It's been six months already!

We can hardly believe that our little Natalie Bear is six months old today! In some ways, time has just flown by. In other ways, it seems hard to remember life BN (before Natalie). All we know is that we love her more and more every day. She has come such a long way since those first few weeks at home, and so have we. Six months ago we had no idea how to take care of a baby and now we can mix formula, change diapers and read bedtime stories with the best of 'em. Six months ago, Natalie just ate, cried, sleeped and pooped. Now she does all that and so much more! She smiles at us like we are the most amazing people on the planet and she LOVES her big sister Sydney and her big brother Murphy. She can sit up on her own. She puts everything in her mouth (except for puffs, see video above). She loves to bang cups against each other and her exersaucer. Every day there's something new to discover and it's been so much fun to see her go from a tiny little baby without much of a personality to a happy and healthy 18-pounder with so much charm and charisma. It makes me so proud when people stop me in the store or at the park to tell me how pretty she is. Last week a waitress came across a crowded restaurant and told me my daughter was "so stinkin' cute!" I'm going to let Daddy weigh in now, and then there are some pictures from the past few days. If I don't update before then, Happy Thanksgiving!
Lately Natalie's sleeping pattern has been rather regular. She goes to bed earlier yet wakes up earlier. I have to work late some nights and don't get to help feed her, give her a bath or read her a story. It is special when I walk in to greet her in the morning and she looks up from her crib, even if it's 6 a.m., and smiles immediately when she sees me. This makes all the hard work at the office and the time I miss Natalie that much more important. Each day over the past six months has made us love her more and more. She brings a lot of love and and a lot of happiness to our family. Although we have had to restructure our lives and can't do things as spontaneously as we used to, we try to fit her into everything we do. I've had some people say that she looks like me and I take this as a compliment because I think she carries a lot of special things about Jaymi and me with her. I hope that the next six months are as wonderful as the first.