May 20 - A Purple Unicorn, Monster & Little Girl Adventure

"I'm going to ride my purple unicorn and we're going on an adventure with the monster and the little girl. Daddy is coming too on his blue unicorn. Baby Luke is coming on his green unicorn. You can ride your pink unicorn and Amelia can come too on her black unicorn. It's going to be really fun!" This was our conversation the other night before Julia went to sleep. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this age?! She is hilarious.

We borrowed 'Monsters, Inc.' and 'Tinkerbell' from a neighbor and we've been watching them...A LOT...over the last few weeks. She constantly talks about going on adventures with 'the monster and little girl' and whenever she sees the Disney castle during the Tinkerbell intro, she tells us she wants to go

there to too. Between the two movies, I prefer Monsters (I love Billy Crystal comedy) but J.D. likes Tinkerbell. He likes how Tinkerbell is an engineer of sorts and encourages Julia to be a 'tinker' too. :)

In other Julia news, she is moving into a new class next month and will be attending actual 'preschool.' Currently-she is part of the 'infant school' at Montessori. In her new class, she'll have homeroom, eat in a cafeteria and go to different classrooms for computer class, Spanish, math, etc.

The biggest change though will be that she has to wear a uniform. As you all know, our little princess likes to wear dresses every day (preferably floral ones) so I'm nervous about the the uniforms. She has to wear either a polo, colored shirt with the Montessori logo (Emma' s parents graciously gave us some extras, Julia asked me if they were daddy's since they looked like boy

shirts) with navy pants, shorts or skirts. The only time I can get her in shorts is for soccer practice (and she changes back into a dress as soon as we get back) and she refuses to wear skirts or pants. Or, she can wear a plaid jumper or dress...I believe they are supposed to be paired with the collared shirts as well. I've been talking up "how awesome will it be when you can wear a uniform!" for the last week, and she seemed excited but yesterday she told me-"Mommy, I don't want to wear a uniform. They aren't pretty." I'll keep you all posted...I anticipate some challenges getting ready for school in a few weeks.

Master Luke is doing fabulous. He is crawling all over the place and already getting into trouble. He especially likes to get into the fireplace, J.D.'s electronics and Julia's toys. She isn't too happy about that, she tries to redirect him with baby toys but of course, like any little brother, he wants to play with whatever she is doing! He is also a little ankle biter, and I mean that literally. He prefers to bite me instead of teething toys! The little munchkin will crawl over and sink his teeth into my feet/ankles with a huge, dimpled grin on his face. He currently has 4 teeth and 2 more are about to pop through. We also lowered his crib to the lowest setting last weekend since he is almost able to pull himself up into a stand. He's a strong little guy.

I hope you are all having a great week. Here are a lot of pictures from Julia at gymnastics last weekend. She is doing great in the class and can do everything all by herself.

Daddy and the dimpled munchkins

We tried a sippy cup this week and he liked it!

As Tyra would say-FIERCE!

Playing together? No, Luke just wants to knock her animals down!

He's crawling for the camera, he loves gadgets!

May 11 - Princess Hair

Wow-can you believe it is May already? It is already hot and humid here (mid 90s!) and I was actually sweating while walking the dog at 10pm the other night. Craziness. So, as you all know, I was sick over Easter weekend. Turns out that was the beginning of sickness in our house. Julia developed an ear infection, Luke had his first cold, J.D. and I came down with Luke's cold and than J.D. was sick with a stomach flu. I am happy to report that we are all 100% healthy now (well, okay, there are a few lingering coughs but the kids are sleeping through the night again and their appetites and activity levels are normal).

So, I have a few fun things to report. First and foremost, Julia had her first haircut last weekend! Our little spitfire is very particular about what she wears (dresses only) and how her hair is done (she likes it down). She has extremely fine, thin, wispy hair and I like it long so I can put it inbraids, pigtails or a ponytail. However, now thats she wants her 'princess hair' down all the time (I'm lucky if she lets me comb it) it needed to be evened out. I took her to a local salon for a trim and she did great. She's asked me a few times to take her back because she wants her hair cut again. I explained her hair needs to grow first and then we'll go back. She is already excited.

Master Luke is starting to show his own personality. He sees what he wants and he goes for it. Case in point-we were having a picnic at the park and he went for the cheese and crackers! He also likes to chew on Julia's wooden food toys. She isn't too happy about him "playing" with "her" toys so we are having a lot of discussions about sharing lately. Luke is also trying to pull himself up on furniture. I don't remember Julia trying this so young.

