Progress

Greetings everyone! I hope this finds everyone in good health and even better spirits. Things in the world of Neie are the same. The kids are good, we are good, all is good. To help with the rising costs of, well, everything, our family is now participating in the Angel Food Ministries program. It is wonderful! You get a ton of food for an amazing price. It really helps financially. My parents, God bless them, have been helping us with food as well as child care. I don't know where we would be without them. They are always ready to give of themselves to help someone in need. I am reminded of the quote "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give." I have returned to cleaning their house once a week as a way of saying 'thanks.' Check out Angel Food Ministries online and find a church near you!

I failed to mention that Daniel was salesman of the month for June. Woohoo! The new dealership opens next month. They have had to postpone the opening for a few months now. At one point, the wrong size for the tile arrived. Oops! Things are slow right now business-wise, but Daniel is optimistic about this new store. It's very attractive and his superiors have worked very hard to make it a successful store.

After two months at the YMCA, I have been promoted. I now have two positions at work...Member Services Representative and Kids Korner Coordinator. I am now a boss and have employees. It's weird and yet so cool at the same time. I am in charge of the baby sitting areas where you leave your kids while you exercise. I am so excited about this! The former coordinator wasn't very interested in her job, so I have some cleaning up to do. And when necessary, I can bring my kids to work. God bless the employers who allow parents to bring their children to work!

Natalie...what a fun child! She is precious, precocious, bossy, vibrant, demanding, independent, and sweet. That's right, all of the above mentioned characteristics rolled into one bouncy little body. She is awesome. She finished her swim lessons last week and we are pleased with the results. She will put her face in the water and blow bubbles. She will jump in. She will correct you on your technique. Apparently, there is a certain way you are supposed to hold your hands when you swim. We have been discussing her next endeavor: dance, T-ball, soccer. It's hard to choose! She will also start pre-school next month. I bet that I will cry on her first day.

Ryan is, as his sister likes to say, our "fat boy." He is 16lbs. and 9oz. He has grown 2.5 inches in two months to reach 27.25 inches. His weight gain is slowing down with his discovery of movement. He is all over the floor! He thoroughly enjoys tummy time and loves jumping in his jumper. He is crazy about pool/bath time. He is our water baby for sure! We started him on fruits and he didn't care for bananas but favors the applesauce. Next up is peaches. We are pleased to announce that he said his first sound: "babababa!" It is precious to hear, especially when Natalie says it back to him. He's our good-natured child, content and all smiles...unless hungry or tired.

That's about it. If I think of anything else, I'll post later. God bless ya'll!

fun pics

Ryan loves to splash in the pool
Natalie the Intellectual
pool fun with the kids
kisses for Ryan...awwww
Natalie dressed daddy in all of her protective gear and told him to "drive my car"

Campaignin'

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Mikey's Party Pics (by Liz)

say cheese!
this bib is surprisingly good!
the Birthday Clan
Mikey and girlfriend Wendy
my little man

Wendy singing "Happy Birthday to my Sweetheart"
How many people does it take to light 40 candles?
Mikey and Wendy slow-dancing (they love to wear crocs)
Walking hand in hand

Time sure does fly...

My nieces have returned home and my parents' house is quiet again...unless Natalie is there, of course. It was so wonderful to have them here for as long as we did. They are full of such joy and energy. You can't help but smile when they are around you. Natalie had the best time with her cousins. She called them "my girls." They plan to visit every summer and we couldn't be happier with that plan! It was so sweet watching Darren with his kids. He even made them blueberry pancakes for breakfast with the fresh blueberries picked from my parents' blueberry bushes. I don't remember when I've ever seen him smile so much. Such a wonderful time! The Lord is so good!

Ryan turned six months old yesterday. Wow! It's been six months already? These kids grow like weeds. His appointment is Friday and I will be sure to update everyone on his stats. For now, he is our butterball. He loves to eat! We started him on fruits this week with bananas being first. But, surprisingly, he doesn't really like them. Daniel, Natalie, and I are crazy about bananas and we are left wondering where Ryan came from! Ha! He will get fruit for breakfast and veggies for dinner. He has discovered that he can travel across the room for something he wants. He will roll and roll until he gets to his destination. It's so funny to watch! He isn't crawling yet, but that's okay. Each child develops differently. He will push himself across the floor with his knees, but his face is still on the ground and we know one day he will give himself a rug burn. We know he will soon figure out how to be up on all fours. He is sitting up better and better everyday. No words yet, but he continues to "talk" often. He is still a drool monster. He smiles whenever he hears Natalie's voice.

Natalie is our precious princess! She is in her third session of swimming lessons and doing well. She is jumping into the pool by herself and learning to put her face in the water. Woohoo! We've made excellent progress this summer. She is now learning how to use her arms in the water. Natalie now goes to the restroom by herself...but is still having difficulty pulling her own pants up. She will use the restroom and then bring her pants to us. Silly girl! She is quite popular in the care center at my job. We're told that she likes to help keep the rest of the kids under control. If one of the kids is acting up, Natalie will put her hand out and say "Stop" or "That's not nice." One person asked me, "does she ever stop smiling?" So cute!

