Happy New Year!!!

Caught going up the stairs, and he's way too proud!

Good times with daddy

Natalie is the new cook in the house!

Her first batch of home-made cookies in animal shapes!

All smiles, all the time =)

What a wonderful year for the Neie family! We started off bringing Ryan into our family and have been blessedly complete ever since. Daniel changed jobs, which brought some anxiety, but it has worked out in his favor thus far. I went back to work this past spring, and am still adjusting to the whole Working Mom thing. We got to experience lots of firsts with our children, especially since it was Ryan's first year. Natalie participated in her first swimming lessons and sports (t-ball). She received her first hair "cut" (an inch trim). And yes, I am unashamed to admit that I kept the hair. Our kids suffered through their first real illness, RSV, and had their first breathing treatments. We are blessed to have been able to keep them healthy for as long as we did. We moved, again, in October, and I have a feeling we'll be moving sometime soon...again (in the next couple of years). Daniel and I have been talking about our future and 2009 will be bringing some more firsts and changes that we are excited about. The Lord has truly blessed us and I find myself at times thinking I don't deserve the good life that I have. I am surrounded with love from my friends and family (near and far), my parents and siblings, and my amazing hubby and kids..

With the new year right upon us, let us strive to better ourselves daily this next year, so that the world around us will become better in the process. It is with a change of attitude and perspective that we can mold broken hearts, mend tattered relationships, and heal aging wounds. Life is too short to settle for mediocrity. Don't become bitter or sedentary! Pray for forgiveness for yourself and others. Let go and let GOD work his wonders. Love each other, no matter what! It is with GOD and LOVE that all is possible. PRAISE GOD and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I leave you with this thought:

BE KINDER THAN NECESSARY, FOR EVERYONE YOU MEET IS FIGHTING SOME KIND OF BATTLE!

Christmas Memories

Pretty Christmas Girl!

Ryan looking at the lights

Christmas Eve pic of the kiddoes!

Ryan eats anything and everything these days, even the wrapping off of his gifts.

Natalie helped Ryan open his gifts (because he was too busy eating all the paper)

Luke and I with our paintings from Mikey =)

Natalie, looking stealth, helping the guys in their Nerf War

What a wonderful holiday season! Christmas was a good one this year, full of love, laughter, and family. Natalie is now old enough to truly understand what the season is all about, but of course she only cares about Santa and the gifts at this time. Ryan didn't know what to think, only that there were tons of things to chew on and climb over. We spent Christmas Eve with my folks. A good friend of mine from work, Lauren, joined us and entertained us with stories from her time living in South Africa. That evening we allowed the kids to open one gift and boy were they ready! Okay, Natalie was ready. =) Daniel and I set up extra gifts around the tree after putting the kids to bed. On Christmas morning, Natalie was dying to get downstairs...but we wouldn't let her just yet. I changed and nursed Ryan first so that we could all go downstairs as a family. She was so excited! Her face lit up just like our Christmas tree. She tore through her gifts and even helped Ryan with his since he was too busy eating everything in sight. (It's beginning to get really busy since Ryan is everywhere at once and always ready to chew!) After opening our gifts we headed to my folks to open even more. We had a wonderful Christmas meal (made from scratch of course) and just enjoyed the day, with the kids enjoying their new toys. The guys were all given Nerf guns for Christmas and had themselves a war throughout the house. We are still finding nerf darts in unusual places. Natalie was given a small nerf gun just her size and thoroughly enjoyed helping the guys with their battles. Ryan just tried to chew on any nerf dart he recovered, of course. Luke and I received the best gifts of all. Our brother, Mikey, is an amazing artist. He gave us both original paintings. I was so touched, I cried. Luke and I are truly honored to own something so special that we can pass down in our families for generations. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas just as much as we did!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The last time Sophia visited us, I had pictures done of the kids. So here they are, beautiful and amazing! (Photography by my talented friend, Elizabeth). Merry Christmas to all! May you allow God to work in your lives and bring much happiness and peace throughout this next year!

The Girls' Birthday Party!

Ariel paints a butterfly on Natalie's face

The sign I made for the girls

Hooray for Ariel!!!

You can never have too much fun with bubbles!

Oh my goodness! HUNGRY HIPPOS!!!

