SEPTEMBER 22, 2007: WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING IN MONROE

NATALIE AND HER COUSIN CARLIE

Natalie and I had lunch with my cousin, Charlotte, and her daughter, Carlie, at the mall.

CUTE ONE, UH?
Looks like Carlie is telling Natalie a really sad story...

NATALIE AND CARLIE 19 MONTHS AGO! WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

Carlie is my cousin's baby girl. And she will probably be the only cousin Natalie will have close to her age. She was born 5 months after Natalie. Carlie's mom, Charlotte, is my first cousin. We grew up close and have stayed pretty close over the years. Charlotte got married for the first time almost 5 years ago. I photographed her wedding as a wedding gift. Then three years later I captured her newborn session. I went to her house in Downsville. Carlie was a 4 weeks old, but was probably still less than 5 lbs. Natalie went with me. The above collage is a collage that I made for Natalie's first year of life slideshow. It has images of both Natalie and Carlie wearing this sweet outfit with matching bonnet/hats. The front of the outfit read: "Thank Heaven for Little Girls." Charlotte was very thankful for a little girl. She had wanted a long time to have a baby of her own. She has had two step sons since she married Marlon so she was really ready for girl. God is so Good!

Natalie in the wedding shop. If you look close you see her hand prints on the mirror. I am sure they were glad to see her leave.
This one looks like she is saying "I love myself this much!" Who knows what she was really thinking. This is just what I got when I asked her to get up there so I could take photographs of her so I could have some of her here at the wedding store for her blog. Brittany says you were not going to put those you took of me are you? Of course, not! You'll have to wait until May 31st to see those images!

I think she is really in love with herself. It looks a "tongue" kiss going on in this one!
And finally, I got a sit-down-look-at-the-camera-cheesy smile!

Brittany, her mom and the bridesmaids left here early to head for Monroe to go wedding shopping. I didn't get off until a little later. They had already went to the first store when I got to Monore. I was talking to Brittany on the phone and she told me that she liked two dresses at the first shop and they were getting ready to go to another one. I asked her did she bring her camera. She didn't. I told her I had mine. So while Natalie and I were eating lunch at the mall with my cousin, Brittany called and said that she had the one and wanted to me to come photograph her in it.

Now I wanted to see Brittany do some of the wedding shopping, but I didn't want to go to every store with them with "our Two-Year old". I had some some shopping that I wanted to do and exchange some shoes that I ordered from The Children's Place for Natalie that were too big. But when Brittany called I ate lunch quickly so that I could go see her and the dress. I did photograph her in it and Cari in the bridesmaid dress, but they changed their mind about the bridesmade dress and found a different one a David's Bridal. I am so glad that I got to see Brittany in the dress and take a few photos for her, but I am glad that I did go everywhere they went. One of the ladies at the shop made a comment about watching the little one...that she didn't want another torn veil. So it was a little stressful keeping her under control while we were in there. We (me and Natalie) went to Target. After they had lunch, they went to David's Bridal. I wasn't through at Target so I missed seeing the final dress they decided on there for the girls.

It was a very tiring day. But I am glad that I went and got to see Brittany in her dress. I almost cried. I will be sure and have plenty of tissue on May 31st.

That was some of the moments of Natalie's day on September 22, 2007. I didn't get to capture as much as would have liked. It very hard to keep up with a larger camera so I didn't get it out everytime. I have ordered a point and shoot camera so I hope to capture more of the little things soon. ---Natalie's Mimi

SEPTEMBER 22, 2005...LAST ONE FOR NOW FROM TWO YEARS AGO

This is the last image that I am adding from two years ago. I thought it was going to be the first first one to view...though it was the last. Oh well...this was yesterday two years ago. Natalie is almost 2 months old in this image. You see she is really starting interact with her toys as well as the people in her life. She was still very small. She can still wear this premie dress!

MORE FROM TWO YEARS AGO: 09-21-05

This was one where she really started smiling at me good after I put her in her car seat to get ready to pick up Cari from school. Maybe she was laughing at me knowing that I would soon have to take her out again to change her stinky diaper!
How do you like that little curl! Her hair was getting longer and I was proud of it for her! I think it was taken after bathtime.
I always love sleeping images. This one was captured w/o flash all natural lighting...such soft lighting for a baby. Is that so sweet?

SEPTEMBER 19, 2005...TWO YRS AGO

Natalie was still so little here. She was just an adorable little baby doll. I loved dressing up "our little baby doll". At this point most of her clothes were still pretty big. So she wore a lot of the same ones over and over, but that was okay. She looked adorable in everything!

LAST WEEK TWO YEARS AGO: 09-16-05

" This was Brooke's outfit, Daddy's cousin."

