Julianna Morgan Fox

New Blog

2009-02-11T23:30:00.005-05:00

Just in case anyone is still checking this blog, I just wanted to let you know that I have started a new blog for Julianna.

The link:

http://www.juliannamorgan.blogspot.com

Pics

2008-08-20T22:24:00.003-04:00

Just dropping off a few pics :)

We found these bunny ears in J's closet the other day and had a great time with them.

She is looking at Mimi (Julianna changed Grammy's name to Mimi, by the way) in this pic.

I know it is overexposed (and I have no idea how to fix), but I still think it is too cute.

Garden Pics

2008-08-11T23:34:00.011-04:00

As we do every year, we have a really nice sized garden this summer. I use the word "we" very loosely here, by the way. Really, I do some harvesting (and cooking and eating!), but Ryan is the one with the green thumb. Our garden has done quite well this summer and we are really reaping (no pun intended) the rewards. The tomatoes (my garden favorite) and peppers are really coming on like gangbusters right now and we have had more cucumbers and green beans than we can eat. The borers (is that right, Ryan?) got most of our squash but not before we had very tasty squash with several meals. There really is something very satisfying about garden harvesting and if it weren't for the darn mosquitoes I would enjoy it quite a bit more. I know that they say that it would upset the balance of the universe or something if mosquitoes were to become extinct, but at this point I think that I am willing to take my chances! I swear I feel like we are living on some Survivor Island (the Survivor contestants are ALWAYS covered in the nastiest looking bug bites)! I hope that there aren't any mosquitoes reading this blog, because I know that they will be devestated to learn that their unrestrained love for me is not returned.

J calls tomatoes and every other round fruit "bupples" (apples).

Wandering between the rows of beans and cucumbers.

The most delicious (and gigantic) of all of the varieties of tomatoes in our garden. This year we have Heirlooms, I think they are called German Queens (pictured), some sort of beefsteak, a couple of Better Boys, and some sort of Cherries (I think they are called Sweet 100's).

Instead of posing for this picture like a good little girl, Jules threw this tomato and Ryan just barely caught it. She thought it was hilarious!

Her naughty mischief continues - She grabbed an unripe tomato from the vine and made a run for it! By the way, I tried to lighten/brighten this pic up with horrible results. Does anyone have any suggestions?

So cute!

In the melon patch.

August 8, 2008

2008-08-08T22:11:00.007-04:00

I know, I know.... Just dropping off a few pics and will try to give an actual update in the next few days (not weeks, I promise!).

I do want to tell one cute little story before I forget. While I ran to the bathroom I left J watching Noggin (a station for preschool age kids) on t.v. When I came out I heard her alternating between snorting and mooing. I went in to find a little song about farm animals on tube. Every time a pig came on the screen she snorted and every time a cow came on she mooed. It was just SOO cute and completely unprompted. By the way, her little pig snort is just about the cutest thing EVER! She really wrinkles up her little nose. And, I guess because we laugh and carry on every time she does it, she snorts EVERY time she sees a pig or even hears the word "pig". What a hoot! She is such a little show off!

On a walk at another county park.

Worn out after our long walk.

J loved these sunglasses! About 5 seconds after this pic was taken they flew off her head. We tried to fish them out of the lake, but with no luck. I think they were freebees from somewhere or another, but she was very upset nonetheless.

July 24, 2008

2008-07-24T22:20:00.007-04:00

SORRY!!! As someone pointed out - I've been a big ol' slacker! I do have a couple of legitimate excuses, but I admit, it is mostly due to my innate laziness (it's not my fault - I was born that way!). Anyway, J got her first nasty, stomach virus - and in yet another show of selflessness, shared it with Ryan. How, after being thrown up on about 25 times, I avoided this bug is nothing short of an act of God. Nobody ever told me that being a mother was so darn glamorous! If I had only known, I would have signed up years ago. All kidding aside, it was SOOO sad. You just can't explain to a one year old that they are sick and that mama just can't make it all better.

Anyway, I have a ton of pics that I have taken since last post. Because there are so many, I put them in a slide show. Let me know if you want me to post any individuals from the set. There are a couple of pics from a walk that Ryan, J and I took at a local county park a few days ago. Ryan was stung on his foot by something (we think maybe a hornet?), and it was a pretty nasty sting. Well Julianna was SO upset that Dada was hurt. She just cried and said "Boo boo" over and over again. The rest of the pics are mostly from just hanging out around the house and "pool side".

