No Dentist for me!

Natalia got a tooth brush for Christmas. When we got back from Washington we started incorporating teeth brushing into the nightly routine. She loves it. Whenever Natalia watched Hector or I brush our teeth, she would be absolutely captivated. When I brushed her teeth for the first time, she knew exactly what to do. She opens her mouth and smiles the whole time. She has decided that the her tooth paste is pretty tasty. She likes to suck on the brush now as well. Sometimes she does more sucking than I do brushing, but it is pretty cute either way. Plus, she only has two teeth; how much brushing do I really need to do! Natalia still does not crawl. She really has no interest in it. She is so content to sit and play or stand by the couch. I will put her toys out of reach sometimes to try and encourage her to explore a little. Instead, she just plays with her toes...those are never out of reach. She does scoot backwards a little though, but that only gets her farther away from where she is trying to go. We just love watching our little girl. I am amazed at how fast she is growing. I held my friends three day old baby this week and Natalia seemed huge. I cannot believe she is already nine months old.

You have got to be kidding me!

So today started off not so well. I went to warm my car up this morning before leaving for work, but I could not find my keys. I always put my keys in the same spot, so this was weird for me. I called Hector to see if he knew were they were and sure enough, he knew. They were in his coat pocket...that he had on...at work...in Maryland! So I had to get a ride to work with my mother-in-law (thanks, by the way). Then when I get to work I find out that a wind warning has been issued and I am not allowed to use my classroom because it is a trailer and apparently we cannot use our lovely single wides while a wind warning is in effect. So I had to bring all my stuff into the building and while walking in I stepped in gum. At this point, it was only 7:15 in the morning. What a start to a day.

The many faces of Talia

Natalia loves to make funny faces. Lately she has really been into sticking out her tongue. She has a really long tongue and she just keeps it out. She also loves to suck on her lips. When she does this she makes some of the funniest faces and sounds. I wish I could capture them all on camera. Natalia also loves to stand. She will flex her legs and arch her back, making it impossible to sit her down, when she wants to stand. She loves to hang onto the couch and she will growl, that's right, she growls, when she is standing or wants to stand. It is her happy noise. She, however, is still a little tipsy. Happy first Valentine's Natalia!

What do you do when it snows?

Poor Natalia was sick all week. She was a snot machine. Needless to say, we did not do much playing in the snow. But we found other things to keep us entertained. We did lots of hanging out. It was fun spending the week with Hector's family. Krystale took lots of pictures with her cool new camera. Natalia got to spend lots of time hanging out with grandma...mostly while the rest of played Settlers. Natalia also got to spend a little more time hanging with her dad than she normally does. They found all kinds of fun ways to be entertained. She thought being dragged around on the blanket was quite fun.

70 inches of snow this winter

We have been shut down lately with all of the snow. My pictures really do not do the storm justice. These were taken after storm number two. We tallied two feet over the weekend and then some of that melted on Sunday and Monday only to followed by another eight inches of snow Tuesday night and Wednesday. These pictures were taken on Thursday after more snow had melted. Hector shoveled so much snow. He shoveled the drive way and deck at his parents, plus six cars and the neighbors house. He drove to our house to dig our lot out and then help with a neighbor, then he had to do it all again after the second storm. Here you can see how high the snow was. Good job boys! When we finally came back to our house after staying at Hector's parents for week, this is the mound of snow...one week after the first storm, that is still in the front of our house.

It just keeps snowing!

We got another two feet of Snow on Friday and Saturday. When we had two feet in December we were trapped in our house with not much to do for a couple of days so this time we decided to come down to Hector's parents' house before the storm and weather the storm with them. We got our two feet and stayed in the house and played games all weekend. School was canceled Monday because there was still so much snow outside and the roads were really bad. Then another storm came in. It started snowing last night and it is still coming down hard and heavy today. We are suppose to add another foot on top of the two feet we already have. School was canceled yesterday and again today. It has been over a week since I worked and I am doubtful we will have school Thursday or Friday this week. Now they are predicting another snow for Monday. Will I ever work again? We are still down at Hector's parents. It has been fun hanging out but I hope I am not wearing out my welcome! We have never seen this much snow in the DC area. We are breaking all kinds of records. Pictures will come later.

"All by myself"

Natalia has really grown up lately. She has loved standing for a few months now, but now she is starting to do it without holding onto anything. She stood for about 10 seconds yesterday without holding on to me or anything else. Crawling...not really happening. I think she may just skip that phase and go straight to walking.