...this summer we were able to get together with my dad's side of the family for a day...it was so fun to be all together and since we were all going to be there we thought it would be a great time for a family picture...and good thing we did...my grandma ended up passing away at the end of the summer and so we are so thankful that we have these last family pictures.

The Whole Crew...good lookin' bunch :)

And of course...we had to have a funny picture :)

My Grandma and Grandpa Watts

These are all the cousins: Sam, me, Kami, Cory, Angie and Andy

G & G with their great-grandkids: Ole, Ellie and Natee

My dad and his siblings: Pam, Sue, Richard and Tim (my dad)

Our family: Sam, Ole, Britt, my mom Annie, my dad Tim, me, Jon and Natee

Richards Family: Lindsay, Ellie, Andy, Richard, Pam, Brian and Angie

Sue's family: Cory, Sue, Greg and Kami

Mike and Pam

And this is one of my favorite pictures of me and my grandma:

it was taken the summer after Emmalee was born so I have all the lovely acne on my face still...but I just love the look on my grandma's face...for some reason it was hard to get her to smile for pictures...and this is one of the best smiles...because it shows a little of her mischievous side too :) She was a great lady and gone from earth way too quick for us that are still here...she had low blood pressure in the afternoon of August 28th...they took her to the ER that day and they did a few adjustments to her meds and sent her home...she didn't know why they had to go the doctor anyway...she was fine...well that night since they live in an assisted living complex a nurse was coming in to check on her through the night...when she came into check on her at 2:00 a.m. on the 29th she was gone...already walking in Heaven with our Savior...and I'm sure loving every minute of it! So while we were in shock and very sad she was not...she was preparing for that moment her whole life on Earth...just waiting for her Savior to call her HOME! She was a great lady and everyone knew she loved the Lord...she and my Grandpa won many hearts for the Lord with their ministries...first as pastor and pastor's wife and then as a team with their traveling puppet ministry. I loved going to their meetings and seeing the puppets...and even though I had probably seen each service at least 5-10 times it never got old...and I never got tired of hearing the good news of Jesus...and wanting to dedicate my life to Him...and since I'm kind of competitive I know that I have a lot of work to do to catch up to my Grandma...she's going to have a huge crown I'm sure when I see her and I hope mine is just as big...if not bigger! hahaha! And I can't even begin to imagine the cloud of witnesses she had at the gate to greet her...I bet it was an awesome scene...and I'm a little jealous...I will admit...I bet she's rockin' my babies as we speak...lucky little lady :) All this to say that while yes we lost a great lady and we are still sad about it we know that she is not missing us at all...after all this life is short and we will all be there in a blink of an eye :) And...I have to say....I'm really surprised that she made it this long before going to Heaven...especially with me as a granddaughter...because you see one time when I was about 14...knowing full well that my grandmother was deathly afraid of snakes I stuck a fake one in her bed when we were camping one summer...I thought right then and there that she was going to have a stroke and I was going to be the one to kill her...I don't think I have ever been so scared...scared that I was going to kill her and scared that if she did live that I was going to get a spanking from my grandpa for scaring my grandma...well she did live...and I did not get that spanking...she (I think) kept it a secret between us 'cause she knew how sorry I was...I think she saw the look of panic on my face too :) Miss you grandma and can't wait to see you again!

Summer Recap #3: Feldman Family Vacation

2011-09-18T22:46:00.000-05:00

Well this is the second year that the Feldman's have done a family vacation...so I guess that means it's an annual thing...yea! We have so much fun and I can't wait until next summer! This year we actually went to a campground in West Salem, WI which is near LaCrosse...we really liked it there (last year it was up in Nisswa, MN and we really liked it there too!)...so now we have to decide if we are going back to one of these places next year or if we should try somewhere new...if you have any ideas for us we are open to suggestions...the only thing is it has to be a campground with tenting (for Jon's sisters and their families), RV hook-up (for Jon's brother and his family) and cabins (for us and Jon's mom and dad...we don't camp!!!)...so let us know if you have any ideas! I feel like I have so much to write about our time down there and yet I know that if I do it will get too long...so I'll just leave you with some pictures instead...I thought you'd like that better :)

Natee is ready to go swimming!! Let's get going mom and dad!

Jon didn't wear these goggles to swim in...but he did let me take a picture of him in them for my mom...funny story...well kind of funny...a couple weeks before this Jon and Natee were wrestling on the floor and she stuck her finger in his eye...he said it hurt but didn't think much of it...when he woke up in the morning he couldn't even open up his eye and his other eye was really sensitive to light...so he went to the eye doctor and here she had gouged his cornea! It was so bad that the eye doctor told him that he needed to go home and let it heal and that he'd better not work...the risk of getting an infection was too great with the work that Jon does and if it did get infected it would not be good for Jon's eye...so he did listen to the docs advice and stayed home...for one day...so my mom bought him these goggles for the next time they wrestle :) And I am happy to say that Jon's eye has healed nicely :)

Daddy...you look silly in your goggles :)

We do this a lot on our family vacations...eat!

We always have one meal together but a lot of the time we have more than one meal a day together...it's such a good time

Natee being goofy...

For my actual birthday we were on vacation so they decided to take me on river boat cruise around LaCrosse...it was a lot of fun...and then afterwards we went to a really yummy ice cream shop :)

All the kids wanted to take pictures with my camera so I can't remember who took this one...but I think they did a pretty good job!!

Sweet girl and her monkey friend

Don't they look like little trouble makers?! They were so dirty! The guys said they would watch them and let us ladies have a little time off...I think they played in this dirt for over an hour and they could have played so much longer!

I know this picture isn't perfect with Natee's hands being blurry and all but I thought it was such a cute picture of the two of them...she loves her cousin Logan! (she loves all her cousins actually!)

Summer Recap #2: Surprise! You're 30!

2011-09-17T11:08:00.009-05:00

Yes...that's right...I turned the big 3-0 on August 10th...so a few weeks before that my husband decided to throw me a surprise party...let's just say...I was really surprised! Let me set the stage for you...a few weeks before July 23rd my sis-in-law Annette and I decided that we were going to do a shopping day...I had told her a long time ago that I was taking her out for her birthday (which was in NOVEMBER!) and so we decided that we'd go out and celebrate our birthdays together...well Jon got wind of this plan and thought this would be a good time to plan a party because I would be gone for sure. So on the morning of the 23rd we headed out and got to Northfield around 9...since it was a special day we decided that Caribou coffee was a for sure thing...we had noticed that the sky was getting pretty dark but the wind wasn't picking up and there wasn't any thunder and lightening at all...I kid you not...we walked into Caribou and we were probably in there for like 30 seconds and all of a sudden it started pouring...and the wind...wow...it was blowing things all over...needless to say...we stayed in Caribou for about a half hour while the storm passed. Once we could get going we were on our way...we decided to do some of the little streets and areas that we had never shopped before and my goal was to find a cupcake shop! It was really fun exploring new parts of the cities that we never had before...and we found some cupcakes...two places actually! Annette had found this cute little deli called YUM! and it did live up to it's name :) Since we were just kind of making our way around we didn't actually eat lunch until 3 p.m. By that time we were starving and we ate way too much...including a cupcake (well both of us had our own) that was bigger than my head...well maybe not that big but it was not your ordinary size cupcake...after that we stopped at a few more shops but we were both so full that we couldn't enjoy ourselves anymore! hahaha! Well I should have know that something was up (but of course I didn't) because Annette wasn't in any hurry to get home even though she had told me at the beginning of the night that she needed to be home by 5:30 so Todd could go out with his friends that night...as we pull into town I noticed that our favorite pizza joint didn't have any lights on and I told Annette..."Oh no! I think B & L's closed!" She seemed really concerned too...little did I know that that is where Jon was ordering pizzas for my party and so she was concerned about what he was going to do. Anyway...this story is getting really long...sorry...we headed to my house and on the way out there I told her "urgh...I just can't wait to get home and lay on the couch...my stomach is so full...I think I need a nap or something"...as we get into town she starts going really fast and I think "oh...we must be going to her house...that's okay...I can just walk home" and she then says..."I'm just going to do a U-turn here...at which point she whips around the corner (and scares me half to death...I'm not even exaggerating about that!) and then I see all the cars in the park behind my house and it's all starting to come together...and then I get the shakes!! Don't ask me why! I think I got nervous there for a second and didn't really know what was going on...that and the fact that I thought I was going to lose my life when Annette whipped me around the corner!! hahahaha! So...ask anyone that was there...it took me a long time to get out of the car! I rolled my window down...smiled and laughed a lot...listened to them sing me Happy Birthday...and there I still sat...in Annette's van! Then someone finally said "Are you going to get out of the car?!?" Oh yeah...I probably should do that :) And remember that storm I told you about earlier (I know...it was so long ago) well it turns out it was a pretty major storm in Northfield and the power was out...so Jon didn't get to order the pizza from our favorite place and they didn't call him until 4:00 to tell him that they wouldn't be able to make his 10 pizzas...so he had to scramble a bit but luckily he found a place and he was used to scrambling that day...'cause not only was that a problem but he also had a lot of tree emergency calls that he had to go take care of...he was up getting a few supplies for the party when he got the call that he needed to come home and get to work...poor guy...thankfully his mom and my other sis-in-laws were there to help him out...but he did a great job and it was such a fun party! Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate...it was a really fun party (even though I had to keep reminding you all that I wasn't 30 yet!!) and Jon has a disclaimer to add: He's sorry if he forgot to invite anyone...he is not used to throwing parties! Well here's some pictures from the day!

Natee's like...here mom...this is how you do it...put your finger in here...

....and then lick the frosting off like this...I know mom...I've had one of these parties and cakes before...ha!

It's good to be 30...especially when you have a cute one like this to help you celebrate!

Eating and chatting...two of my favorite things!

Bucket of water...yes please!

Neighbors...John, Amy and Jolee

The brother/sister shot :)

Aunt Suzi and me

I guess the kids thought the port-a-potty looked like fun...or at least it looked like a good place to hang out! :)

2 of my cute nieces...Lily and Ella

Randy and Shelia

I think Bob was trying to steal my cash!!

Britt's family came all the way from IL to help me celebrate! no...not really...there were already in town...but they did take time out of their busy schedule to come down and celebrate with me for a bit...thanks guys!

Shelia and I

Sarah and I and the twins...these two girls were suppose to be Emmalee's playmates! It's been fun to watch them grow and see what stages Emmalee might have been in :)

Jon's tricky accomplice! She sure is sneaky even though she doesn't look like it! :)

I don't think Ole was too sure of the hammock :)

Joyce, Katie and I

The Party Planer...he sure did a good job! Thanks Jon!

Jon and I with his other girlfriend...Great Aunt Pearl!! :)

The kids were done partying...time to go for a bike ride! The end! :)

Oh...and thank you to my mom who took all these wonderful pictures for me!!! Thanks Mom!

