First Cereal

Julia had her first oatmeal and didn't really care for it. Shocker! We totally thought she was going to gobble up the stuff, but she just looked at Dan like he was crazy for giving her something so completely disgusting. We tried again a few days later, but she gave a look that said "no way suck-as" and that was that.

Snowy Fun

So it snowed on Julia's 4 month b-day (December 19, for those of you who like to know the dates) and Ellie simply could not resist getting out and playing in it. Now, I'm not sure how long you - reader - have been reading this blog, but this time last year it was snowing up a storm and we had a very white Christmas. We went for a few walks in the snow and I inevitably ended up carrying Ellie (either that or she clamored up my legs)... she was completely freaked out by the snow. What a difference a year makes! Even though this was a very small snow, she had a blast and is anxiously awaiting more.

Time is Flying

Our little jolly Julia is 4 months old! To commemorate this occasion God made it snow (her first snow), we took her to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, she did LOTS of chatting today with everyone in the house, Ellie & I made sugar cookies and Dan bought her first box of oatmeal cereal. No, she hasn't eaten it yet, but we bought it - that's special, right? Julia watches us eat so we figure the first feed won't be too far behind.

Vocal - if she does not want to be where you have set her, she most definitely will not be quiet about it. Talking, baby-yelling, staring at you, and lastly crying. I have a feeling the cat will never catch her tongue. Ever. I'll be sure to keep you updated on how this turns out.

Eyes - Julia has always had eyes that seem like they can talk. She just stares at you and then starts to jabber, it's almost as though you can understand what she is saying. It's strange and fun all at the same time.

Smile - This little girls smile is massive. She opens her mouth, squints her eyes, and offers a jolly toothless grin when you are her entertainer (or savior if she's woken up from her nap). She also sticks out her tongue when smiling, which is a new development.

Sick - This weekend Julia is just getting over her second cold. Second! She's 4 months and had two colds. I feel terrible, but just can't keep Ellie from infecting her (Ellie got sick first and generously passed it on to Julia and I).

Happy Day Julia! You are 4 months old and loving life! Chatting up a storm, rolling over, sitting pretty in a bumbo, opinionated, vocal, and smiley smiley smiley.

Shaving with Daddy

What little girl wouldn't love to shave with Daddy, eh?

Who doesn't remember doing THIS?

Santa's Helper Came!

He brought purple nail polish! In case you haven't heard, purple is the new blue. According to Ellie anyway. And almost just as good as Santas Helper coming is having Daddy paint her nails. Did any of you know Dan was so talented?

Roll with it

Today while Ellie was napping, I was visiting with Julia after a feed and a diaper change. I had her on her back on the couch and I was sitting next to her on the floor. I turned around to grab my camera off the coffee table and when I turned around she was perched on her belly very close to the edge. QUITE proud of herself, mind you, and a little uncertain as to how she got into this position (without being put there by Mom). I was so stunned that I put her back on her back and watched her do it again - this time taking pictures. So as of December 6, 2009, Julia Claire is rolling over folks!

Chew on this...

Julia's latest obsession is to see what she can get in her mouth. I know I've already been through this with Ellie, but for whatever reason I can't believe that Julia is able to grasp toys and put them in her mouth right now. Wasn't she just born? Seriously.

Santa's Helper Came!

When I was growing up, during the month of December, if you heard a knock on the door in the evening (and you weren't expecting company - and where we lived we were never really expecting company), we were being paid a visit by Santa's Helper. And oh my goodness, oh my gracious, when Santas Helper dropped off a gift at the doorstep, you would have thought it was Christmas day itself! My brother and I would immediately stop what we were doing, look at each other and say "Santas Helper came!" and both clamor to reach the door first to retrieve the gifts. They were never very big items, but we didn't care. Santas Helper had come!