"Check it out Aunt Jackie, G.G., and Brooke." "Did I look as cute as Brooke when she was a baby wearing this same outfit?"--Natatie wondered.
I kept many of my kids' special outfits for my brother and his wife. They had bought many of them. I saved the ones that I thought they might like their children to wear. I didn't realize how many things I had kept until my mom (Natalie's G.G.) went through the Rubber maid box when we went there the first time that Labor Day weekend.

They haven't had any children of their own, but I know they have enjoyed their neices and nephews tremendously and now their special great neice, Natalie.
This was a tiny little outfit that I think our Aunt Lo bought for Brooke. She lives in Florida which always makes me think of Mickey and Minne Mouse just like this outfit does.

Last Week: Sept. 17th, 18th & 20th

SEPTEMBER 17, 2007

I don't have any "new" or "first time" moments or special events to capture from last week, just some silly and different moments that I captured to document Natalie's moments.
I guess this is our version of the baby sleeping on the shelf...if any of you know what I am talking about! Several photographers have on their website or have shot an image like this (sort of Anne Geddes like) with a newborn asleep on book shelf or something along that line. Natalie cleared everything off the shelf and got into it like this. So I ran for the camera.
This next image is a posed image after the bookshelf incident! Gotta love that cheesy smile!
Natalie did this when I walked out. She had been taking a long bath with playtime included in the tub. I kept trying to talk her out of the tub. No she wasn't ready. Since she is comfortable with water...I walked in and out doing little things. This is what I found when I came back in after she decided that "she was ready to get out"!
And while I was trying to capture this, she starts telling me she is cold...so she thinks she can get warmer if she sits down and she did!

JUST BEING SILLING AFTER I GOT HER OUT!

SEPTEMBER 18, 2007

Natalie fell asleep while watching TV before lunchtime!

September 20, 2007

I just had to take a few of Natalie wearing her new fall clothes from Children's Place. I have a selection of skorts, pants, shirts (long sleeeve and short sleeve) and even these shoes to mix and match. The main colors are pink and brown, but several other colors like green, blue and orange too. We were on our way to go pick up Cari to take her to the orthodontist and I made her stop on the steps to take a quick photo or two. Of course, she wasn't into this too much as you can see in these images!

DADDY COMES HOME: 09-14-07

My favorite close-up of the day!

Cameron made his first trip home since he moved to Baton Rouge four weeks ago. He started LSU August 27th. Natalie and Brittany went down there with her family over Labor Day weekend, but I had already made plans to go to my mom's. We had not gone this long without seeing our child (Cameron) ever. So were glad to see him. We went out to eat at the Duck's Nest Friday evening and we fixed a big family meal to eat here Saturday evening.

I forgot to get the camera out until the end of the meal. Natalie loved the fishes and the bird at the Duck's Nest. We (taking turns to take her) made several trips during the meal to see the bird and the fish. At one point, I did convince her that they were sleeping thus avoiding a few trips to see them. They were running behind with our food so we had time to visit and time to make trips to visit the fish and bird!
The funny expression on her face is her chewing her after-dinner mint (compliments of the Duck's Nest).
Since I forgot to get the camera out during her meal, I took this one of my four babies while Randy was paying the bill. That's Natalie's "cheeeeese" with a mint in her mouth. She loves all candy like her MiMi!
In the car seat during the ride home...
... another one in the car seat.
This is a high five! We were high fiving because Natalie tee teed in the potty at the Duck's Nest. I was telling Aunt Cari and Poppa how proud I was of her. She's not completely trained, but she is doing pretty well...especially when you go somewhere. I think she likes trying out everyone else's potty! Oh well...we were proud. We had a nice visit with Natalie's daddy Friday night and Saturday. I prepared a big meal and I even baked a cake (I felt like my mom!) Kathy (Natalie's Nona) brought the salad and bread for Saturday evening meal. Our families had a nice meal and then us girls (Brittany, Kathy and Jami--me) set the wedding date and worked on getting started with wedding plans. MAY 31, 2008 IS THE DAY. NATALIE and HER MOMMY WILL GET MARRIED TO NATALIE'S DADDY AT LAKE ST. JOHN. I HAVE STARTED PRAYING THAT NATALIE WILL BE ON HER BEST BEHAVIOR THAT DAY. I APPRECIATE ANY ADDITIONAL PRAYERS GOING THAT SAME DIRECTION!

Cameron left Sunday morning as we were leaving for church. He still had some homework due on Monday so he needed to back to Baton Rouge to do that. I know Natalie misses him and so do we (his parents). We had a nice visit. That's it for our weekend. ---Natalie's MiMi

TWO YEARS AGO...SEPTEMBER 14, 2005

I WILL NEVER FORGET HOW HARD I WORKED FOR THOSE FIRST SMILES, BUT I SOON REALIZED HOW MUCH THEY WERE WORTH IT. THEY JUST MELT MY HEART. ---NATALIE'S MIMI

09-12-07

This image is my favorite close up for the day. She really, really didn't want to take the time to look at me. She is just too, too busy for that!

