Happy Fall!!

The last few months have been pretty busy! I started working at Uptown Cheapskate a resale store for the younger people. I work two days a week and really enjoy working there. It is great to get out of the house and take my mind of things; and it definitely isn't as challenging as my other job :) For Halloween we went to Olive Garden and we left Jules giraffe costume on while we ate, and of course she gagged and threw up on her costume, so we quickly changed her. Fortunately we took some pics before going out. Love that smile!

Julianne is 20months old and (stats for grandmas) ~33in tall and weighs ~24lbs. She is small but mighty and turning into a little toddler with quite a personality! 

She is talking more and more and starting to put words together and sometimes sentences. She likes to point and name things, toes, eyes, ears, nose, etc etc..She tells us she lubs (love) us, most nights before bedtime, which melts our hearts. We say our night time prayers and she lists all the family members and pets by name. Its funny how the night time routine gets longer, now that she can talk and make requests. Lately she has been asking for water, so we get her a sippy with a small amount of water in it, she takes a few sips and then drops it in her bed. Then sometimes I hold her for a bit before putting her in bed and she will say chair, because she wants me to sit down and hold her. Sometimes she will say mommy and then my name. The other day Judy watched her and she said bye Jamie!! it was so funny I had to laugh!

She is also becoming such a little mommy, she takes care of all her babies, feeding them their bottle, giving them their paci's, swaying them and singing to them and sometime making the shushing sounds to get them to sleep. I think she gets this from Jack the little boy I watch 2 days week. And now that Jack can hold his own bottle she tries to hold the bottle for him and takes it out and then puts it back in his mouth and he just watches her and waits to get his bottle back.

I thought I would wait to put her in her toddler bed but I'm going to go ahead and transition her soon. She sleeps in a toddler bed at my in laws house, so she understands she must stay in bed, with an occasional reminder "GET BACK IN BED" . But I'm hoping it will be better for when we go visit my parents she can sleep on the floor or on an air mattress. (fingers crossed) But its just another reminder of how big our baby girl is getting :(

We are excited about the upcoming holidays and Christmas now that she plays with toys and gets excited about presents. We took her to toys r us to get an idea of what she might like and she loved loved the baby dolls and all the accessories!! This year we are spending Thanksgiving here at Shad Point (my in laws house) and Christmas in KC!! We are excited to come home and see my family and friends and congratulate my sister and bro n law for their Newest arrival in April !! We are so happy for them and can't wait to find out what they are having. They know what they are having because she's a nurse in the L&D unit and peaked already!! We have much to be thankful for and feel truly blessed! I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Our 5th Anniversary!

For our 5th Anniversary Randy surprised me (2hr notice) with an overnight get away in Ocean City. The messenger (mother n law Judy)was to come to the house and give me my orders and Judy was going to watch Jules as well. It was a great surprise to get to go away for a relaxing night alone with Randy!!We didn't stay right on the beach, due to Hurricane Earl , but more inland. It was a nice get away, to relax and not have to worry about all the responsibilities. We went to an Italian Restaurant Angelo's, which wasn't that impressive, we tried to go to OC Wasabi-Japanese, but the wait was too long. Randy gets off work late so we were starving, but next time we will try that restaurant. After dinner we played miniature golf. I was in the lead at first and Randy ended up winning by 1 stroke, I usually beat him in miniature golf , so I thought I would be nice this time! ;) But it was a very nice evening outside, you wouldn't have thought there might be a Hurricane coming through the next day. After mini golf we stopped by Dumser's Ice Cream and shared a brownie Sundae that was O so good!!! It was so nice to be together and enjoy each other company.
The following morning we were expecting a heavy downpour and strong winds outside, but it was sprinkling and a little windy. We watched the Hurricane news coverage and it reminded me of when we were on our honeymoon in Palm Springs, CA, watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina!!

In  the morning we ate the continental breakfast , it was a hot breakfast too, with eggs and bacon and everything else you would want for breakfast. We took our time (without any interuptions and actually doing my makeup and hair) getting ready and left the room right at 11, check out time. We went to a few stores at the outlet, Osh Kosh and Marshall's, to get some stuff for Julianne and then ate lunch at Panera. It was a relaxing trip and it was so good to get away for a night and not have to do anything for change!!!

