New Teeth= More Effective Biting!

Well, Natalie is in the process of growing 2 more top teeth. I looked in her mouth the other day and there they were. She seems to be doing fine with them. Both of my girls were pretty easy as far as teething is concerned. Natalie is so busy and daring and feisty. FEISTY is the #1 word I use to describe her these days. She knows what she wants and will make sure she gets it! It's really cute, you know she understands alot now. We can sing some songs and she attempts to do the hand motions and she plays with some toys correctly now (rather than just trying to eat them all). Smarter and smarter by the day!

We went to the circus about a week ago. It was the circus of the senses which is a one hour long circus for people with disabilities. It has sign language interpreters, braille programs, a short circus with no intermission, etc. Anyway we normally take our classes at Partee but Gwinnett County has said no longer so we give our kids free tickets to go with their families and there were some extra tickets so Clint and I took the girls. It was the Big Apple Circus at Stone Mountain that puts it on so all seats were great seats. It is the perfect circus for little ones. Their attention span was perfect for it. Natalie actually enjoyed it and clapped at appropriate times and her little eyes followed the show all around. Melanie is actually understanding it better and better each year. It was a really fun family night.

Melanie finally had her 3 year old dr. appointment on Tuesday. She did great. She was a bit weirded out by taking her clothes off and that changed her personality for the whole thing. They wanted her to put on a typical gown and sheet to cover you lower half and called it a princess gown. Melanie threw it on the floor and told the doctor it wasn't a princess gown it was a napkin and she wasn't going to wear it. She told the doctor her favorite food was steak- whatever silly girl. But she got a super check up- no shots needed. She weighed 32lbs (60th %) and was 38 inches tall (70th %) so right where she has always been- growing great! The only small reprimand we got is that she doesn't wear a bike helmet- probably b/c she can only ride 5 feet- but knowing her she would probably fall at her 5 ft flat ride. The camera is in Clint's car so I will put new pics soon but all in all life is great.

Oh! My job interview is Wednesday (Elizabeth and I are going to interview/observe many different classes)- wish us luck! It is going to be an odd type of interview b/c I am also going to be examining all of the sites as a potential customer also b/c I am checking them out for the girls as well as for possible work. I'm so excited!

Okay, okay

Natalie's first shaving cream adventure- enjoy the video at the bottom... Two pics from the first dentist appointment- watch the video at the end also! So I am so far behind in blogging world. Natalie is the busiest child on the planet and I rarely have a chance to sit down at the computer without jumping up to relieve her of her latest feat. She is growing so fast. She can say "mama, dada, ball, an appx. of bubble, appx. of nana, appx. of pops and an appx. of dog/puppy." She is cruising from one piece of furniture to another and will sometimes try to stand unassisted. She has NO fear. She started gymnastics and will attempt anything with any adult. She just goes and goes. Oddly enough she is a fairly regular nighttime pooper. It normally occurs right around bath time. So we have caught her around that time and sit her on the toilet and if she has to go she will (about 10x now) and if she doesn't have to she will cry to let you know that she wants off. No, I have no intentions of attempting any type of potty training in the near future but we are pretty impressed she is making some type of connection. She continues to love food and is not picky in the least. She has dropped the bottle and is using sippy cups throughout the day. I am slowly weaning her from nursing. We are down to 2x/day. In 3 weeks I will have been pregnant or nursing 44 months of the last 48 months!!!! AAAHHHHH- I am so ready for my body to be all about me and my hormones be dictated by a normal 28 year old not for creation of life or sustaining of life. But, I have very healthy, smart girls so I definitely think it was all worth it! I can hardly believe that Natalie will be 1 in few short weeks. It is pretty amazing to know we have had her hear on earth for a whole year!! Boy time flies! Melanie is as feisty as ever and knows how to pitch a fit at the drop of a hat. She knows fits are for the dining room or her room room so I just have to point and off she marches in all out hysteria. She is super smart and really cute but boy does she have a temper that can grate on my last nerve. She can be quite demanding and whiny about her way or the highway! I clench my fist and bite my tongue as much as I can (multiple times/day!). Our neighborhood has built an amazing playground for the kids. It is just like a park playground. Melanie has shown off how grownup she is by running from our house to the front of the playground to play. I am pretty amazed her stamina can keep up that long. She continues to love school and gymnastics and does great in both. Her gymnastics class is for big kids (3-4) year olds and the moms just sit outside. She is getting better at following directions and staying with the group. The first time or two she did a lot of wandering! She goes for her 3 year old appointment next week so we can update about that some time soon. She has moved to a big girl car seat b/c Natalie outgrew her carrier. Melanie now is in a highback booster using a regular seat belt and Natalie looks tiny in the "big car seat." However, she weighed a ton so there was no way I could carry the other seat anymore. Melanie had her 1st dentist appointment a few weeks ago. She was amazing and had great teeth. She sat through it all without every crying or whining. I was so proud of her. As for me and Clint we are continuing though our daily grind. I have applied for a new job next year. We will see what happens and if any new positions become available. I would like to teach a collaborative preschool class which would be in a daycare and I would have appx. 6 students with special needs integrated in with 14 GA PreK students. I think it seems like such a neat opportunity and I would have students with such different abilities and needs than I do now so I would be fun to kind of mix it up. It will prevent me from getting burned out of my current job. I would still be considered an employee of Gwinnett Schools I would just co-teach with GA PreK teacher and a daycare hired teacher assistant. What fun...keep your fingers crossed for me. Also, running is going amazingly well. Yesterday I ran my longest run yet- 6.4 miles (all outside...not on the treadmill!) in 65 minutes. I was quite impressed with myself if I do say so. Clint is doing really well on his exercise routine also. He got a little sidelined when he went out of town a few weeks ago. He was in Dallas for work and slipped on some ice and fell forward. It hurt him pretty bad and he went to the dr for some Xrays etc. but nothing was broken so he was given some pain meds and told to wait it out Anyway,enough of the updates. Here are a ton of pics and videos- enjoy! Can I just mention in the midst of this Natalie pulled over a potted plant that I will now clean up and I have broken up no fewer than 3 feuds between them...gee...you wonder why the lack of posts?