Testing...testing...123. This is from my phone since I have no internet.

SURPRISE!

Navi and I surprised my sisters when we just happened to walk in the door the other night while we were supposed to be in Texas. Obviously they were more excited to see Navi but it was pretty funny to see their reactions. We also surprised Nate's sisters and our nieces and nephews. Everyone had the same reaction, "What the heck are you doing here?"

Nate's sales group moved to a city that is 2 1/2 hours away from Ft. Worth and were staying for 2 weeks, so I decided it was a perfect opportunity to 'visit' home.

It was very hard to leave Nate and Daddy but we were also very excited to see our family. Navi has changed SO much in the short 3 months we've been gone so I'm happy they all get to see her.

Before we left last week, Nate surprised me with and early birthday dinner since we won't be together on my birthday. (the 30th) To put it simply, he is wonderful. He made reservations at The Melting Pot and even made sure we would arrive at least a half hour before they closed because he knows how weird I am about showing up to a place right before they close. It gives me anxiety. (Just another one of my weird quirks)


We've wanted to go there for quite awhile and weren't disappointed. The food was so so good, and it was so fun to have lots of choices and cook things yourself. Best part of all:


And then he made a great night even better when he surprised me with this:


A necklace from Tiffany's!
I was shocked! I love it almost as much as Nate.
(I realize that is an awkward picture, but I hate taking photos of myself)

The whole night was such a nice surprise not to mention a fun change from the usual summer sales night. Thanks again Nathan, love you!

To: My Parents From: Navi

Dear Mom and Dad,

When you try and pacify me at 7 a.m. by laying me in between you...




...this is what you get.

Love,

Navi
2 1/2 months

Mugs, Thugs, and Bugs

Mugs:

A couple weeks ago one of the guys in Nate's sales group was mugged while he was waiting to be picked at the end of the night. He was held at knife point while the muggers stole his wallet and phone. Don't worry though, during the ordeal they justified their actions by explaining, "You just don't get it man, this is what we have to do to survive."

Oh please. Scariest part of this story, at least for me, is this all took place just a couple streets over from where Nate was waiting...

Thugs:

So the other morning my friend Traci knocked on our door and hesitantly asked if we'd see our car; which is really my Dad's Tahoe that he so kindly let us borrow so we had more room to bring stuff out here. "Oh great." I thought. "We must have gotten a ticket for parking under the carport even though we're not supposed to." IF ONLY.

We went down stairs to find the car with the driver's side window shattered and smashed in. Glass was ALL OVER and of course our GPS, Nate's video iPod, and our iPod docking station thing that transfers the music from the iPod to the radio were all stolen. Lovely.

Let's just say we were more than slightly annoyed. Annoyed that we didn't hide our GPS better. Usually we take it off the window and store in the center compartment. The last few days we had just gotten a bit lazy I guess. It's one of those things you know you probably should do, but in the back of you're mind you're thinking, oh it'll be fine.
We were also annoyed because the apartment complex has two gated entrances that you need a keyless remote to open. But of course, one of them has been broken for the last week. Not to say it's the apartment manager's fault, but we couldn't help but think if the gate would have been working it might not have happened.
We were annoyed at the thug(s) who did it because he had obviously scoped out our car and knew what he was going for. This creeped me out big time. How long had he been "watching"? However, in his hasty filching, he left my iPod, both of our sunglasses which aren't worth hundreds, but they're nice(!) and also some cash that was blatantly sitting out in the middle of the center console. Weird!
It was even more annoying that we had to waste a whole day going to get the window fixed. A day Nate could have spent selling.

In the end, as bad as it was, I guess it could have been worse. No other damage was done to the car and really we only are out about 200 bucks; seeing as how Nate had won the iPod in a company competition. Well ok, and the money it cost to repair the window, but not too bad.
The most annoying part is the stupid thug did the exact same thing to one of the Apx technician's car too. It's like they knew that anyone with Utah liscense plates would have a GPS. Who the heck knows why they need so many GPSes because obviously they know where to GO to take advantage of all the poor Utahns.

We had some pictures, but they were on my phone before I got a new one, and I forgot to switch them over. It's probably a good thing though. Otherwise I would probably get angry again everytime I looked at them.

Bugs:

Or should I say cute as a bug! Here are some recent pictures of Navi baby.



After church on Sunday


She finally enjoys bath time.

She's always liked things by/touching her face and often falls asleep with her hands over her face, but this was a new one.

Some tummy time

And this is just a random photo from a day we went to Ft. Worth.

Gotta love cowboys. Just in case you're having a slow day....ConGRADulations. (conGRATulations)

Dad's Day

Happy Father's Day -and now Grandfather's Day- to our dads.

We love both of you so much!




Also, happy FIRST Father's Day to Nate. He is a wonderful dad already. LOVE YOU.

95th

Little girlie had her 2 month well checkup today.


Shots = Yuck.


Although she has still been her happy self.

I don't know if the side effects (affects?) wear (where?) in later...holy crap I have mommy brain!! Aka, the absence of brain cells due to the birthing process when they are donated to your child. Yes it's real, I saw it on Oprah.


Let's compare stats:

Birth -
8 lbs 2o.5 in.

2 months -
13.5 lbs 24 in.
This means she can wear 6 month size clothes in some brands!!