Summer Recap #1: Misc...

2011-09-15T11:18:00.010-05:00

(NOTE: Blogger keeps messing up my spacing and I am tired of trying to fix it and dealing with it so now you just have to deal with it! :) Hopefully it's not too distracting!)

I don't know about where you live but up here in Minnesota it is starting to feel like Fall! Yea!! But that got me to thinking...I'd better do a few summer recap posts (I was only going to do one but then I found so many pictures and thought that this one would get too long...so I'll save your eyes some and break them up!) since I am such a bad blogger and haven't updated in forever...I think if I ever start another blog the name or title of it should be Bad Blogger...just to give everyone a heads up before they invest in reading :) hahaha! Thanks for sticking with me and understanding that I am not finding the time to blog that I would like to right now...I tell you...this is such a busy age...all you moms and dads know that...and people can tell you that...but until you've experienced it yourself you can't even begin to understand how busy these little people can be...but it's oh so fun and oh so rewarding! Anyway...on to the first recap...

One of my clients had baby bunnies so she called me up when they got to the "cute" stage...Natee had a blast being in the little pen with them and loved that she could hold them...my client and her daughter were so nice and let Natee handle them...even though sometimes she was not very gentle! :) And now...one of these bunnies (don't ask me which one) lives next door to us...our neighbors ended up buying one and so Natee is so happy to be able to go over to it's cage and just say "hi hi hi" over and over again...

We were able to take a little getaway to Brainard this summer...not as long as we would have liked it to be but we were able to get out on the water when we got up there...Natee loves the water and loves to be out on boats....she's a true Minnesota girl! We actually went up there to have a mini-family reunion with my dad's side and boy am I sure glad we were able to do that...I'll write more on it later but at the end of August my grandma ended up passing away unexpectedly...I'm so glad that we were able to get one more family picture together...and again...that's one of my other posts so I'll say more on that later.

At the end of August our friends Anna and Owen got hitched! It was a beautiful outdoor wedding at their home...Anna was such a beautiful bride...I wished you could see more of her dress in this picture...it was so pretty...it was definitely a dress made for her :) And Natee was such a good girl at the wedding and she busted loose once the music started...she definitely has a little rhythm in her bones...she's so funny to watch and it was funny to see how many of the people wanted her to dance with them...we even threw her in the middle of a circle and they all clapped and she went running out...too cute!

She also got a little sand/beach time with her cousins...and she loved every minute of it...she loves to get dirty and dig in the sand/dirt but then she is also a girly girl in the fact that she loves her purses and dolls/stuffed animals...as you can see in the next pictures...

She was all ready to go with her purse around her arm...she just cracks me up some days...and makes you realize how much they really do watch you! She knows that momma can't leave the house without her purse!

Well hopefully you enjoyed this first recap...more to come....

Yet again....

2011-08-19T21:03:00.004-05:00

Hi all! I have so much that I want to blog about and so much that I need to blog about...but tonight is not the night...I just wanted to tell you all that we are heartbroken once again. The birthmom has decided to keep her baby so we will not be adopting here in a few weeks...we have known that it has been a possibility for a little while now but it was confirmed to me on Monday when I texted with her. I've been wanting to post it on here but I just didn't have the words to say and I feel like I still don't. Heartbroken, sad, upset, a little mad, hurt, etc...those are all words I would use to describe how I am feeling right now. I know, I really do know, that God has a plan for all of this and for us...I just don't understand it right now...and I don't think that He expects me too. We will just keep trusting Him and leaning on Him to guide us to where we are suppose to be. And my sincere prayer is that He wants us to have another child here on earth to raise. But that thought is for another post because I have had so much swirling in my mind lately (like thoughts that Natee might be my only child and I need to start being content with that...which I totally am so grateful that she is my daughter and that she is in my life...I just didn't ever expect to have an only child...I want her to grow up with a sibling...like I said...my mind has been wandering so much lately...it needs to stop! :) ) Anyway...I just wanted to update you all on what is going on with our adoption situation...I know that all of you were so excited for us and that you were all praying for us...and we so appreciate it. We did tell our birthmom (well I guess she's not a birthmom anymore but I'm just going to refer to her as that 'cause it's easier that way) that if something changes in her mind or in her life to not hesitate to call us again if she wants to...we sure hope that she feels comfortable doing so if she wants to...she did tell us that she would keep us updated on all that is going on with her and the baby and we are so grateful for that too. We just completely feel in love with this baby when she told us way back in April that she wanted us to raise him or her...and we really did not see this coming. I could go on and on but I won't right now...thanks for your continued prayers...we could sure use them. :)

18 Months!

2011-08-05T12:09:00.005-05:00

Can you believe that our Nateebug is 18 months already?!?! Well it's true...on July 25th she turned the big 18 months old...and no one warned me that it was coming up so fast! She's just really starting to grow up on me...getting very independent and pretty helpful around the house...well...maybe that's not exactly true but we are working on picking up after our self when we pull out all the kitchen towels or empty out the Tupperware lid drawer :) She is finally getting more teeth...she's got molars coming in and she knows how to use them :) She is doing very well with her potty training...we sometimes have an accident but for the most part she is dry all day long! I wasn't sure that I was ready to start the whole potty training thing and after the first couple of days I was ready to throw the towel in...but I got some encouragement and I'm glad I stuck it out...I think it's going to work very well to have her trained young. She says words...gets more all the time...but she still isn't a real "talker" yet...I know what you are thinking...you are surprised since I am her mother after all :) One day I think she will just start and never stop...so I'm not encouraging the talking too much! haha! I can't think of too much else to tell you...she's just a good little girl and she loves to have fun...and we have so much fun being her mom and dad! She did a pretty good job with her 18 month pictures so I attached those on here so you could see them :) Hope you all have a great weekend!

Natee says: I Love...

2011-08-01T11:30:00.003-05:00

SWEETCORN!!!!!

I know that I've been a bad blogger...and there is so much to catch you all up on...we've been so busy lately...so I promise to try and get a few posts up this week to catch you up...until then...have a good Monday and go out and enjoy some sweetcorn yourself! :)

Ray of Sunshine...

2011-07-11T12:41:00.004-05:00

Isn't she just a beautiful ray of sunshine. She is my ray of sunshine. Period. End of story. Lately I have been remembering Emmalee a lot...I mean I still don't think there is a day that goes by where I don't think about her and the boys...but lately I just feel like I have been reminded that she would have been a three year old. The other day my friend's little girls turned 3...it was the day that Emmalee was born that we found out that my friend was going to have twin girls too...we were so excited that we were going to have girls together and they were going to be the best of friends...she even bought me a matching outfit to go along with the outfits she had already gotten for her girls. And the other day...they turned 3! And as I said to her that I couldn't believe that the girls were turning three I just had this thought well of course I can believe it...Emmalee would have been three...it's been three long years that she has been gone...but when I see these girls...I still can't believe that it's been three years! And then around Mother's Day we were at a park and I saw this lady holding a blanket...we have the same one...and then I remembered that we had actually gotten it as a gift for Emmalee...and so I looked around and sure enough...there was little girl who looked to be about 3 and I just sat there and couldn't believe that that is what my little girl could have looked like. To me...she will always be a baby...she will never grow up...but really...she could have been this totally independent little thing who thought she didn't need me anymore...I wish she was. Another time was here in our small town...we had a little ice cream gathering and this little girl was walking around...I didn't remember at first who she was but then it dawned on me...she was the little girl that was born shortly after Emma and she had a little bit of a heart scare too...I think she ended up with surgery as well but it was a minor one compared to Emma's and she came through just fine....thank you Lord! And one more...I've been reading a blog lately and the little one is in the NICU and it just takes me back to the days that we were there with Emma...all the tubes and wires and lights and machines...I sometimes wish for those days...for me...but not for Emmalee...I'm so glad that she doesn't have to deal with that and that she is totally healed. I'm not sure why I shared all this with you today...probably just to be real with you...to let you know that I am still human and that I do still miss my baby girl...but also to let you know that I am okay...and I got my little ray of sunshine to help me through my dark and cloudy days...I mean really...

how could this face not cheer you up?!? I thank God for her everyday and can't imagine my life without her.

And here's a couple more ultrasound pictures of our next little ray of sunshine that we can't wait to meet...only a few more weeks to go (9 until the due date!)

So what do you think? Boy or girl? I'll have to put one of those polls up soon to see what everyone thinks...that was kind of fun the last time with Natalee...of course that time Jon and I did find out that she was a girl so it was fun to see that most of you were right...this time though...total surprise to all of us...which I think is soooo fun! Rebekah had a doctors appointment the other day and she said that all was going well...the heartbeat was 140 so that's good...now we just wait :) Natee is going to be so in love...this last weekend I wish I would have gotten a picture of her...we had two new families come to our church and both of them had babies...she walked right over to their carriers and squatted down and even put her hands on her knees and started to talk to them...it was so stinkin' cute! She's going to be a great big sister and these two will be so close in age that I think they will be great friends!

Well thanks for letting me express my feelings to you today and show you my little rays of sunshine...here's praying you all have a little sunshine in your life today too!

Time for a little recap!

2011-07-06T11:35:00.009-05:00

Hi there! Yep...it's me...and yep...I've been MIA...again! I will try try try to get better at blogging again...but for now...here's some pictures to help kind of recap our summer so far...and by the way...can you believe that the 4th of July is already here and gone?! Crazy! All is good here on the Feldman front...Natalee is doing great...she's a 17 month old that is busy all the time :) All seems to be going well for our birthmom too...she told me that babybug is moving all the time and that the next time we get together I'll be able to feel him or her! I'm so excited! Now we just need to figure out a time to get together! :) Well I'll let you go so you can get through my massively large picture post :) Enjoy!

We were able to see Great Grandma and Grandpa when we went to my cousin Cory's track and field meet...he does pole vaulting...I still don't see how they do that! It was the state meet and Cory did great!

Up he goes!

And down he comes :)

The meet was at Hamline and they have one of those Snoopy statues there...so of course a picture needed to be taken!

We've also been out to visit Emmalee and the boys

And help water all the flowers

Such a good helper!

Then Jon and I took a little getaway over to Milwaukee a few weeks back...Natee stayed at home with Grandma and Grandpa and I think she could have cared less that we were gone...she was so doted on :) While we were there the weather was so crappy...cold and rainy...so it made it hard to do anything...but we were able to take in a Twins game at Miller Park which was really fun...we were also able to make about 4 trips to Kopps to get frozen custard...if you are ever in Milwaukee you'll have to find Kopps! You will not be disappointed...just think Culvers times 10!

