July 29 - Giggling with Grandma

Another weekend, another fabulous time with our little bean! Grandma came in town Friday afternoon and played with Julia all afternoon. They had a GREAT time. Julia could not stop giggling and laughing, she loves her grandma so much! Grandma showered her with lots of great gifts (adorable clothes, books, fun toys) and Julia had a fabulous time helping me open everything. She specifically loved the tissue paper!

On Saturday, we went to our new weekend stomping ground, Books a Million. Like last weekend, Julia had a great time playing with the train set and following around the 'big' kids. Later that evening, after it cooled down slightly...all of us went to the park and Julia had a great time playing. It was damp from rain we had earlier and she got really dirty, but all in the name of fun! Sunday was pretty much a repeat of Saturday (book store and park) but she loves both places to much this might become our new weekend routine.

Otherwise, our week is going well. I made butternut squash for the bean Monday night and we ended up stripping her to her diaper and letting her go at it. Good thing..because she got squash literally everywhere! Last night, we borrowed a jogging stroller and JD tried it out for the first time. Julia seemed to love it and it was great exercise for good ole' daddykins. I'm also reorganizing her drawers and boxing up a ton of clothes she has outgrown. It is amazing how many clothes she has...25 dresses alone (sizes12-18mon)!

Well-hope you are all having a fantabulous week! Oh-side note, but JD and I saw the new Harry Potter Saturday night. If you haven't seen it yet and plan to, I highly recommend reading a summary of the previous book/movie because the movie jumps right in..I spent the first 15min trying to remember what happened at the end of the other movie/book!

July 20 - Best Weekend Ever

Without a doubt, this was the most fun weekend we have ever had with Jules. We met friends at a local park on Saturday afternoon for a bbq (our good friend Ben is moving to Ohio, so it was kind of a going away party) and had an absolute blast. The bean is walking now (75% of the time) and once she saw the fabulous play area...she wanted to be there. We took so many amazing photos it was hard to chose which ones to post. I think the rock climbing one is one of my favorites though. She was really trying to climb!

Here is the playscape-Jules crawled/walked/climbed from the far left stairs (which are difficult to see), all the way to the top-all by herself! It was pretty high, I estimate 12-15ft, she definitely isn't scared of heights! See the slide on the far right of the photo? She crawled up 3/4 of the slide by herself as well, she was a little monkey!

Here she is crawling over the bridge-we didn't think she'd make it by herself but she had no difficulties!

Going down the slide with mommy-wee!

She loves the swings! "Push me higher daddy!"

Crawling up the playscape-no problem for little Jules!

I'm going to miss you Ben! Thanks for inviting me to your party. I had a blast!- Jules

Needless to say, after the park the bean slept GREAT Saturday night. Yesterday, we had yet another fabulous day. After a family lunch at a local deli, Jules and I went to the book store where I let her walk around the kids section. They had a train set for kids to play with that she just loved, and she really enjoyed watching the big kids hunt for books. After a short afternoon nap, we played in the backyard for a little while and had a mommy and me dance party in the kitchen. She was a tucked out little bean last night!

July 18: Croc-tastic

Shoes...they are probably the hardest thing to get on Jules' feet (she had tiny, chubby feet..so cute) and usually if we do get them on..it is only a matter of time before she pulls them off. We got her a pair of baby crocs and so far, so good! She doesn't love them and was able to get one off after an hour or so..but they are super cute! She is supposed to wear shoes at school and she can walk in these pretty well, so these might just be her new school shoes.

Here is our little bean thinking: "What are these things on my feet...pick me up daddy and help me take them off!"

Luckily, she seemed to get used to them after a few hours!

July 17- Best Friends

Julia and Jill came over late Friday afternoon and the girls had a great time together. Amazingly, they were wearing color coordinating outfits (unplanned!). Jules LOVES other babies/kids. She gets super excited when she sees them. I think she is a little bit lonely at home when it is just us, she is used to a lot of playmates! Julia, who is a few months older, taught her some fun things like how to turn the tv and xbox on and off. I think the best thing with these two is that they are learning to share, play together and learn from each other.

In other fun news, Jules loves to watch us brush our teeth. We used to brush her teeth in the bath, but she would grab the toothbrush, dunk it in the water and play with it. Since she loves to watch us, we decided to have her brush in the morning when we brush. It is working out great!