Today we celebrated the birthdays of Natalie and Sophia...but unfortunately, Sophia wasn't able to be here as planned. We've had to juggle the birthday plans a few times because she was supposed to be here...and then wasn't...and then was supposed to be here...and then wasn't. At the last minute today we had to cancel her cake and call everyone to inform them of her absence. A few people came anyway, undeterred. And we had a special guest already planned (who also juggled her schedule around other parties because of Sophia). Ariel the Disney Princess showed up at the party and lifted our spirits. She painted faces, danced, sang, and showed us all a great time! I hope you enjoy the pics and the video (which is about 3 minutes long). Keep Luke in your prayers!

Natalie's Birthday

nap time with her new toys...Tink and Ariel

Don't worry, Ryan...you will get your own cake very soon!

Natalie loves frosting!

Natalie picked this cake for herself.

Natalie is officially four years old. We can hardly believe it! I can still remember everything about her pregnancy, her birth, her first year. She is so precious! Happy Birthday, pretty girl! We love you!!!

Snow Day!!!

Ryan seeing his first snow...

Natalie loves the snow!

Snow on the flowers that had recently bloomed.

My parents' street in the morning...

My parents' street that afternoon.

Getting better all the Time

You all have heard the saying, "What a difference a day makes." In our case, the difference is just a matter of a few days. Natalie and Ryan are so much better, thank goodness! And just in time for Natalie's birthday. She can enjoy her day to the fullest! Thanks to all who sent love and prayers. God is good! We are so excited for Thursday. Mom (who is also doing much better) is going to watch Ryan for a little while so Daniel and I can take Natalie out for her birthday. She doesn't know this, of course, and we can't wait to see her reaction to her day! I've attached an adorable video of Ryan chasing me. As you can tell, he is pretty much back to normal. Times are good here and we're eagerly anticipating Christmas! I love this season! Praise God!!!

Thankful Season

Thanksgiving smile!

Such a big boy!

Natalie feeding her little brother jello

Yep...the MEN are in the kitchen this year!

They make beautiful music together!

Just hangin' out, sharin' some cookies

Natalie says "Sophie is my very best friend!"

Thanksgiving was a good one this year. We were blessed to be able to have Sophia, Luke's precious little girl. She is one big ball of energy! She and Natalie had the best time playing with each other. We could barely keep up and it was a wonderful week. Sophia is getting to be such the cutie, but of course good looks run in the family. =) She is still fascinated with Ryan, and vice versa. She still likes to "bonk" his head and Natalie has now picked up on that fun past time. Ryan just looks at them funny. If someone is holding Ryan, Sophia will tell them, "Ryan down!", so she can play with him. She likes to dance with me. I will hold her in a tango position and sing a tango beat using the "da da" sound. She will squeal with delight then say "Natalie's turn!" After I dance with Natalie, she will reach for me and say, "Zia! Da da again!" It's our thing and I love it! I can't wait for Sophia to return. She is so much fun to have around!

Natalie has been a feisty one lately. I've had to talk to her about Santa's "Naughty and Nice" list. I once asked her what it meant to be a good girl. She looked me dead in the face and said, "No fussing, no whining, and no yelling." LOL! Wow! She is getting better with the computer and loves her educational and developmental games. She impresses us often with what she knows. She is big on Imagination. She loves to play pretend with her dolls and will tell fantastical tales that make us smile. She is very excited about Christmas and is learning holiday songs. "Jingle Bells" is a favorite right now. She has asked Santa to bring her Ariel stuff (Sophia and Natalie's favorite Disney Princess). Natalie and Sophia will also celebrate their birthday next week. It will be the big 2 for Sophia and it's hard to believe it's been two years. But then again, Natalie will be FOUR! Four years old and still our baby girl. She is growing up so quickly. I tell Daniel that is the reason I take so many pictures.

Ryan is a fast growing boy! If you notice in one of the above pictures, he is almost as big as Sophia! He is a little over 20 pounds, jabbers like crazy (with his favorite being dada), can stand on his own (not quite ready to take a step), has said the word "ball", and is showing signs of personal strength. He doesn't put up with big sister picking on him. He yells at her if he is frustrated and it is sooooo cute! Natalie is a little taken aback because it is such a sudden outburst from his little body. Our little man can hold his own! Ryan really enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner and had his first taste of turkey and ham. He loved them, but not quite as well as the potatoes. I even caught Natalie feeding him her jello. He sure loved that! Ryan loves to be around Natalie and Sophia and has to have his nose in everything they do. He tries to keep up as best he can! At one point during the visit, the girls decided they were going to crawl like the baby. Ryan followed Sophia who was following Natalie and we had a caravan of grand kids going around the house! How cute! Ryan is teething again so nights have been restless and mommy is tired.