Me and Mickey

Awe...we look like we had a fun time...oh wait...we did :)

Then this past weekend we were able to go to the Twins game at Target Field and actually sit in a suite! Now it's going to be hard to sit back in a regular seat :)

We even got to meet Drew Butera...isn't he cute :) Look how much closer I am standing to him than Jon! hahaha!

We even had a rain delay...and look at this black cloud that rolled in...I have never seen one this dark! It was funny to watch all the people scramble to get under the shelters before the rain just poured!

And then the exciting news of the night was that Kim Kardashian was at the game...her fiance was throwing out the first pitch (that is him up above)...I had walked by this suite (suite 14 if you must know) on my way to the bathroom and there was a bodyguard with an earpiece in...and I thought to myself...wow...someone important must be in there...well it didn't take long for word to spread as to who it was...you wouldn't believe the entourage that she had with her...all for a reality star....but I have to admit...it was pretty cool to say that I saw her (they left in the 5th and walked right by our suite...so of course I gawked and watched as she went by!) haha!

And this was another cool picture...there was a night rainbow! I had never seen one of those...didn't know there could be a night rainbow...but it was dark and I just happened to look off to my right and there it was...of course I had to point it out to everyone to make sure that I wasn't seeing things!

And of course summer wouldn't be summer without pool time and watermelon!

Yummy!

Mommy...you want some?!?!

And Sam and Britt were nice enough to invite us over to use their pool at their condo...it was so much fun and Natee had a blast being in the pool with Ole

A family that swims together....has a lot of fun :)

Uncle Sam, Aunt B and Ole

Natee wanted to try Ole's hat!

Getting a little ride :)

Waiting for the parade to start...the kids are ready to get...CANDY!

At the Cannon Fall Parade...just waiting for it to start!

Picnic lunch group :)

More picnic lunch group :)

And what's 4th of July without...WATERMELON!

Natee and her cousins in Lake Byllesby...the kids could hardly wait to finish with our picnic so they could go and jump in the lake...it was a nice hot day so I'm sure it felt great!

Natee and Daddy enjoying a dip in the lake

Natee and her friend Evan...I think they both enjoyed their 4th of July!

In 3 short months...

2011-06-12T19:24:00.000-05:00

this girl's shirt (and our dream) is coming true...

Did you catch it? It says BIG SISTER! I thought I'd better ask and make sure you got it because there were a couple people (and I won't mention names...ahem...mom and dad) who didn't get it...Natee was wearing this shirt around their house for forever...I asked them if they liked her shirt and they said "yes...it's very cute...big sister...cute"...and not until we got to the restaurant and had been there for a while did my mom get a funny look on her face and ask if Natee's shirt was suppose to mean something...yes mom...it means something :) I was getting all antsy for my brother and my sis-in-law Britt to get to the restaurant because I knew they would get it right away...they were there for like 2 seconds before they both had a little gasp and asked what was going on! And...quick funny story until I move on to more details about our big news...the restaurant that we were at just happens to be the place that Sam and Britt took my parents to when they told them about being pregnant with Ole...I had no idea...we (Jon and I) had never been to this place and no one knew that we had any news at all to tell...we all had a good laugh about that one! :) Okay...you want some details...alright...I suppose I can do that :)

Settle in...here we go!

A couple months ago we were contacted by a friend that had a friend who found out she was pregnant...she wasn't sure that she wanted to even look into adoption but as time went on she asked our friend more about it. When she found out about us and that we were wanting to adopt she asked if we could meet...of course we were super excited to meet her even though we knew that she might be keeping her baby. We had a great night with her and our friend and by the end of the night we felt like we had known her all our lives (I mean we found out we share a love for the Minnesota Twins...how could you not be good friends after that!). She had told us that night that she was really going to think it over and pray about it and that she had a date in mind that she would make her final decision. The night she called will be a night I won't ever forget...it was a Tuesday night and I was on my way home from work when she and our friend called me. She told us that night that she had prayed about it and really felt a peace about her decision and she wanted Jon and I to adopt her baby! I wanted to cry I was so happy! She has truly given us the best gift...we keep reminding her about that :) We have since gotten together a few times and we really like to spend time with her...in such a short time we have really developed a love for her and I think she likes us too (is that right Rebekah?!?!). As I blog about her and our baby I'll probably refer to her as our birthmom or Rebekah (which is her middle name) 'cause that will help in identifying who I am talking about but also keep some privacy for all of us :) If that's okay with all of you...thanks...I knew it would be :) So yes...to say that we are excited is an understatement...we are over the moon and already so in love with this baby that will grace us with his or her presence in the beginning of September (September 12th is the due date)...and yes...I did say him OR her because we do not know the sex of the baby yet...Rebekah asked us if we wanted to know and we told her that it was whatever she wanted...she told us that it was our baby and our decision so we said that we wouldn't mind being surprised and so she didn't find out :) The ultrasound looked great and so far baby has had a strong heartbeat. Everything looks to be going perfect! We just ask that you all keep baby in your prayers that he/she will continue to develop healthy and strong and we ask that you pray for an easy pregnancy for our birthmom (that would be nice huh Rebekah?!?!). Thank you all for your prayers and for being excited for us as well...and what is our saying?!?! Yep...God is good...all the time! Here's a sneak peak at babybug! (I call Natee...Nateebug so I thought it was only appropriate to call baby... babybug until he or she gets their name!) :)

Is this not the cutest little picture...he or she is sucking on its hand!

Pretty Girl

2011-06-08T11:22:00.004-05:00

Isn't she so pretty:

We had a fun day going out to one of our favorite places and taking some pictures last week...in case you don't recognize it it is out at Valley Grove...where our other kids are buried...it's not far from our house and it's so pretty out there so we like to go out there often...plus now that it is summer we have flowers to water! :) So I just thought I'd share some of the pictures we took...hope you enjoy!

And of course while we were out there Miss Natalee had to lose her footing and land right on the corner of a headstone and split her chin right open...I felt so bad for her and thought maybe we were going to need some stitches (those corners are sharp!) but it cleaned up okay and didn't look as bad once it started to clot...we got her a new shirt and she was all smiles again :)

Can you see her nice boo boo...sorry the picture is a little off...I was trying to hold her at the same time :)

It's about time!

2011-05-27T11:57:00.004-05:00

For an update that is! Geez...could I get any worse at this blogging thing! Wait...don't answer that...the truth is...I probably could! Anyway...we are doing good here in the Feldman house...we are keeping busy and that's a good reason why I haven't updated lately! :) Natee is continuing to change all the time...she's a little stinker and knows it :) She is so much fun and we are so happy to have her in our lives :) Let's see...what is she doing that is new...oh...she has started to put her finger up when asked how old she is...sometimes you have to say "Are you 1?" and then she puts it up...but I still think that's pretty good for her age. She is starting to hid which I don't know where she is getting that from...the other day she was hiding behind a chair and now today I had my closet open and she crawled in there and was hiding behind the vacuum cleaner...it's pretty fun...like she really does know what she is doing...and I'm convinced that she really does know that she is hiding! ha! And no...she is not hiding to fill her pants! In fact...she's been going on the potty for a couple of months now...and before you say anything...I know...we are crazy...but we have been told that they can learn early and we decided to try it...so it's going okay...but she still wets her pants (but we haven't taken her out of diapers yet) but as far as the other goes....she hasn't had but maybe 3 or 4 dirty ones in the last 4 months...she is able to tell us that she has to go by patting her tummy, which we taught her, and so far so good. I have to admit that I wasn't so gung-ho about this early potty training but I have liked not having to deal with the dirty diapers! As far as when we will get real serious about the potty training I think we will try at 18 months...most of my nieces and nephews have been fully trained by that time so we'll see how it goes. Okay...let's get off that subject...sorry didn't mean to take this blog post there! :) Oh...and Natee loves animals....so so much...and she loves the kitties next door, which her dad isn't happy about 'cause he can't stand cats...but it's so cute...she heard me calling them one day and I was making a kissing sound...so now she goes outside and say "keeeyyy keeeyyy" and then claps her hands and makes kissing sounds...oh...it's just the cutest little thing...she's so smart. And the cats next door...they are so nice and come running up to her and are so good to her. Well....I think that's enough of an update for now...I gotta get doing something around the house during her nap time. We put our house back on the market to see if we could get any bites...we would just like to get into something a little bit bigger if we could...and maybe closer to the farm if possible...we'll see...so if you know of anyone looking for a house let me know :) Have a great Memorial Day weekend! OH...and here are a few pictures for you...enjoy!

Two buddies! I thought her face was priceless...Jon looks pretty happy too! We were on a walk for Cystic Fibrosis...one of our favorite doctors who took care of Emmalee has this icky disease and so we were walking for him...it was a great day and we were so happy we could spend our morning with him and his wife (and their doggies) and raise a little money as well!

Natee being silly...she was carrying this lid around...it's amazing what will entertain kids!
Lid kisses!

So big! And look mom...I'm standing on a lid! Does this lid make me look taller?!?!

Her new favorite spot to sit...so far we have not tumbled off of it!

A girl after her Mommy's own heart

Prima ballerina

Or doctor?!?!

Happy Mom's Day

2011-05-09T11:36:00.003-05:00

I know...I know...how could you not love this little face:

Oh I really really do...I thank God every night for her and her life...and for the fact that I get to be her mom...wow...what a scary task that is! I pray that I (well...Jon and I) will raise her up right...that she will come to know, love and serve God at a very early age...and that she will be a girl/woman that will bring joy to those around her...and if she just happens to be a rocket scientist, a farmer, and hairstylist all in one...well...that would be okay too :) Whatever she grows up to be I just pray that she will look back and know that her momma loved her very much and that I was always there to encourage her...I am one blessed momma to be this little girls momma! We had a wonderful Mother's Day...Jon and one of our friends decided to surprise their wives/baby momma and take us out to brunch...the place that they had picked they tried to get a reservation but they wouldn't take them so by the time we got out of church it was a 2 hour wait...no way were we going to do that...so onto plan B...which ended up to be way better than plan A anyway...we had a delicious brunch and then we came home to take a much needed nap...unfortunately Natee had other plans so Jon didn't get a very long nap but being that it was Mother's Day...I did :) The rest of the day was just spent hanging out together and doing a little cleaning...and then of course watching the Amazing Race finale...Jon's sister and husband were able to join us so that was a lot of fun! So thank you Jon for a wonderful Mother's Day...you sure know how to make a girl feel loved...and thank you Natee for being you and so easy to love...Momma loves you very much!

How can you not love that smile!

Love love love!

A girl and her momma...remind me to show her these pictures when she gets to be a teenager and I become dumb and stupid! :) hahaha!

A momma with all her kids.