Well, I'm guessing since Ellie & Julia are my decedents, they were paid a visit by Santas Helper! The 4th of December he arrived at our doorstep bearing two gift bags with green reindeer shirts. Ellie was quite excited that a gift was left for her at the front door. A little confused at first, but excited nonetheless. Julia slept through it all so we aren't really sure what her reaction would have been. The shirts were worn all day long (and even the next day, I believe).

We can't wait to see if he comes again!

Thanksgiving Vacation

Oh my goodness going home was SO much fun! Our little family of four stayed with Oma & Opa in their new house in Ruston. We really appreciate all the trouble they went to just so we could have beds to sleep in and furniture to sit on while we were there.

We were planning on driving down all day Friday. BUT, Dan got off work on Thursday morning after a 30 hour shift and felt so good that we decided to drive down if we could get packed quickly enough. Both of us were feeling up to that challenge and did laundry, cleaned the house, and packed the entire family (including the dog) in 3 hours. Whew! The drive went well and was pretty uneventful considering we traveled more than 800 miles. We drove laaaaate into the night and got to Ruston around 2am on Friday morning and collapsed into bed. Oma & Opa weren't scheduled to be there until Friday night and Ellie wanted to know where the heck they were. Try explaining this to a 2 and a half year old when it's 2:30am and you've been driving all day. Then try to explain to her that she has to sleep in a new room all by herself... that didn't work either so Dan slept with Ellie and I slept in our room with Julia. The next night (and the rest of the trip) Ellie did great and slept in the room all by herself.

I'm going to have to condense all that happened while we were in Louisiana so here goes:
- First stop was to visit Nana and let her meet Julia for the first time
- Second stop was to round up my parents and take them to (none other than) Johnny's Pizza for lunch! This was all a big surprise because we didn't tell my family we were getting there a day earlier than scheduled.
- Ellie learned how to turn a summersault
- Dan cleaned out his "memory" box and we all got a big kick out of his stuff. Well, ok, it was mostly me laughing. Especially the My Life list (predicting what his life would be like) that Dan, Ellie & I are pictured holding... Sorry to tell on you Dan, but I haven't laughed that hard in years. You were supposed to have your first million by next year. Hm... Dan actually laughed so hard he cried when he opened up a card his brother drew for Opa's birthday about 18 years ago.
- We had a surprise visit from my Aunt Claire & EA on Sunday at my parents. We were scheduled to eat dinner with the Fam, including Aunt Kay & Uncle Ken, and were delighted when Aunt Claire & EA got to stop in and visit on their way home from picking up a horse.
- Ellie had a fantastic time! She enjoyed swinging, jumping in the leaves, taking family pictures, marching, dancing, singing songs, playing with Avery & especially combing her hair, having her fingernails painted purple (the new fav color), playing with all of her Aunts, and probably most of all... having undivided attention from not one, not two, but FOUR grandparents for a week.
- Julia (our social butterfly) enjoyed charming relatives for the first time and smiled at each and every one of them, leaving puddles of melted hearts in her wake. She relished in having an endless supply of smiling faces at her disposal any time of day. For the first time she met: Nana, Uncle Luke, Aunt Katy, Avery, Great Aunt Claire, Great Uncle EA, Great Aunt Kay, & Great Uncle Ken, Steph, Ryan, Julie, Dave, Aaron, Jenna, & Jen (hope I didn't leave anyone out!).
- Dan, Julia & I all made a quick trip to Shreveport one day and got to see several friends, eat lunch, and do a tiny bit of shopping.
- Dan & I got to do pretty much whatever we wanted, thanks to an endless supply of babysitting. I got to go with all of my sister-in-laws to the mall, but we only made it to one store. haha. Then I went back to the mall by myself later in the week to find jeans since my only pair that fit me right now were ripping in the leg (got to love post-pregnancy!). I also got coffee a few times... I really do miss frequenting coffee shops. Dan got to play some golf, disc golf, ate Mexican, and I'm not really sure what else because I was shopping. ha ha
- We ate Thanksgiving dinner twice, on with Dan's family and once with mine.
- Thanksgiving morning Dan & I drove over to Shreveport and did the Turkey Trot with Dan & Jen. They all beat me, too. Not that that's surprising... I haven't exactly been running regularly lately (I blame my two kids, he he).
- Julia attended her first tea party with Oma, Aunt Carol, Aunt Joan, Aunt Katy, Ellie & I.
- Saturday night we stayed at Pop & Tudi's house (in order to get up on Sunday and drive home). We had a bonfire that rocked the house. We haven't done that in years. Ellie actually participated in the festivities, as did Dave, Julie & Olivia who drove all the way from Shreveport to bid us farewell. Aunt Katy, Uncle Luke, Avery, Pop & Tudi were all there of course, and eventually Uncle Erik came with a friend (yep, a girl folks).