Please continue to pray for:

1) my sister, Denise (Daniel's sis), and my dear friend from school, Natalie. They are both expecting bundles of joy next year. Pray for healthy babies! Natalie has had a lot of complications and has been on bed rest for several weeks. Denise is doing well.

2) my brothers

3) our babies! Natalie and Ryan are suddenly very ill and Ryan is on breathing treatments for a respiratory virus. Natalie has a bad cough. And my mother has pneumonia! And please keep all others that are ill at this time in your prayers!

Daniel's Birthday

Yep...we make cute kids!

Something interesting is going on outside

Natalie crowned Daniel and dubbed him Queen Princess for his birthday

Birthday picture with the kids

He looks so excited to be 28 years old... =)

Yesterday we celebrated Daniel's birthday. It was just a family celebration. All he wanted was a home-made meal (red beans and rice) and carrot cake (made from scratch by me). So I'm sharing the birthday pics with ya'll plus a couple of other cute ones of the kids. God bless everyone!

New post, new pics

Loving on daddy

Natalie is picture perfect

Nap time with daddy

Caught in the act! He has discovered the toilet paper!

Natalie really likes this shirt. =)

dressed for Uncle D.D.'s job

I surprised them with this picture.

Stressful times at the Neie household, but we are good nonetheless. This past Monday was the first official day for the new dealership to be open to the public. And boy howdy! It is niiiiiiiiiiice! A beautiful dealership. A much more comfortable place for my hubby to be working. And might I add that the new Chevy Traverse is a great new family vehicle that GM has come out with. Daniel continues to work a lot of hours, most of the time working on his days off. But ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I'm just glad that there is a newer, nicer, happier place for him to go to work. The YMCA continues to be a great place for me. I have awesome coworkers and employees. It's a great working environment and I am so blessed. Not much pay, but I'm rewarded in other ways that are so much more important.

Natalie is getting to be so smart. I introduced her to the computer recently. Since we can't afford to put her in pre-school, I have been going over some things at home. I showed her some of the learning games on playhousedisney.com and noggin.com. Wow! We didn't realize she knew as much as she does. She has a blast and we are always amazed. We have also started teaching her some card games, such as Uno and Go Fish. She loves to play Uno with Uncle Mikey. It's a good way to incorporate colors and numbers. She has been a little more whiny than usual but we are dealing. Overall, our little Diva is a joy to have! We can hardly believe that she will be four years old next month. Heck, little Sophia will be two years old the same day. They grow so quickly!

Ryan grows by leaps and bounds. He is as mobile as ever, lightening fast on his hands and knees. He loves to pull himself up...and then pull down whatever is above him. He follows Natalie everywhere, and she just lights up knowing that he loves to be with her. Of course, deep down she still wants to pommel him. He said his official first phrase Thursday to my dad. He waved good-bye and said "Buh-bye". He also is now saying "what's that" but it comes out of his cute little mouth more like "sthat?" I asked the doctor about infants and talking. Natalie said her first word at nine months of age and it was "fish" (because of the koi fish pond at Papa Heiko and Mimi's house). The doc said Ryan was right on schedule and that the second child usually doesn't talk as well or as soon because the older child/children speak for them. I feel a little better now. I have to remind myself that every child is different and has their own unique gifts and milestones. Ryan and Natalie are different and wonderful in their own special ways. Just because Natalie spoke sooner than Ryan doesn't mean she is better than him, and just because Ryan's physical abilities are ahead of the norm doesn't mean he is better than other children. Each child will develop at their own pace and parents need to remember that fact. Ryan shakes his head "no" when upset and is exhibiting a little separation anxiety. He stood for the first time unassisted on Saturday morning. Yikes! Walking is around the corner and I'm sad because he just turned 10 months old yesterday!

We think of everyone often. Next week we will have family pictures done for our Christmas cards. The holidays are upon us and I CAN'T WAIT!!! 'Tis the season, folks! And let us not forget the true reason... God bless ya'll!