Julianne is 10 Months Old!

Dear Julianne-

You are 10 months old today! I am trying not to write that this fact blows my mind or that I just can't get over how grown up you are yada yada. Those things are true indeed, but we have had quite the month of events so lets get to the fun stuff.

 We kicked off the month by celebrating your first Halloween! You went in a hand-me-down lady bug costume we borrowed. It was perfect. I don't think I could have taken your reaction to wearing a costume if I had slaved hours over a sewing machine. You were a good sport, but didn't love being
inside a giant fluffy suit for long...

 We went over to your cousin Amelia's house for some trick-or-treat fun. You girls in your costumes made us laugh and laugh. Very entertaining for all of us and especially your daddy and Lee who did most of the trick or treating leg work. Us girls were pretty much just along for the ride...

 Amelia went as a chicken....her costume was hilarious....

 We hope you won't hate us as teenagers for doing this to you....

 About an hour of costume wear and you were done being a lady bug. Not so bad for our first round at Halloween.

Next Up: Baylor Homecoming.
I was finally able to talk your Daddy into joining me for Baylor Homecoming. Given he didn't go to Baylor, I haven't had the best luck selling how much fun the parade and other festivities can be. This year he obliged us and was a good sport through the whole thing. It was just a day trip, and you did great and were pretty happy even without naps.

 We went to the parade and saw old friends and some neat floats....

Then we went to lunch where Cita met up with us. Here you are flinging your green and gold!

Next to mention is our first trip to the zoo. Our friends were nice enough to bring us along on their season pass and we enjoyed a lovely cool morning with the animals.  

 Getting ready....

 Anticipation is mounting....

 Sadly you fell asleep during the elephant exhibit....

 You loved the giraffes however...not surprising given your relationship with Wubbs. 

 
Next time we will have to take Daddy and stay awake for the elephants....

The last and most recent event of November was of course Thanksgiving! We spent this one in Canyon at Gran and Gramp's house. Honestly we were dreading it given the lack of sleep we have experienced on other trips. To our great surprise though you slept like a champ there and we had a great time!

Now for some other updates to close out this post...

 1. You are what we have termed "dental advanced". You have 8 teeth and counting, more than the other babies in our life. I guess this is a good thing...you have bitten our shoulders one or twice though which we are working on avoiding. One of our fears as parents is that you would be the "biting kid".

 2. You have started to really crawl this month! Hooray! It has been a lifestyle adjustment however. Gone are the days were I put you in one place and you remain there until I move you. You are into everything and are quite quick. The other day I saw you pull up on the coffee table so that is coming next. How are you already doing these things?!

 3. Eating has taken on a whole new meaning this month...you can put it away all of a sudden. I am shocked sometimes at the quantity of food you are able to ingest in one sitting. I guess you need all of those calories with the moving you are doing. You only nurse 4 times a day now.

4. You are also talking! Over the last couple of weeks we have really started to notice words and an understanding of words. Last night you turned to Daddy and said, "Da-Da" for the first time. He about melted right there! He was very proud that you used his name first but I am sure MaMa is not far behind. You are also signing "More Please" and waving hello and goodbye with a nice "Ha" for "High". 

Well that is all I have time for today...naps are over and we have playing to do!

Love you baby girl!

Mommy

3 years....

Andrew and I celebrated three years of marriage yesterday.....

 We married in Colorado on one of the warmest November 1st on record.....

 The outdoor ceremony was lovely.

 We kissed a lot...

and danced a lot.

It was a very fun day, but I can honestly say the days following have been even better.

I am so thankful Andrew is the guy God asked me to do marriage with.....Happy Anniversary babe! Here's to year 4!!

Day at the Pumpkin Patch...

I should correct the title of this post. It was really "30 minutes at the patch". That was about all our little girl could take of photo opportunities her parents mommy was eager to get. Below are some of the shots we came home with.....

 The above shots were taken within the first 10 minutes of our arrival. Julianne was intrigued by the sights and sounds and colors of the pumpkin patch. She also made every effort possible to eat the hay...

 Once the newness wore off, we attempted a mommy/baby shot in front of the windmill....

 The last 10 minutes we spent in this area with a very curious large orange thing....

 She wasn't so sure what to think about it....

 Perhaps it will taste nice?.....

 Me: Maybe she will smile if we sit her on it....

Andrew: Julianne, Julianne, youhoo....youhoo...look up here, look up here, "whistle", "whistle"

All our efforts were for not.....

Time to go.....

And that was our day 30 minutes at the pumpkin patch. Perhaps next year she will be a little more into it and we can make a day of it.

Happy Halloween All!!

Julianne is 9 Months Old!

 9 Month Stats (Doctor says she looks very healthy and predicts she will be a petite lady):
Height: 27 1/4 inches (35%)
Weight: 15 lbs. 15 oz. (8%)
Head Circumference: 16 3/4 inches (15%)

Dear Julianne,

The pictures above make me laugh....clearly I need to start recruiting help when taking the monthly pictures with the sign. Not only do you do everything in your power to throw yourself off the chair and destroy the sign, but half the time I can't get you to look at the camera! Then, if I am successful at getting a non-blurry, looking up, shot your expression is most often annoyance at the whole ordeal. Oh well....I think I like the imperfection of these photographs. They depict a more accurate account of how the monthly photo session goes down.

Back to the task at hand though...which is to discuss month 8 of your life. Again, I am shocked to find us crossing the threshold of another month. It seems like hours ago you were still in my tummy. Maybe not that extreme, but seriously how are we already here? I STILL cannot get over the fact that you are our daughter. We just couldn't have imagined a more beautiful, energetic, curious, funny, loving baby girl.  Good thing God makes us! He blessed us more than I can describe with you. Here are some highlights from this very fast month....

 1. You love your friends and play dates where you get to play next to them. You still aren't really interacting with one another yet but seem to have realized each other's existence. It is fun to watch you "play" at this stage because there aren't any issues with sharing. If someone takes another's toy it is no big deal as there are other toys to discover. I realize this will end a some point, but for now it is nice....

 2. You still aren't crawling properly, but have begun to "army crawl" your way around. This only seems to happen though when you want to reach something forbidden, otherwise you are content to stay put. Some of the forbidden items include but are not limited to: Wesson's toys, cords, my wedding rings, the remote control, and Mommy and Daddy's cell phones. In fact, to get you crawling more, we have to put one of these items in your view just to motivate you to get moving. Not sure I will win Mother of the Year for this method, but so far we haven't found another way to encourage your crawling skills.

 3. You have started to eat table foods and are developing an aversion to the spoon. This is all well and good, since we love that you can now feed yourself. The hard thing is that you seem to be more and more against being fed with a spoon. It isn't really a problem, except that I have invested many hours in chopping, cooking, blending, freezing, and storing organic baby food for you. That, and now it takes 3 times as long to feed you. The other night it took almost an hour for you to get full on the tiny bits you were getting to your mouth. Maybe you will get over the spoon thing, for now we are filling you up on turkey, avocado (you like this now), and other random things from our plates.

4. You still love the outdoors, and this month we have gotten outside a lot more as the high temperatures have eased. Daddy even installed a swing for you in the tree out back, and you LOVE it. Mommy loves it too when you get fussy and bored inside. You are instantly happy and content during and after a nice swing. 

Looking forward to the month ahead!

Love, 

Mommy