We got up and drove home the next day and were seriously tired when we arrived home. Dan actually could not drive the last leg because he was falling asleep. THIS is seriously out of character for him, but I cracked open a coke and drove 'er the rest of the way home safe and sound. Surprisingly, when we got home the house smelled exactly like it did when we bought it. It made me wonder if this is what our house always smells like. I mean, have we even lived here a year and a half? I'm not exactly sure.

Ahhhhhh. It's good to be home!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Since we came home from Louisiana with a few days left of Dan's vacation, we decided to decorate for Christmas. Let me just take a minute to tell you that Christmas is my all time favorite holiday of all times. Ever. So I'm super-excited that December is here. Back to the story! First stop: getting a tree! This is the first year we decided to get a real tree since Dan and I have been married. Let's see... that's, er, 6 Christmases of fake trees. Both of our families had real trees growing up and it's a tradition we'd like to begin (as long as we're going to be home for Christmas, anyway). It was a pretty chilly day up here in Lexington and we selected our tree as quickly as we could, put it on top of the car, and drove that baby home. I seriously have no idea what kind of tree it is, some type of fir, I think. We let it sit in the garage most of the day and brought it inside before the girls went to bed. We awoke the next morning and began the fun of decorating. Julia found it to be a boring task not worth missing a nap over. Ellie actually stayed focused and strung lights, beads, and ornaments. She must be a Christmas-lover. Is that sort of thing hereditary? Time will tell. Here's a funny: Ellie picked up one of the plain shiny glass balls and looked at me and said "Dis a bouncy ball? bouncy, bouncy, bouncy?" Thank heaven she didn't just slam it on the floor before she asked. Hah.

I'm about to get all exclusive...

Hello All Tiny Raz Readers! I just want you all to know that in a few days (or this next week) I'm about to make this blog an invitation only blog. I have NO issues with friends and family viewing our blog, but I realized that in this "day and age" you can never be too safe. So, in efforts to keep our family life a bit more on the private side - versus the "hey everyone on the internet" side - I'm going to restrict the access. Please please please leave me a comment with your email address if you want to keep viewing the blog! Thanks for understanding and I'm sorry to have to add this extra step. Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Anna

Julia 3 Months!

Julia is 3 moths old! Of course, we can hardly believe she's already been here for 3 months (can you?). Here are a few fun facts about Julia. Most of it I've written because I don't really write this stuff down any more because it's all on this blog.

Temperament:
Julia seems to be quite an agreeable baby, seldom crying. She is flexible and enjoys being wherever I take her (unless she's tired or hungry, but that's normal). We have a wiggle worm on our hands and are very careful not to leave her unattended on any surface other than the floor. Laying down seriously cramps her style and her preferred position is to be sitting up. If - rather when - she falls over, she face plants and then brings her little arms around and has tummy time. She cries mostly when she's tired, hungry, or confined in her carseat (which she's getting used to and finds the car bearable only when her big sister is sitting next to her).

Sleeping:
At this point in her life, Julia is a pretty darn good sleeper. As long as you don't wait too long to put her down, she'll usually fall to sleep on her own after swaddling and placing her in her bed. I can't complain. Then again, we have loosely followed the Baby Whisperer's recommendations since she was about a week old ("start as you intend to go on"). Julia is also not quite as predictable (or anal) as Ellie was, but I attribute that to the personality difference.

Schedule:
4:00/5:00am - Wakes for a morning feed
7:00/7:45 am - Wakes for Breakfast
8:30 am - down for a nap (this is usually her long morning nap of almost 2 hours)
10:13 am - up to eat
11:45 am - down for a nap (probably a short one of 45 minutes)
1:00 pm - Up for Lunch
2:15 pm - down for nap (this is either long or short depending on if we were out after her 10 am feed)
3:00/4:00 pm - up to eat, usually lots
4:30/5:00 pm - down for a nap (lately this has been a long one 2 hours)
6:00/7:00 pm - eating dinner, getting ready for bed
7:30-ish - Bed time!
10:30/11:30 pm - eating while she's sleeping before I go to bed

The Video:
It's been difficult, but I've caught Julia being her cute little self on video a few times. She's not into performing, so every time I get the camera out she stops talking and laughing and stares at it. So. It's a long-ish video (about 2 minutes)... so here she is!

Baby Legs

Have any of you seen those Baby Legs? I admired them when I had Ellie, but her chunky thighs didn't agree with them (they were more like sausages legs... sorry Ellie!). Julia has inherited the homemade baby legs I whipped up for Ellie - I chopped off the foot of a tall pair of Old Navy socks. They seem to fit her quite well so I hacked up another pair of my socks and made these cute pink one's Julia is wearing. Now I just need to finish off the bottom and we'll be all set!

Haircuts all around!

So I decided that Ellie needed a haircut. She had been looking a little scraggly with all of her fine blond hair. Last week sometime after her bath I gave it a pretty big trim. Some people say it was a bad hack job (one side being longer than the other) so I had to straighten it up. And then the other side needed to be straightened, and then the other side looked too long, and so on.... Needless to say it ended up being shorter than I originally intended. That same week I also had a haircut that was pretty bad. So bad, in fact, that I called the salon back and asked them to fix it (I don't usually play the diva, but this time I had to). Aparently the salon/spa owner does all of the cutting that needs "fixing" and not only is it a good business move, but it was a good "hair move" for me. He did a great job and I think I'll use him exclusively from now on. Consequently, Dan also had a haircut the same week. Julia, who has hardly any hair, chose not to participate in the family cut.

Look who's wearing cloth!

Coming down the catwalk we have the lovely Juuuuulia! Julia is wearing the Thirsties diaper cover in periwinkle. Julia enjoys swimming, kite surfing, eating and fly fishing.

When Ellie was about 3 months old I began using bum genius all in one pocket cloth diapers and loved them. She wore them right up until the time she was potty trained, just as they advertise. A fantastic investment. What they didn't advertise is how the elastic was going to stretch out so dang much that little babies would no longer be able to wear them. So. I began my search for a solution. Replacing the elastic in my entire stash of bum genius wasn't an option. After consulting my cloth diapering friend Elizabeth, I decided to purchase some Thirsties covers from this awesome site (free shipping!). I also held off on buying any pre-folds and opted to use the microfiber insert that came with my bum genius. This has been working really well with the only hang up the fact that the inserts are a bit too long, but I just fold them over. Voila!

Stuck...

Do these pictures make anyone else nervous?? Ellie and Dan were playing some game they made up this weekend and got the crab stuck in the light fixture by the stairs. Apparently Dan couldn't reach it, so he had to have Ellie's help! Of course I photographed the stunt without spotting (what kind of mother am I??).

Trick or Treating

Our mall has trick or treating up here... weird I know. But it was pretty cold and rainy on Halloween night, so we decided try it out. It was somewhat of a mistake. I think everyone in Lexington had the same idea. Ellie isn't exactly fond of crowds so it was a bit much for her and there was NO way Julia was going to sleep through all the hubub (but I thought she would and it's the only way she got out of wearing her little blue cowgirl bandanna). Next year I think we will just go door to door!