I am so thankful for Natalee to be here to celebrate Mother's Day with me...but there will always be three little babes that I will be longing to see on these days...there will always be three cards that I don't get to open...three hugs and kisses that I don't get to feel...three little voices saying "I love you" and three little voice I have to tell to be quiet sometimes. Oh how I miss them all...but Jon told me last night that he is pretty sure that they are making cards for me in Heaven and I will have a bunch to open up up there...and they are probably made of gold so they will be much better than any card down here :) He knows just what to say. But I do want to give a shout out to all the moms out there whose babies are making cards with my babies...just know that I thought about you all and hope that you had a wonderful Mother's Day...in spite of the pain of missing our little ones. May you feel God's loving arms around you even more...and to all the ladies out there who are waiting to become moms...I've been in your shoes too...I pray that your hearts desire will be answered soon and that you will be able to hold a new bundle of joy in your arms soon. Happy Mom's Day.

What a busy weekend!

2011-04-28T10:23:00.010-05:00

I'm sure you all thought that too! Holidays are so much fun but boy to they make the weekend go by so fast! Saturday was a special day for us...I plan to write about it more on the Feldman Baby blog so I won't say too much here but we had a good day celebrating Emmalee some more...the 23rd was the 3rd anniversary of Emmalee's death and her 3rd homecoming celebration in Heaven...I wonder if they celebrate all those things up there? I'm going to chose to believe that they do :) And then of course Easter was on the 24th and this year I was in charge of the Easter egg hunt...so I was busy getting ready for that...thank goodness I had a couple of helpers (thanks Jon and Eric) to help me hid all the goodies or we would have been there til dark! haha! I tend to go a little overboard...but actually this year I did pretty well. I think the kids all had fun and they all got enough candy...and they all got zhu zhu pets too! I think those were a big hit since when I went to my sis-in-laws house this week they were all having races to see who's was faster! And Natee has been chasing hers all over the house this week! I have to say...they are a little annoying but they are pretty cute...I see what all the craze was over them :) Well I won't babble on too much here because I know you all just come to see Natee...and I have a ton of pictures for you this time...and I apologize for the pictures...I was playing around with photoshop...so if you don't like the look of them...I'm sorry :) But I kind of liked the look of them...so I went for it :) Hope you all have a great week!

Our cute little family

Daddy and his girl

I thought I'd put a couple pictures on here in real color so you could see how cute her dress was! There's nothing like a little girl in an Easter dress :) And the flower...it was perfect...and she let me curl her hair that day...so it was even cuter! You'll have to check out my sis-in-laws blog to see pictures of Natalee and her cousin Ole...he looked so cute that day too!

Happy girls :)

We take this picture yearly...it's been so fun to look back and see how much the kids have changed...they used to all fit on the couch but now that they are getting older and we've added more kids we are running out of room :)

I thought this picture was funny...I didn't realize it at the time that I had caught him mid-fall

Greta the Easter bunny and me

Last year we shot off rockets after the egg hunt...so I think it's become a tradition since we did it again this year :) Isn't that all it takes...doing it two years in a row...doesn't that mean instant tradition?!?! :)

POOF...and it's GONE!

Good thing we still have young runners to go get the rockets!

You know you're getting old when...

2011-04-26T09:11:00.005-05:00

the little girl that you used to babysit for (and you started babysitting her when she was 8 weeks old)...turns 16 today!!! I guess that would mean that she isn't a little girl anymore! I tried to find a picture of her and me from when she was a little baby but all those pictures must still be at my moms house...so you'll have to do with this one:

This was one of my senior pictures...and you're only suppose to look at the cute little girl in this picture...not me! hahaha! Oh my...how time flies! Brooke was my first real babysitting job and I was 13 at the time...she was 8 weeks old and her mom was going back to work...and it happened to land in the summer so it was perfect...I had so much fun that summer (and all the summers that I got to babysit her) with her...I couldn't wait to get to their house and hold her...in fact when I would get there I would pick her up right away and her dad would tease me that I couldn't leave her sit...I probably did spoil her...and now having a little one of my own I know how important it is for them to be content by themselves and not be held constantly...oops...sorry about that Robbie and Chris :) When it was time for my graduation pictures I knew that I wanted Brooke to be in them...and she did great that day...she was just the cutest little thing you had ever seen. I was also the one to go and sit with her when her mom went into labor in the middle of the night...they had told me that if she did go in the middle of the night that I would be the one that they would call to come and stay with Brooke...and so I secretly hoped and prayed that it would happen at night...and it did...I still remember it well...it was about 3:30 in the morning and they didn't live too far from us so I walked (or maybe ran) over there...I still remember how calm Chris was and thought to myself "well she makes this look easy"...she was tying her shoes and then got real still for a moment...let the contraction pass and went back to tying her shoes...funny what will stick in a persons mind...but she is the only person (besides myself now of course) that I have ever seen in active labor...and I think I learned a lot from her...to just stay calm and that it will pass. Anyway they left pretty quickly after I arrived and I camped out on the couch...they called around 6 to say that they had had the baby already...another little girl (Taylor!)...I couldn't wait for Brooke to wake up to tell her that she had a sister! Ahhh...the memories...and now that little Brooke is 16! A few weeks ago we were able to spend some time with the Vieaux family when they were in the cities...we met at the Mall of America for a little lunch and did some much needed catching up!

Here's Natalee with Brooke...isn't she just as cute today as she was 12 years ago! And I just can't believe that she is holding my little girl...I told her that I wished she lived closer 'cause I'd make her come and babysit for me :) Unfortunately Natee didn't have a nap that morning and so she isn't as smiley as she could have been! :)

And here's the whole gang of kids: Brooke's boyfriend Clint, Brooke, Natee and Taylor

Natalee did NOT like the mechanical bull...and it wasn't even on but she screamed from the moment she got on til the moment she was safe back in my arms! :)

One of the best parts of babysitting (or at least I thought) was getting to pick out Brooke's clothes for the day...and her mom made these cute little socks with beads all around the edge...well when we found out that Natee was a girl Chris sent Natee some socks of her own...and then Natee grew out of them...so Chris made her a ton more (thanks again Chris!)...now Natee has a pair (and then some) to wear everyday and she has so many color choices that she'll always have a pair to match what she is wearing! :)

Here's my socks!

Tay Tay and Natee...I did babysit Taylor too but I was also involved in more activities in school at that time and then I went off to college so I didn't get to watch her as much...bummer!

The whole Vieaux clan

Me and ALL my girls!

Chris and I

Brooke...you have turned into a beautiful young woman and I hope you have the best birthday ever! Happy Sweet 16 and good luck on that driving test...then you can come up and visit me!

Love you!

Ali

This little girl...

2011-04-10T20:26:00.004-05:00

had such a fun time celebrating what would have been her big sister, Emmalee's, 3rd birthday...see:

We kept our tradition of flying kites, releasing balloons and of course...eating yummy food. But right now I'm just too tired to blog much about it so I promise I'll do more later...just wanted to leave you with a few pictures and thank all of you who thought of us today and said a prayer for us. The way the morning started I thought I might be an emotional basket case today...but it turned out to be a very good day and we all had lots of fun...especially her:

who went down early and has been fast asleep since everyone left. Fresh air did her good! :) Good night!

Monkey see...monkey do...

2011-03-31T10:03:00.003-05:00

Natalee is definitely a monkey see, monkey do kind of girl. She tries to impersonate everything she sees...like when we were in North Dakota one of the ladies was trying to get Natee's attention by banging her cane on the floor three times...so Natee walked over, took her cane, and banged it three times as well...needless to say...she did get a laugh :) And just last night Jon was peeking around the corner at her and so she started to go around the corner and come peeking at him...and then the other day I was clearing my throat and she started to make this sound like she was choking on something...nope...just clearing her throat too! :) So anyway...last week Tuesday she was at my mom-in-laws house and my two nephews were over there...Carter likes his nuk and had it in for the good part of the time that I was there...well the next day look what I found: Isn't she cute! I always wanted a nuk/paci baby...she did take one when she was first little but gave it up on her own long time ago...well she found one in her toy bin and came to show me what she had...and wouldn't you know...she kept it in most of the day...I guess it was something new for her. The next day though...she could have cared less...which I guesss is a good thing since she might be a little old to be starting that habit...I'm just glad I got a few pictures of her...my little monkey see, monkey do girl! :)

North Dakota

2011-03-21T08:02:00.004-05:00

Okay...I have to confess...when I posted the last time (about all of Natee's toys) I really did mean for that post to be a lead in for many more posts...because I was going to get really good at this blogging thing again...and then...I failed! Life got...well...busy...again...and here I am...a good couple of weeks behind! Our little corner of the world is good...well...except that we lost a dear family member...Maralee's (Jon's mom) cousin, Richard, passed away after fighting cancer for a year...it was so sad to get the news that his fight was over...cancer is such a nasty disease...I hate it and I hate how many people it has taken from my life and I'll just leave it at that. When we got the news we decided to take a road trip out to North Dakota for his visitation and funeral. There were 7 of us in our Honda Odyssey...and I can't believe that we didn't feel totally cramped in there...we all did a good job packing (and if you know me you know that packing light is not my gift...I like to pack for all the "just in cases!"...but even I did good!) and we got settled into our places and away we went! On the way out it was nice because we stopped about 8 hours into our trip (in Bismark) and spent the night there...then we only had 3 1/2 hours to go the next day...but on the way back we did the whole thing in one day...and I can't believe how well Natee did...she was a trooper...she slept a little...but not as much as I thought she would. She had her moments of crankiness...but so did I! Richards service was so nice...they had a little family service the night before and everyone could share memories of him...and then the funeral the next day...Richard will definitely be missed by everyone that knew him...he had a smile that was so great and if you ever saw it you'd never forget it! I know that his family would appreciate your prayers as they start their grief journey so if you think of them, feel free to lift them up. Well I'd better end this post as I hear someone talking upstairs...it's time to start the day! Have a great one!

This is the barn on Maralee's farm...isn't it just cool! I wished it was closer so I could live in it...this has got to be one of the coolest barns that I have seen!

Cowgirl Natee!

Annette and Natee dressed alike...I think they called each other while they were packing and planned it that way! haha! Also...I don't think her hat was on right...her head looks so tall in this picture and she definitely has a round head! :)

Natee making new friends...and hoping she can score some of their orange! :)

Cool girl!

So many toys...

2011-03-01T12:01:00.003-06:00

...so little time!

