The Advocate

Julie is lucky to have a big sister who is so interested in her and her needs. Not to say that Lizzie never displays jealous behavior, but for the most part Lizzie is Julie's advocate.
For instance, when Julie is laying on the floor while I'm cooking, Liz will alert me when Julie spits up. The first time this happened, Liz didn't know the term "spit up" so she said, "Uh oh! Baby Julie spilled in the mouth!!"

Every time Julie makes a peep Lizzie will say, "Uh oh! Baby Julie crying!" or "Uh oh! Baby Julie poopy diapy! She's my continual 24/7 Julie status update..."Baby Julie happy!" "Baby Julie smiling!" "Baby Julie sleeping in the bed!"

Her favorite time to interact with Julie is when she's in her bouncy seat. Most mornings she'll lean on the seat with her sister and say, "Good morning baby Julie! Huggies!" Then the smothering will begin.

I'm still trying to work on discouraging the "Identifying Facial Features" game. Its a kid classic- Liz will point and name parts of the face like "ears, nose, mouth"... Its the naming and touching of the "eye" combined with Julie's lack of eyelid reflexes thats most troubling.

Smiles for Grandpa

It was so fun to have Grandma and Grandpa here in town! It was Grandpa's first time meeting little Julie and she loved him! She would stare and stare then give him plenty of smiles and coos. It was a short visit, but we had a great time and the kids especially loved Grandma/Grandpa time of course!

Big Girl

Lizzie is 22 months old going on 22 yrs! She's talking in full sentences and insists on doing everything herself. The desire for independence is strong in this one. Dave and I have really had to step up our game to match Lizzie's increasing skills in the continual battle for control! We've found that we can no longer TELL her to do something...leads to her refusing and trying to push our buttons by doing things like putting her finger in her nose. She'll respond really well though if we ask her to do something with an additional clause like, "Do you want to clean your room and then we will play a game with Lenny?" She'll then run around her room throwing all the toys in the basket and have the room spotless in less than a minute.

The other day I gave Liz a complex set of directions, "Will you go get the white burp cloth for Julie? Its in Julie's room on top of the rocking chair. Then bring it to Mama please!" (wasnt sure if she even knew what a burp cloth was) She continued playing like she didn't understand. So I said, "Go get it fast and I'll play the ABC game with you!" After that she flew out of the room and was back with the burp cloth in about two seconds.

Liz loooves to wear my shoes around the house and she says, "Mama's shoes are too big!" over and over then laughs.

Lizzie: You are right. Mama's shoes are too big for you. Someday, though, that won't be true. You'll be all grown up, probably faster than I'd like.

But, for now you're still my little one year old and i like it that way!

1 Month

Julie is 1 month old!! One month plus a week to be exact! This post is a week later than I wanted it to be, not a big deal, but I am realizing that I will never be able to match my perfectly timed and never ending supply of pictures that I took of Lizzie as a newborn. Its just harder to get the camera out and get cute shots of Julie with Lizzie dancing around for my attention! Thank goodness for nap time, or I may have never gotten around to recording in time lil one month old Julie! Babies change so quickly! She's already so much bigger!

Developmental Updates:

She's smiling!! I can usually get a smile out of her when I've been out of her view for a little while and I come back and make cooing happy noises at her! Daddy doesn't get nearly as many smiles, but he can coax it out of her with a lot of work when she's in the right mood! I'm enjoying the favoritism while it lasts...she'll soon discover what a fun guy daddy is and then it will be over for me!

She enjoys looking at mobiles, toys, and moving objects.

She makes cute little cooing noises when she's really happy!

She slept through the night! (last night it was 9 hours but usually its 6-7 hrs) What a sweetie!

She still sleeps alot during the day, too. Her favorite time to be awake, alert, and more smiley is usually around 7-8 pm.

And...

She takes a binky now! I am a big fan of the binky. I like knowing that I can eventually get rid of it when she becomes too old for it (unlike a thumb!)

Julie is a great little baby who is so mellow and very patient/tolerant. She's a minimal crier and even puts up with all of Lizzie's affectionate hugs (imagine a bear mauling). She's a fun little girl to have around!

Why I Love Washington..

Every August I get soooo excited for blackberry season. Almost every day I ask Dave, "Want to go pick some blackberries?" Whether or not he does actually want to go picking, he always says yes and then laughs at me for being so excited about it. Then I remind him that he takes these tasty WA berries for granted because he grew up here and they grow like weeds everywhere! Whereas, growing up in Chicago I always had to pay big money for very mediocre store bought berries. Lizzie, however, shares my true love and excitement for blackberry season. She's a very good berry picker and berry eater. She will continue to eat as many as we let her. This little hand in the berry bowl was no setup. She was following me around when she saw me with a bowl of blackberries and very sneakily waited until I was busy snapping a picture before snatching a berry for herself.

One of my favorite things to do with blackberries is to make blackberry pancakes!

We went blackberry crazy-making blackberry pancakes with blackberry topping!

Lizzie was very excited to see her name in blackberry pancake form. It was very amusing to watch her carefully dip each letter into the blobs of whip cream before stuffing them in her mouth.

Family Time

The same week that Julie was born Dave changed jobs and bought a dental practice in Lakewood. Not only does he get to work as partners with his dad, which he loves, but we get a lot more family together time! No more traveling 2 hours to Centralia every day. Plus, he gets every Tues. off! The girls and I are looving having more time with him!

Lately, we've been going to the local farmer's market and outdoor concerts. This week, the band performing stated that this was the absolute most beautiful area they have ever performed in. I'm sure it was- up on a hill, the beach and Puget Sound as a backdrop, and a gorgeous sunset!

We had a blast hanging out with Mike and Jessica this week, too. Jessica was nice enough to entertain us at her house and it sure was entertaining! Lizzie loved the swimming pool! Afterwards, we explored the farm property and it did not disappoint- blackberry bushes, picking apples, collecting eggs from chicken coops, and a brand new litter of puppies!

Happy 6th Anniversary!

Today is our 6th anniversary! I can not believe it has been that long since I met the man of my dreams at BYU.

I met Dave a couple months into my freshman year at BYU and the rest is history! How could I resist a stud on a sweet bike? lol.

The past six years really have been the best of my life. I never believed in love at first sight but that's pretty much how it happened for us as we sat down next to each other in Biology 101. Something amazing happened and we've been inseparable ever since.
Six years and two kids later, I can still say that Dave, you are the man of my dreams and I'm so lucky to have you! Happy 6th anniversary!! You're an amazing husband and father!