Just long enough...

to put your hair in a pig tail like Pebbles...

Christmas loot

Phil & Ted's

We took a nice ride in the P&T double stroller. This was the first of many walks that Julie was able to ride in the attached seat and Jesse could have the bigger seat. Big brother, thanks for all those walks...that you sat in a seat that was too small for you!

Mommy loves that her babies like to walk!! I think I just may be able to keep Jesse in the stroller until he's 5 or so!! Who doesn't like to stroll around a beautiful lake, see Mallard ducks, Canadian geese, a swan, sometimes turtles, fish, and rabbits?

Our first tea party

In attendance was Mommy, Julie, Smurfette, Lucille, and our dachshund, Luke (he obviously invited himself). Big brother, Jesse joined us when he awoke from a nap. He loves playing tea party...imagine that!

Ho Ho Ho!

We had a great Christmas holiday! Since Julie didn't officially ask Santa for anything this year, he decided to bring a few things to decorate her room! He brought a super cute balerina canvas art and a flower lamp. He also brought a tea set and a plush Smurfette doll! Daddy gave some cool drums, Mommy gave a grocery bag full of plush foods, and Jesse gave Snow-White. Some other really cool gifts that she received was wall decoration letters that spell out her name, Mary-Jane shoe-socks, and a Cabbage Patch kid named Lucille.

A Bippy---Julie says no thanks!

Poor thing screams even louder when you try to put the pacifier in her mouth!! That, or she spits it out!

I am guessing that she soothes herself by sucking on her bottom lip because it's moving pretty much all the time!

Special delivery...

15 inches of the white stuff arrived one week before Christmas!!

Julie was bundled up snug as a bug, so she didn't really seem to acknowledge her first sleigh ride!

The winter musical was casting for Frostee, the snow-woman...guess who got the part?

White stuff before Christmas!!

Special delivery 1 week before Christmas....15 inches of snow! Quite a suprise!

Julie took her first sleigh ride...and didn't really seem to even notice. And she decided to try out for the winter musical...as Frostee the Snow-woman!! Believe it or not, she got the part! haha!

Merry New Year!

Eyes on the prize!

Julie follows the bottle with her eyes...wherever it goes! And she objects when the bottle is taken out of her mouth for burp time! And sometime she even cries when the bottle is empty :(

Sadly, we are mostly bottle feeding these days...to limit the number of ounces that she is getting. It would be an all you can eat buffet in the mornings since Mommy can pump enough for two 5.5oz bottles!!

I guess this is officially her first (of many) diets :(

Julie, just a little note from mommy--- I will do my best to keep you and Jesse both well exercised! Mommy needs motivation too...maybe we can keep each other healthy! And hopefully once you start crawling/walking, some of your 'sweet rolls' (and I am not talking about bread that we have at dinner!) will diminish!

Short Pumping it--

No line and everyone is happy! (especially momma!)

Breakfast with Santa at the 4H center

Did I mention that Julie is a blessing?

Sweet girl is still awesome going to bed!

Either she falls asleep while she's nursing. Or if she's done nursing and mommy is done singing, she falls to sleep laying in her crib!

This truly amazes me!

Haven't had my V-8 today

Or maybe I am just starting to sit up on my own!

I'm bad, I'm bad, I know it!

Julie-Boolie

Sweet girl knows her name! Now whether she thinks her name is Julie Boolie, or just Julie, we won't know!! :)

Fruity...

Julie started blowing raspberries today! If you blow one back at her, she gives the sweetest smile.

A sleepin' bag...from Mommy's CPKs

4 month appt

Well, mommy was told to back off on the amount of milk that Julie is getting!! So, we are going from 7oz back down to 5-6oz. Rice and oatmeal cereal is a go...but to take it slow with all other solids (be sure to wait the 4-7 day rule and only offer one ingredient foods).

The little lady is weighing in at 15lbs and 3oz! She is 24.4 inches long. Julie's head is a little on the big side...the doctor is going to keep a watch on it. No special appointment, but will check the size again at her 6 month appointment. Please pray that it's nothing...

Sweet girl got 4 shots...ouch!

Little lady is drinking 6.5 oz bottles...and I am sure that she would be drinking more, if I gave it to her.

Mommy decided it was time...bought some organic bananas and pureed them along with a bit of breastmilk. Let me tell you, Julie gobbled those bananas like she has been eating solids all along!!

I also bought some sweet potatoes...we will try that in a couple days, when it's safe to assume that she has no allergic reaction to the bananas!

Mommy is happy...but at the same time, sad. My baby is growing up!

Banana, banana, peel, peel, banana!

Yummy bananas!

Mommy loves this time of day...

Daddy's Star Wars bunch...

Still looking funny...

My new trick!

The doctor said that Julie's next trick would be "to roll over". And sure enough, she did it!!

And don't you know, we missed it! We looked at something Jesse was doing for one second, and when we looked at Julie again, she was on her back!!

Halloween fun

I'm gonna put a spell on you!

Mommy sure loves those fall leaves!

It's the Great Pumpkin...Charlie Brown

This warms my heart...

The cutest picture was taken of my daughter and Violet (Julie's friend from Minnieland).

The babies were in the buggy stroller going for a ride...the girls were seated beside each other. The teachers captured a great picture...Julie was holding Violet's hand!

They have two poses of them, so I am thinking that they will give them to us, once they take them off of the show-off board. I will be sure to post it!!

