We could've named her Joy

Natalie really could have been named Joy.  I am not going to say she's an angel.  She has her big fits, bigger than some other kid's fits, matter of fact.  But she is happy 99% of the time.  She loves with the biggest heart.  She is still a little girl and I am totally cool with that.  It isn't in a weird way, but she still loves her baby Jenny and playing dress up.  She has plenty of time to be grown up; she can do that then.  Right now, she is still having challenges in school.  It is probably never going to be the easiest of things for her.  But, she goes in with a smile on her face and is eager to learn each and every new thing her teacher shows her.  She adored her teacher last year and sobbed on the last day when she had to say goodbye.  She also had to say good-bye to her Papa Joe that she misses very much.  She says that she will always love mustaches because of her Papa.  She adores her big sister.  They are attached at the hip.  That is, when they are not arguing.  In all seriousness, they will be okay with any other punishment than having to be separated from one another.  This makes my heart sing.  She thinks that teaching new things to her baby brother is a ton of fun, and I think it is cool to see her learning while thinking she is teaching. Always a teacher.  She is healthy.  She is healthy.  I can say that again, she is healthy.  She literally was not sick one school day the entire school year and managed to get the Perfect Attendance Award, as well as the Good Citizen Award, which is only given to one child in each class at the end of the year.  You would never guess where this little girl came from, and I can imagine that most people who meet her would never guess what kind of amazing miracle this girl is to us, what she went through when she was so little.  I just had to include a picture of Natalie and Jenny's new coordinating outfits (I thought she was too old for this, but Meagan wanted one for her and her American Girl too!)  Below, a photo of Natalie and those still stunning blue eyes, at about 4 months,

 

 

 

 

  

****Meagan is reading this.  I want to make sure that everyone out there knows that she is awesome too.  She is actually.  I will have to talk more about this soon.  She has been taking a new dance class and musical theater as well.  Lots of new things to talk about with all three kids, but that will be done soon!