Dumser's yummy brownie sundae

The news crews were prepared for nothing

                                                    The King size Bed was so comfortable

Happy Fourth of July!!

My sister n law Mindy, nephews Luke and Will, and Julianne and I went Blueberry picking at Garden of Eden in Salisbury on Friday! We had so much fun and enjoyed the beautiful scenery! We took the ferry on our way there and that was quite an adventure, because we weren't sure which side of the river it was on, but we finally figured out that we had to cross the river so thank goodness we had the ferry to get us across! The kids loved the fact that they were riding on a boat in the car!

Julianne having a good time running free between the blueberry bushes

Concentrating on getting the biggest berry and as much has possible in a short time, because it was closing soon

She loved eating the berries and picking them from the bush

She was eating the berries off the bush and I had to swipe a few of the yucky green berries from her mouth

Luke, Will and Julianne having a good time picking berries

The results = homemade blueberry muffins , they were delicious!!

Randy and Julianne on Uncle Joe's dock

EEEKKK, be careful

Julianne

We are so thankful for our freedom and we hope you have a restful, relaxing and safe fourth of July weekend!!

15 months

Julianne is 15 months old and turning into a little toddler!! Wow Her personality is really starting to show, she talks or babbles, but also says words- words like hi (she says hi to anything that moves no matter how far away) bye bye, bite, cracker cookie cake (they all sound the same), bana, juce, more, babee, mamma, dadda, allll done, birdie, kitty kitty, and much more, she trys to repeat what we say and is becoming a word sponge, its fun watching her language develop, she still uses the sign for more when she really likes something
She plays with her toys, she also loves playing with her baby dolls and giving them kisses and loves books
She climbs on top of the ottoman and then stands up on the ottoman with no fear, she would even climb the ladder to the slide by herself if I wasn't there. A church close by has a nice new playground, that we frequent and she loves climbing in the playhouse and looking out the windows.
She still has 6 teeth, has had all 6 six since April, so we are wondering when the next few will pop through, 7th tooth just popped through :)
She gives us open mouth kisses and hugs our necks and we just love it, hugs = kisses
She weighs 20lbs, but I think she weighs a little more than what the nurses said, they aren't always accurate, especially with a squirming baby. Her height is 31 1/2 in and her head circumference is 47cm
She still takes about 2 naps a day morning and afternoon a longer afternoon nap.

She drinks out of a straw and is trying to figure out the utensils, what a mess that is, but usually doesn't last very long and I have to put the food on the spoon and hand her the spoon , so she can feed herself

Summer!!!!!!!!

I love a sleeping baby!

Cousin Michelle

My new adventure!

Jack and Julianne in the morning


Julianne entertaining Jack


Jack playing with the ball

Trying to get the ball

So recently, I have taken on a new adventure of watching my friends little boy Jack(3m old), while she goes to work! I'm so glad I was able to help her and feel very honored to watch her little one. He is a very good baby and only fusses' when hungry, tired, gassy, or needs a diaper change, isn't that with all babies!! But our days seem to vary, sometimes I'll have them on the same schedule -both will be napping at the same time (at least an hr)or one will be eating while the other is sleeping, so every minute of the day is precious, especially when they are BOTH asleep!! But so far it has gone smoothly. Julianne is more self sufficient and independent, I have weaned her, so she is eating and drinking all by herself, except spoon feeding. I nursed her for little over year and felt it was worth every struggle(cup feeding, syringe/tubing method, frenulectomy, mastitis, engorgement, and pumping)! I recently saw one of the nurses (Mother/baby unit)and she said your the Girl that really wanted to BF, that's how she remembered me, I was on a lot of drugs and stubborn! But Julianne hasn't shown much jealousy towards Jack, sometimes she'll lay her head on my knee while I'm giving Jack his bottle and I will set her beside us so she can be by us and she's always curious of Jack. Sometimes she'll wake up in the mornings and point to the door and say baby and even tries to say baby Ack (Jack). Jack also enjoys watching Julianne and the noises she makes (screaming)! We have also been able to enjoy the great outdoors with a few walks , I put Jack in the stroller and Julianne strapped on my back or we push Julianne and Jack in the red wagon with Jack sitting in the carseat, they both seem to enjoy it and its always refreshing to get outside. But having two babies is a lot of work, so NO I'm not ready for another baby of my own!!!

