She's 2!

How did two years go past in such a hurry? Where did my 8 pound ball of snuggles go? And who is this rambunctious and hilarious toddler?

Today, my little girl turns 2.

She's no longer a baby who wont let you sit down while holding her. She's no longer a baby who needs her mommy constantly. She's no longer content to sit and snuggle for hours.

Natalia is a beautiful, energetic, and funny little girl now. She loves to dance, and sing, and read stories. She loves everything about being outside. She loves all of her stuffed animals and plushies, and tucks them each in every single night. She's got a temper that would make a bull blush, but is quick to give a hug. She's got an imagination that never ceases to amaze me.

She's 32 inches tall, and 27 pounds.

She has shoulder length blonde hair, and eyes that change color between blue, hazel, and gray.

Natalia is perfect in her mommy's eyes. Even when she isn't.

Photos by Finktography Vancouver, WA

Car Woes

I will never in a million years own another Nissan.
Not even if it is a gift.
Sounds harsh? Yes...
But we are currently $4,000 in repairs in 6 months.

The car is worth about $5,000.

I could scream.

And realistically there's nothing I can do but pay for the repairs and keep going with life because that's what my husband wants to do currently.

God damn it.

Life- can you just stop fucking with our car for like a year? Just let us get into our house and adjust and then we'll get rid of it. But until then.... just stop.

A long weekend

This weekend was lovely, David got Monday off for President's Day so we had an extended Valentine weekend!

Friday night we went out for dinner as a family.
Saturday David and I saw Deadpool (highly recommend it!) while Natalia had a play date.
Sunday, Natalia had her 2 year portraits done. The photographer came to our apartment and set up a little studio in our dining room. Natalia sat well for the first 45 minutes and then decided she was done. Pretty good for an almost 2 year old!
Monday we took a lovely walk by Lacamas lake and threw rocks in the water.

It was a fabulous weekend. I'm sad to be back to the week... the bathroom needs to be cleaned, garbage needs to go out, and I need to tidy the living room.  Oh well, such is life right?

Our building permit is in, we're waiting for final approval from the city. We should be breaking ground in the next two weeks hopefully! Keep your fingers crossed that we can stay on schedule! Shooting for a closing date of June 15! Our lease is up June 26th, so its kind of a tight squeeze.

Volleyball starts up again next week! I'm pretty excited to be teaching two classes this go round and working with some older girls! The extra cash to pay off debt will be nice too!

Nap time, a blissful time...

Ah I love when nap time arrives early enough for it not to interfere with bedtime!

We've struggled recently with bed time but I think we are finally on a positive path to less stress. And possibly more sleep!

Everyone has a different opinion about parenting, and it can be kind of crazy trying to figure out what actually works for your kid. Thus far 4 out of the 5 sleep methods I have tried haven't worked for us. Probably because I'm a total push over but I think the nursing/story routine is going to work nicely. Fingers crossed.

Life has basically returned to normal around here. We picked out our flooring and laminate and tile yesterday for the new house. Still waiting for our permit to come through so we can break ground! Fingers crossed for the next 2-3 weeks! It would suck royally if we got behind schedule because we are cutting it rather close with our lease already.

Natalia will be 2 in just a few short weeks! I can't believe my baby is a toddler. Its really quite amazing. She has become quite the little lady and is a little comedian! She is always trying to find new ways to make us laugh. Today, for the first time I've ever seen it, she passionately sang to an Adele song in the car on our way home from the gym. Had her hand up and eyes scrunched as she sang out in toddler babble. It was hysterical! I was in tears laughing and she just kept it up! I hope she keeps her silliness her whole life.