Yes...the other day I came in to find that she had settled herself in nicely amongst her toys...it really was pretty cute...and as you can see...she is not lacking in the toy department! I never used to understand when parents would say that there kids had too many toys...how could you ever have too many toys...I now understand :) But that's okay...she likes them :) Well...most of the time she just sits there and unpacks her whole toy bin and that's the extent of her playing...but then there are other times that she sits down and actually plays...this has really started happening in the last few weeks...and there are a few regular things she plays with every day...it's been fun watching her play :)

Well I just wanted to get on here and give you a quick update and let you know that I'll be back to blogging soon...I finally finished up all of our taxes and so I feel like I can get a few more things done now...well...as much as you can get done with an active 1 year old :)

Natalee's 1 year Pictures

2011-02-10T08:33:00.005-06:00

Hi there! I've been meaning to get these on here for awhile! Time sure does fly when you have a one year old getting into everything! :) So...anyway...here are Natee's one year pictures...she did so well and let her mama capture a few good shots :) Hope you enjoy! Oh...and if you want any of these (friends and family) please let me know and I will get you some...just leave a comment or drop me an e-mail with which ones you would like and what size :) Okay...that's it...enjoy and have a great weekend!

2 years....

2011-02-08T09:23:00.002-06:00

It's been two years since I've gotten to hold my sweet boys, Owen Timothy and Cooper James, in my arms...and even though my arms are no longer empty I still miss the feel of Owen and Cooper in them...19 minutes was way too short. But they are being held in Jesus' arms now until I am reunited with them...God is good...all the time. I wrote again on the Feldman Baby blog today...it had been since last year (April 23) that I had written on there...that just shows how good God really is...He has given us Natalee to keep us busy and to give us good memories to write on this blog...yes...I still miss my babies like crazy but Natalee has sure helped to combat some of that missing and hurt...she has definitely been our little rainbow :) But today...it's all about my sweet baby boys...and how I long to keep their memory alive...until we meet again... :)

Natalee's 1st Birthday!

2011-01-31T13:54:00.013-06:00

****WARNING**** Major picture overload just ahead!!

We had a great time celebrating Natalee's first birthday...and let's face it...I know I had way more fun than she had! After all...we were celebrating our 1st year as a family together! On Tuesday, her actual birthday, we took the day off just to be together as a family...we decided to go down to Rochester and do a little shopping and go out to eat...and since she can't tell us where her favorite place to eat is we chose ours...Hu Hot! After that we shopped the mall and got a few new things for her...and they were on clearance so even better :) We then took her over to Toys R Us and got her a ball and another toy for her birthday...she loves balls! And she's been trying to kick her little ball so Jon got her one of those cheap plastic balls that are a little bigger and let me tell you...it is a hit! This girl lets us get off cheap with a $3 ball! :) We did a little more shopping and got a few more things for her party on Saturday...I decided that her theme for her party was going to be rainbows and cupcakes...rainbows because I kind of took that as my theme of the year (if you couldn't tell by my blog...I love the quote at the top by Dolly Parton) because Natalee is definitely our rainbow at the end of our rain storm :) All the rain was worth the rainbow :) And then cupcakes...because let's face it...who doesn't like cupcakes! I do! ;) After we were done shopping Natee was pooped so Jon and I decided to just get Jimmy John's (which was appropriate because we at it twice on the day that she was born...once while we were just sitting around trying to kill time until they called us and once after a long day at the hospital because that was all that would deliver!) and eat it on the way home. While we were at Sam's Club we saw these little cakes surrounded by cupcakes so we decided to pick one up and let her have a little cake on her birthday...we invited her cousins that lived in town (only 2 could come on such short notice) and we had a little cake for her birthday...it was fun to watch her dive in...she wasn't so sure at first...but soon got the hang of it! On Saturday then we had her big party...we had fun snow activities outside first...Jon and Matt got Matt's snowmobile up and running again and then Jon made a little ramp/sled hill for the kids...I think everyone that was outside had a blast...then it was time to come in and have food, and cupcakes and open presents! :) She got spoiled by the way :) All in all it was a very good first birthday...one that I'm sure she will never remember but one that I will never forget! :) Enjoy the pictures :)

After her first meal at Hu Hot...she liked it :)

Greta, Natalee and Julia...isn't the cake cute?!?!

A girl and her mama :)

mmmm...this is pretty good!

Yep...it's official...she likes cake!

Gotta love it!

This is me going down Jon's sled hill...pretty fun!

Snow much fun!

The Birthday Girl and Boy...Uncle Sam was nice enough to share his birthday with Natee so she could have her party...Happy Birthday Uncle Sam!

Yummy Yummy Cupcakes...wanna see what's inside these little treasures...okay...I'll show you...

Ta da! Pretty right?!

Wanna know how I made them?!? Okay...I'll tell you...3 boxes of cake mix...divided into 6 bowls...dye each bowl of batter a different color...red, yellow, orange, green, blue and purple...put a little of each colored batter into each cupcake liner...and yes they are putzy...but they have the wow factor so they were worth it! :) I wasn't sure how they would turn out...I didn't know if the batter would mix and turn out brown...but they didn't and I am way happy with how they turned out!

Helping Natee with her candle...there may have been a little frosting fight between Jon and Sam (okay...and me too) but I won't document that with pictures :)

You can't tell that she is loved...can you?!? Aunt Suzi, Natee and Grandma Annie

Levi, Natee and Grandma

Lots of fun presents!!!

And here is Natee's latest trick...fish face! (or fish lips!) But I think what she is really doing here is sealing this blog post with a kiss!

The shirt says it all...1 year old!

2011-01-25T19:20:00.002-06:00

Here are our birthday girl's 12 month bear pictures! I can't believe that she is one already...and I've said that over and over and over! The fact that we have a child to celebrate a birthday is a huge gift to us! We are so grateful to her birthmom for giving us this gift and we are so grateful to God for orchestrating it all and bringing us together as a family! We had a great day celebrating her birthday and celebrating our one year as a family :) But I'll post on that later...someone needs to dig into her birthday cake now! :)

Snow Day

2011-01-18T10:27:00.003-06:00

We've had plenty of the white stuff this winter...and so we figured we might as well go out and enjoy it! I think Natee had more fun eating it! Enjoy!

Thank you again for keeping our friends in your prayers...we were able to run over to the funeral last Tuesday...it was a beautiful service to remember their beautiful baby boy...and I know they felt covered in your prayers...so thank you. Now go out and enjoy your own white stuff...if you have any that is!

Prayer Request

2011-01-09T19:04:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to ask you guys to keep my friends, Anna and Chris and their son Hunter, in your prayers tonight, tomorrow and in the days ahead...we met Anna and Chris when we went to Faith's Lodge (in Feb. of 2009)...they had recently lost their little girl Morgan..she like our boys came way too soon and went home to Jesus within a few minutes. Fast forward a bit...they were blessed with little Hunter one year ago and last August they found out that they were going to be adding another addition to their family. Well a few weeks ago Anna ended up on bed rest and on December 28th little Gage was born at 25 weeks and 4 days...everything looked to be going well...he had a few set backs that preemies have but overall he was doing okay. Well late on Friday night (1-7-11) Gage went to be with Jesus and meet his big sister Morgan and our three as well. I know what it's like to lose more than one baby and I don't wish losing any children on anyone! So I would really like to ask for your prayers for our friends as they walk this road of grief and healing again. I don't want to post her blog on here without her permission...I'm sure it would be okay but I want to check with her before I do it...but for now...your prayers would be great! Thank you.

11 Months and Christmas

2010-12-31T07:52:00.006-06:00

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!

2010-12-21T07:40:00.002-06:00

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

2010-12-03T07:42:00.003-06:00

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................

2010-11-27T11:01:00.007-06:00

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:

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!

2010-11-23T11:11:00.002-06:00

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

2010-11-10T15:21:00.002-06:00

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......

2010-11-01T09:41:00.004-05:00

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!

9 Months

2010-10-27T14:39:00.003-05:00

Oh my GOODNESS! Natalee can't be 9 months already...what's that you say...she's actually 9 months and 2 days! Where has the time gone?!?! Sorry I've been so bad at posting lately...you know me...I go through dry spells :) But I do have lots of pictures to get on here so I'll work on that...for now I'll just give you the update on Natee :) Still no crawling but she does get up on her hands and knees and rock...but then decides that it's just easier to give in and roll where she wants to go. She has been pulling herself up onto the coffee table, couch, exersaucer, or anything else that she can reach up too...this little one I think is going to walk before she ever uses those knees to crawl. She love to hold onto your hands and walk...and she will even stand for a few seconds at a time by herself. She still has no teeth but is loving food...we've been giving her a few new things here and there and she likes most of it...but is still content with having her cereal and mashed up baby food...which is so much easier so I'm all for it :) I know...lazy mama! She has always known that she has a voice but she's really discovering it now and making herself known...and makes it known what she does not like! And she still has one of the cutest smiles that I have ever seen and still makes me so happy to be her mama! I think that's about it for an update for today...gotta go and make her happy...she's gotten quite bored with all her books that I put in front of her so I could type this up! :) Enjoy her pictures and I'll get more on here soon!

Cutest Little Sister

2010-10-13T15:56:00.005-05:00

Hi all! Sorry I've been MIA for awhile here...not too much to update you on in our lives...the time seems to be flying by and it seems like we have been so busy but I'm not really sure what we've been doing :) Jon and I celebrated 7 years of marriage since the last time I updated...where has time gone?!? :) We didn't do anything to celebrate except for ride in the combine that day...that is the only time I see him now days so Natee and I go as much as we can :) She seems to really like riding in the combine...at least for a while...she tends to get antsy towards the end...especially when daddy won't let her steer! haha! Well I'd better get going and get my house picked up while Natee is still taking her nap...but I wanted to share some of the cute pictures I took of her the other day. I found her t-shirt on clearance and I think it fits her...it says...Cutest Little Sister! I'm sure Emmalee would agree :) (and I suppose the boys would too...but they probably wouldn't have cared...that's boys for you :) ha!) Have a great rest of the week!

Isn't she just the cutest little thing...couldn't you just eat her up! Don't worry...I'll give her snuggles from all of you!

8 Months!

2010-09-30T07:19:00.004-05:00

Hi there! Yes...it's true...on Saturday my baby turned 8 months old! Crazy how time flies! And look...she's been 8 months for almost a week now and I'm just getting her pictures up...I can tell you that I'm a lot busier now and I am loving it! She's been doing so many more things now it's not even funny...she's a busy gal...I don't know if that's a good thing or not! ha! :) She doesn't crawl yet but she does now kind of have a little scoot to her and most of the time she just rolls wherever she wants to go...I stood back yesterday and watched her get around the living room...it truly did amaze me! She's eating more baby food now and loves it...well...except for when I don't give it to her fast enough...I have to work on patience with this child ;) She babbles all the time but no mama or dada yet. I had a dream last night, though, that she just started talking using words we could understand...it was pretty funny to hear that coming out of a baby's mouth! Gotta love dreams :) She loves anything to do with animals...especially dogs...she squeals every time she sees our neighbors dog and she can't wait to get over to him and pet him :) Even the other day we were looking through a magazine trying to entertain her for a bit and every time we got to a picture of a dog she would squeal. I guess a dog will be in our future...but so far Jon and I disagree on what kind we will get :) She's been sleeping awesome lately...she's still sleeping now (7:30) and I put her to bed last night at 7:00! Guess she's starting to get on a new schedule...she likes her morning nap but her afternoon one is pretty short...making her very cranky in the early evening so we thought we'd try putting her to bed earlier...seems to be working! I think that's about it for an update...I can't think of anything else to share right now and I gotta run and get a couple more things done before she actually wakes up! Hope all is well for all of you! Take care! Oh...and enjoy her bear pictures :) She's getting too big :(

And on another side note...for any of my clients that are interested...I am back at work a little...on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon/evenings...let me know if you need an appointment...the easiest way to get a hold of me is through e-mail: alischair@yahoo.com or you can call out to Trippers Clippers and they will get me the message...and yes...that's right...I am back out at Trippers and it's working out so well! Hope to see you there!