A work in Progress

We are downsizing and selling Randy's car ! Its a Cadillac CTS 03' , it a great car !!


Julianne hard at work on her laptop April 2010



Trying to figure out how to use the mouse :)

Julianne started walking at the beginning of March. She took a few steps here and there, but then got down and crawled to where she needed to go. We would encourage her by holding her hand and helping her with her balance. Lately she has really caught on to walking, taking more and more steps on her own. Its fun to watch her learn to walk, she still is a little unsteady, her little legs are stiff and make wide steps, her arms are up helping her balance. More recently as of the middle of April, she is mainly walking!! Luckily the house isn't that big and the poor thing is encaged in the living room , but she can still get to the hallway and her room to explore.


Her personality is really starting to form, the other day when I was trying to get her away and out of the trash can, she kept getting into it, so I slapped her hand and said NO and she took her other hand and slapped my other hand and smiled. I was stunned , but didn't react. Discipline at this age is hard , because you don't know what they really understand, but then you think they need to learn at a very young age to correct the bad behavior. And they don't really know how to control their emotions or communicate what they want, so she is having more tantrums and crying spells, especially when tired or hungry! So it can become a struggle at times, but I try and compliment her when she does good things like putting the sippy cup in the cup holder and not throwing it, or putting the food she doesn't like to the corner of her tray, instead of dropping it on the floor. I know she will be testing us more and more and hopefully we will stay consistent and not give in to her. We went to a seminar for Parents on how to Help Kids Become Genuine Disciples and learned a lot of good information that will be most helpful as she is growing and becoming her own person. But it discussed how boundaries are enforced to help the child feel secure and how we need to model Christ , because we are the most influential persons in their lives and hope they will come to a personal faith with God. We really enjoyed the seminar and got a lot out of it, so hopefully that will show through in our child! :)

Maui II

My Parents!! The trip was planned after my mom told us that it has always been a dream of hers to take her family to Hawaii. So my sister Angela planned the trip and we were blessed to all be together in beautiful Hawaii!


My little hottie sis Dawn

My gorgeous big sis Angela and cool bro n law Josh

My little hula girl!! Thanks for the hula outfit Auntie A

Our family of three at the Luau

In Lahaina enjoying our fish tacos and fish &chips at KIMO's, with some old friends I grew up with (Rachel &hubby Dante and they are expecting in Sept. !) and my friend Danielle's mom Kathy C. and her friend Crystal and baby Brody ! KIMO's had a beautiful view of the ocean and saw some more whales. We were told it was mating season, so the males were trying to compete for the females attention, so we got to see alot of whale Action on the boat trip :)

Our Pina Colada's very tastee

The crew going out to snorkel! I got really close to a sea turtle , it popped its little head out of the water and just looked at me, it was pretty cool! And the fish were very colorful and so was the coral reef!

Maui I

Mom and I at Kamoale Beach


After a long day of whale watching and shopping in Lahaina , we came back to Kihei (were we stayed) and got some pita's to eat at the beach to watch another beautiful sunset!!

We got to go to a Luau, the Wailea Marriott had a great Luau with all you could eat food and drinks and the entertainment was pretty cool too, fire dancing and hula dancing (we got on stage and learned to hula (well we tried at least)

Our entertainment at the pool, who needs free mai tai wed. when you've got this girl!

This beach was by the Fairmont hotel and it was a nice beach and not so crowded! By the last beach day we were experts at getting all ready, packing every little thing for the baby, applying sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, lunches and beach equipment! We were loaded down!!

One of the many sunsets we saw in Maui! We always woke early(due to the time difference) so we tried to get out and see the sunrise too!