Today we brought Natali up for the second time to see baby Isaac. She came up once before but we didn't have our camera with us. Here we are waiting for Isaac to come to the window with Dad and Aunt Hollie.
Natali got so excited! She started blowing kisses and kissing the window. We still aren't sure if she realizes it is "our" baby but she was so excited to have us all together as a family.
Slowly over the last couple of days Isaac has slowly been losing his different tubes. His oxygen tubes has been off for awhile. Today his feeding tube was taken out and his IV was stopped! Yeah!!! He is doing so well. He is eating just great and just an angel. He is so snugly and kissable.
Aunt Hollie got to hold and help feed Isaac.
Here is Isaac all hooked up to his different monitors and machines. I still haven't held him yet.
I finally got to hold my baby boy! I was SO SO SO happy, my little 10.9 lb chuck!
Look at those rolls!
Just a quick update on what is going on with baby Isaac. The plan as of now is that hopefully this weekend we will have our little guy. This Thursday I will go in the morning for an appointment where they will do an amnio test. This test will determine whether or not the his lungs are developed enough. When they did this with Natali her lungs were just fine so we are hoping for the same with Isaac. Then the doctor will decide if he wants to admit me to the hospital Thursday night or Friday morning to induce labor. So hopefully we will have some big news either Friday or Saturday about the arrival of the newest member of our family. All I have to say is I am ready!!! I don't remember being this big and uncomfortable with Natali, but Ben keeps reminding me that I was. I keep telling Ben that is must be part of the plan to make the moms so miserable at the end, because at this point I would do just about anything to have this baby and willingly welcome the sleepless nights to come (I sure am not sleeping well right now anyway). Just thought I would give an update. Hopefully the next post is all about Isaac and we will finally have found out the big question...What color hair does he have?
Mom and Dad Fluhman came out last Saturday to visit us in Iowa! We had SO much fun. Dad's dream is to be on a working farm surrounded by cattle and corn, so Iowa was a perfect vacation. We had 6 full days of shopping, playing, and lots of eating. I think we are all going to have to go through detox for a week or two. Natali loved having Grandma & Grandpa here. Every morning she woke up and asked for them and loved all the attention. She was spoiled by her grandparents and loved all the action of the week. The girl likes to be on the go. We took Mom & Dad to some of our Des Moines favorites. We went to Valley Junction for antique shopping and then later in the week for the Farmer's Market. We drove up to Ames and gave them the Hickory Park experience (great BBQ). We went to several malls to stay cool in the air conditioning and had some Bauder's ice cream. Like I said earlier...lot's of eating. It was quite the adjustment from the dry Utah heat to our Midwest humidity. We took it nice and easy most days. Plus the fact that I am about a week away from having the baby ( I am moving rather slowly and gingerly). We gave them the tour of Ben's school and we even got to drive them buy our cute little house in Valley Junction that we will be moving into at the end of September (still renting...but at least it is a house!). It was such a treat to have them here with us, especially for how long they were able to stay. We loved every minute!!!
For the 4th of July we went over in the morning to the Centerville parade. Thanks to Liz and Stephan we had front row seats. They had to go over the night before and rope off a section for all of us (and defend it!). Natali enjoyed it for the most part. The fire trucks with their sirens going scared her. She was more excited to see them leave. She started waving and saying, "see ya later fire trucks, see ya later." There was a float with Disney Princesses on it and Natali thought that was pretty cool. She went to bed around 7:30 that night, so again another 4th passed without Natali seeing any fireworks...it's probably better that way!
Natali loved playing with all her cousins. When we first got into Utah most of the family was at Ben's parents house. All the cousins just swarmed Natali and followed her where ever she went. At one point they went upstairs into the playroom and when they were coming back down I went over to make sure she was okay coming down the stairs. I think each cousin was holding onto her somewhere, she loved the attention. Since we have been back in Iowa she goes through a grocery list of names to see if any cousins, aunts, uncles, or grandparents are coming over to play.
Natali loved playing outside at Grandma & Grandpa's. Grandpa had a great garden that Natali enjoyed walking around and expecting. They also had a sandbox, trampoline, and a giant swing set. Everyday we went out and played for hours, especially when cousins were over. No wonder she slept so good at night and for so long!
We went up and visited with Great Grandma Fluhman on evening. It was so good to see her. We had to take some photos to capture the moment. Here are four generations of Fluhmans: Natali, Ben, Grandpa, and Great Grandma. 
Natali loved Grandma's house with all her little knick knacks...a little too much. We had to keep a pretty tight leash on her, and had to cut our visit short in order to preserve all of Grandma's things. Especially the jigsaw puzzle in work.
While out in Utah we took the opportunity to go walk around Temple Square one afternoon. Natali loved all the flowers and water. She did surprisingly well at only smelling the flowers and not trying to pick them. She kept pointing up at the temple and saying "temple"! It was pretty cute. 
Happy Birthday to Natali
Yesterday was Natali's big #2 birthday. We had a great day. The night before while she was asleep I put up a few balloons and streamers. That morning I went in and got her up and she just got so excited to see the decorations. She ran out of her room, threw her hands in the air, and exclaimed..."Happy Birthday to Natali" We sang her the birthday song, which she joined in with us and ate pancakes. That morning we went to the mall so she could play in the play area (which she LOVES) and then she helped me decorate her butterfly cake for the party later that night. As you will see in the picture, I think more of the candy decorations made it into her little tummy than on the cake. But, overall she did most of the work (as far as the M&M's and Skittles go). Ben came home early from school and we took her to the nearby aquatic center to play in their kid pools. Dad even went down one of the big steep slides which Natali thought was pretty cool to watch. She is really starting to enjoy the water! That night we had a few friends come over and the Wilson's to sing and eat cake. Afterwards the few kids went out onto the lawn and blew bubbles with some bubble wands. It was so fun to see Natali get so excited and actually talk about her birthday party. The pictures are pretty self explanatory. Enjoy!
Blank Park Zoo
Today Natali and I went to the zoo with some friends. The day started out with a thunderstorm but quickly turned into a warm humid Iowa day. The zoo just redid their children's petting zoo so that you can feed the animals but they can't feed on you! It can be a little traumatizing when those sheep and goats start to nibble at your toes. Natali loved walking around and was almost more interested in the mini vending machines of animal food than the actual animals.
Natali and her friend inspecting the equipment!
GOLF
Ben was getting out his clubs in preparation for playing golf later this week and Natali was instantly attracted. She thought they were pretty cool! Dad tried to help her swing but she preferred to do it her "own" way. We kept her far away from the cars! It sure was cute though to watch her in action. I told Ben maybe we should get her a little plastic play set, but then I realized it would probably just become a weapon to use on baby Isaac. Who knows, I sure stink at golf, but maybe she will be a little golfer.