This summer is a hot one. The humidity makes it worse. Whew! Yard work has to be done in the morning or evening. There isn't any playtime outside until the sun starts to set. We also have horse flies that are big enough to carry away a small animal. I battle one every morning when we need to get into the car. Natalie says "shoo, fly!" We have some deer and armadillos that like to play at night. Sometimes they will be frolicking as I'm arriving home from work. We also have wasps that Daniel has been trying to rid us of for weeks. Yuck! As for work, Daniel and I continue to enjoy what we do. We look forward to visiting some family before the summer is over.

Please keep Luke, and our dear friends Marian and Gretchen in your prayers.

pics

six months old and oh so silly!

all of us girls jumping in...even my mom! cool!
Ryan loves his sister
Natalie learning to use her arms
tea party with Uncle Mikey
cute kids!

God is so good!

I am exhausted...but very fulfilled and happy. It has been a wonderful week. Mikey's party (no pics yet, but soon) was a great success! He invited the group he bowls with every Saturday. Most of them came with their parents and it was so much fun! These kids are not usually invited anywhere, and so they were tickled to get the opportunity to attend a party...with a pool, no less! They swam and ate and danced and it was so cute! I hope we have another party just because Mikey's friends need to return for more fun times.

We had a reunion during the last weekend. I won't divulge much, but we were reunited with my nieces, nephew, and sister-in-law (Darren's family). God has been working on this for a while. I have been in contact with them for some time, but this last week was the opportune time to finally get together. And how awesome it has been! To hear someone call me Aunt Nikki makes my heart swell! Because of distance and time (and money), Daniel and I are not able to see his sister and her boys or Luke and Sophia very often. We aren't able to hear the words Aunt and Uncle attached to our names. But this week we got that chance. Daniel's face just lit up when he was called Uncle DanDan! My nephew and sister-in-law have gone home for now and the girls are staying for a while at Nona and Papa's house. We invited them over to our house this weekend and Natalie had her first sleep over. It was so much fun! We stayed up late, ate unhealthy food, played games, played with make-up, danced...Natalie was beside herself! Ryan, of course, loved all the attention he was receiving. Daniel even got in on the fun for a while with the charades game. I feel so blessed to have my family back and I thank the good Lord constantly!

Natalie is back in swim lessons and doing well. She is getting braver about jumping in and about submerging her head. She loves to 'read' and always has books strewn about her room. She is becoming a fan of Mikey Mouse and Little Einsteins. Ryan is finding his voice. We still don't have any 'words' (mamama, dadada), but he likes to 'talk' a lot lately. It's so cute to hear him jabbering! He is trying to sit up on his own and has almost succeeded. He has been given carrots as his new food this past week and he loved them. Next week we can start him on fruits. People get onto me because I'm so picky about what and how I feed my kids. But I've done the research and questioned my kids' doctors heavily. There are just certain foods you shouldn't give an infant until a certain age. Their systems are so sensitive and should be treated with great care, so certain foods should be avoided. Some people are dying to just stuff my baby, but I have to put my foot down. I have my husband's support and that is such a blessing to me. Anywho, I digress. Ryan is still growing like a weed and we can hardly believe he will be six months old next week. Time sure does fly. He's teething again, poor guy. He and Natalie respond well with each other. He smiles when she talks to him and she likes to help feed him. I know the time is coming when I'll hear her crying because Ryan got into her toys...so we're enjoying these peaceful times!

Enjoy all the pictures below! I love my family!

Our cute kiddoes

Natalie threw a little tantrum and I just had to take this picture of her pouting. She is still so cute when she is ornery!

oooooo...a mirror!

apparently, Ryan is a fan of water bottles

Natalie had so much fun when we played with mommy's make-up at the slumber party

So many pictures...

awesome picture of my nieces with their sparklers!

Natalie's first slumber party!

such cute feet!

praying over their tea party...how cool!

with Uncle DanDan

Natalie and Ryan looking up at Daddy

wearing mommy's heels

I apparently left my camera zoomed in from anothe picture and ended up catching this awesome pic of me and my nephew

the girls!

awwww....

Picture Perfect

Here is a taste of the beautiful work my photographer friend, Liz, can do. Awesome!

Good times!

Today is our second anniversary. Happy Anniversary to us! =)

What a weekend! Food, fun, and family...who could ask for anything more? We were blessed to have family come into town this past weekend for Mikey's party. They drove 8 hours to be here and we couldn't thank them enough for taking the time and effort to be here. It's been years since we've seen them and this weekend seemed like the perfect time for a reunion. My sister-in-law Christine, my nieces Brandie and Angie, and my nephew Brody all came for the festivities. It's been years since we've seen them! God has been working His magic to make this weekend possible. Unfortunately, Sophia wasn't allowed to join us and meet her cousins. Luke came by his lonesome, but we still had a good time. The party was a great success! We invited all of Mikey's buddies from bowling and they didn't know what to do with themselves. People like Mikey and his friends are not usually invited anywhere, so this was a real treat for them and even their parents (who were also invited). We had a photographer at the party (my awesome and super talented friend, Liz) so the professional pictures will be here soon... just not today. You will have to settle for my plain photos!