He also does the yoga downward dog position all the time (I need to get a picture of it). He has also mastered "the sit" and we usually find him sitting in the middle of his crib in the morning. So adorable!

The kids and J.D. made Mother's Day special this year. In addition to some adorable cards, Julia painted me a picture and J.D. made homemade pizza for dinner. The Root's came over and the kids had a great time. The pizza was incredible (I suggested we do boboli's but J.D. decided to do homemade crust, sauce, everything!) and Luke even sampled his first pizza crust (he loved it!). It was a fabulous day and I am so grateful to have the best kids, furry baby and hubby ever! I love you guys!!

Here are some great photos from the last few weeks - enjoy!!

Julia "reading" the Portal 2 instruction guide to Amelia (note-she agreed to pig tails this day, first time her hair has been up in months)

Luke - the cutest baby boy ever, drool and all!

Julia napping in Mommy and Daddy's bed with Amelia (seriously, my heart was melting seeing them snuggle)

Julia & Emma - Best Friends

First Pizza Crust

Julia & Daddy

April 27 - He's On the Move

Happy belated Easter everyone! I spent half the day sleeping (sick with bronchitis) but we still had a nice day. Julia found her Easter basket hidden in the playroom and was excited for all the goodies. I'm not sure the Easter Bunny brings every child a Dora toothbrush and princess toothpaste in addition to candy....but hey, that's the way we roll in our house. Our little Julia Bean has developed a love for chocolate so she was VERY excited about all the goodies. In fact, she seems to have hidden mini-chocolate bars around the house. I keep finding her in the tent eating with a chocolate mustache...little stinker. I need to do a complete "search" this weekend to locate her hiding spots. She is developing quite the sweet tooth like her daddy!

In other fun news, our little man is officially on the move! Within the last week he started crawling and he can push himself up into the sitting position. He is beyond adorable. He is still pretty slow so I don't

have to worry about him moving from room to room yet, but I know he'll be a speed demon before we know it. He's also quite the eater these days. His current favorites are bananas, sweet potatoes and squash. Julia also loves feeding her baby brother. She is such a great sister. She tells me all the time how much she loves "her baby Lukey."

We also recently went strawberry picking at a local farm. Since Julia loves Strawberry Shortcake, we told her we going to pick strawberry's like the Berrykins. She was VERY excited and had a fabulous time at the farm.

Fun Julia quotes of the week:

"No Mommy, you listen to me. I want to sleep in your room."

"Daddy, can I sleep in your room, please?"

"When the sun comes up in the morning, I can come in Mommy and Daddy's room."

"Mommy is my best friend. Daddy is also my best friend."

"I love Mommy and Daddy and Baby Lukey and Amelia."

"I'm Tinkerbelle. Look at me fly!"

"I want to feed Baby Lukey!"

"Mommy, you look very pretty today."

Luke loves Mommy's cell phone

He also loves the computer, this is what inspired his crawling

Strawberry picking with Daddy

Julia and her chocolate

Water fun!

Luke touches sand for the first time, he's thinking about whether or not he likes it

Luke & Daddy

Have a great week everyone!

April 20 - Mommy, You Sit in the Carseat, I'll Drive

Let me recap what has happened the last few days I've picked up my little dimpled munchkins from school. Luke goes into the car first (very easy since he is already buckled into his carseat). I open the door for Julia and she climbs into the back, then quickly climbs into the drivers seat, grabs the steering wheel and says:

"Mommy, you sit in my carseat and I'll drive." - Julia

"Julia, how old do you need to be to drive?" - Mommy

"16." - Julia

"How old are you?" - Mommy

"I'm 17." - Julia

"You are 2 and you'll be 3 in August. You won't be driving for awhile. Please climb back to your carseat." - Mommy

"I'm having a bouncy house party, right?" - Julia

Ah! This is such a cute age yet I admit very frustrating at times. When she doesn't want to do something she likes to thrash around (often when trying to strap her in her carseat and she is screaming 'No! I want to drive!') or she has perfected 'the limp noodle' when I try to hold her hand which drives me insane. She is also sneaky at the grocery store and has a penchant for grabbing food and eating it before we check out (she sits in the car thing in the front and knows how to unhook the belt). The last time we went she grabbed a container of blueberries and ate the entire thing! At least it was healthy.

However, as challenging she can be, she is such a ball of energy and so much fun. She also LOVES her baby brother and it melts my heart every time I see them together.