Feldman Family Photo Shoot

2010-09-24T12:34:00.009-05:00

Per my niece, Lily's, request (so she had better leave a comment!) I am putting our Feldman Family's photo shoot on here...we decided that it was time that we update the family picture...since the last one only had Lily in it! We went out last Sunday and just had fun trying to get at least one good photo of all of us...do you know how hard that is with 10 kids!!! But I think we got a few...hope you enjoy them :)

My Little Hobo...

2010-09-19T15:45:00.003-05:00

That's what Jon called her...but isn't she a cute hobo?!? Yes...we love her...orange and blue striped leg warmers, green hat, white onesie and all...

Meet Natalee's New Cousin!

2010-09-08T16:07:00.004-05:00

Hi there...yes...he is here! Olaf Allen Watts was born on September 2, 2010...and yes if you remember right I did blog that day...and yes...I did know she was in labor...I just didn't want to steal her thunder and announce that she was in labor...and I also waited a few days to put it on here 'cause I wanted Olaf's proud new parents to be able to blog about him...and they have...check out their blog for more pictures...so now I thought it was about time for me to get him on here as well! Ole (for short) was born around 2:53 p.m. (I think that's what Sam wrote) and he weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 5 oz and he was 21 inches long...he sure doesn't look like he was that big...just a tiny little peanut...you really do forget how little they are...and Natalee was just that little 7 months ago...she never seemed that small! Anyway...everything is going well for them and I'm sure they would love well wishes. Okay...now...on to the pictures!

Cute baby Ole on the blanket I made for him...Sam used to like giraffes as a kid so I thought it would be appropriate for his son to have a giraffe blankie :)

Look at that size difference!

Giving baby Ole kisses :)

Proud Mama and her babe!

Wouldn't we look good as a family of four?!?! I sure think so...if you ever hear of anyone wanting to place their baby up for adoption don't hesitate to pass along our name! (if you want to that is! Our e-mail for that is jonandaliadopt@yahoo.com ) We would love to grow our family...maybe even larger than four...and obviously we think adoption is a great option! Okay...hopefully that didn't sound pushy! Anyway...hope you enjoyed the pictures of Ole...I'm sure there will be more to come! :)

7 Months!

2010-09-02T11:06:00.003-05:00

Only a day later than I said but here are Natalee's 7 month pictures...and I won't say it...or maybe I will...can you believe that she is 7 months old already?!?!? She needs to stop growing up so fast on me! But she sure is getting fun. She still babbles all the time...she rolls over all the time now (I knew when she figured it out she wouldn't stop!)...she's eating more food now (baby food that is)...she doesn't like anything green to eat but if it's orange then bring it on! Yesterday I caught her trying to pull herself up onto our desk leg...and trying to pull herself up from the floor in her room to reach another toy that was up higher...no interest in crawling yet but she does scoot herself on her back a little...gotta watch where I put her down now :) Let's see...I think that's about it for all the fun stuff...well I'm sure there is more but I can't think of anything else right now so I'll let you all enjoy her pictures :) No new baby cousin yet but I'm sure it's going to be soon...his due date was yesterday! So the next post I have might be with Natee's new cousin...we'll just keep praying everything goes smoothly! Alright...have a good day!

I think she's saying to the camera..."I'm going to get you!" That's one of her favorite things...she just starts laughing when we say that and start to tickle her...she's way too fun!

Sam and Britt's Maternity Photos

2010-08-30T11:48:00.008-05:00

Hi! Well...I didn't do too good last week...only 2 blog posts...sorry! Today I figured I'd better get these pictures up here...most of you probably know that Natalee is going to have a new cousin soon...very soon! My brother (Sam) and his wife (Britt) are due to have their baby boy, or as I like to put it...my nephew(!)... on September 1st...whether he decides to come then or not we'll see...or maybe he'll come before...he still has a day and a half to come before his due date. Anyway...I thought I'd better get their maternity photos up here before he comes...'cause who would want to see these after there is a baby to look at! It was really fun to shoot these for them...I hope they liked them...they said they did...but they could be lying! :) Britt put more up on her blog too... www.samandbritt.blogspot.com ...if you want to check them out...I don't think we put up the same ones...well...maybe we did...we did have quite a few that were both our favorites...here's a few of mine:

So there you have it! Picture overload! Tomorrow (or the next day) I'll try to get Natee's 7 month pictures up here! Can you believe our little girl is 7 months already?!?!? I can't! Have a good Monday!

Sweet Natee Baby

2010-08-25T08:34:00.010-05:00

Wow...2 posts in a row! I told you I had lots to catch you up on! :) The other day Jon was home and it was a beautiful day so I thought we would go out and capture some photos of Natee...I think they turned out great...but I'll let you be the judge...enjoy!

So...which one was your favorite...obviously...I can't choose....

Jennie's Wedding

2010-08-24T10:16:00.003-05:00

Hi there! I have so much to catch up on so I'm going to do a few short blog posts here for you to see...hopefully one every day this week! But...don't hold me to that...you all know how I am at blogging :) At the beginning of this month we flew out to Denver, CO for Jennie and Mark's wedding...Jennie and I were RA's together at Indiana Wesleyan and we have remained good friends since then. I was so happy for her when she wrote and told us that she had found her "one" and couldn't wait to go to the wedding. Natalee did great on her first plane ride...and her mama did pretty good too...me and planes don't always get along but I am becoming less fearful of flying the older I get and the more I fly...still hate take off and landing...and yes...I have been told...that is the best part...well...not for this girl. The best part for me is when I can turn on my electronic device and put down my tray and sip my ginger ale and eat my pretzels...that is the best part....oh...and when my feet are on solid ground again and I'm in my new fun surroundings (or back home...equally as nice)...well I'm babbling now so I'll get back on track...we had a great weekend out there...we both were tired and I was only a week and a half out from my surgery so I was still a little sluggish but we made the most of it anyway...and spent a lot of time relaxing in the hotel room :) The day of the wedding was beautiful...it was going to be an outdoor wedding in the mountains but mother nature decided that an hour before the wedding it should rain...but that didn't dampen anything...they moved it all indoors and it was still just as beautiful. We were so happy we could be there to celebrate with Jennie and Mark and we were so excited that Jennie could meet Natalee! The reception was so nice as well...so intimate and just perfect. We met some nice people while we were there...all in all it was a great night and now Jennie and Mark are off living their happily-ever-after life...they took a nice long honeymoon...even coming up to MN to visit us...which was also so fun...we took them to Cabela's! I know...a little hickish but Mark had never seen anything like it (oh...I forgot to mention that he's from England) and so we wanted to make the most of his time and visit in America! ha! :) And once they are done with their honeymoon they will be moving to England...so now Jon thinks that I'll get on a plane to go over there and visit them...I don't know...we'll see...anyone know of any good drugs to get me to stay on a plane for 8 hours without going crazy! hahaha! Well...enjoy the pictures and again...congrats to my friend Jennie and her new hubby Mark...we wish you a lifetime of happiness! And we are so blessed to have a new friend in our life...glad to meet you Mark!

Natee and her mommy before the wedding at the hotel...you'll notice in the next picture that she has a different headpiece on...we couldn't decide which one to wear!

Natee and her daddy...she was talking during the ceremony so she had to go stand with daddy...doesn't she look so pretty?!?!

Too much partying for Natalee...she got all worn out and needed a little cat nap!

Jennie and Natalee...wasn't Jennie such a pretty bride?!?! That dress was made for her...it looked perfect on her!

Jennie and her new hubby Mark...and of course Natee wouldn't look...there was too much else for her to take in and see...everyone was dancing behind her!

Our family :) We went outside to try to get the lights of Denver in the background...didn't quite work but it still made for a good picture :)

Name that Photo!

2010-08-10T07:18:00.004-05:00

Isn't this such a cute picture of Natalee and her Uncle Sam?!? I love it! Sam and Britt came to our house this last weekend so I could shoot some maternity pictures for them before their little one arrives...once I get them their pictures and she chooses which ones she wants to share on her blog I'll put some on here too :) Anyway...back to the photo...as we were going through them we came upon this one and we all just laughed...then Britt said we needed to have a name that photo contest! :) Well...it won't really be a contest since there isn't a prize to be given away...but I thought it could still be really fun to see what you all thought of this photo...I love it because Natee looks like she's really trying to be there for her Uncle Sam and he just looks perplexed! hahaha! Okay...so...NAME THAT PHOTO! :)

6 Months Old!!!

2010-08-04T12:01:00.002-05:00

Can you believe that I'm writing those words?!?! I can't! How can my baby be 6 months old already?! She's growing up too fast...pretty soon I'll be planning her wedding...okay...maybe not...but it sure does feel like time is flying by awfully fast! Natalee is doing really good. She sits up by herself very well now...she likes her cereal at night...she loves being outside and she loves her little pool...and she rolled over last night (!!!) from her belly to her back so I think she's going to get the hang of it soon! She has started to do this little thing where she looks at you...holds her breath and then lets out this little squeal/haha thing...it's so cute! She was a very good girl while I recovered from my surgery but I think all that has thrown her schedule off a bit...that and we just went out to Colorado (I'll have to write more on that later) this weekend for my friend Jennie's wedding...so not being in her own bed for two nights have made for two bad nights at home already...oh well...she'll get back into her routine I'm sure...she sure is taking some nice naps lately...so maybe I'll get better at blogging! :) Well I think I'll wrap this up for now so I can go get something else done before she wakes up. I hope you enjoy her 6 month bear pictures...can you just see how big she is getting...it's been fun looking back on all the other ones to see how much she has grown! Have a great week!

