This is a funny program that arranges the most frequently used words on your blog, it’s called a “word cloud”.  It’s easy to see what (who) we talk about the most!

What a difference 6 months makes!

January ‘08:

July ‘08



Maybe next time we will remember to take the group picture when everyone is rested and happy? :)  The kids had a great time together for the 4th of July weekend!

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(Prepare for a picture overload!)

Life is pretty good for our 13-month-old girl. She is really enjoying life and learning so much! Her favorite thing to do is play outside. I say, “Natalie, do you want to go outside?” and she gets a huge grin, throws her arms up and says, “buh-bye?”

Other words she is saying are Mama, Dada, Nata, hi, hello, all done, and dog. A few times she has said something that sounds like “outside”. I think she is working on that one.

There she is hanging out in the our backyard. We spend a lot of time back there these days. Note: The hat she is wearing is like a newsboy cap that is too big for her, NOT a bonnet (someone thought it was… Laura I think) . Notice she isn’t looking at the camera in any of these pictures? She’s way too busy to stop for the camera… most of the time. Occasionally she’s really into posing…

An acquaintance who works for Disney sent Natalie a huge bag of Disney merchandise, including these sparkly shoes and pink princess purse. You can tell Natalie feels SO special in them!

Shopping and texting? Just like mama. She also pretends to talk on the phone.

I call Natalie my “little mommy” because she is so sweet and loving to her stuffed animals. She loves to hug and kiss and pat their backs.

Again, she’s SO THRILLED to be OUTSIDE! The arms over the head is another new thing

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In that last picture she is waiting impatiently for Andy to get home for work. She gets so excited when I tell her that he’s on his way home. Like my makeshift baby gate? Our screen door finally broke for good. If you have opened or closed our screen door in the last 6 months you know what I am talking about, haha.
We took a trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo for Natalie’s 1st birthday, a McLaughlin family tradition. She loved it! Her favorite was the anteater. She kept exclaiming “Dah, dah!” (dog). She loves animals.

Another big “first” was her first trip to the beach! It was kind of cold and windy, but she enjoyed it.

Hopefully that has caught you up with what Natalie has been doing since her first birthday! She is a very busy little girl who keeps her parents constantly entertained.

For those of you who couldn’t make it, here are some pictures from Natalie’s First Birthday Party! She loved playing with her friends and relatives, eating her cake, and was especially delighted to hear everyone sing Happy Birthday to her!

Here in the Wilkinson household, we are eagerly anticipating Nata’s first birthday coming up on the first! Here’s a look at some of her latest exploits.

Nata is doing her part in the preparations by growing into new toys, like her uncle Mike’s Nintendo DS.

She’s having great adventures in mobility, as well as experimenting with the various uses of beverage straws!

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Natalie has asked me to inform you all that she is not a morning baby:

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Enjoy!

This evening, I dropped a stuffed “Larry the Cucumber,” and we were rewarded with hysterical laughter from Nata! This is definitely some of her most animated laughing to date.

For more laughing, check out the other video!

For the last day or two, Natalie has been gracing us with her newest trick: dancing! She loves to groove to fun tunes, and will play them on her music table just to dance to them.

This is a short and sweet video that we got of her dancing last night before she noticed the camera and headed for it. The dancing is just for a few seconds right at the beginning, so don’t blink! Enjoy!