Happy Halloween!

Cheerleading is very serious business. At least that's what Natalie thought when I took her to get her annual Halloween picture taken. She wouldn't crack a smile in front of the camera, but I rather like this shot anyway...

She was so cute in her OSU Cheerleader costume! This evening we went to the Fred's house and trick-or-treated in their neighborhood with a bunch of friends. We were amazed at how Natalie acted like she knew exactly what was going on and what she was supposed to do. She carried her little bucket the entire time and watched the candy being dropped in. As soon as that happened, she'd turn around and start for the next house, dragging me behind her. It was comical.

Afterward, we enjoyed a yummy potluck dinner. Here are all of the girls that Natalie went trick-or-treating and played with all evening...

Hope you had a spooky Halloween! Can't believe it's November now!

Newest Natalie-isms

Since it's been a while, I thought I'd give you a few updated Natalie-isms. Every day she amazes us with the new big girl stuff she picks up. Here are a few examples...

• She no longer crawls up the stairs like a baby. She now walks up the stairs (with the assistance of the railing of course). She'll still occasionally get distracted and either sit down or change directions all together but she loves the journey (too bad that darn gate is usually in the way!)
• Her absolute favorite word right now is "hot" although when she says it the 't' is very soft so it's more like "hoh". She knows what it means and will correctly say it when she sees a stove, the microwave, fireplace or other. But she loves saying "hoh" so much that she'll say it when she takes a bite of a room temperature banana, or when she touches a book. We have no idea why. I think she likes the arguments it provokes from her parents. (i.e. "No, that banana is not hot!")
• Now that she can run, she loves playing games with daddy where he runs and hides and she runs to find him. He'll jump out to scare her and she'll shriek with delight and run in the opposite direction only to find her daddy jumping around the corner in the dining room. Her 15-month old energy waaaay outlasts that of her 31-year-old father. But they have a blast running around the house surprising each other.
• She's learning to maneuver the spoon and fork much better. The outcome is usually a disastrous mess, but she loves feeding herself like a big girl.
• She is getting more and more into books! I'll ask her to bring me a book to read. She'll run to her toy chest and pull out a big stack of books and sit in my lap. Tonight we read through 5 entire picture books in one sitting. She'll turn the pages, point out things and kiss the characters. Just a month ago, she barely had the attention span to get through one book so I'm thrilled at her newfound literary interests. Every night she picks the same book for bedtime. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" is her favorite. We read it backwards and forward and she loves to put her tiny fingers through the holes and kiss the butterfly at the end of the story. It's very sweet...
• She's using more words like mik (milk), dow (as in down, it has nothing to do with the struggling stock market) and mo (more). 

I'm sure there are other Natalie-isms that I'm forgetting. It's hard to keep track! Here are some fall pics we took last weekend...

Enjoy the glorious fall weather we're having! Winter will be here soon...

Weekend Fun

This weekend Jeramy and I met  our Boise friends, James & Rhiannon at the OSU Football game against the Cougars. It was so much fun. It was a perfect fall day in Corvallis and winning 66-13 didn't hurt either! Go Beavs!

While we were getting rowdy at the game, Natalie spent time with her Grandma & Grandpa Yost, Aunts Shawna and Janey and her cousin Chloe. The girls had such a fun time playing together! How cute are they?

This week in pictures...

Pre-bath stroll with dog...

New fashion trend: pjs and cowgirl boots...

Dancin' Queen

Most of you know that Natalie LOVES music. We've been saying for weeks that we have to capture Natalie's unique dancing style on video. Well, we finally accomplished that! Her skill is undeniable. You'll even catch a glimpse of her moonwalking! That's talent, especially for a 14 month old! 

Natalie's all-time favorite song is the theme song from the show Gilmore Girls by Carole King. It started early when I spent every day of my maternity leave watching reruns while I nursed her. And she loves to watch it with her Grandma Pat (she has the DVDs)!  

Enjoy the show!

Gracie's Birthday Party

Today we visited the Pumpkin Patch to help celebrate Natalie's friend Gracie's 2nd birthday. It was also a costume party so Natalie showed off her OSU Cheerleader costume! She had a blast visiting the petting zoo, riding on the zoo train, petting the horses and looking at great big pumpkins. Here are a few pics of our day... 

She had so much fun that she skipped her nap. This was the moment we knew we had to go... (pretty scenery, though, huh?)