July 16 - Santa Baby

Our little bean experienced her first ever bubble bath on the 16th and she loved it! After a few unsuccessful attempts at eating the bubbles (she tried real hard) she sat back and played with them. She was so cute!

So I think I mentioned how she has a cold and the doctor cleared her to go to school. Well, after my last post I received a call from daycare to come pick her up. Turns out there was an outbreak of croup and practically every child was sent home. I worked from home Wednesday afternoon, Thursday morning and Friday afternoon. I took the bean in with me to work on Thursday morning and Friday morning and she was the hit of the office. She even came with me to a business lunch on Friday to a local Mexican restaurant. She was a little fussy and wanted to walk around (specifically, she wanted to chase out waiter) but I ordered her some re fried beans and she had a great time eating (and playing) with them. By the time she was done, she was literally caked in beans...both of her arms, her face, she even had beans in her hair!

July 15 - Posh Grumpy Panda

Our little bean has turned into a 'grumpy panda' the last few days. She has a head cold and is having trouble sleeping so the poor thing is just not doing that well. I took her to the doctors today (her cough sounds pretty nasty) but they confirmed she just has a head cold. Her lungs are clear, no ear infection, no fever, and her oxygen level is normal. She is SUPER clingy with this cold and has kind of turned in a little 'mommy's girl.' I dropped her off at school today and she started crying when I left, which she has never done before. I felt really bad for her!

In fun news, she can walk about 10 steps now. It is pretty impressive! She also said 'puppy' this morning. We love this age!! It just keeps getting better and better! And she is stylin' in this fab outfit from Sheela-it is from London so we call it her 'posh outfit.' I think she feels very glamorous in it!

July 13 - Hey Babe

Well peeps, our little bean was playing in our room this morning while we were getting ready for work and she uttered her first phrase: hey babe. Yes, you read that correctly, she said 'hey babe' and then 'hey baby.' Simply adorable! J.D. and I always say that to each other so we're guessing that is where she got it from. We were working on the words 'doggie' and 'ball' all weekend so I was really expecting her to say those, but maybe next time!

We had a fun weekend. On Saturday, Jules and I took a trip to Sam's to stop up on diapers and formula (only a few more weeks of formula, woo hoo!) and then went shopping with Jill and Julia later in the day. Jules was so excited to be around another baby! She was trying to play with Julia in the car and we eventually put them in the same cart at the store so they could bond. I didn't have my camera on me but trust when I say it was beyond precious. Yesterday, J.D., Jules and I went out to a local deli for lunch where Jules ate almost an entire kids portion of mac 'n cheese (she loves cheese just like her mommy) and some applesauce. Later in the day, Jill and Julia came over for a play date and once again the girls had a great time. They chased each other around the house a little bit, ate some tasty cheerios and raisins and we danced in the kitchen. All in all, a fabulous time!

July 7 - Sleepy Bean

Here is the bean after a long, hard day of playing:

July 4th - Red, White and Blue

Happy 4th of July everyone! Jules is going on day #3 of adorable red, white and blue outfits...she dressed up for a school parade Thursday, sported a 'USA' shirt yesterday and today was rocking a red and white ladybug outfit. Too cute!

Last weekend J.D. and Julia had some quality bonding time and they made the most of it! In addition to taking long walks with the pooch, they went to the toy store (where J.D. bought her a cookie monster talking stuffed animal, both Julia and Amelia love it) and the pool.

Today, to celebrate the 4th, we had a family picnic at Lake Wauburg, a small lake owned by the University for FL students and faculty. Julia experienced sand for the first time, and while she didn't seem to mind sitting in it and eating it, she didn't like crawling in it! She loved the water though and really enjoyed watching the college kids jumping off the dock. She's not even 1 yet and I can tell she is ready to grow up and hang with the big kids! We went for ice cream after the lake and Jules tried mint/chocolate chip for the first time and HATED it. Her little 'this is gross' face was so priceless...of course, I didn't have my camera and missed the photo op! I'm sure she'll learn to love ice cream though in good time..that is, if she has her daddy's taste buds!
Oh-and Jules has a new favorite game. We put her in the laundry basket and zoom around the house, she LOVES it!!