If I am going to document Natalie's World...I need to capture the bad as well as the good. While I was here on the computer and she was watching TV, this is what I happend. I asked her what was she doing. She answered honestly, "I give Precious my milk." After I took this, I told her that I hoped that I wasn't confusing her by taking the photo because I do not want her to do that any more...what a mess!
I grabbed the camera again when I realized she had found this old toothbrush in Cari's bathroom (that's what we call it now that Cameron moved out). I thought it was so cute and she did too (I think) before she realized it was hot! She was so proud of herself for putting the toothpaste on it by herself, but this time it wasn't "her" toothpaste. At this point, I realized she was also asking for milk to get rid of the hot taste of the toothpaste.


Some fun with Sidewalk Chalk. It is fun and messy, but at least it washes clean easily. I would draw simple things (my drawing is very elementary...I mean pre-school like). She would identify the items...flowers, heart (valentine), trees, banana, apple, house, swing, slide, triangles, cirles, squares, etc. I ran out of things to draw so I drew more flowers.

This is her running to pet the cat. Check out all the chauk on her! Acutally, then she had to kiss the cat (on her back). She has too kiss everything. It is so cute...except when she started kissing strangers at McDonald's last Saturday night when we went there to play. I guess she is so used to us telling her to love and kiss everyone that she things we literally mean everyone!
Natalie running back to the concrete slab after kissing the cat. Notice the cat looking back at the camera (funny, uh?).
The concrete slab that we used to draw on is a slab that we had poured after Randy had some extra concrete leftover from a job at the gin. It was just a thin layer at the basketball goal to give the kids a little mini court to play basket ball. You can tell no one has had much interest in basket ball in a while. It has cracks and weeds trying to grow through. And of course, many leaves and sticks had accumulated since we last played with chalk out there (early summer). So I brought the broom out there to sweep off a nice section for us to play. And of course, she would rather play with the broom. She does think she is sweeping it clean!
More sweeping...doesn't she look so girl-like in her stance here. She has a daintiness about herself. That reminds me of Cari when she was a little girl. She was always so graceful. Isn't it funny how it doesn't have to be taught to some girls!
Now she is playing monsters with the broom. She has this distintive monster growl that she uses in her voice when talks monster talk.

This is a sweet angle of her. Doesn't she such a pretty sweet face and check out those beautiful eyes lashes.
She really just didn't want to look at me, but I did finally get this cheesy look (the same image at the top of this group of images).
This is Natalie's favorite way to watch TV. We have a plasma TV on the wall and she has loved this chair since she was old enough to climb up and down furniture. I think it is a little lower than the coach & loveseat. Lately this is how she relaxes to watch TV, but she used to sit in the center of the chair with her feet streched out in it...actually the way your suppose to sit in chaise chair like this. From my computer, I couldn't see her. Sometimes I would wander where she was and there she would be...sittting there in the middle of the chair (the back of the chair faces my work area) watching TV.

She may watch too much TV, but I contribute some of it to her being so advanced in some many areas. Since she was a little bitty baby, she and I danced to the theme songs to many of her programs. She can sing all of the Barney I love you song. In the first verse, I hold her and we hug and kiss at the part that says a hug and kiss. The 2nd verse about friends and they show childern and Barney holding hands and swaying together...so that's how she wants to do that verse now. We still hug and kiss too. During that verse, they also show clips of friends and such...in one of the scenes they show a little daushand. She always says that's Rudy (the dog that lives at her other house--they got him this past spring so he is still a puppy). But I don't correct her. I agree it's Rudy!

That's it for this date. I have more a few images to post from Friday night when we went to eat at the Duck's Nest. It was her daddy's first trip home since he moved to Baton Rouge. Natalie and Brittany had seen him two weeks ago when they got engaged, but it had been almost 4 weeks since I had seen my boy (the longest time we had gone without seeing our child). So were glad to see him. We wanted to have a relaxed evening visiting. So we chose the Duck's Next over our favorite place (LaFiesta) because it would be quieter. The other place is so busy these days that it is so loud in there thus not as enjoyable as its used to be and much harder carry on conversation and visit. I was so mad at myself when were getting ready to leave and I realized that I had even got the camera out. I told Randy to remind me! But we were busy visiting and keeping Natalie content! I did get a few images of Natalie and some of all 4 of them outside as we were leaving! Not what I had in mind, but it was better than nothing. Be looking for those soon. ---Natalie's MiMi