She loves to sing and dance for him and tries to "play" with him as much as possibl

e. She is so excited they go to school together now. Luke also LOVES his big sister and almost always has a huge smile on his face when she's entertaining him. I love my kids! (that includes Amelia Peabody, my furry baby)

Completely unrelated, but I was talking to a girlfriend recently about all the things people tell you when you are having a baby that don't turn out to be true. For example, people told me I'd be changing crib sheets in the middle of the night "all the time." Hmmm..only time I've had to do it was when Julia had a stomach virus. I was also told that Luke would pee "all the time" during diaper changes. Hmmm...it happened once. I realize all kids are different but for all the moms out there that read this blog, I'm curious as to things you were told would happen that never did. I'd love to do a blog to share them! Shoot me an email.

Please enjoy some more photos from our NC trip.

How adorable is Andrew? I love how he loves to eat!

Uncle Greg showing Luke how to work the remote

The girls loved jumping off the couch

Mommy & Jules

April 9 - I'm a Pretty Pony, Clippity Clop, Clippity Clop!

Let me start off this post by wishing my hubby a very happy birthday. Hope you had a great day babe! I loved it because we spent all day together as a family. Gymnastics, soccer, birthday dinner, cake-it was perfect! It's amazing to think that 10 years ago on this day I took you skydiving..my how things have changed.

I traveled with the kids to Raleigh last week for Andrew's baptism.

It was a great trip! In terms of the flight itself, I took a different tactic this time around. When we went to Florida, Luke was in his carseat/frame, Julia walked and I had a backpack. This time we flew out of IAH (which is a larger airport than Hobby) so Julia was in the umbrella stroller, Luke was strapped to my chest, I had a backpack, rolling suitcase and another bag (I didn't have to bring any carseats this time around as my brother had them already). We flew Continental and I was determined to fly without paying for a checked bag. Other than discovering I couldn't bring a snow globe through security (there was actually a sign specifically for snow globes as this is a new restriction; luckily J.D. walked in with me and was able to take it) everything went smoothly. Julia has flown so many times she is a seasoned pro. Luke was just happy to be held by mommy.

Our flight back was a little more challenging. We were delayed 2H at the Raleigh airport (Julia rode the moving walkways for a few hours to kill the time; she had a blast) and once we were in the air, bad weather added an hour to our flight time. There was direct tv on our flight though so she was happy watching Nick Jr. while Luke slept most of the way.

As for the trip itself, it was so much fun! It was pretty much Thanksgiving 2.0 with a few more people.

The kids were spoiled with presents and had a great time playing dress up, reading and enjoying their new toys (the adults had a lot of fun playing with the granimal toy..I'm thinking about getting one for myself). Victoria and Andrew have a rocking horse/pony who says "I'm Pretty Pony, Clippity Clop, Clippity Clop" and the kids spent a lot of time on it.

We probably heard the theme song a couple hundred times (I still find myself chanting it throughout the day) but it never annoyed me (that can't be said for some other people...they were going crazy listening to it). The girls also played with a hammer/peg kit from Great Grandpa (a gift for Andrew that they took over) for hours.

Andrew's Baptism was on Saturday and it was a very nice service. He looked so dapper in his little white suit and the girls looked adorable in their beautiful dresses. Luke was even rocking a new suit.

The kids all behaved pretty well in church and it was a beautiful day. Afterwards, there was a party at the Cook's with family, relatives, neighbors and their close friends. In addition to the pony and hammer kit, the kids played in the woods, the sand/water table and really just had a fabulous time.

In addition to all the fun family activities, Jill hosted a playgroup at the house on Friday with about 5 kids around age 3. It was great meeting her friends and their kids. On Sunday, we went to Monkey Joe's (bouncy house place) for a birthday party Victoria was invited to. Uncle Bryan spent the day with Julia bouncing from house to house and boy was he tired after 2 hours! It was a beautiful day on Monday so we went to the park and had fun.

Great Grandpa, Mommy & Luke

Great Uncle Brian & Luke (Brian was amazing with Luke when he was fussy, he could get him to stop crying almost every time!)

Great Uncle Craig & Julia

Great Uncle Chris & Luke

Greg & Jill (I love this picture of them - what a beautiful couple!)

The Girls - It Doesn't Get Much Cuter Than This

Mommy-Please Get Me Out of this Carseat

Mommy & Her Little Man

Victoria took this picture of Jules which is pretty cool. Great job V!