The Ice Queen Reigns Over Her Backyard

Natalie is obsessed with the movie "Frozen".  We have seen it twice at the theater and are buying it the day it becomes available as a digital version.  While we are waiting to see the movie again we are making do with listening to the soundtrack.  Natalie's favorite song is "Let it Go!" and her favorite character is Elsa the Ice Queen.  Most of the time these days she is pretending to be Elsa while I am assigned to the role of her sister Anna.  See the video at the bottom of this post for an excerpt of Natalie's passionately sung rendition of "Let it Go!"  It recently snowed and Natalie was inspired to sing after we built our very own Olaf (another Frozen character).

Natalie is 4!!!!

The Saturday before Natalie's birthday party one of her friends was celebrating their birthday at the same Museum as Natalie's party.  The pictures below where Natalie is wearing a purple shirt are from the other birthday party. The first pic is of her with her best buddy Jack.  When a little girl sat in the seat to Natalie's left Jack got very upset because he wanted to sit next to Natalie.  We quickly grabbed a chair and squeezed it in on her other side.  It warms my heart to see how much Natalie's friends like her.  

Natalie is cute from the back too :) Her hair is getting long which thrills her to no end.  I think she dreams of having hair as long as Rapunzel.

Jumping a week ahead now to Natalie's Birthday Party.

I explained to Natalie that her party was taking place a few days before her actual birthday.  She must have understood exactly what I meant because when some friends at the party said, "How old are you now Natalie?" her response was "Still Three!"

Natalie was a natural at hostessing.  As each of her guests arrived she ran up to them squealing their name with delight and throwing her arms around them in a giant bear hug.  She was so happy to be with her friends.  It was the best birthday ever!

Natalie and Jack, together again :)

Natalie got to choose 5 animals to visit at her party.  Her first request was an owl, but the Museum didn't have one.  Her second choice was a snake.  We got to meet and pet a gorgeous Scarlett King Snake aptly named Scarlett. (video to follow soon)

Next Natalie requested an alligator - quite a surprising choice from such a frilly little girly-girl.  I was surprised that the museum actually had an alligator.  His name is Peanut and he is 2 years old.  We got to pet his tail.  He didn't seem to mind the attention.  The only time he got upset was when they put him back in his little carrier.  He didn't like that AT ALL and let them know it with a lot of hissing and thrashing.

Next we saw a beautiful orange parrot.  We didn't get to pet him because he bites!  Then we saw a very friendly blue-tongued skink.  And last, but not least, we got to meet the only cuddly animal of the bunch a super sweet ferret.

Listening to the animal handler talk about each of the animals.

After the animal visit, we all sang happy birthday to Natalie and ate cupcakes and ice-cream. Then the kids were let loose to explore the section of the museum that was designed especially for children 6 and under.

Natalie was a bit sad the previous week that she never got a chance to wear the ladybug dress from the children's theater pictured below.  I made sure that she got a turn on her birthday.  She was thrilled!

Playing on the pirate ship with her friends.

Chillin' at the "beach" with a couple of friends.

Back at home after the party Natalie got to open all of her presents.  It was like Christmas all over again.

It was the Happiest Birthday Ever!  The gifts were wonderful, but the best part for Natalie was getting to be with all of her friends.  I was so proud of her for being such a sweet, gracious hostess.

2013 Holidays

Last Thanksgiving my mother was staying with us as she recovered from liver transplant surgery.  Two of our favorite cousins also came to see us. This is a picture of Cousin A with Katie and Louie.  She is so good with the Newfs.

During Thanksgiving dinner Natalie climbed behind me and started playing with my hair.  These pictures aren't the greatest, but I love seeing the joy in her eyes.

This was the first year that Natalie helped me decorate the tree.  Her ornaments were a bit clumped together, but she had fun doing it.

After Natalie's school Christmas performance (video to follow sometime in the future) she got a chance to sit on Santa's lap.  We role played this moment many times before it really happened - with each of us taking turns being Santa - so when the moment came she was not a bit scared.  She was so eager to get on Santa's lap that she almost jumped up there before the previous child got off.  During practice when I asked what she wanted for Christmas she would sometimes say a Jasmine doll and other times would say "Nothing.  If I want something I'll just buy it myself!"  She just recently started getting an allowance (a dollar per week for every year of age).  She is learning about setting goals and saving money.  Her daddy would be proud.

Natalie also had a Christmas party at school.  Most of the parents attended, and it was nice to get to visit with them.  Natalie's favorite part of the day was dressing up in a pretty dress and wearing black shoes.  Since I usually make her wear tennis shoes (which have special inserts to help align her feet and legs) she is always thrilled to get the chance to wear something fancier.

On Christmas Day Natalie had a wonderful time giving and receiving gifts.  One of her favorite presents was the castle tent pictured below.  Another was her Belle dress which she is wearing in the picture.  And yes, she did get her little Jasmine doll.

Playing Catchup

During the last 3 months of 2013 I was very short on time.  I decided to dedicate the month of January to catching up on all of the things that I had to neglect during the previous 3 months.  I'm still not caught up, but I made a huge dent in my backlog.  It dawned on me that it had been so long since I updated the blog that I didn't even have Christmas photos posted.  So prepare yourself for a deluge of photos.  I'll start with some random pics of my sweet daughter, Natalie Wanhan.

Wearing mommy's hat

Singing