August 31 - Weekend Fun

Happy Monday everyone! Our little bean had a fabulous weekend yet again. She traveled down to Tampa on Friday afternoon with daddy and they had a great time at grandma's house (I stayed in town to wrap up some work stuff...I also got some quality reading time in). Although there are lots of fun toys at grandma's (including a little dollhouse, train set, and books), Julia had the most fun with the stairs. She went up and down them probably 15 times (J.D.'s back is a little sore from following her up and down making sure she is safe). She also loved the little red rocking chair (it was a perfect fit) and the water frog (that she got for her bday).

In addition to all the fun at grandma's, Julia had a play date with Ella and the girls had a fab time. Ella has 3 miniature long haired dachshunds that Julia was a tad afraid of, but after a little while, she was fine. They played, went for a wagon ride with their dads and had some water fun in the backyard. All in all-it was a great weekend!

August 26 - Silly Silly

"Silly!"-Julia. Yes, our little bean actually said 'silly' this morning while she was reading a book. It was beyond adorable!

Some other tokens that are equally cute:

"Up now."-with arms outstretched upward

"Welcome."-she kind of says this...we're working on 'please', 'thank you' and 'you're welcome.'

"momma"-we're working on 'mommy'

"dadda"-we're working on 'daddy'

"puppy"-Amelia

"doggie"-Amelia

"duck"-when looking at a flash card of a duck

"All done"

"Hi"

"Hey"

"bye bye"

And here she is in her new "big girl" carseat-otherwise known as the 'princess chair' according to daddy. She loves it. And she loves when I reach back and tickles her little piggies!

August 24 - Welcome to 'Tudeville. Population: 1

Hello Bean followers! Did you guys have a wonderful weekend? Ours was filled with its ups and downs. On Friday, Julia had her 12mon appointment and she did great. She didn't cry too much from her shots and is healthy as can be. After dropping her off at school, I sat on an MBA alumni panel for new MBA students at UF. It was great being on campus again! After answering questions and having lunch, school called that Julia was sick so I had to get her. I took her to work for a few hours and then we chilled at home. I wasn't feeling that great myself and ended up falling asleep at 6pm! After sleeping for 15 hours...I woke up and felt fine the next day.

On Saturday, J.D., Julia and I went out for lunch and since it is the first weekend that students are back in town...all I can say is: CHAOS! We went to a local deli and there was literally a line out the door. We ended up at a different deli with a short wait and our little bean ate an entire bowl of mac n cheese and applesauce. She has quite an appetite! After that, we went to the museum (were it was also very crowded, there were parents everywhere in town for orientation) where we all had fun.

Yesterday was a busy day for the bean and I. We got up early, went on a long walk with Amelia and then went to the park with Jill and Julia. There were lots of little kids at the park and the girls had a great time. After a short, 45min nap, Jules was ready for the rest of the day..or so we thought. Jill and Julia came over and the little bean was super fussy. I put her down for a nap and after 20min or so of high pitch screaming, she slept for....about 20min. The girls played a little while longer and after they left, I had a clingy, super fussy bean on my hands. I fed her dinner (peas and ravioli) where she refused to eat her peas. She wrangled the fork from me at one point and I wrestled it away from her. She was NOT happy with me! I took her out of her highchair and she was literally stomping her little foot on the ground, fake crying pointing at the fork. I admit I found some humor in the situation but I was mostly thinking-we definitely have a little 'tude (our nickname for 'attitude') developing here. We need to nip this in the bud!

August 18 - Happy Birthday Little Bean!

One year ago, our little bean entered this world and life has been an adventure ever since. Happy Birthday Julia! Mommy and Daddy love you to pieces!

This weekend was the bean's first ever birthday bash and we had a blast. Uncle Greg, Aunt Jill and cousin Victoria came in town on Wednesday and the girls had a fabulous time playing together. We went to breakfast, the park (Jules went down the slide by herself for the first time ever), the history museum and I'm happy to report that they LOVE books! Jill is a reader like me so it was great seeing them follow in their mommies footsteps.

On Friday, Uncles Chris, Craig, Brian and Great Grandpa Arena came in town. The girls ate a lot of sugar cookies (courtesy of Uncle Chris) and had a great time playing with the great grandpa's cane (Julia was trying to eat it while Victoria was attempting to twirl it like a baton). We had a big dinner Friday night (great food J.D., thanks!) and Saturday morning we had breakfast at the house with everyone, including Grandma Yamo and Uncle Chad.

Brian, Craig and I went to the restaurant a little early where we met up with Jill (neighbor), Uncle Greg (J.D.'s brother) and Aunt Nicole. Nicole and Brian frosted the cupcakes, while Greg, Jill and I blew up the balloons and decorated the booths. Soon, the party began and we all feasted on delicious pizza and cupcakes. Julia seems to have inherited J.D.'s sweet tooth as she ate her ENTIRE cupcake. She even licked the frosting off her little hands and fingers! All of the kids (there were 4 total including Jules) did great during the party. They played well and had a great time playing with all the wonderful toys that Julia received. They all seemed to love the balloons as well.

Thanks to everyone who came and of course, thanks for the amazing swag! Now...we just have to find a place to put everything.

There are so many amazing photos from the weekend I can't possibly add them all the this post. I'll add some more in the next coming weeks, including a fabulous photo of Victoria rocking an 80s look. Precious!

August 11 - All Done

Happy Tuesday everyone! Hard to believe our little bean will officially be a toddler in one week. Even though she still has one more week of 'babyhood' she is definitely growing up. On Friday, the bean was sent home from daycare for projectile vomiting. I worked from home the rest of the day and while she was definitely more fussy and clingy than usual, she was fine. She certainly had enough energy to climb on top of the kitchen table! I couldn't believe. One minute, she is walking laps around the kitchen table, next thing I know, she's moved the chair over and climbed up. She is a little monkey!! I didn't get a photo because I rushed over quickly and got her down. Little stinker!

I don't think I mentioned this last week, but she also finally started blowing kisses (so cute!) and yesterday, after one of her teachers changed her diaper at school-she blew a kiss and then said "all done!" Fabulous!

August 3 - Future Bookstore Employee

Happy August everyone! It is hard to believe that we were counting down the days to our little bean's arrival at this time last year. Now, here we are counting down the days to her first birthday! Did you guys have a great weekend? We definitely had fun. On Saturday, Jules did something she's never done before. She took 1 2-hour nap (from 11:30am-1:30pm) all day. She was definitely cranky late in the afternoon but she was a trooper! Jill and Julia came over Saturday for a play date and the girls had a great time together. They are both so good at sharing toys (sippy cups and snacks), it is adorable!

Yesterday, Jill and I took the girls to Books a Million where we discovered 2 kids are a lot more work than 1. I left Jill with the girls for a few minutes so I could return a book and Jill did a great job keeping them in the same area. She had one leg around Jules so she couldn't run away. A little while later, I watched the girls while Jill looked at some books and wow..those little tykes wanted to explore in opposite directions. I was constantly picking one up and bringing her to the other one. Then repeat! I couldn't imagine twins. I don't think I would go anywhere in public if I had them! Meanwhile, Jules has a new favorite place at the book store. There is a customer service desk in the center of the store and that is where she wanted to be. No joking...probably 5 or 6 times in a row I would put her down and she would practically run to the service desk (I even kind of know the girl Amanda that works there now...Jules just wanted to hang out with her!).

Oh-how cute are these photos. Here she is rocking her 80s headband with a ponytail (snacking on a delicious flip flop) and modeling her handmade Bangladeshi outfit from Aunt Becky. Adorable!

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!