I'm a growin'!

"Cheeks" is moving out of the 0-3 month clothes!

We bumped up the oz in her bottle. In just over a month, we went from 4 oz to 5 oz, then to 5.5 oz, then 6oz, and finally 6.5oz!!! I bet "Miss Piggy" would do 7 if I gave it to her!!

She's 'talking' now...

This morning, as I was burping Julie, she flashed big brother, Jesse, the biggest smile. He hadn’t even said anything to her. She was “talking”, as if she was saying, ‘hey, we are gonna get in some trouble together one day!’. It warmed my heart!

Such a blessing...

I think I said this before, but we were blessed with a good sleeper! Julie goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 and sleeps till I go to get her up at 6am during the week. On the weekends, she sleeps till 9am!! WOW!!

And what’s even better than a good sleeper, or at least right up there in line, is that she goes to sleep most nights on her own. I was able to get her down a bit earlier last night—she nursed, then I sang her a few songs. She was quiet, so I decided to put her in the crib at 6:50pm. I didn’t think she would go to sleep, but when I checked on her a few minutes later, she was out! There are some nights that mommy just wants to hold her, so I take a few extra minutes to enjoy the coziness of holding my sweet baby. I am not getting that middle of the night "quiet" time with my baby! She won’t be this small for long!

Thank you God for blessing us with a good baby! And thank you Julie for being a good baby!!

4 generations...

Mommy having more photo fun

Pumpkin patching...and a sink bath

What time is it?

It's bath time!

Still sleepin'

Pleased to say that the little lady is still sleeping through the night!

What a blessing! Mommy actually wants to stay up later than the kids these days! Daddy and I have been watching the seasons of 24, Mommy's been on the computer looking at photography forums, and trying to start her side photo business!

I've got a great big brother!

Minnieland sent home Julie's first artwork today...mommy will save this. There was also a photo of her in the process of creating her masterpiece.

Mommy commented that we would put the photo on the refrigerator along with Jesse's artwork photos. As soon as we got home, I didn't see the photo anymore. I asked Jesse where it was, and he pointed to the frige.

Bless his heart, he put it up there himself!!!

3 months!

Mommy did her best taking Julie's 3 month photos! I hope you like them sweet girl!

Oh, my!

Mommy bought bows! And they are perfect, at least in this not-so-fashioned mommy's eyes!

Julie found her hands....

And I don't mean that she found them with her mouth!

Julie stares at her hands...and while doing so, it makes her eyes cross!

It's a hoot to see!!

New discoveries....

Julie-Boolie is gracing us with plenty of smiles these days!! Once you talk to her, she flashes it right away--it's a wonderful thing to see, especially at 6am in the morning!

Julie found her ears and eyes (she's starting to rub them) when she's tired.

More great news---Jule has slept through the night, four nights in a row! Mommy gives two thumbs up for this accomplishment---at 11 weeks old!

2 month checkup

Julie-Boolie checked out real good!

She is weighing 12 lbs, 3oz (75-90%) and is 23 inches long (75th%). The doctor said she is a tall baby and that she is as round as she is tall!

She received four vaccination shots and also an oral vaccine. Daddy took her to the appointment, so I am not really sure how she did right after all the poking and prodding. However, later that evening was a great one! There wasn't much fussing...and she went to bed at her expected time (7:15)!

What a good baby!!

Sleepin'

Holy cow, we have a good sleeper!

At 9 weeks old, the little lady expects to be put to bed at a certain time...between 7 and 7:30! She is only waking up once to nurse, or sometimes she's even slept all night!

Mommy likes this!

It's all mommy's fault...

Weekend before last, Julie accepted the bippy at GaGa and PaPa's house...since we have been home, it's like she's never had one in her mouth!

This week, we noticed that she's found her hand and that she is using it to soothe herself. One night at dinner, Jesse commented that she was "kissing herself".

Geez, I just had to say something about that older kid who was still sucking her thumb... Didn't I know that my kid would end up doing the exact same thing?

We've asked the caregivers at Minnieland to push the bippy...instead of her self-soothing techniques. Hopefully in time...she will accept the bippy again!

Facial expressions during nursing...

What Mom thinks she is saying...

1) When taking Julie off the breast, she will open her eyes quickly and then close them again, as if to say "I'm not done with that yet!"

2) Julie makes a face as if something she just ate tastes bad. Mommy thinks Julie is crazy because she just devoured as much milk as her little heart desired!

Julie becomes a Cub...

As Mommy returns to work, Julie joins Jesse at Minnieland.

Julie didn't drink very much her first day, but as the week went on, she started to drink more and more.

Wonder why they keep talking about my hair?

One of my first smiles...

Down on the Farm

1 month checkup

Julie is doing great! She weighed 10 pounds, 12 ounces and is 21.5 inches tall. She is in the 75th percentile for weight and 50-75th percentile for height.

Julie received a vaccine booster...of course she cried. Like her big brother, the cry didn't last long.

Compliments from people at the beach...

People were so sweet to my baby girl! haha!

One lady said...that she looks like a tree frog!

And another lady said...that her babies didn't have much hair. She's also tried spiking their hair.

The first lady must have been referring to how alert my little lady is. She opens her eyes really big! And to the second lady, I don't intentionally spike my kid's hair!

Welcome to the Country!

First time at the Chappell farm!