Miss Natee in Yellow :)

2010-07-28T09:58:00.003-05:00

Hi all! Well...I think I'm recovering from my gallbladder surgery...man...was that rough! I thought all of you said it was an easy surgery! I was really sore! But, alas, I am feeling better! Now if I could just lift Natee I will feel so much better! He told me not to lift her for 2 weeks! So I am trying to follow orders so I don't mess anything up...and with that...I need to send a shout out to all of my family for helping me take care of Natee! Everyone has been so great...either taking her to their house or coming over to lift her in and out and play with her...although...I think she's getting a little mad at her mama for not holding her much! Soon, Natee, soon :) Anyway...other than recovering not much is new. Natee turned 6 months on Sunday! Crazy! I still have yet to get her pictures by her bear...I will get those as soon as I can get some help positioning her up there...Jon's been working so hard with storm damage so he's pooped when he gets home...I'm just grateful that he has enough strength to help get Natee ready for bed before he crashes into bed. And it's been so hot...I always feel sorry for those that have to work out in the heat...I could not do it! Well, since I don't have Natee's 6 month pictures yet I thought I'd treat you to some pictures I took of her a couple days before my surgery...she looked so cute that day so I thought we needed to go outside and have a photo shoot...I think my subject was pretty cooperative :) Enjoy and we'll talk soon!

Pants on the head...

2010-07-19T16:20:00.003-05:00

Pants on the head...lookin' too cute with your pants on your head (set to the tune of Pants on the Ground :) hahaha! )

A little update...

2010-07-12T15:56:00.004-05:00

Yes...I thought it was time for a little update on all of us...but who am I kidding...the only one you want an update from is Natee...and didn't she do such a good job on the last post :)

I can't believe we are already a week past the 4th of July...doesn't that mean that summer is half over?!? That can't be! We had a very good 4th...it wasn't as hard of a day like it was last year (if you remember my post from last year)...it was rainy that day but we still went to the parade and Natalee loved her first parade :) It's been fun taking her to stuff for the first time...and I know next year when she really "gets" it it will be even more fun! After the parade went to Jon's parents house and hung out...we all wanted pizza that night and wouldn't you know...all the pizza places were closed for the holiday (as they should have been...we just didn't think about it!)...so we ended up having frozen pizza...'cause Cub wasn't closed! :) And then we went to town and watched the fireworks and got eaten by mosquitoes...Natee loved the fireworks....she just sat in awe of them. And yes...while there really should have been four little sets of feet this 4th of July, we are just so grateful that we have this one really cute set now :)

And if you are a friend of mine on Facebook you might already know that I had a gallbladder attack that 4th of July night that took me to the ER around 2:30 on the 5th...we got home from watching the fireworks and I felt like my stomach was really tight...then I started getting this intense pain that would not go away. I laid in bed forever until I finally got out my laptop to try to get my mind off of the pain and get some sleep...well it didn't work...so after it didn't let up and I had Webmd(ed) it I finally came to the conclusion that it must be my gallbladder and I would head to the ER to see if I could get some relief and just make sure that it wasn't something more serious. Once we got there the pain started to subside and I thought about turning around...but Jon said that I woke him up so I was going in :) It was gallbladder and they gave me some pain pills in case the pain came back and told me to head to my doctor during the week sometime and get it checked out. So at 5 a.m. I finally crashed into bed...I tell you...I don't like being up for 22 hours straight...makes Ali one sleepy and cranky girl! :) Luckily Natee was a very good girl and she was sleepy herself...when she woke up in the morning she took her bottle and went back to sleep until 10:30 herself...so nice! I have had one more attack this week...didn't seem as bad but I also didn't wait to take that pain pill either :) I have an appointment to see a surgeon this week to discuss my options...I really don't want to have surgery but I also don't want to leave it in there if it's going to cause major problems...they told me the stones could become infected...does anyone know if this is true? My sis-in-law says there is some stuff I can take that may dissolve them...so I might try that. Anyone else have any advice for me regarding gallbladder issues?

Well I don't have any pictures from the 4th of July yet because I left my camera in the car...so you'll just have to make do with some other pictures of Natee for now. Here they are:

Here's Natee looking like a big girl! She's really starting to sit up on her own and not tip over too much...it's so fun to see...pretty soon we can do some more fun pictures outside! :)

Here's Natalee with her great Grandma Watts and great Auntie Pam...Natee really loves her great grandma...and she really liked her glasses! And how do you like her bib?!? Her daddy bought that for her! :)

My cousin Angie is getting married in a few weeks so we went down to Iowa this last weekend to throw her a shower...it was fun being with the family and celebrating Angie's new chapter in her life :) l to r: Lindsay (my cousin Andy's new wife), Britt (my brother's wife...and she's expecting my nephew in September...you should go to her blog 'cause she's got some cute pictures of Natee too), Angie, Natee, me and my cousin Kami.

And here's Natee all slobbery playing on the floor having a good time...the boppy is a good cushion for her when she gets too excited...which does happen a lot for her...she really gets into playing! :)

Well we hope that you have a good week...I'll jump on here if I have anything worthy of blogging about! :) Until then...as Natee would say...tata for now :)

I'm 5 months old!

2010-07-02T07:15:00.003-05:00

Hi there...Natee here...actually I was 5 months old last Friday, so technically I'm 5 months old and 1 week...my mom said she was too busy to get on here and show you my pictures so I thought I'd better get on here and give you guys an update! :) I'm doing good...everyone always says how chunky I am...I think I'm going to get a complex...I always say, though, that there is just more of me to love this way. I am getting bigger and I am getting a little frustrated lately. I see all this stuff that I want and that I want to do...I just can't get to it yet. I'm not very mobile. My mommy tries to teach me how to roll-over...but I'm not a dog and I just don't see the point in it. I blame it on my rolls...I'm just to chubby to roll-over! :) I am starting to sit up by myself a little...and I really like that. Of course I tip over and I don't like that! Let's see...what else have I been up to...oh yeah...my mom and dad decided this week that I should try this white stuff...they came at me with this weird, skinny looking thing...I think they said it was a spoon or something...anyway...they told me to open my mouth...yeah right...but I did...and you know what...I'll open my mouth for that stuff any day...I really liked it! It doesn't have much flavor but it's kind of fun putting it in to my mouth and then blowing some of it back out...my mom will have to get a picture of me eating it...I think you'd like to see me...well...duh...it would be a picture of me so of course you'd like to see it! And I've been sleeping well...I like to sleep for the most part...I've been going to bed around 9 and getting up anywhere between 6 and 7...my mom seems to be happier when I get up at 7 but sometimes I just can't wait and so I wake her up...but I always flash her my adorable grin and I think she forgives me! I like to yell and talk a lot...I'm kind of noisy but I like people to know that I am here. I use to hold back all my giggles but I'm starting to do it a little more often 'cause I know my mom and dad like it...it always makes them laugh! And I think that's about it...my mom says she'll try to get back on here soon and update you on other stuff going on in our lives but for now she let me have the keyboard. Maybe she'll even do it this weekend...we've been outside a lot this week...which I also love by the way...I'm an outdoor girl for sure...but now it's suppose to be hot and humid and she gets crabby when it's like that so I'm guessing we'll be staying indoors for the most part! Well...I'd better get going for now! I hope you all have a great 4th of July...it's going to be my first one! I've heard about these things called fireworks and I'm really interested in seeing what all the hoopla is about...I just hope I can keep my eyes open long enough to see them! Well...ta ta for now! ~Natee

Natalee Ann

2010-06-17T13:16:00.003-05:00

For a while now I've been thinking that I never have shared the meaning of Natalee's name with you all...and then yesterday my mom told me that they are doing another scrapbook page with Natalee on it and they wanted to know the meaning of her name...so I thought this would be the perfect time to share it with you. Let's see...how did we come up with the name Natalee. First of all, it was just a name that I came to love. I was watching the Today show and they have Natalie Morales on there...and I thought to myself...Natalie...now that's a name you don't hear too often yet it's so pretty...I think I really kind of like it :) But I already had a name picked out for my next girl so Natalie was going to have to wait until later. After Emmalee died I was pretty set on making her name the middle name of our next girl...and so I had a first name that I thought sounded perfect with the middle name of Emmalee. But before I could use it another family member chose the same name...and not that I couldn't still use it...we just chose not too...anyway...so I brought up the name Natalee to Jon when we found out that the little baby we were going to adopt was a girl...he liked it, but as always, we couldn't just have one name picked out...just in case the baby didn't look like a Natalee....but when she was placed in our arms we took one look at her and realized that she did look like a little Natalee and so that's what we picked! I'm sure you all can guess why we chose the lee spelling on the end of Natalee...we did it for the same reason we did Emmalee...Jon's mom is Maralee and so the lee is for her...and then we decided to give Natalee the middle name Ann after my mom...we also thought this was a good way to give Natalee something that was her sister's as well...I know a lady who gave both of her girls the same middle name...a bond for them...and I always thought that was a neat idea...'cause they won't always have the same last name :) And I really liked how in Emmalee's name we were able to get our two mom's in there to make it have an extra special meaning so I was happy that I could also do it with the name Natalee (even though I know that she will never find anything with her name on it...I never did either with having only one l in Alison...I never thought I would do that to my own kids...but oh well...she'll live...I did...I'll make her something with her name on it! :) ) We decided to leave the Pearl for just Emmalee...something special that is all her own :) After all...she was our little Pearl :) Now that's how we first chose her name...but let me tell you some of the other meanings that came out of her name that we weren't aware of at the time, but it truly shows how God worked in all of this! Part of Natalee's name is also part of her birthmom's name...I won't say which part for privacy sake but when we found that out we thought that was pretty neat...as I think her birthmom did too...and to add to that, Natalee also has another member of the birthmom's family in her name as well :) Pretty cool! And lastly (and this makes me smile when I think of it)...remember how some of you were praying for a Christmas miracle for us...why you all chose Christmas (and I did too) I don't know...it was almost as if God was placing that time period in all of our hearts...well we did learn of Natalee's arrival right before Christmas (December 9th) and we all knew that our prayers for a Christmas miracle had been answered! Then Natalee made her arrival on January 25th, 2010...one month after Christmas! After we were home and getting settled in I thought it would be a good idea to look up the meaning of her name...and do you know what I found?

Natalee:

Meaning - born on Christmas

Now how cool is that?!?! Our Christmas miracle...even though she wasn't actually born on Christmas day :) God is so good...all the time! Well I hope that you enjoyed getting to know the meaning of our Natalee's name! I'd love to hear how you all came up with your kid's names! :)

4 Months and...it's FINAL!

2010-06-09T15:30:00.007-05:00

Okay so I neglected to get her 4 month old pictures on here so here they are!