With the stats today she's in the 95th percentile in both weight and height.
Isn't 95 considered an A-? (remember I've been out of school for a little while...)

Good job Navi, you get an A. But really, I am glad she's healthy.

On another note...
I always get annoyed when parents take their child-naming authority to the extreme, throw basic phonics out the window, and go over board with the spelling of names. I can't think of any specific examples right now, but you know the kinds. Well lately I've been a bit ashamed to find out we might be some of those parents...

I've literally been asked, more than 5 times, within the past 5 days how to pronounce Navi's name. About 3 people at the Dr.'s office, one of Nate's friends, and one of my friends...don't be offended Baldwins, you're just one of my examples. :)

I guess I just took the pronunciation for granted because 99% of my friends from high school ended in the "E" sound (Kimi, Stacey, Traci, Bobbie, Kelli, Abby, Chelsea, Sharli...it goes on for ages) and they all ended in different variations... "i", "ie", "y", "ea". But I don't know if changing the normal "y" at the end of her name to an "i" throws people off or what, because everyone who asks thinks the "a" in her name is pronouced "au" or "o", as in naughty or octopus.

SO for anyone still wondering, I'm clearing it up now... it's nAvi, as in the color or Navy(Marines/Army). Just with an "i" at the end...like my name. :)

5 Life Theatening Situations I'd Rather Not Experience

1. Getting caught in a large earthquake.

2. Asking a woman when her baby is due, only to find out she is NOT pregnant. (maybe not exactly life threatening, but definitely life humiliating)

3. Getting trapped in the middle of a "Katrina" like hurricane.

4. Diving into very deep water with great white sharks.

5. Getting stranded at a mall:
A. while the roof gets smashed in by a tree branch
B. in a foreign state
C. with a two month old baby
D. not knowing where and if my husband is safe
All while a tornado touches down a mere 5 to 10 miles away.

OH WAIT. I did experience that!! Take if from me...not cool.

You see, we live in Grapevine, Texas. Grapevine is bordered by Flower Mound and Lewisville (for all the Cache Valley folk, think Logan, North Logan, and Hyde Park. Grapevine is the North Logan). Yesterday, both of those cities had tornado sitings.

It all started when my friend Traci, her 18 month old son Sawyer, Navi, and myself walked into a Payless Shoes store in the mall. Suddenly the metal roof above us sounded as if a high school was being dismissed on the last day of school. Huge thuds and bangs were followed by almost a groaning metal sound. I had no idea there was even a thunderstorm going on because when we arrived at the mall an hour or so prior, it was just hot and overcast. Therefore, I just kind of looked at Traci and laughed, thinking to myself..."there must be a lot of workers up on the roof fixing something." Oh how I wished it were workers...

The next thing we knew all the stores around Payless were shutting off their lights and pulling down the gates on their store fronts. Then, as the power flickered, one of the Payless employees told us the loud crash was in fact a large tree branch that had been thrown into the roof by a tornado touching down just miles away. We later would see the aftermath - broken ceiling tiles, leaves and sticks everywhere, and very large puddles of water collecting in the walkway of the mall.

We frantically called our husbands to see if they were ok (outside knocking doors) and also hoping they would be able to give us magic information to help us. (you know, click your heels together 3 times, close your eyes and twitch your nose...) We had heard there were 75 mph winds outside (true) and didn't exactly feel like making a run for our car with our two strollers in the almost flash flood rain.

As you can imagine, anxiety set in big time. The 2 Payless girls were very nice as they probably laughed internally after my ramblings...

Me: "So...whatdoyoudoinatornado? (hesitant laugh and breath) Wedon'tknowwhattodointornados.We'refromthemountains. (another hesitant laugh)"
All I could picture in my head was a brief school lesson in my elementary class were I was taught to find low ground or ditch and cover my head. Seeing as how there were no available ditches in the middle of the 6 ft high Payless shoe racks...I was beginning to panic.

Payless Girl 1 while smiling awkwardly: "Well, we have a bathroom in the back we can all go in if necessary."

Me thinking stupid thoughts: "My stroller alone won't fit in whatever bathroom you have."

Random lady on her cell phone while still trying on shoes: "I'm sorry honey....Is daddy not home yet?....Well if it gets worse, you know what they say, lay in the tub and put a mattress over you..."

Payless Girl 1 trying to calm the weird mountain girl (aka - me): "We're calling our manager right now, but if we have to close our store you two should go to the nearest hallway that leads to the bathroom, take your kids out of their strollers, and lay over them."

Long story short, I didn't have to lay Navi on the ground and put her car seat over her while laying on it like I had first imagined in my head. We waited out the worst of the storm and drove home an hour or so later. All the while avoiding tree limbs on the road and trying not to focus on the uplifted tree with exposed roots on one side of the road.

Nate was in a farther away city that only experienced severe thunderstorms, and was able to make it home safely and only hydro-planing once.

In my next tornado warning I'll be a pro and I'll be able to lackadaisically peruse the Payless isles and continue to try on shoes. Granted I may have done this in my most current experience to fake my panic, but I can't say for certain I was even trying on size 8s. Next time, the extremest of all extreme worst situations probably won't be replaying over and over in my head. Next time there is a tornado warning in Texas (or Virginia for that matter) I'll be at HOME in my MOUNTAINS.