More excitement

Here's a post with pictures, which, I gather, is the preferred kind of post. I get it.

Those of you who read the blog on its own page (not through the email digest or through a feed reader) will notice that I've added a spot on the sidebar detailing Natalie's stats. Our second data point comes from Natalie's visit to the pediatrician this week. She was a total rockstar! I had been unsure about how well she was eating, but it turns out she's doing quite well - in a little over three weeks she's gone from 6 pounds, 10 ounces to 8 pounds, 4 ounces (she also gained more than an inch in height/length). So we must be doing something right! I'll try to update that space each time we get more data.

I've also edited the "about us" paragraph to reflect Natalie's birth.

Blah, blah, blah. Blogging is soooo exciting.....

In real-life excitement, we had our first outing today. That is, the first time we left the house with Natalie to do something other than go to a medical appointment. We took Natalie out to lunch and then grocery shopping this afternoon. Really, we just went to the fancy-pants grocery store here in town and ate there before doing our shopping. We got a bit of late start, arriving to the store around 2; this was actually perfect as we missed both the lunch and pre-dinner crowds in the market. Natalie was a total gem - she slept the whole time in her car seat. We tossed a blanket over her seat to protect her from well-meaning (but germy) strangers. Miraculously, things went amazingly well. We had a nice lunch, we got all our shopping done, and Natalie didn't stir until we arrived back home. I tell you, I have this parenting thing NAILED. Nailed, I tell you. Ha. I cannot even explain how stressful it is to leave the house. I'm told this will get easier; someday I'll be ready to believe that.

Also, a little Mike update: he's doing great after his surgery. He was a little out of it on Wednesday afternoon, but was fine by the evening. He's been eating a lot of soups and smoothies, but hasn't needed any of the pain medication. On that note, we tried a new soup tonight, Gazpacho with goat cheese salsa (not exactly the recipe Mike used, but close). Totally a keeper!
And on the topic of pictures, here are a few of my favorite recent Natalie pictures (actually, I just realized that these were all taken today - funny how different she looks in each one!):Here's the whole album: (which can also be found here)