What a big girl she is! :) She's weighing in at 15.6 lbs and is 26 inches long! She's very healthy and can I say...I so enjoy being able to write that she IS 4 months old instead of "she would have been..."! Ahhh...it's so refreshing! :) She can't sit up on her own yet and she has yet to really roll over...she has rolled over when she's been on her side but no rolling from the back or tummy positions yet. She is constantly trying to lift her head up so that she can be sitting straight up and she is talking more and more all the time. She usually sleeps from 9 to 7...which is wonderful! Now the nights that she doesn't (which are few) are torture! :) Let's see...what else...she is almost always happy and when she wakes up from a nap or from bedtime she is usually talking and not crying...she talks all the time...did I mention that already :) She takes after me in that way! ha! And...as I eluded to this in my title...on Friday, June 4th, we went to court and before a judge and we testified that we will love and take care of her forever and the judge signed the papers and so now Natalee is officially ours...FOREVER!!!! So...we let the celebration begin by going on our first "official" family vacation...which is why I wasn't on here to announce her court stuff earlier! :) We headed out to the Black Hills on Friday after our court date and spent a few days out there. It was so much fun...I love it out there and so does Jon...if you've never been you have to go! Well I have a lot of pictures for you so I won't continue to bore you with any more of an update :) Thanks again for all the prayers for Natalee and our family...it's so nice to finally have it all done!

Natalee on her big day at court

Us with the Judge...it's signed...it's done!

Our Court audience...thanks for coming!

Our adoption attorney

All of us outside the courthouse (except my mom...she was taking the picture)...don't we all look so happy!

Granny Annie and Natee

Here's the start of our trip pictures...Crazy Horse...the thing still isn't done...I don't know if it ever will be...but can you see all the people standing on it...I guess once a year they open it up for people to climb up there...we decided not too...I think Jon would have but climbing didn't sound like much fun to me...especially with a 4 month old.

Feeding the wild donkeys...I wonder how much crap these things eat...they got licorice and pretzels from our car! :)

The buffalo (or Tatanka!)

Calf...so cute!

Here was a huge Tatanka out in Custer State Park...he wasn't even close to where we saw the other buffalos so I don't know where he came from...but he went right by our car and I thought he was going to ram us at one point! He was pretty cool looking but I wouldn't have messed with him!

Natee and her daddy at Mt. Rushmore

The next face of the mountain :)

If you've never been to the lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore we'd highly recommend it! It was soooo cool and very patriotic!

Natee taking a splash! She loves the water...unfortunately this pool water was pretty cool so she didn't last too long!

She's worn out...ready to go home...this was our last night and she was just sitting by me and all of a sudden she got very still and I looked down and she was out :)

Picture Perfect

2010-06-02T19:16:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone! So sorry! I'm a bad bad blogger! I have so much to catch you up on but since I've been working on re-designing the blog (almost) all day I don't have much time to write tonight! What do you think of the new design? I love color if you can't tell and when I saw this rainbow background I knew it was the one I wanted to use for the summer! I love rainbows (we just had one outside our window 2 nights ago!) and I love that they represent a promise that God made to us...that never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life (Genesis 9:8-17 for those of you who would like to look it up!) :) And I like the quote from Dolly..."The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." I'll put up with the rain any day...if we hadn't had the trials that we had, we, for one, wouldn't have Natalee, and two, we wouldn't know how to treasure each moment with her and each moment in our lives! So...bring the rain! Anyway...I got a few pictures for you tonight...hopefully one of these days I can give you a full update on our lives :) We went down to my cousin Andy's wedding this last weekend...he married his sweetheart, Lindsay (congrats to you two by the way!)...the day was beautiful and so were they. The day also lent itself to some great picture opportunities...I love this picture my sister-in-law Britt took:

because it captures us the fun that we were having! So here are some of the products that we got from that day...I still want to Photoshop them a bit, but I think they turned out great for just pointing and shooting...enjoy!!!

Natalee's Dedication

2010-05-19T17:45:00.009-05:00

Wow! Sorry! It's been a long time! Time for a little catch up :) We dedicated Natalee Ann to God on Sunday, May 9th. It was such a special time and a great way to celebrate Mother's Day! Natalee made me a card and it was so cute :) I'd share it with you on here but it's too cute and I think I'm just going to keep it for myself :) Sorry to tease! Anyway...we had a great day that Sunday with our family and friends. After church we all went back to my mom and dad's for lunch and cake...it was a fun day...and a beautiful day! That week the weather was rather crappy and cold so when it was 60 and sunny on Sunday we were very happy! Well not too much to update you on other than Natalee's dedication so I'll just put her pictures up! Hope all is well with everyone and that you are all enjoying your spring so far...summer is right around the corner! Take care!

Proud Mommy and Daddy with their beautiful daughter!

Pastor Don and us

Ali's Family

Great Uncle Mike and Aunt Pam and cousin Kami...they came all the way from the Brainard area to be with us that day...thanks again for coming!

Jon's Family

All the cousins

Natalee and her cake

Family Picture...look at that cute smile on Natalee's face...and isn't the tree pretty behind us?!?!

Mommy and Natee

Kisses

Daddy and his little girl

Well isn't she just cute :)

Look who's famous...

2010-05-07T08:19:00.003-05:00

...well...maybe not really famous...but close! :) Natalee made it onto the Archiver's website and in their newsletter e-mail! Click here to see how cute she is! Cute, right?!? Yep...that's what I thought :) And for those of you who don't know what Archiver's is...well shame on you! No...not really...it just means you don't share my love of stamping and scrapbooking...and that's okay...you are probably far better off financially than I am :) ha! Archiver's is a scrapbooking store...we have quite a few of them in the Twin Cities and they also have multiple locations around the US. My mom also works there...and that's where Natee got her in :) Here's hoping the muscle picture makes it in someday! Well I'd better jump off this thing for now...gotta get ready for our big garage sale tomorrow...of course it's going to be cold and yucky...it always is for our city wide garage sale...I think we should change the weekend...but that isn't my decision. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend...Natalee is getting dedicated at church on Sunday so I'll have pictures to post after that! And thanks again to Archiver's for featuring Natalee...it was so fun to see her picture...I hope the fame doesn't go to her head! :) ha!

Farmer Joe Natee

2010-05-03T15:45:00.002-05:00

Yes that's our little Farmer Natee on her first outing in the field. For the past couple of weeks Jon has been busy in the field trying to get all the corn in...now that the corn is in the beans need to go in. It's been so fun being able to take Natee out there to ride in the tractor and to take her daddy (and sometimes her uncle Matt) meals and treats in the field. But most of all...it's been fun dressing up our little farmer ~~Joe~~ Natee!

3 Months and a little housekeeping...

2010-04-27T15:12:00.005-05:00

A little housekeeping is probably what I should be doing instead of writing this blog...oh well...this is more fun :) Well on Sunday Natalee turned 3 months old...I can't believe it! Crazy how fast time goes by! She is smiling more and more every day...although when you see her pictures on here you wouldn't believe it...can't seem to capture her smiles...every time I remember to go grab my camera then she stops! Oh well...I guess that's how it goes :) She babbles like crazy and I told Jon that I think we are going to have an early talker on our hands. It probably helps that I talk to her a lot...some days I bet she wishes I would be quiet! She is sleeping really good...last night she slept from 9:45 to 7:30! I couldn't believe it! She has been sleeping from about 8:30/9 to about 5:30...although a few nights a week she still gets up around 3 for a little snack...here's hoping those times are almost done :) All in all she is a really good baby and we are enjoying every minute of her! Oh yeah...I forgot to tell you about her two months stats...now you probably don't even care...but here they are anyway....she was 22 1/2 inches long and 11 lb 3 oz...I'm really curious to see what she weighs now...she seems like she is getting so much bigger. The other day I had her laying on the floor after changing her diaper and I got up to go throw it away and wash my hands...and when I came back she was laying on her side! So I don't know if she's going to start rolling soon or not but I'm for sure very careful where I lay her now! :) She loves kicking and bringing her legs up too and she really wants to sit straight up like a big girl...so one of my friends gave me a bumbo seat for her to use...and she really likes it :) Well I think that's all the update I have for you on Natalee...I have some pictures also for you...and at the bottom I have her announcement that I finally had done! I wanted to wait for the adoption (or at least the birthmom's part) to be final...my friend from high school designed them for us...check out her website some time: http://www.lilygracedesign.com/ It turned out really cute so make sure you check it out at the bottom of this post...and I am working on sending them out with thank you notes too! So if you got us a gift, thank you so much...so sorry that the thank you cards are soooo late!

Here's Natee's 3 month bear picture! Does she look bigger than last time?!?!

Here's a little smirk from our Natee :)

Natalee got to meet one of Emmalee's nurses on the 23rd of April...we went down and had supper with her! Thanks again Breanna! It was so good to see you!

And then after we had supper with Breanna we drove around a bit by the hospital and then went to the Ronald McDonald House so Natalee could drop in her pop tabs! Doesn't she look so happy to be doing so! ha!

And here are our cute announcements! See...I told you they were cute! Thanks again Nikki for doing them! They turned out wonderful! Again...visit Nikki's site sometime if you need some design work or announcements! She does an awesome job!

Missing her sister...

2010-04-23T13:10:00.004-05:00

Yep...you guessed it...and if you've been to our Feldman Baby blog...you already know. I'm missing Emmalee like crazy today...I've been missing her for the last two years but these anniversaries really stir up the emotions and feelings. So I'm holding Natee tight and telling her all about her sister. And I'm sad that they will never have that sister bond...sure she "has" a sister but until Heaven they will never really be "sisters"...but what a reunion that will be! Isn't that exciting to think about! I think so! I can't wait to see Em perfectly healed...with no tubes...no open chest...just her perfect self. Thank you all for your love and prayers for our family...they mean so much. And we are so happy that Emmalee finally has.....a sister! :)

Emmalee

Natalee

Wanna see my muscles?!?

2010-04-19T15:16:00.001-05:00

Smiley Girl!

2010-04-15T16:03:00.003-05:00

Just thought I'd share a couple cute pictures of Natalee with you all! She is such a good baby...and she is getting to where she smiles all the time now! And she's learning to play...right now she's in her bouncy seat just going to town...making it light up and making the music turn on and the frog and monkey go up and down...she's having a good time :) Otherwise nothing else is too new with us. We met with our attorney to sign some more paperwork and next week we have our adoption post-placement home study...not too worried. But as soon as that is over we can get the court date set and get this all finalized! Yea! I will be happy when it's over...I'm tired of thinking about it all and I'm ready to just move on :) Well that's all for now...I'll talk to you all later!

Celebrating Emmalee

2010-04-10T06:39:00.003-05:00

Today Emmalee would have been 2 years old...we are going to take the day and celebrate her...go over to our other blog if you want to read about what we did. And thank you in advance for all the love and prayers you are sending our way...like I told Jon this morning...even after 2 years it doesn't make it easier...the tears still flow and we still miss her like crazy! But God is so good and Natalee has been such an answer to prayer. While she doesn't take Emmalee's place (no one ever could!), she does make the hurt a little less....something about that sweet face and just being able to cuddle her :) Thank you for remember our Emmalee with us!