Picture Hodgepodge

2008-07-11T23:26:00.006-04:00

Here are scores of pics from the last week that I didn't get posted.

Going for a hike?

Practicing her javelin throw for the 2016 Olympics!

Lovin' on Daddy.

At the park

At the little playgroup we recently joined.

Shooting the breeze with a friend.

\
Playing with chalk in our driveway.

Playing with (uncooked)macaroni at Grammy's.

Snuggling with blanket and bunny.

With Granddaddy

Daddy leaning in for a kiss. Notice that Buster doesn't want to be left out!

*Post with pics from the 4th below!

Pictures from the 4th

2008-07-11T23:00:00.006-04:00

Sorry, sorry sorry! I know, I promised new pics over a week ago! Oops.

Ryan and I weren't sure how Julianna would react to the the fireworks, so we just bought a couple of fountainy fireworks and stayed home. Our neighbors put on quite a show though. It was hard to tell if she actually liked the fireworks, just tolerated them, or was scared in to a state of shock. She didn't cry, but I can't say that she did a lot of smiling and laughing either. After the fireworks were over, she did make the sign for "more", so I guess that's a good sign (really, no pun intended)??? Well, without further ado:

Sparkler with mama.

Daddy looks like he's having fun...

As Ryan called this picture "Run for your lives!"

Watching the show with Daddy. So cute.

Her hands are saying more, but her face is telling a different story! Hee!

July 2, 2008

2008-07-02T22:06:00.004-04:00

Just posting a few pics. I have several more I want to get posted, but just haven't uploaded them to the computer yet. I will try to get them up tomorrow or Friday.

Snuggling with Kitty and Blankey

Julianna sat with Poppy for almost an hour and hardly moved a muscle. I think it was some kind of record for the longest she has ever sat still!

Pics from the Lake

2008-06-28T22:05:00.005-04:00

Just some super cute pics from my parents and then at a little deli off the lake. In case you wondering, she is wearing a t-shirt over her swim suit in most of them.

She loves stealing shells out of this glass fish!

She is a total tease handing Grammy these pillows. This child lets no one rest while she is awake. BUSY, BUSY BUSY!

Too funny. She was chasing the cat, while Dozer was hot on her tail.

Fish Face

A rare pic of the 2 of us.

"Is that you Poppy?"

Snuggling with Grammy

June 26, 2008

2008-06-26T22:01:00.003-04:00

Julianna is just so much fun these days and she is really taking off as far as talking goes. She repeats tons of words now. She is obsessed with squirrels ("girls") these days and goes around saying it all the time. I actually went to both Target and Walmart today to see if I could find her a stuffed squirrel, with no luck. Anyone know where I can find a stuffed squirrel?

I also have to tell the sweetest story. Last night J woke up in the middle of the night and I brought her back to the bed with me where she fell right to sleep. She is a WILD sleeper and I was having trouble getting back to sleep myself. At one point she woke up and saw that she was lying next to me. She got the biggest smile, patted my arm a couple of times and said "mama". She then rolled over and went back to sleep. SOOO sweet. I could have cried.

Anyway, here are just a couple of pics from the past few days. By the way, the skirt that my 18 month old daughter has on in the last one is a size 3-6 months! That kid is just TINY!

June 23, 2008

2008-06-23T22:53:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to drop off a few pics from our boat ride on Sunday.

Happy Half Birthday Sweet Pea!!

2008-06-18T22:31:00.016-04:00

J is 18 months old today. I CAN'T believe how VERY, VERY fast the last year and a half have flown by. Of course, at the same time, it is hard to remember a time without her in my life. She is at such a FUN age right now. She is really such an easy going, super sweet, incredibly affectionate kid. She has an occasional meltdown, but 90+% of the time, she really is sunshine and light. She talks CONSTANTLY (though we rarely know what in the world she is saying), and laughs easily. Sometimes I just want to squeeze and squeeze her! And my goodness, does she ever keep us laughing. She is a MESS!!!

Pics from this week:

Swimming at Grammy and Poppy's neighborhood pool. She LOVED it! She would have flung herself right in the water several times over if we hadn't stopped her.

Making something yummy on Grammy's kitchen floor (and looking VERY serious about it).

Her expression is just so cute in this one. She had just hit her head on the balusters and was laughing and rubbing her head. Hee!

June 10, 2008

2008-06-10T15:35:00.007-04:00

Oh me, oh my, it has been SO hot! It has been in the upper 90's almost every day this past week. We have pretty much had to be either in the water or in the house. We did go out on my parents' boat on Saturday (steph's birthday) with my whole family. We also returned to the splashground this morning. There were several other babies right around J's age and they really did have a good time together - when they weren't ripping toys out of each other's hands. Hee! We also set up a sprinkler in the back yard the other day, but J wasn't too keen on it. I'm not sure why she likes the splash grounds and not a sprinkler at home. Who knows?

XOXOXO!

June 6, 2008

2008-06-06T14:35:00.010-04:00

Yesterday Julianna and I met Grammy and Aunt Stephanie over at a county park that has a new, and really nice "Splashground". It is an area that is full of fountains that shoot water up from the ground. It was so great because it had a HUGE tent over the top so that the kids (and parents) aren't standing/playing in the blazing sun. And though there were a lot of kids, it didn't feel over-crowded at all and the big kids were really considerate and in most cases down right sweet to the little ones. I was really thrilled with it and Julianna had a really great time - though she was a little thief, trying to steal everyone else's toys. I have a feeling we will be spending quite a bit of time there this summer.

Oh, and I meant to tell the funniest story last post. Julianna was in her highchair eating dinner the other night and Ryan asked her who was the greatest, mama or dada? Then we both started in, I saying "mama" and Ryan saying "dada", back and forth several times. Julianna didn't say anything for the longest time, then looked us right in the eyes and said "kitty-kitty". We just died. I think Ryan and I definitely got our just desserts!

I also have to say that tomorrow, June 7th, is a big day for so many people that are very important to us. Happy Birthday Stephanie! Happy Birthday Andy! Happy Anniversary Richard and Alina! We love you all!! It is also Ryan's late paternal grandfather's (Granddaddy Fox) birthday. Wow, what a day!

Here are a few pics from yesterday. Almost all of them have a decidedly blue cast because of the big blue awning over the fountains.

NOT J's cup!

NOT J's ball!

NOT J's wagon! Hee!

June 3, 2008

2008-06-03T22:08:00.004-04:00

Just dropping off a few pics.

XOXOX,
Sarah

Look at her fat little Hobbit feet. So cute!

I really just posted this pic because it really shows how LONG (and skinny) her little legs are.

May 31, 2008

2008-05-31T22:21:00.007-04:00

Just wanted to drop off several cute pics from the last few days.

XOXOXOXO!

Playing with the hose on the deck this evening.

Notice the new gate over the staircase. I have been wanting one desperately since J could walk. It is a fairly high staircase with a landing of flagstone, and she goes straight for it every time we go out to the deck. Anyway, it was my birthday present from Grammy and Poppy this year. It is so nice to finally be able to SIT out on the deck without constantly chasing her away from the staircase to avoid a nasty fall. Yippee!

Cute, cute cute!

Sharing goldfish with daddy on the couch. As J says "ISH!"

Such a sweet pic. J had just fallen up the step.

Busy Week

2008-05-28T23:09:00.003-04:00

Sorry to leave everyone hanging for so long. We have had a really busy week. In addition to my sister coming into town from Wisconsin, it was my dad's and my birthday this week. We also had the chance to spend Memorial Day out on Lake Wylie with our good friends (pics in the below post). Here are several pics from this week!

*This is the 3rd post of the evening. Be sure to see the 2 below posts.

Just a cute pic daddy took while feeding her.

Baby Thunderdome with Grammy and Aunt Steph (and mommy of course).

Grammy and Auntie are such fun!

We went to a shopping area that had a fountain that all the kids play in. I didn't bring her bathing suit, but that didn't stop our water baby from getting at it!

Memorial Day

2008-05-28T23:08:00.002-04:00

We spent Memorial Day with our good friends the Bancrofts. We spent the morning on their pontoon boat and just had the greatest time. We anchored off (is that correct boat terminology?? Probably not...) at a little sandbar where the water came just up to Julianna's waist. She was SOOO excited and just played in the water for a couple of hours. There were several other kids there, though she was the youngest, and she really showed off for them. It was too cute and we all had a blast!

What a cutie!!! Love this pic!

J and Auntie Weezie

How Time Flies!

2008-05-28T21:59:00.007-04:00

I found a picture from the last time we went out on Bill and Louise's boat. I think that it is probably pretty close to a year ago, give or take a month. She is wearing the same life jacket in both pictures. It is just nuts for me to see how much she changed since last summer! Life is just moving so darn fast!!

More Pics

2008-05-20T23:34:00.004-04:00

After our pretty full week last week (i.e. visiting with Nana and the zoo outing), J and I have done very little of anything this week. We really haven't gotten in our car since Thursday of last week!!! That has to be a record! So anyway, I just have a couple of pics from around the house. Nothing too exciting, but my subject is always so darn precious no matter where we are. I know, spoken like a true mama...
Oh, and I also have the most darling video to post if I EVER find the time to upload the thing to Google video.

Just too stinkin' cute!

She put this plate on her head on her own! It did fall off before I could take the picture, so I put it back up there, but the idea was all her own!

Is this not the cutest picture? Is it just me, or does she look 3 years old?

A Few Cute Pics

2008-05-17T23:00:00.006-04:00

Just dropping off a couple of pictures from the past couple of days. In the first few pictures Julianna is coloring. She literally spent over 30 minutes coloring yesterday. I couldn't believe her attention span. And she really did just color on the paper. When I grew a bit bored of it and tried to redirect her, she cried and pitched a big ole fit. I was really rather amazed at how long it was fun for her.

To entertain myself, I started ducking down behind the counter and then jumped up and yelled "boo". She thought it was too funny!

Just a couple of sandbox pics.

At the Zoo

2008-05-14T01:59:00.010-04:00

Ryan, Julianna, and I went to the Columbia, SC Zoo on Monday. We had the best time and Julianna had a blast. She is really at such a fun age right now. It was so neat to watch her really put together the real animal with the animals in her books. She LOVED the giraffes! But I must say that she really loved the petting zoo animals the most. She wasn't the least bit afraid of feeding the goats, and believe me, they are QUITE aggressive. I guess she has had lots of practice with our dogs who act alot like those goats! Julianna was a real trooper all day and didn't cry once. We took over 200 pics. Most of them weren't so great, but we did get several good ones. I put some of the decent ones in a slideshow. Notice that in several of the pictures she is carrying around a stick. The zoo had great sticks! Hee. Also, I think that you can mute the song if it starts to drive you crazy after hearing it once or twice.

*5/14/08 - After watching the slideshow through, I realized that this picture was cropped by the slideshow program. I just LOVE it. We were in the petting zoo area and they were playing some square dance type music over the loud speaker. She was so excited about the animals and she started to really dance and laugh and turn around in circles all at the same time. SOOOOOOO CUTE!

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mother's Day Weekend with Nana

2008-05-14T01:06:00.006-04:00

We were so lucky that my dad's mother was able to be here from Florida this weekend. We were able to spend some time with her each of the 3 days she was here, including a really lovely Mother's Day brunch on Sunday. The weather couldn't have been more lovely. We only wish Nana could have stayed longer! Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

I'm not sure why, but I really like this pic.

Playing in the hose at Grammy and Poppy's.

She got really wet, so off went the clothes!

Nana and Julianna

Mother's Day Pic - Grammy, Mommy, Juianna, Nana. Not the best, but it was hard to get a good one of all 4 of us.

Daddy's the BIG 3-0!

2008-05-06T23:52:00.006-04:00

Ryan's 30th birthday came and went on Sunday without much ado. He had to work and then we spent a very quiet evening at home. We did go out to Grandmama and Granddaddy's beautiful new house on Saturday to celebrate Ryan's b-day with Uncle Richard and Aunt Alina who came in from Raliegh. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST HUSBAND AND DADDY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!! WE LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH!!

Here are a few pictures from Saturday, Sunday, and a couple from today.

Riding on a tractor that Uncle Richard and Daddy rode on 30 years ago!

WOW, these drawers actually open!!!

Helping daddy unwrap his presents.

Redneck Sandbox

2008-05-03T00:15:00.004-04:00

Julianna so loved the "sandbox" (Really just a bucket barely large enough to sit in) at Grammy and Poppy's house that we decided that Ryan would build her a permanent one in the yard. But because Ryan has a few projects that take precedence, such as getting his WONDERFUL annual vegetable garden in, we knew it would be while before he could get to it. Well anyone who knows Ryan knows that he would just about do anything to make his little girl smile. So he went out this morning before 6:30 am (his day off) and started clearing an area in our yard that is a bit hidden and gets afternoon shade. He then dug a shallow hole for an old kiddie pool that we used to fill for the dogs in the summer. He filled it with a few bags of play sand from Lowes. He even found that the base of our old Dog igloo that had pretty much never been set foot in by any of our dogs fit as a lid (in an effort to keep it from being used as a litter box by every cat within a square mile) perfectly. He pretty much had her sandbox ready for her by the time she was finished with her breakfast. She loved it and played in it several times today. Ryan still intends to make her a permanent one some time in the near future, but for now this one will do quite nicely I think.

Also in keeping with the redneck theme, I took J outside in only a shirt and diaper to play in the sandbox this evening after already going though 2 pairs of pants today. I eventually put some (non-matching, old) p.j. pants on her which Ryan said looked more redneck than no pants at all. Hee.

Julianna LOVES to kick the ball around the yard. Are those not the skinniest little legs that you have ever seen not on an amphibian?

Wordless Wednesday

2008-04-30T22:51:00.006-04:00

Rainy Day

2008-04-29T00:17:00.004-04:00

Today it pretty much rained from sunup 'til sundown. We did have a few minutes respite and you better believe we took advantage of those precious few minutes that we were able to be outside. This morning I was feeling a bit like a caged animal, so I packed J up and we went over to the indoor play area at the mall (affectionately known as Baby Thunderdome). We had a pretty good time though Julianna didn't last quite as long as she usually does. I was thrilled just to get out of the house. Then this afternoon during a rain intermission, we went out and splashed in the puddles.

I just wanted to post this picture because she looks SO tiny.

Since she was already soaking wet I figured why not let her play with the hose!

Just Pics

2008-04-26T22:37:00.002-04:00

A few cute pics from the past couple of days:

More Pigtail Pics

2008-04-24T22:59:00.006-04:00

Julianna has just been the biggest hit the last couple of days in her pigtails. I don't even know how many people said how adorable, beautiful, cute, etc. she was today at Wal-Mart. She is a MESS of the highest order - but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Can you tell Julianna adores her Grammy?

Outside in her pj's.

This is the second post this evening and the third in the past 2 days, so be sure to see the following couple posts if you missed them!

Feeding Her Babies.

2008-04-24T22:43:00.004-04:00

Julianna has a little "Furr Real" kitty that has a little bottle. The kitty even makes little slurping sounds when she feeds it. Well she now loves to feed all of her babies. She is so cute. She will do it completely unprompted and will even make little slurping noises for the regular lo-tech stuffed animals. These pics aren't great, but I finally did catch her a couple of times:

Pigtails

2008-04-23T23:50:00.007-04:00

Julianna does not love to have her hair messed with. She has a TON of hair. People often think that she is older than she is because of how much hair she has. Anyway, she pretty much pitches a fit anytime I try to do anything other than brush it and put a barrette in it to keep it out of her eyes. I haven't ever truly known whether she has a sensitive head (which I cannot relate to at all. Really, I would have made a great cave woman...) or if she is just stubborn as a mule. I am now leaning toward sensitive head because I have found that if I do her hair while it is wet she doesn't protest NEARLY as much. I think that while it is wet little individual strands don't pull and hurt. So anyway, today is the first day that I put pigtails in and was able to leave them in for more than 3 minutes. She didn't really mind a bit and left them in pretty much all day. I took a ton of pics and she was too cute.

What a mess!!!

I can't pinpoint why, but I love this pic.

Julianna the Menace

2008-04-19T23:31:00.008-04:00

We were stuck inside this evening due to the rain (though it was pretty nice and we were able to play outside some this morning) for the first time in a while. I wouldn't (by any stretch of the imagination) call myself an outdoorsy type, but it is no fun being stuck in my little house with a one year old whose mission seems to be "seek and destroy"!! Ryan and I often shut all the doors down the hall except the one to J's room and then we are able to sit at the table and she can wander between us and her room. Well I guess that our bedroom door wasn't completely latched and she went in there and pulled all of my newly folded, but not yet put away clothes out of the laundry basket and threw them ALL over. I went looking for her when things were, as you moms know, "too quiet". She looked SO proud, but I wasn't able to stop myself from saying "OH NO!" Well her little face just fell and her bottom lip started trembling. I felt awful. Ryan heard my "oh no" and Julianna crying and rushed back to the room. He then promptly put all my clothes back in the basket and ENCOURAGED Julianna to throw them out again while clapping for her! Not exactly the lesson I wanted to teach her today, but I couldn't blame him. We just can't stand to see her sad! By the way, throwing my clothes out of the basket is preferable to pouring the glass of water from my nightstand on the newly washed and folded laundry of last week! The moral of the story - QUIT PROCRASTINATING AND PUT YOUR DARN LAUNDRY AWAY!!! Hee. Wow, that story took a lot longer to tell than I anticipated! Your reward for staying with me - a couple of pics from today:

More pics

2008-04-18T22:59:00.003-04:00

Just dropping off a couple pics from yesterday and today. More beautiful weather, more playing outside until dark!

Dead Air

2008-04-18T00:53:00.004-04:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted! I have been taking SO many pictures, but having trouble finding the time to upload them all. I am working on a slide show because there are just too many cute ones to post, but I wanted to post a couple in the meantime.

Not much new to speak of. It has been GLORIOUSLY beautiful here the past few days. It has been in the mid 70's. My very favorite weather. We have been outside as much as possible including going over to the park after dinner tonight until almost sundown. What fun we are having. Julianna was watching a little girl, about eight or nine years old, jumping rope today and just clapped and clapped for her. It was too cute and the girl loved it and played with Julianna the rest of the evening.

I'd better head to bed as it is getting close to 1:00 am, and it will be a rough day tomorrow if I don't start moving in that direction.

In the "sandbox" Grammy and Poppy made for her at their house. She LOVED it!!!

A rare picture of her asleep in my arms. I just don't usually have the camera nearby.

Having fun at the "baby thunderdome"!

Eating ice cream with Daddy.

More Pics

2008-04-11T15:39:00.005-04:00

Just a couple of pics from yesterday. It was a lovely 75 degrees and we spent most of the time when J wasn't eating or sleeping outside.

Love this pic!

Very intersted in this piece of bark.

I LOVE it when she squats down like this to inspect something.

She climbed into this pot on the deck and seemed to know that she was being funny!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2008-04-09T22:57:00.008-04:00

Pictures from today (mostly at the wonderful park down the road from us):

Notice the "beautiful flower" (dandelion) that she carried around for a good while.

My Favorite of the week!

Driving with Daddy - Don't worry, only in the driveway!

Yesterday in the back yard:

Look at all that wild hair! Getting SO long.

mmmwaaa!

2008-04-08T22:31:00.004-04:00

I just wanted to drop off this video. I finally caught Julianna blowing a kiss on camera - just barely! I don't know what it is about this kid but she does not perform well in front of the camera. Or, of course, when I try to get her to do something for someone else. Nothing like a kid or a dog to make a liar out of you, right? Hee. I also have a couple cute pics from today that I will try to post tomorrow.

XOXOXO

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

April 7, 2008

2008-04-07T23:15:00.006-04:00

Julianna really is SO much fun right now. SO sweet and cute. Tonight we were watching this cartoon on TV before I put her to bed (When I put her to bed, I always let her watch tv before putting her down, Ryan does not) and something on the show struck her as SOOO funny. I have no idea why is was so funny, but it was. I rewound to that particular part like 5 times and she belly laughed every time and quit when that part was over. It was too cute. Then I put her to bed and a minute or two later we heard her on the monitor cracking up in bed! Ryan and I thought she must have been reliving that hilarious part on the show. I wonder if that really could be it??? What a mess that kid is! Anyway, here are a few pics from the last few days. The first series was taken outside in the yard (yes she has her pj's top on), the second set was taken at my parents' (Grammy and Poppy) house (She looks like the true mess that she is in these), and the 3rd was taken back at the mall again. Ryan and I took her this morning and I'm not sure who had more fun - Julianna or us watching her. She is just all over the place now. What fun!

I tried so hard to get her to look at me! She was too interested in some sort of something in the mulch. It would have been pretty picture though, huh? Hee.

What a disaster this kid is! She had spilled something on her shirt and was going topless!

Julianna has been tagged by Alex and Anika

2008-04-04T19:05:00.021-04:00

Julianna has been tagged by her cousins Alex and Anika http://www.guatemamatwo.blogspot.com/ She needs to list 10 things about herself.

1. I am a big time thumb-sucker and I love my blankey. My mom REALLY tried to get me to take a pacifier. It worked for a couple of months, but then I decided my thumb was always accessible and tastes MUCH better!

13 months old

2. I LOVE books more than any other thing or toy. I will sit and "read" for ages. I am exceptionally good at entertaining myself in general. I do make a BIG mess everywhere I go though.

11 months old

3. I am my father's child in that I love to be outdoors whether it is hot, cold, wet, dry or any combination. I cry almost everytime I have to come in.

15 months old

4. I am a VERY, VERY picky eater. Meal times are always very hard on my mom and dad as they spend them singing, pleading, and begging me to EAT EAT EAT! They still feed me baby food vegetables and fruits because I will absolutely spit every bite of the real things out!! I do LOVE freeze-dried fruits though - go figure.

11 months -LOVING Thanksgiving dinner. Too bad every meal can't be turkey and gravy.

5. Hopefully not because of the above, I am TEENY TINY. At 15 months I still weigh less than 20 lbs, but am very tall. I have the skinniest frog legs ever! Both my mom and dad were skinny minnies too.

10 months

6. I LOVE music and Dancing! I look like I am clogging when I really go to town. I am SOOOO cute!

14 months old

7. I have the BLUEST eyes you have ever seen. My mom's eyes are quite blue, but mine make hers look like dishwater. I also lucked out and got my dad's thick, long, black eyelashes. There is rarely a time that we go out that someone doesn't comment on my eyes.

13 months

8. I love all animals, but especially kitties. Kitty was actually my first word.

6 months old - before the cats got smart. They don't hang around long enough for a picture any more!

9. I love my bath SO much and always have. I don't mind AT ALL if you pour water on my head. I could stay in my bath all day if mom would let me.

15 months old

10. My Grandmama thought of my first name. My mom loved the names Julie and Anna but had never thought of putting them together. Daddy wanted my first name to have atleast 3 syllables because my last name is SO short. As soon as Grandmama suggested it, mommy knew it was the right name. Also I have the same middle name (Morgan) as my Granddaddy and Uncle Richard. Morgan is my paternal Great-Grandmother's maiden name, with whom I also share my initials (JMF).

14 months old - With Grandmother Jeanne Morgan Fox

Thanks Alex and Anika, Mommy and I had a great time with this. We tried to pick pictures that hadn't been posted in the past. I'm pretty sure that a couple are duplicates, but way too lazy to look back through to find out.

XOXOX,
Julianna

March 31, 2008

2008-03-31T23:00:00.005-04:00

Not much new or exciting going on since last post. Have been watching as much Basketball as possible and have been going through withdrawls today as is the first day that I haven't seen atleast 2 games since Thursday. I have pleased with or indifferent to the outcomes of most games except the Kansas/Davidson game yesterday. I thought I alone could will the last shot in, but alas, it did not fall. Oh well. Atleast I will not have to feel guilty about wanting Carolina to stomp Kansas. Other than that, Julianna and I met mom (Grammy) at an outdoor shopping area one day as the weather was LOVELY (almost 80!)! And after a small meltdown in first store we went into, Julianna had a GREAT time walking around outside. On Friday (Ryan's day off), Ryan took Julianna out on some errands and then over to the park. I was thrilled to have some time to myself and planned to have a morning of crosswords and uninterupted bathing. But was so lost without J and wanted to spend time together as whole family, I ended up meeting Ryan and J over at the park. I know, I am SOOO pathetic! The park is only a mile or so from the house, so maybe a little less pathetic than you might be thinking??? Hee.

Here are some pics:

Shopping trip on LOVELY day!

i cannot fight the compulsion to add that Daddy both dressed (undershirt as outerwear) Julianna and did her hair (not bad!!!) for the park. Hee.

She looks like such a BIG GIRL!!

Easter

2008-03-25T15:40:00.006-04:00

We had a really nice Easter. The Easter bunny was VERY generous to the little girl (Thanks Grammy and Grandmama!) but forgot her mommy and daddy entirely. Luckily, Julianna is a great sharer :) We went up to my parents house and then went to their country club for a really lovely brunch. Julianna was super sweet and really good tempered for having a big morning and then being out and about long after her normal nap time. When we got back J took a REALLY long nap and gave me the greatest Easter present of all - being able to watch the GREAT Basketball games all day long. Go Heels!!! Did you see the Davidson game?? What a great game to watch. And don't you just want to adopt little Stephen Curry and take him home (he looks 12 at the most)? We also had a little Easter egg hunt at Grammy's. I have to say it was a pretty big bust. She was MUCH more interested in taking the eggs out of the basket than finding them and putting them in. Still cute and lots of fun. Anyway, here are several pictures from the day:

Now I must admit that it was me that put her in her pj's and crocs (and sweater) this time, but atleast she matches when I do it :) See here

With Uncle Joe.

Pictures, Pictures, and more Pictures

2008-03-25T15:30:00.011-04:00

And just when you congratulated me on not overloading the blog with a million pictures Katy! Hee. Just wanted to post a ton of super cute pics from the week that I didn't get posted before Easter. We had a nice week with fairly warm weather and we spent a good part of each day outside. We also went back to the play area (aka Baby Thunderdome or Germ Petri Dish) in the mall this week. Julianna had a blast. She was SO cute and is really able to crawl up on and over some of the things now. She also loves the other kids. SO CUTE!!!

*Note: was hoping to get Easter pics up also, but J woke up from her nap and I ran out of time. Hopefully I will get them up tonight or tomorrow at the latest.*

My favorite picture of the week! So stinkin' cute!!

"Hey Buster, Don't you want this ball?"

"Woof" Translation - "No but I'll take that stick, thank you very much!"

"Come on out Kitty!" Julianna hasn't yet figured out that pulling tails and ears is not exactly the best way to make friends with her beloved cats.

Sweet bathtub pic

Wild-eyed bathtub pic

Sweet girl snuggling with bunny and blankey after bath.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-21T23:08:00.002-04:00

A couple of pics from Easter last year. Oh what a CUTE, CUTE little bunny!

A Few More Backyard Pics

2008-03-18T23:28:00.005-04:00

The warmish weather has allowed us to be outside quite a bit more lately, which J and I both love. Just dropping off a couple of pictures I took today in the backyard.

XOXOXO

Trip to Mt. Vernon

2008-03-17T08:55:00.004-04:00

Last Tuesday afternoon, my mom, Julianna, and I packed up her little Volkswagen bug and started on our way to visit my Grandpa in Mt. Vernon, Ohio for his 93rd birthday. We broke the 9 hour trip up thinking that Julianna would sleep a good portion of it if we left in the evening. She did NOT. She stayed awake until 5 minutes before we stopped for the night at 11pm. We had less than 3 hours left of the trip on Wednesday though, and that was nice. We had nice time and it was good to see my Grandpa (a VERY young 93!), my aunts and uncle. Julianna was a little off her game as her regular feeding and sleep schedules had pretty much been thrown out the window. She was still very cute and very sweet for the most part. She did have a couple of meltdowns though, which is really unlike her. I was also pretty much in pain with a TERRIBLE toothache the whole trip. The pain started as we went up the mountains in West Virginia (the tooth had already been sensitive, but not painful), and the dentist seemed to think that the change in altitude could have caused the pain explosion that I was never able to get under control there after. I was barely maintaining sanity for the first couple of days and then on Thursday morning I thought if I didn't see a dentist I was going to loose my mind. I went to a dentist there and he did the first part of a root canal (which I will have to have finished here on Wednesday). It did help considerably, but I was still pretty uncomfortable. I wish that I had felt better and could have enjoyed the trip a bit more. I also only got my camera out once, which is COMPLETELY unlike me. I got a couple shots, but now I am disappointed that I didn't get more. Anyway, here are a couple of pics from the trip and a couple of cute ones that I took yesterday.

Grandpa, Julianna, and I

A rare sucker treat

Grammy sure is fun!

Did I mention that J LOVES sticks?!

2008-03-10T00:31:00.003-04:00

She reminds me of Buster when he was a pup, always going around trying to pick up the biggest, heaviest stick. Too cute. I do worry that she is going to fall down and impale herself, poke out her eye, etc. But I try to stay on top of her, make sure she doesn't get going too fast, and hope for the best. Really I try to make her sit to play with them, but that is getting harder and harder to enforce. She wants to GO GO GO!

March 7, 2008

2008-03-07T22:33:00.005-05:00

I wanted to start by saying congratulations to one of my very dearest, bestest friends in the world. Katy had her third baby on Wednesday. Welcome to the world Ansley Kate! I am just SO thrilled for you, Kyrikakis Family! I love you all so very much. WOOOHOOO!!

I also wanted to drop off a few pictures of the girl. It was incredibly beautiful yesterday - mid-high 60's and sunny - and we played outside quite a bit. Today it was COLD AND RAINY and left me really yearning for Spring. I know that I shouldn't complain as we have had a VERY mild winter, but I am tired of coats and undershirts and socks and worrying about the flu. I can't remember, did ol' Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow this year? Ok, enough complaining. