~ Julia's World ~

Picture Perfect

2011-12-03T17:36:00.000-06:00

This year we finally decided to take Julia to have her picture taken at a picture place. In years past, her school pics have been so good, we didn't feel the need to go to a photographer. Add on to that her sensory issues and she wouln't have tolerated a photo session very well. We went to a picture place in the mall and got Julia's cousins, Nolan and Tatum, in some shots too. The pictures turned out pretty cute, although with three kiddos under the age of five it got a little hectic and we felt a little rushed.
I happened to also get a few inpromptu shots while we waited...

Love barefoot shots

My sweet angel

Cute cousin shot

Photo Card

2011-11-27T14:31:00.001-06:00

Up In Lights Christmas

Shutterfly has elegant Christmas party invitations for your holiday party.

View the entire collection of cards.

Julia Cuteness

2011-11-12T17:37:00.001-06:00

This post is dedicated to random pictures I have of Julia that haven't been included in previous posts, but that I love! Most of these pictures were taken during the summertime.

This pic was taken at my niece's first communion, by my sister. I love Julia's expression!

Over the summer we bought Julia a scooter. I love this cute daddy/daughter picture!

Jules likes to help her Nan garden. She even got her own flower, which unfortunately, never made it into the ground.

I love this cute face! It looks like a picture I remember my parents have of my at this age too.

Getting ready for Easter!

My little shopper!

Julia and her Lovie...

Just hanging around at home

Some bathtime fun...

4th of July fun...

Our little girlie girl!

Julia LOVES her puppies!!

#2...

2011-11-05T16:13:00.000-05:00

If you cannot see clearly... somebody is going to be a big sister!! Yes, I am pregnant with #2, or as we affectionately call it, "Baby Pistachio." I am due around May 20, 2012 and we couldn't be more excited! We waited a little while before telling Julia, but she has since figured it out, we think.

A couple months ago, around the beginning of September, we started asking Julia if "someday" she wanted to be a big sister and have a baby brother or sister. She decided yes she would like that, but we waited to definitively tell her just because it is a LONG time to wait for anyone, but especially a child. Around the beginning of October, she has started talking about the "baby in mommy's tummy" very matter-of-factly (smart girl!). When we finally did tell her last weekend, she was very excited and even said, "I know Mommy" in a very matter-of-fact way. Since then, we have had many baby conversationa. Julia likes to pat and kiss our baby in my tummy. She recently told my mom she thinks we should name the baby, "Happy" if it is a boy or girl.

Like my pregnancy with Julia, I have been feeling good, but being pregnant with a 3-year-old is definitely more difficult! I am excited to see how the months unfold. This weekend I am officially 12 weeks pregnant. I have a sonogram on Wednesday so pictures will be posted soon...

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T23:19:00.000-05:00

This year Julia was a bumblebee for Halloween. She got to wear her costume to speech and OT and then to ballet as well! Because her schedule on Mondays is busy, we decided to trick-or-treat at home this year. Julia loved walking from house to house to get candy (and tell them thank you) and see all the other children dressed up. Above all else, I think Julia's favorite thing about Halloween this year was to sit on our driveway and hand out candy to the other trick-or-treaters.

Before Halloween, Julia's Nan took her to a pumpkin patch to choose a pumpkin. Here are some cute pics from that day:

Then, Julia's class had a Halloween party the Thursday and Friday before Halloween. Julia got to wear her costume to school. She was so excited!

What a cute little bumblebee!

The second party day at school, Julia's Nannie got her a cute Halloween outfit to wear.

On Halloween day Julia was able to wear her costume to ballet class. She had so much fun dancing around with her ballet friends in their costumes.

Then came Halloween night...

Ready to go trick-or-treating!

Showing off her glow in the dark bracelets and bumblebee bucket.

Here we go...

First house... so exciting!

Sitting on the driveway ready to pass out some candy.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!!

First Day of School- 2011

2011-08-30T13:42:00.000-05:00

Julia started another school year. Her teacher this year is Ms. Sharin and Julia is very into and excited about learning her letters and writing them! She is very interested in her ABCs and numbers and has started "writing."

I was able to capture the day before she went off to school... what a big girl!

In her new classroom, ready to learn!

OT Progress- Summer Pics

2011-08-21T11:28:00.000-05:00

With all of Julia's OT, I like to occasionally document her progress. Over the summer I had taken several pictures of different activities Julia had done. What better place to show off her skills than on the blog! Given how far she has come, I love to see her accomplish such great things!!

Julia colored this picture for her Nan at the end of June. I love how she colored everything!

We have been working a lot on fine-motor skills and cutting. This picture was taken beginning of July.

Beginning of August- Julia started drawing faces and bodies!!

Same day- She worked on this for some time. I was so proud of her!!

Beginning of August- Working on her pencil grip

Budding artist, working on getting in the lines.

Our Beach Trip 2011

2011-08-16T14:21:00.000-05:00

Another year, another family trip to the beach! We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed spending time with Nan, Pop, Aunt Erin, Uncle Bob, Nolan, and Tatum.

Julia was a little timid of the water this year until the end of the week, but we spent a lot of time at the beach and the pool.

Hello beach!!

Sitting up on daddy's shoulders was a safe way to walk by the ocean

Julia's pallet bed - no more pack n' play!

Watching a movie with Nolan

Testing out her new water vest... Julia liked floating by herself in the water.

Practicing some swimming with Daddy

Cousin pic!!

CHEESE!!

Finally playing in the ocean with daddy

About to go looking for shells at the beach after dinner

See you next year!

Swim Lessons- June 2010

2011-07-24T19:51:00.000-05:00

After going back and forth many times, we finally decided to do Julia's first swim lessons with the City of Austin. Julia was so excited and finally ready! We were lucky enough to be able to coordinate swim lessons with Julia's cousin, Nolan, who is a year older. They had fun together.

On our way to swim lessons...

Hey mom! I'm at the pool!!

Over the two weeks that Julia did swim lessons, she learned to blow bubbles in the water, float on her tummy (assisted), and float on her back (assisted), jumping off the side into the water, and even worked on kicking in the water and doggie paddling. What a great extension of her OT too! Julia LOVED being in the water! On the first day, she wanted to go into the deep end with the instructor. She had no fear of the water. Unfortunately they were short on actual instructors and Julia's class had lifeguards helping each day that didn't seem to know how to properly handle a child in the water, especially one with sensory issues who needed to feel secure when they were flipping her over from her front to back, in the water.

Julia showing her teacher how she can blow bubbles in the water.

Floating on her tummy

Blowing bubbles- she loved to do this while she waited for her turn in the water.

Flipping over on her back

Hanging with cousin Nolan before swim lessons

So cute!

Floating on her tummy

CHEESE!

Bright sun! Stretching out her body and RELAXING.

Posing with her completion certificate after the two weeks!

Lastly, here are two cute clips we got during swim lessons...

Fingerpaint Fun

2011-07-03T16:05:00.000-05:00

I am so proud of myself for "allowing" Julia to get messy and do some fingerpainting at home yesterday! That was a huge thing for both Julia and me. She now loves to get messy and enjoys things like fingerpainting. Julia had so much fun!

What started as fingerpainting quickly became "handpainting" as Julia called it!

Build A Bear Party- Julia's First

2011-06-01T20:43:00.000-05:00

This past weekend Julia got to go to Build A Bear for the first time. What an experience!

Waiting in line to get a name tag and go in...hanging with the big girls!

Julia chose a cute kitty and named it Barney Kitty, after our oldest dog that passed away a month earlier... what a sweet little girl!

About to shake some life into Barney Kitty...

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee...!

Carefully selecting a heart to go inside Barney Kitty

Working in Ryan's birthday card with the big girls

Mommy, do you see this!!?? She is putting fluff into Barney Kitty!

Oh, Barney Kitty, I love you!!

Giving Barney Kitty a "bath"

Giving Barney Kitty a piggy-back ride back to the front of the store

Making Barney Kitty walk around...

You can't have a birthday party without a birthday cupcake!!

YUMMY!!

The Many Faces of Julia

2011-05-31T17:54:00.007-05:00

Jules loves having her picture taken and has recently been trying out different expressions. It's funny to watch her experiement with different expressions and to hear what kind of expressions they are...

Happy Face

Mad Face

Puppy Face

Fish Face

Cuteness...

Cheesy girl...

Oh, I have such a silly girl! I love her fun personality and expressions. What a happy and fun little girl!!!

Last Day of School 2011

2011-05-30T20:39:00.008-05:00

May 27, 2011- Last Day of School

The last day of school Julia's class had a big party with a jumpy house in the class room. It was Julia's lasy day as a butterfly. She loved being in Ms. Kourtney & Ms. Kelly's Butterfly class. Ms. Kourtney had been Julia's teacher since she started school when she was a little less than a year-and-a-half, so it was a little bittersweet.

Julia modeling her butterfly class t-shirt

She even got her face painted!

Jumping in the jumpy house with her friend Rebecca

Posing with her teachers Ms. Kelly & Ms. Kourtney

I can't believe she is getting so big!

Being a ham at Nannie's house

Fancy Nancy

2011-05-28T20:41:00.009-05:00

This past Saturday, at a bookstore by my parents' house, there was a Fancy Nancy Tea Party. Julia LOVES Fancy Nancy books and we love them because of the cute stories and wonderful vocabulary. I thought Julia, being the girly girl she is, would really enjoy this. We invited her older cousin, Ryan, to go with us too. So I got Julia all dressed up in her best Fancy Nancy outfit we could put together!

We picked up Nannie and went to get Julia's cousin, Ryan, then we were on to the bookstore for the Fancy Nancy party. Boy, was it crowded! They had a section for the girls to get their fingernails painted, an area to have your picture taken with Fancy Nancy, and a little tea party area as well.

Julia getting her fingernails painted... so fancy!

Then it was off to have their picture taken with Fancy Nancy and have a little tea party...

What a fun time and a great opportunity for the girls! Julia ended her day by getting a new Fancy Nancy book...

Easter 2011

2011-05-01T09:50:00.007-05:00

Another year, another Easter. Julia really was into Easter Egg hunting this year, getting more enjoyment out of what was in the eggs rather than the actual hunting. Because she goes to school four days a week, Julia was able to participate in two egg hunts.

Enjoying the fruits of her labor- some goldfish crackers!

Easter Day 2011
This year's basket theme was princesses. Julia recently discovered princesses and LOVES them... was only a matter of time for my girly girl! Her favorite princess right now is Cinderella. We recently bought the DVD and she enjoys watching the movie and singing the song, "Cinderella, Cinderella, lalalala, Cinderella" (that's all the words she knows)!

Easter Egg Hunting at Nan & Pop's

Easter Egg Hunting at Nannie & Papa's

Cousins picture at Nan & Pop's

HAPPY EASTER!!

March 2011 In Review

2011-04-19T18:40:00.015-05:00

March was a whirlwind. It came and went so quickly! Here are just a few highlights of the month:

Julia really got into her ABCs and recognizing them everywhere. She also started putting the letter and its corresponding sound together. She's been spelling her name outloud and one evening during her bath, Julia spelled her name with her ABCs! She was so proud!!

For Spring Break we relaxed and enjoyed some family time, spending some time at the park by my parents' house with the girls. Julia loved running around and even climbed up on the playscape a couple of times.

At school, in March, Julia's class had tricycle day! Julia was so excited to be able to bring her trike to school and wear her princess helmet. It was a bittersweet moment watching Julia out with all her friends from her class riding around. With Julia's low muscle tone, she can't peddle herself on her trike. I was so proud of her for trying to pedal and pushing herself along, but as a mom, it was hard to see her friends "zooming" by on their trikes with such ease. She was so excited and kept trying-- that's my girl!!

Little Stinker!~ 2/4/2011

2011-04-19T18:33:00.004-05:00

What a little stinker! Julia figured out that if she is bored in her bed at night that she could take her clothes off and strip down to her diaper. Typically, she does this at naptime and thinks it is cute to put her socks on her arms and put her shirt on like a skirt. Thankfully she kept the diaper on!

Snow Day- 2/4/2011

2011-04-18T21:12:00.003-05:00

Brrr! Another snow day! I think Julia has seen more snow since she was born than I have seen in the first 30 years of my life. Julia was so excited to go out in the snow and play! She loves to watch her puppies frolick in the snow too!

Strike a pose!

Even Barney enjoyed the snow...

First Trip to the Dentist- February 22, 2011

2011-04-11T12:58:00.004-05:00

Julia had her first dentist appointment recently. Andrew and I were very curious how she would do, but Julia was great! She walked in confidently and climbed up in the dentist chair all by herself. She let the dental hygienist brush her teeth and the dentist counted and looked at her teeth, etc. They tried to polish and clean her teeth, but Julia didn't like the feel of the tooth polisher, so we will try again in six months. I got to floss her teeth and Julia even hugged the dental hygienist when we left. All in all, a great appointment... no cavities and her teeth look great! Can't say we would have had that kind of luck a year ago with Julia's sensory issues. She wouldn't have let anyone near her! Way to go monkey!!

Mommy/Daughter Gardening

2011-04-02T23:08:00.008-05:00

This evening Julia and I did a little gardening together. Earlier in the afternoon, we all went to Lowe's to try to pick some flowers out. Not being a person with a green thumb (at all!), we picked geraniums. Once we got home, Jules and I set out to do some gardening and flower planting!

Let's garden, mommy! I'll spread the dirt for you...

Now, we need to shovel the dirt right?

Cheese... our new garden is done... and I helped!

Julia decided the grass needed a little Swiffer!

Birthday Party Fun!

2011-02-20T16:31:00.012-06:00

This year Julia had two birthday parties, one with her friends in her class at school, and the other was a family and friends party. Julia had so much fun! She was really into her birthday this year and has been talking about it since before Christmas because most of her friends in her class have already had their birthdays. This year's birthday was a monkey theme- very fitting seeing as how we often call Julia "monkey."

Family Birthday Party- 2/19/11

School Birthday Party- 2/17/11
We were fortunate enough to be able to have a birthday party for Julia at school with her friends in her class. She was so excited! The biggest thing Julia wanted for her birthday this year was to have her friends from school at her birthday. We had a little bouncy house and filled a pool with some balls, had some pizza and birthday cupcakes. What a special little 3-year-old!

Happy 3rd Birthday Julia!

2011-02-17T21:57:00.002-06:00

Happy birthday to our sweet little monkey! I can't believe my baby is now 3!

Happy Valentines Day 2011!

2011-02-14T21:48:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-21T18:17:00.006-06:00

Thanksgiving Feast at School- 2010

Thankfully this year Julia wasn't sick during the Thanksgiving feast at school and was able to really enjoy herself!

Decked out in her Thanksgiving hat and shirt

Yum, a cupcake!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at Aunt Ann's & the River
This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at my sister's house Thanksgiving day and then met up with some of Andrew's family at the river Friday for a family Thanksgiving. Julia had a great time playing with her cousins both days. She especially enjoyed playing in the crunchy leaves!

Kodak moment! It's hard to get three toddlers to sit still for a picture!

Bonding time with daddy!

Playing in the leaves

Look mom, I'm driving!

How do you work this thing again?

October In Review

2011-01-10T11:59:00.012-06:00

October was filled with lots of dressing up and changes!

Big Girl Bed- Mid-October we decided to transition Julia to a big girl bed. She was getting so long, she didn't fit comfortably in her crib anymore. Even though she was getting to long for her crib, we wanted to slowly transition her into a big girl bed.

Testing out her big girl mattress... I think she likes it!

Her big girl bed!

Big girl bookshelf from her Aunt Shelby

Dressing Up! - With Halloween aroung the corner, there was a lot of dress-up opportunities. Julia LOVES to dress-up, so she was in heaven!

Chilling in the car with Nannie and Mommy, drinking some Starbucks milk

Sunglasses make every meal taste better!

Beauty Shop day at school! They were talking about the Letter B at school that week

Circus Day! This week they were talking about the Letter C. Julia was a cat and loved having her face painted!

Halloween at School- Dressing up at school and going trick-or-treating to all the classrooms was so much fun. Julia loved seeing all her friends dressed up and getting to trick-or-treat at school.

I'm a butterfly... not a fairy princess!

Trick-or-treating at school

Cheese!

Day 2 of Halloween at school- I'm a lion, ROAR!!

Mommy and I are both kitties!!

Halloween Night 2010

Carving a pumkin with my cousin, Ryan

Wait, you mean we have to walk to each house to get candy??!

Walking with Daddy to another house

All tuckered out after an evening of fun... Happy Halloween!

And to end this post, a cute video of Julia trick-or-treating. She had a blast! For weeks after, she walked around knocking on doors saying, "Trick-or-treat!!"

Trip to the "Libary"

2011-01-08T11:32:00.008-06:00

Julia loves the library! We have taken her a couple of time to look at books, but haven't checked any books out for her until this week. Knowing how much she loves books, she will have a great love of the library, like her daddy! This trip we decided to check out a couple books for her, which she loved! It was cute to see her walk around saying , "Shhh..." Each night we read her "new library books." It will be interesting when we have to take the books back to the library... I'm already trying to prepare her for that one talking about how we can take the library books back and get new ones to check out... we'll see how it goes!

Enjoying a book with daddy in the kids' section

Looking at her new library books (I love the look on her face)! She loved how they had little chairs to sit in.

Julia's first books we checked out at the library

Jumpy Gym Fun

2011-01-07T21:17:00.009-06:00

Julia and I met up with her Aunt Erin and cousins Nolan and Tatum at a Jumpy Gym by their house one afternoon over Christmas Break. This was Julia's first time at a jumpy place, so I was curious how she would react. At first, she was a little timid and preferred to play with a little jungle gym off to the side, but eventually she warmed up more and attempted a larger jumpy thing. Once she saw it wasn't so bad, she went on it three or four times and didn't want to leave.

Weeeeeee! Baby steps...

Next, I tried to get Julia to go on one of the big inflatable slides with me. We watched Aunt Erin go up with Tate and slide down. Julia wanted me to carry her up these tiny and steep inflatable steps (very tricky to do in socked feet). She had fun, but didn't want to try it again.

Fun in the bouncy house with my cousins.... I liked to lay down while they bounced around best! I think I might be almost ready for the big one...

The Ultimate in bouncy house/inflatable slide- I don't know about this one!?

Eventually Julia got the courage to go up in this one, which was a huge deal for her! I was so proud of her when she finally climbed up the back part leading to the inflatable slide and then slid down.

Maneuvering through the obstacles...

Climbing up the little hill to get to the slide...

Almost there....

Hi mommy! I think I'm ready...

Woo hoo!!

Hey that wasn't so bad... again, again!!

I foresee many more trips to the jumpy place in our future...

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T21:17:00.000-06:00

Customize your own digital scrapbooking design

Jingle Bells!

2010-12-28T12:37:00.003-06:00

One of Julia's favorite songs this Christmas season is "Jingle Bells." She has been walking around the house singing it, so of course, I had to get it on video...

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T17:15:00.018-06:00

This Christmas season was particularly fun because Julia was older and was able to enjoy and participate more in the Christmas traditions. She especially enjoyed opening presents and looking at all the Christmas lights.

The season started out with decorating both the inside and outside of our house. Julia really loved looking at the Christmas tree and all the outside lights. I did the inside myself, but couldn't avoid having my "little helper" help Andrew and I with the outside...

Next on the list was a visit with Santa. This year we decided to avoid the mall Santa and went to our church's Breakfast with Santa. Julia told Santa she wanted a bike (which she already had) and a dollhouse for Christmas. She loved Santa's whiskers and hat, but chose to sit on Mrs. Claus' lap for the picture (after some enticing with a candy cane).

Finally, it was time for Christmas. Gifts had been bought and wrapped, the tree was trimmed, cookies were baked, we visited with Santa, and the food was prepared... Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve we went to my in-laws to celebrate. Julia had fun playing with her cousins. There were Christmas pictures...

Julia sampled some of Nan's Christmas cookies while waiting to open presents...yummy!

Julia got some great gifts and practiced her skill opening presents...

What a girly girl!

Then Christmas morning came...

What a great Christmas spending time with family! Merry Christmas to all... May your days be merry and bright!

Beach Summer Fun 2010

2010-11-20T17:24:00.007-06:00

So after a little hiatus from blogging, I figured I should catch up some. This past summer we had a great time with Andrew's family at our annual summer trip to Port Aransas. Julia had such a fun time playing with her cousins, going to the beach and the pool. She was able to enjoy this trip more since last summer she wasn't walking independently yet. Here's a little recap of our trip:

Watching some videos on the way up to the beach- what a life!

Getting ready to go down to the beach our first day...

Catching some waves with her cousin, Nolan

Playing in the sand

Fun at the pool with Daddy

Movie night with Nolan, before bedtime

Beach beauty!

The secret to looking young, wet sand!

Here's a cute video of Julia playing with the waves one of our last days.

Can't wait til next year!!

Found Friday

2010-06-18T15:48:00.003-05:00

I recently came across a cute video I took of Julia one evening, back in April. I had tried to post it then, but for some reason it hadn't worked.

Julia's Nan had taught her "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" and "Ring Around the Rosies" and she loved (and still loves) singing it and doing the movements. Take a peek (sorry that the video is sideways)...

Memorial Weekend Water Fun 2010

2010-06-07T15:45:00.007-05:00

Memorial Day weekend Julia had lots of fun playing in the water. Saturday, we hooked up Julia's new ladybug sprinkler in the backyard. She had a blast!

Monday, we went to my sister's neighborhood pool and swam. The kiddie pool was completely shaded and Julia was like a little daredevil fish trying to leap out of my grasp. She would leap away from me, into the water, as she shouted, "I swim!" She even tried paddling her hands a feet a little. Although she consumed some large gulps of kiddie pool water (yuck!) and didn't quite have the freedom she wanted in the water, Julia had so much fun. I think I foresee swim lesson in our future...

Lastly, here's a cute video from Julia playing in her sprinkler!

Goofing Around & Looking Cute

2010-06-06T16:06:00.005-05:00

Julia decided she wanted to put Mommy's socks on...

and my shoes!

Recovery

2010-05-22T20:36:00.007-05:00

A little peek into Julia's 'recovery' from her adenoids and ear tubes surgery...

The Day of the Surgery, in the Evening

After a visit from her Nannie and a long nap, Julia is up playing with her Wonder Pets "Fly Train" and had another visit from her Nan. Still pretty pale, a little fussy and sensitive to being messed with, but otherwise in a decent mood...

The Day After the Surgery

Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast...

Then it's off to Toys R' Us to get Tuck from "The Wonder Pet" (to complete her collection)

A quick stop at Old Navy to pick up some new flip flops for Julia and to visit the mannequins (Jules loves the mannequins at Old Navy, especially the dog!).

Then it's off the Target to pick up a couple groceries, but first we had to stop at the Starbucks in Target for a refreshment- a little mother/daughter moment...

Of course, Julia was sweet enough to share her apple juice with Tuck!

Needless to say, Julia recovered well from the surgery!

What Julia Says...

2010-05-22T15:38:00.003-05:00

Just some cute phrases my baby says that I wanted to remember...

~"I hold my Lovie and my blanket."- 5/19/10

~"Julia has sunglasses on her head!"- 5/22/10

~"I go night-night in my bed." (followed by fake snoring!)

~"My mommy hold my baby!" (while holding her arms up to be picked up; my personal favorite-she makes it sound so pitiful and cute at the same time.)

~ "Lovie has owie on her paw. Oh no! I kiss Lovie's owie."

Julia's First Surgery

2010-05-20T14:25:00.004-05:00

Yesterday (5/19/10), Julia had her adenoids removed and tubes put in her ears. What a day it was for all of us!

Julia's surgery was scheduled for 8:30, so we needed to be ther at 7:30. When we got there, we met with Julia's nurse for pre-op. We met the nurses that would be with Julia, both anesthesiologists, as well as the ENT doing the procedure. I was amazed at how well Julia did the whole time, especially pre-op. She waved to the nurses, played peek-a-boo with the anesthesiologist, and ran around. She was very happy and relaxed and even liked the gown they gave us to put on her and the footie socks.

Snuggling with Daddy before she started playing around

Jules loved getting up in the crib they had for her and putting Lovie and her blanket to sleep!

Julia also liked pretending she was sleeping, mixed in with walking around on the bed.

When it was time to take Julia back to get some laughing gas, she let the nurses take her a nd didn't fuss at all a they walked her down the hall. After that a nurse led us to a post-op room to wait for the surgery to be done. It felt like the longest 45 minutes of our lives, waiting to see Julia again.

When they brought her back after the surgery, Julia looked so frail and out of it. The nurse put her in my arms, my nervous stomach kicked in and I felt very nauseous and had to quickly hand her off to Andrew because I thought I was going to be sick. Julia then threw up from being jostled about, I fainted, and came to to Julia crying for me! What an introduction to post-op!!

Things finally settled a bit and we tried to get Julia to drink something. Jules wouldn't drink anything! She threw up again. It took a little while to raealize she was throwing up because of the congestion she had rather than the anesthesia. After anti-nausea meds, Benadryl, and pain meds in her IV, around 11:30, Julia finally ate some orange jello and she was discharged. It was a very long morning.

Once we got Julia home, we all took a long nap, and Julia had a decent evening. She even had a couple of visitors from her Nannie and Nan. What a day!!

Girly Girl!

2010-05-16T11:47:00.004-05:00

My baby girl is turning into a girly girl! I painted Julia's toenails for the first time and she loved it!! She wanted me to paint her fingernails too, but I think we'll wait a little while longer for that one. Julia loves pointing out her painted toenails to everyone!

Looking like a big girl with her sunglasses on her head, carrying her butterfly purse... watch out

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T00:01:00.002-05:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

April Update

2010-05-08T22:45:00.016-05:00

In addition to Easter and bluebonnet pics, April was filled with some cute random moments we wanted to remember! Our little girl is starting to pretend play and has become our little helper, which is so adorable to watch. She likes to cook in her kitchen (although she likes the knobs on the stove in the big kitchen better!), pretends she is a puppy, drives her toy cars around, calls mommy and daddy on her play phone, and goes to the "grocery store" to buy food to cook. She also is getting into playing with a dollhouse and making the little people do different things. Her favorite thing is to have them go "pee-pee in the potty" (it makes a flushing sound when you close the lid to the potty) and then cheers them on and has them "wash their hands."

This month, Julia explored the various occupations she could do when she grows up....

The Veteranarian- Cleaning the pups paws when they come in from outside, reading to them to entertain them, and making sure they have enough water in their bowls... that's all there is to it, right?

The Gardener- Fun in the sun, getting your hands dirty, and planting flowers seeds... oh wait, Julia doesn't like getting her hands dirty and seemed to have more fun playing with the water hose afterwards!

The Artist- Colored Dora picture, anyone??

The Actor- Scary face...augh!!!!

The Chef- Macaroni anyone?

The Dietician- Hmm, looks like yogurt is good for you! This job is easy. Yay!!

The Dentist- Keep those teeth clean! Brush, brush, brush.

Bluebonnets 2010

2010-05-04T17:56:00.004-05:00

This year I was able to get two sets of bluebonnet pics. Around Easter, the Pots & Plants Garden Center (the one with all the flamingos off of 360 & Bee Caves Rd) was filled with bluebonnets and huge plastic Easter eggs. So, one afternoon on the way home, Julia and I stopped by and snapped some pictures. She loved the "pink birds," "Ea eggs," and "boobonnets." Here are some cute pics I got...

Easter Bluebonnet Pics

Easter wouldn't be Easter without the annual bluebonnet pics in Easter outfits!

Easter 2010

2010-05-03T22:28:00.009-05:00

This year, Julia enjoyed two Easter Egg hunts at school, an egg hunt at Nan & Pop's, and a couple easter baskets. She definitely got the hang of egg hunting!

Getting ready for the first egg hunt at school... she's got her game face on!

Julia was picky in the choosing of her eggs that went in her basket.

Found a blue one, Mommy!

Where did all the eggs go?

Day 2 of egg hunt at school. Julia thought it was more fun to knock the eggs off of the edge rather than picking them up!

Inspecting the eggs in her basket

See mom, I got two yellow eggs!

Easter Sunday 2010

Look at all the goodies I got!

Inspecting the contents of her basket, checking out the loot!

Easter basket at Nannie and Papa's house

Easter egg hunt at Nan & Pop's- Ooh, I gotta a pink egg!

" Woo hoo, this is fun! Do we get to hunt for eggs again tomorrow?"

Julia though she was going to go Easter egg hunting for the next week after Easter! She kept asking about getting Easter eggs!

March Update

2010-04-19T17:28:00.011-05:00

March was filled with lots of family, revisiting old friends, and even Julia's first trip to the zoo.

Julia has a playdate with two of her cousins, Tatum and Nolan. They had fun "playing together" and Julia even shared her popsicles with them!

Julia even gave Nolan a hug good-bye!

Julia found a new use for the treadmill too! "You mean it's not another table for me to color on?"

Julia is starting to get into baby dolls. At school, she likes to play with them and rock them.

Trip to the Austin Zoo- March 17, 2010

My mom and I took Julia and the girls to the Austin Zoo. This was Julia's first trip to the zoo. She seemed a little overwhelmed at times, but overall really enjoyed it. She liked the monkeys best!

Telling the monkeys hello!

The peacocks were extremely loud! Julia kept calling them, "mommy birds."

Julia's comment to the bear, "No bear, no bear!" She thought he was a little too close to us.

"No tutle!" (-Julia)

"Big lion kitty, Mow!" (-Julia)

Julia petting a goat! She was okay with this goat (because he wasn't moving!) until another one (the white one behind us) came into the pen.

Ah, freedom from the stroller!!

My attempt at a group picture...

During Spring Break, we also enjoyed a delicious lunch at Macaroni Grill with the girls. Julia loves mac & cheese and can eat the entire bowl!

Chowing down!

Julia also had the opportunity to remeet some of Andrew's family in March. The last time they saw Jules was last summer before she started walking. What a difference now (thanks to OT)! Julia even went up to cousins Christie and Cara and her Great Aunt Shelli and gave them hugs after remeeting them!

Loving on Aunt Erin! Julia was a little under the weather.

Reading with cousins Christie and Nolan. Julia really liked Christie!

Reading books with the girls...

Getting some love from Aunt Shelli!

Lastly, Julia started OT again in late March. We saw her OT for a re-evaluation after turning 2 to check on her progress. While Jules made tremendous progress since she finished OT last summer, she still had low muscle tone and a weak core, which was hindering her walking smoothly and keeping her from jumping and running. Right away Julia remembered Ms. Tammy and playing with balls, etc. during OT. This time around she was more willing and ready to go to OT.

Random Julia Moments to Remember (Age-- 18-24mo)

2010-04-11T23:20:00.010-05:00

In the spirit of remembering the past, I wanted to blog some cute memories we have of Julia over the past few months that haven't made the blog previously...

While in her crib, Julia likes to arrange her stuffed animals. She can be heard ordering them to "Lay down", or to "Go right there." Andrew and I love to watch her on our video monitor!

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Julia is really into "Winnie the Pooh" and has started saying, "Oh bother!" Its funny to hear her say, "Oh bother, mommy" or "Oh, daddy!"

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For Christmas, 2009, Julia got some stackable Winnie the Pooh characters and Mickey Mouse characters. She likes to turn them upside-down and stack them, saying things like, "Winnie, upside-down! Goofy, upside down! Oh no!" (January 2010)

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Often times, Julia eats her breakfast on the way to school. Currently, she loves blueberry waffles, and can be heard in the backseat "sharing" her breakfast with her Lovie saying, "Lovie eat waffle!" or "Lovie drink milk!"

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On the way to Julia's preschool, we drive down 360 and pass the 360 bridge. Julia has come to love this bridge. We also have a blown-up print of the bridge in our living room that Julia points to. After a month or so of passing the bridge, Julia started anticipating seeing the bridge, calling out,"Bridge!" Then she started holding her Lovie up to show Lovie the bridge as we got closer. I finally got some pics of her showing Lovie the bridge- definitely a moment to remember! It always makes me smile hearing her say "hi" and "bye" to the bridge.

February Update

2010-04-11T22:15:00.007-05:00

February was filled with lots of birthday fun for Julia! She had birthday fun at school, a birthday dinner with us and her grandparents, as well as a fun party with family and friends.

"Check out my new rain boots my Aunt Erin got me!! I love putting them on and walking around. Can't wait until it rains."

"Yum, birthday pizza and ice cream!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!"

Julia's birthday cake- yellow and strawberry marble cake!

"WOW, what great presents!"

Julia enjoyed lots of jumping in a bouncy house with cousins and friends.

What a sweet two-year old!

In addition to lots of birthday fun, we enjoyed a second snowfall. Unfortunately, Julia was sick so we just watched the snow from inside, but the dogs sure enjoyed it!

Miscellaneous February Fun

While at Target, Julia found a new Easter basket. She also discovered a new use for the basket after Easter is over (I had to take a picture)!

"YUM! I love popsicles!!!"

My mom gave Julia this cute bathrobe. It was my little sister's when she was little. Julia enjoyed sitting in her robe, after her bath, reading her books. Too cute!!

January Catch-Up

2010-04-06T22:55:00.008-05:00

Wow, I am way behind on updating the blog! Here goes January's recap...

General Cuteness
I couldn't resist starting with some cute pics I got in January...

"See my tummy!"

Dress-Up

Julia still loves to dress up, but now there are more accessories! She loves putting on her sunglasses and walking around. Julia also thinks it is funny to try to put her sunglasses on the dogs.

Jungle Parade- January 29, 2010

This week at Julia's preschool they talked about different jungle animals. To culminate the week, the teachers painted each child's face with a different jungle animal. The first time around, Julia wanted nothing to do with having her face painted, but the next day was intrigued and (surprise!) allowed her teachers to paint her face. I was shocked, but so proud of my little zebra! The teachers led the kiddos out into the hallway and down the hall and back. Julia was unsure about all this, hence her expression. Carrying a balloon helped!

"Hey Mommy! Look I'm a scary (scared?) zebra!"

Photo Op with Mommy and my Monkey

"Zebras have Lovies, right?"

"Roar!! What? You mean a zebra doesn't roar??"

Dinner Fun

This is what happens when you turn your back on a toddler during dinner time- blueberry applesauce everywhere!!

"I'm cute, Mommy! Don't be upset with me!!"

Drinking from a cup independently!!

"Whoops! You mean I can't tip the cup to look at the pictures on the side without spilling??"

Talking More!!

January 25, 2010- Julia was eating some applesauce with dinner. She was eating from a metal spoon where she could see her reflection on the back and talking about it...

"See Ju Ju!"

"See Ju Ju on spoon!"

"See Ju Ju on spoon right there!"

Potty Progress!

2010-03-19T21:41:00.002-05:00

Tonight at 8:45 pm, my baby girl pooped and pee peed in the potty for the first time! Andrew and I were thrilled and Julia was a little freaked out.

Happy 2nd Birthday Julia!

2010-02-17T20:46:00.004-06:00

I cannot believe my baby girl is two-years-old today! Time really does fly fast. Happy birthday to the sweetest baby girl ever. You are such a joy to have, Julia, and I feel incredibly blessed to be your mommy. Your daddy and I love you so much!!

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-13T21:57:00.009-06:00

A message from our little lovebug... what a cutie!

Take 2...

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

December Catch Up!

2010-02-11T15:44:00.036-06:00

I cannot believe it has been over two months since my last post! I have so much to catch up, so I figured I would break it up into two big posts. Here goes December and New Year's day...

Trying to get some pics of Julia in front of the Xmas Tree

Christmas Tree Fun- December 16, 2009

Julia was trying to "decorate" the tree more with some of her little people. She was trying to sit them in the tree and watched them fall through saying, "Oh no!" We got some cute pics.

Pictures With Santa- December 21, 2009

This year my mom and I decided to have all the girls have their picture taken with Santa together. Last year we lucked out with a decent picture before Julia started crying, so I was anticipating a teary-eyed picture.

Waiting in line...

Hmm, I think I'd like to ride that train instead!

Are we there yet?

Just looking cute...

Amount paid to have Julia's picture taken with Santa- $25
Standing in line to get picture taken with Santa- 2 hours
Seeing this picture- PRICELESS

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve at Nan & Pop's House

Christmas Morning at Home- 2009

Christmas Day at Nannie & Papa's- 2009

What a day!

New Year's Day-2010

Playing Nan's piano with Cousin Nolan

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

2009-12-05T20:59:00.004-06:00

The air is cold, the tree is up (and has been since after Thanksgiving), and the lights are finally up outside, AND it even snowed yesterday! It is definitely beginning to look a lot like christmas!

November Recap

2009-12-04T20:08:00.016-06:00

I thought it would be easiest to put the pics I took from November in one blog...

Thanksgiving Feast at Julia's school- November 24, 2009
At Julia's preschool, they had a schoolwide Thanksgiving feast the week of Thanksgiving. Both of Julia's grandmothers (Nannie and Nan) were there to share in the feast. Julia seemed a little overwhelmed by it all (she had a cold and was coming down with Croup but we didn't know that until Wednesday), but I still managed to get some cute pics.

Ladybug Costume
Around Halloween, in Julia's class, they had a bog dress-up box full of different costumes. Julia quickly found a ladybug costume and put it on frequently at school. Right now, Julia is really into ladybugs and butterflys. One afternoon, early on in November, I managed to get a couple cute pics of her in the costume.

Nannie's Birthday- November 28,2009
For my mom's birthday, I thought it would be neat if Julia decorated a homemade card for her. You can't get much better than a homemade free birthday card. Julia worked on the card for about ten minutes, coloring over the butterfly and ladybug I drew and also coloring over the words I had written. She did a great job!

Working hard on Nannie's card

Making the crayons "dance"

I love my crayons!

Let It Snow!

2009-12-04T17:04:00.006-06:00

I cannot believe it snowed earlier today! I was giving Julia lunch and Andrew looked out the window and exclaimed that it was snowing! We bundled Julia up and took her outside to introduce her to snow. It was fun to watch her see the snow fall and even catch a flake or two on her hands/mittens. I couldn't pass up the chance to get some pictures and video of our little snow angel! Maybe next time it snows, there will be some accumulation on the ground...I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

And to finish this post off, I have a video of Julia's first interaction with snow!

New Potty

2009-11-11T13:00:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, right around Halloween, Julia occasionally started telling us when she had pooped or peed in her diaper. I figured since she was starting to be aware of when she dirtied her diaper, it might be time to casually introduce her to the potty. A couple of times she has walked up to the big potty and pointed to it saying, "Poo poo." So, my mom and I went out in search of a simple and inexpensive little potty. We found one and I put some stickers on it that are up in her room.

I put the potty downstairs in our guest bathroom, since we spend so much time downstairs during the day. When Julia first saw her potty, she loved the stickers and immediately wanted to sit on it.

She likes to "open" and "close" (as Julia calls it) the lid and sit down on the potty (fully clothed) and look at a book. We even put some books in a basket next to the potty.

I definitely don't want to force anything on her, but am more than willing to help her explore her curiosity of the potty. Who knows, maybe someday soon she'll want to take her diaper off and sit on the potty. Maybe it's time for some potty books... I foresee "Everbody Poops" in our future.

Playing Around

2009-11-11T12:54:00.004-06:00

Julia and I were playing this morning and she wanted to dress up, so of course, I had to get some pictures!

Money, money!

2009-11-05T10:12:00.003-06:00

Julia loves my purse. She enjoys taking things out of my purse. Her favorites are my wallet and keys. Recently, I 'caught' her in the act!

Of course, she goes straight for the wallet! Watch out world...

Julia's New Hairstyles

2009-11-05T09:42:00.008-06:00

The past couple of weeks, Julia hs gotten a lot better about allowing me to do things with her hair. I never thought, when I was pregnant, that I would have a child who couldn't tolerate her hair to be 'styled' because of her sensory defensiveness. I started with some little barrettes and have since moved on to piggy tails. Now that her hair is getting even longer, it's fun to be able to do things with it. There are still a couple of things I'd like to try to do with Julia's hair, but for now...

I'm ready to go for a walk mommy.

Mom, no more pictures (I love this expression)!

Peek-a-boo

I accidentally did this next one as a video with my camera, but wanted to include it because it shows a cute picture of Julia's hair up with barrettes.

Pumkin Pictures

2009-10-31T22:04:00.003-05:00

This year we never got around to a pumpkin patch to get pictures of Julia, so Andrew took some pics of Julia in our own little 'pumpkin patch.' She loves her pumpkins!

Trick or Treat!

2009-10-31T21:09:00.006-05:00

Julia went trick-or-treating for the first time tonight with her cousins, Reagan and Ryan, and her Aunt Shelby. She loved seeing the girls in their costumes and seemed to have fun going to a couple of houses. She even wanted to go into one of the houses! Here are a couple of pictures to commemerate her first trick-or-treating experience. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Little Artist

2009-09-23T21:22:00.003-05:00

Julia loves art! A couple of months ago, she wanted nothing to do with painting, coloring, drawing, or other arts and crafts. She hated getting messy. Now, she can't get enough of it. We are collecting quite the art portfolio of things she has done at school. Julia's teacher, Ms. Kourtney has commented how Julia takes her time doing her artwork. A couple of weeks ago, they were making a picture for grandparents for Grandparents' Day. Ms. Kourtney said Julia worked on her picture for 20 minutes, working very carefully. That's my daughter, the perfectionist! This afternoon, I caught her concentrating very hard on drawing a picture on her Magnadoodle and could not resist getting some pictures.

Dress Up

2009-09-23T21:08:00.003-05:00

This month Julia has really gotten into dressing up. I have a feeling she is going to be my girly girl. She loves putting my hair rubber bands on her wrist like a bracelet and she will carry my flip flops around, hanging on her arm like a purse. Now I need to start working on getting more dress up things for her.

Monkeying Around

2009-09-23T21:00:00.002-05:00

Since we often call Julia, "Monkey", it was only fitting she be a monkey for Halloween. Thanks to Julia's Nan, we have a very cute monkey costume that Julia loves and feels comfortable in. We just had to try it on her to make sure it fit!

Reading Buddies

2009-09-23T20:55:00.002-05:00

Julia still loves her books. She will sit in your lap and 'read' with you. Here are some cute pics of Julia reading with her Papa and Aunt Shelby.

Big Girl Eating!

2009-09-23T20:44:00.003-05:00

Julia decided she wanted to eat cereal like I do, so I gave her a bowl of cereal to see what she would do. She loved it!

Eating spaghetti at Nannie and Papa's house...

Shopping

2009-09-23T20:26:00.003-05:00

Looks like we've got a little shopper on our hands...

Blog Catch Up

2009-09-23T20:17:00.003-05:00

So, I've accumulated lots of cute pics the past couple of weeks of Julia, but just haven't had the time to get them on the computer and put them on the blog. I've finally uploaded all my pictures from the past couple weeks, so enjoy the show...

Eager Eater

2009-09-05T14:31:00.003-05:00

Now that Julia is a solid food eater, she really enjoys her food! Last week we went to The Olive Garden for dinner and Julia really loved the pasta... it was too cute not to capture on camera.

Corpus Vacation

2009-08-29T14:49:00.006-05:00

A couple weeks ago we went to Corpus with my in-laws like we do every summer. I was excited about Julia playing at the beach and the pool. Last year when we went she was about five months old, so I was excited to be able to do more with her. We has such a great time! We went to the aquarium, ate wonderful food, spent time with family, and enjoyed the beach and pool everyday. Julia loved the beach and the pool! She was fearless with the waves in the ocean, laughing when the water came in and splashed her, and fussing when the water went back out into the ocean. It was nice to be able to spend time together as a family, enjoy our little girl and watch her blossom.

Julia and her cousin, Nolan, watching the otters at the aquarium. Watching the dolphins swim

Julia was blowing kisses to the fish.

Julia, me, and my mother and father-in-law

We have a walker!!

2009-08-28T23:45:00.004-05:00

Well, we finally have a full-fledged walker on our hands! About a week ago, Julia took off walking. Before then she would tease us taking four to five steps at a time. Then last week she started taking a longer string of steps at a time. By the weekend she was walking all over the place.

It is amazing to watch her! I feel like we have waited so long to get to this point and here we finally are! Julia is so proud of herself, walking around. Here is a cute clip I got on my camera of her walking around. She's calling out, "Baby" because she wants to see the pictures of her in the camera. Julia loves to look at the pictures we take on the camera and watch video we shoot on the video camera. Andrew and I have to sneak video of Julia, otherwise we will get a video full of her calling to see the 'baby.'

Bathing Beauty

2009-07-17T06:22:00.004-05:00

Julia loves playing in the water! We went to Andrew's parents' house the other day and Julia played in their kiddie pool for almost an hour. She had a blast and looked cute doing it!

FIRST STEP!

2009-07-13T20:23:00.004-05:00

Julia has progressively become more confident in herself. She loves to show off and takes great pride in her newfound independence! The past week, or so, she has been standing up on her own from a squatting position. It's amazing the stability and control Julia has when she stands and cruises around.

Well, last night Julia took her first step all by herself! My in-laws were over for dinner and we were watching Julia show off for us. She was standing up on her own and showing us she was "so big" and then all of the sudden she took a step!! Oh, you can't imagine the shear joy we all felt. Now Andrew and I are ready with the video camera for when she does it again to try to catch it on film and post.

More good news... Julia had her last OT session this morning! I couldn't believe it. The OT and I had talked about how well Julia was doing a couple of weeks ago and how the OT thought she only needed a session or two more, mainly to do two more CDs for the Therapeutic Listening program we are doing with Julia. This morning and at Julia's last session, the OT assessed Julia's skills. As of this morning, she has reached and surpassed all of the goals set forth when we started. Her oral-motor skills and working on eating solid foods has also greatly improved. Julia loves chowing down on cheerios and rice krispies cereal. Tonight at dinner, she even ate some salmon, potato, and fruit we were having. I was amazed! Way to go pooh bear!!!

So, now we keep cheering out little girl on and we go back to the OT in six months to "check in" with the OT to evaluate Julia's progress. I feel so blessed that Julia has made such incredible progress so quickly. Andrew and I are so proud of our baby girl.

Hopefully, I'll have a video of Julia walking very soon...

Walking and Climbing

2009-06-26T08:19:00.007-05:00

This week Julia has been pushing things around a lot walking behind them, especially chairs. She has discovered she can walk around her classroom by pushing a chair. While standing, she has started letting go and can stand on her own for a few seconds. She has figured out how to climb up into "big people" chairs and laps and takes great pride in being able to do so. Today, for the first time, Julia let go of my fingers when we were walking over to say hi to Andrew. We were shocked! She has become fearless and quite brave! Here are some cute pics of Julia pushing a chair around at preschool this week and climbing up a step ladder (my mom was standing right next to her while she climbed). I'm excited to tell Julia's OT Monday about her latest accomplishments.

Walking, pushing a chair around...

Definitely One of the Pups!

2009-06-20T21:33:00.005-05:00

Well, it's official! Julia thinks she is a puppy. She found her way into one of the dog's crates this afternoon and made herself at home!

See momma, I am a puppy!

I've got everything I need- my Lovie and my cup.

Arf! (This was too cute not to include, although it looks like we closed Julia in the crate. We didn't though.)

One of the pups?

2009-06-19T15:36:00.002-05:00

It seems Julia thinks she a dog like her three furry brothers!

Petey

2009-06-17T14:44:00.007-05:00

A couple nights ago, after Julia's dinner, we were playing on the floor with the pups. For some reason when I said one of our dog's names, Petey, she started laughing. It was so funny! I had to capture it on video. Before I started videoing, Julia had already been laughing so hard she threw up a little (gross, I know, but it conveys how hard she was laughing). Well, I finally figured out how to get the video on my computer and onto the blog. For some reason the very beginning of the video is messed up, but I'm learning. Enjoy! What a funny girl!

Fun with Kleenex and Progress

2009-06-09T21:08:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, Julia decided to play with a box of kleenex. She pulled out each sheet and scattered them about the floor. Then, she proceeded to shred the kleenex and started putting little pieces in her mouth. My mom and I were watching in amusement and froze when Julia started putting the pieces in her mouth. For those of you who know of Julia's struggles with solid foods, we were shocked she was putting kleenex pieces in her mouth because of the texture and how it would stick in her mouth. She had a blast! She thought it was so cute and funny putting the kleenex in her mouth and she actually ate the pieces without gagging on them. Kids do the strangest things! Weird, I know, but my mom and I were so proud of her for actually putting the kleenex in her mouth and eating it without gagging or throwing up.

My baby girl is really making progress with her oral skills. She is chewing, which she has never done until about a week ago. Before then, she would put things in her mouth, but not really do anything with it which would cause her to gag and/or throw up. She is now eating puffs, bits of graham cracker, Rice Krispies, and just yesterday started eating bits of pear. I can't tell you how excited and incredibly proud I am to see Julia finally getting solid foods in her mouth and eating them. The progress was slow and there have been some bumps in the road, but she has been working so hard! Julia, you are an amazing daughter! Your daddy and I are so proud of you!

First Day of Preschool

2009-06-02T11:15:00.003-05:00

Today was Julia's first day of preschool at my parents' church! I am so excited for Julia and myself for this experience. I think she will really enjoy it. Julia has met her teacher, Ms. Kathy, several times before up and church and this summer my mom will be teaching in Julia's class. I felt very comfortable dropping her off this morning. She did great! I thought she would fuss, but she was a trooper and found a Brown Bear, Brown Bear book and started looking at it. I'm excited to hear how she did this afternoon. My baby girl is growing up...

We're off to preschool!

See my new shoes? I'm excited!

OT Update

2009-05-24T20:39:00.008-05:00

For those of you that don't know, at Julia's one-year doctor's appointment in February, her pediatrician recommended we have an evaluation done because Julia wasn't pulling up on anything, standing, or pulling herself uo to a sitting position. To get around she was army crawling. She didn't even like swinging, was leary of things like big balls, was clingy in new situations, and couldn't tolerate chunky baby food let alone table food. Julia was evaluated at the end of March by an Occupational Therapist and was diagnosed with sensory defensiveness with her tactile and oral systems. All of these difficulties she was having were explained by her sensory defensiveness difficulties.

Since she started OT, Julia has made a tremendous amount of progress. Andrew and I weren't sure how Julia would respond to the therapy or the at-home exercises, but in the first week she was already starting to pull up on things, standing, pulling herself to a sitting position to play, got up on her hands and knees a couple of times, and was even tolerating more food texture in her mouth. It was amazing!

Now that she has been in OT for over a month, Julia is pulling up on EVERYTHING, standing to play a lot of times, crawling the stairs, cruising around, LOVES swinging, isn't leary of things like big toy balls, will take a couple of steps if you hold her hands, is consistently eating the chunky stage three baby food, and even will put things like puffs and graham crackers in her mouth.

A couple of weeks ago we had a little setback because Julia fell and busted her lip pretty bad and tore the flap of skin that goes from the top of your lip to your gums. Her confidence was shattered, she stopped putting foods like puffs and graham crackers in her mouth, and she wouldn't get herself down from a standing position. In the past week, she has regained her confidence and continues to make progress.

Julia's OT, Andrew, and I are so impressed with her progress and so proud of our little girl! Here are some cute pics of Julia practicing her skills...

Books, books, books

2009-05-24T20:29:00.003-05:00

I just had to share some cute pics of Julia and her books...

Reading with my daddy

Showing off my reading skills for my Bebe (great-grandmother)

Reading with my Pop Pop

New Do

2009-05-10T20:17:00.002-05:00

Since Julia is not big on barrettes in her hair to hold her bangs back and she needed another haircut, we decided she would sport the bangs look now. My baby girl no longer looks like a baby (she's still cute as can be though)...

Eating with a spoon

2009-04-14T12:42:00.002-05:00

Here's Julia's newest trick... she's pretty accurate too! It's fun to get messy!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T12:35:00.001-05:00

Climbing stairs

2009-04-04T14:56:00.003-05:00

Julia has learned to climb the stairs. I started working with her last week to try to get her to get up on her knees more. Boy did she catch on!

Here I go, Mom are you watching me?

Whoa, don't look down!

Almost there...

Almost...

Yea! I made it. Aren't you proud of me?

Weeks in Review

2009-04-03T12:11:00.005-05:00

What a busy couple of weeks it has been! Julia had a couple of firsts over the past two weeks, which was very exciting. This past Monday I took her for an Occupational Therapy evaluation to see why she isn't pulling up or walking, per Julia's pediatrician's recommendation. I was very nervous because Julia is a little leary of new people, but she was great! The OT is wonderful and I think Julia will really like working with her. She responded very well to her. It turns out Julia may be having trouble because of her vestibular system and some tactile sensitiveness. Sounded like greek to me, but it may also explain why she isn't eating solids yet. Andrew and I meet with the OT Monday to get the report and go over the results.

In the past week, Julia has really been working hard. She is pulling up a lot and even occasionally getting on her hands and knees. She is a big army crawler and until this week has never gotten up on her hands in a crawling position. Way to go, Jules!

Julia also went on a swing for the first time last weekend at her Nan and Pop's house (Andrew's parents). She was nervous at first, but once she got the hang of the motion of the swing, she loved it!

We also took Julia to get her pictures in the bluebonnets before they went away. She loved sitting with the flowers and we got some cute pictures.

Book worm

2009-03-20T19:50:00.001-05:00

Reading books in my playroom at Nannie and Poppa's house

First Haircut!

2009-03-09T20:20:00.004-05:00

Here are some cute pics of Julia's first haircut. She did much better than I thought she would. She did not like being squirted with water to wet her hair and I think it felt funny on her neck when the lady cut her hair. What a cutie!!

With the help of an Elmo video, Julia was pretty entertained. Occasionally, she would put her fingers up to where the lady was cutting her hair to which she promptly told Julia, "No fingers" and moved her fingers away. What can I say? Julia was just checking out her handwork! She's a hands-on kinda girl. At the end, the lady put Julia's hair up in a "sprout" as she called it (see the last picture) much to Julia's dismay. We even got some of her hair in a little keepsake frame to take home. All-in-all, you couldn't notice much of a difference (I could though!) other than the fact that her hair was a little shorter and more even. One more milestone down...many to go!

Cute pics from February

2009-02-24T20:30:00.003-06:00

Lots has happened this month. For starters, Julia turned one. We had her one-year appointment, which went pretty well. Julia is growing like a weed! She is now almost 31 inches tall and weighs 20 lbs. The doctor was shocked by the number of words she was saying... she's our little talker! She is starting to put two words together when she talks, which is exciting.

Julia is developing well in every other way, except for her gross motor skills. The doctor was a little concerned that Julia isn't walking or even pulling up on things yet, so she referred us to a physical therapist for an evaluation. So, now I am in the process of researching physical therapists in the area and setting up an evaluation. Julia's doctor thankfully, didn't think there was anything "wrong" with Julia, but she just wanted us to get things checked out. She thought Julia had the leg strength. So, we'll see what happens. It is definitely weird being on the other side of things, having to get my child evaluated for something instead of being the one doing the evaluation. Andrew and I truly believe that Julia just isn't interested yet and is content crawling around, but want to be sure.

Other than that, we bought Julia a forward-facing "big girl" car seat. It seems crazy that she is big enough for it, but she was too tall to stay in her infant car seat.

Here are some cute pics from February I took that I wanted to share.

I love helping mommy with the laundry.

Loving on my monkey...

Smiling at Nannie (Lynn's mom) for a picture

Happy Birthday Julia!

2009-02-24T17:09:00.004-06:00

I can't believe my baby is one! We ended up having a small celebration on Julia's birthday with her grandparents and then Saturday had a birthday party with some friends and family. It was fun, here are some pics...

This was as messy as I got! I'm not much for cake yet and I don't like to be messy (I tried to put some cake and icing on her tray to see if she would play with it, but no way).

Yay, I'm one!

Mommy and me at my party

Yuck, I don't like frosting!

I'm such a cutie! My daddy was holding at the back of my dress so mommy could try to take a picture of me, but I didn't want to be still that long.

Boy, am I pooped! What a birthday.

All in all, it was a great birthday for our little girl. We love you , Julia!

January

2009-02-06T17:10:00.004-06:00

Well, January has come and gone. I can't believe in less than two weeks, my baby girl will be one. In many ways, it seems like only yesterday I held her in my arms for the first time in the hospital. This month has been filled with spending a lot of time at home with Andrew and Julia. It has been fun watching her change before my eyes...

Right around Christmas, Julia figured out how to crawl. Its cute. She is quite the army crawler! She gets one of her legs into it. Mid-January she started getting up on her knees and rocking back and forth.

She's also talking up a storm- adding more and more words to her vocabulary. I am amazed with some of the words she can say and how quickly she is picking things up!

Here are some cute pics from this month-

See my two front teeth!

Playing at home!

My new friend, Monkey, that my Nannie bought me.

What an angel!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-30T21:42:00.014-06:00

Since we didn't send out Christmas cards or a Christmas letter this year (I feel like a bad mom not sending out a xmas card for Julia's first Christmas), I felt I should send something out recapping 2008...

What a year! As 2008 started I had no idea what was in store for us. Andrew and I had a baby on the way and we were full of anticipation. When Julia was born, it felt like we were living someone else's life. As Andrew and I muddled our way through the early stages of parenthood, we learned a lot about ourselves and our new family. I learned, going back to work after being home on maternity leave for only seven weeks, that I was already so in love with our baby girl. I watched Andrew turn into an amazing father, taking care of Julia and working from home, as I went back to work.

The majority of the year was spent experiencing many of Julia's firsts and working A LOT. In July, we went to the beack for our annual trip with my in-laws. What a wonderful experience seeing the beach through Julia's eyes! She especially loved watching the ocean and the seagulls. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I joined the ranks of those that have been laid off. Gotta love the economy right now. Fortunately, I have some connections and will try to continue doing dyslexia evaluations privately as well as doing some contract work here and there. Ultimately, I know that God has a reason for everything and I just have to have faith.

Looking back over the year, I truly feel blessed. I have a wonderful husband and daughter. Julia is such a blessing in our lives. Each day she amazes us with something new. I have my health and a lot of people around me who love and support me.

I wish for each of you a happy and safe 2009.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-27T18:09:00.002-06:00

Hoping you all had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year's!

What a Ham!

2008-12-22T20:33:00.002-06:00

Santa Baby

2008-12-22T20:21:00.003-06:00

This past week we took Julia to have her first picture taken with Santa. I was not at all anticipating her taking a picture alone with Santa. I assumed she would fuss if we handed her off to a strange man and walked away, so Andrew and I had a plan that we would take a family picture with Santa and then Andrew would take a picture of Julia and me with our camera. So after standing in line for awhile, we finally got up to Santa and sat Julia in his lap so we could settle outselves in for the picture. When Julia didn't start fussing, we slowly backed away and tried to get a decent picture of her with Santa. It's hard to get a good picture of a baby with Santa, but I think we did alright...

Getting a little tired of Santa...