10 Months, Etc

Life seems to keep getting in the way of my blog posts...oh well. December was a fun month for Natalie - her first Christmas! We took a trip to Des Moines for the Syverson Christmas party and Natalie experienced her first non-family member babysitter - a Delta Gamma of course! Natalie and got to play with her friend Quinn's toys while Mommy and Daddy had a great time with their friends.

Unfortunately, December brought some sadness as well. My uncle passed away on December 16th after a long battle with cancer and various other illnesses. It was a very sad time for our family and definitely put a damper on Christmas for everyone else. Of course we're glad that his suffering has ended, but its unbelievable that he's no longer here. It has been a major loss for the family.

Christmas managed to go on, although a little more sad than usual. Natalie of course received a crazy amount of gifts and even got to sit on Santa's lap. Grandma and Grandpa Olson stayed overnight on Christmas Eve and after opening gifts from Santa, we had a big brunch and spent some quality time together.

 

 

New Years Eve marked Natalie's first official sleepover away from home. We partied with our friends the Birkenholz's and Natalie went to Grandma and Grandpa Olson's house for the night. I'm sure they stayed up all night doing hair and telling ghost stories. The new year got off to a great start when we vacationed in Mexico! Natalie had a group of wonderful babysitters while we were gone - Grandma Sandy, Auntie Brianna, and Grandma/Grandpa Olson. She did suffer a bout of RSV while we were gone which had us a little scared but she fully recovered and is completely back to health now. Overall it was a great trip!!
 

It is hard to believe our little girl is almost 11 months old! She seems like such a big girl now, she has 5 teeth, going on 6, pulls herself up on EVERYTHING, laughs, babbles, and knows what lots of words mean like baba, daddy, mommy, and of course - no. We are looking forward to planning Natalie's 1st birthday party! How time flies.....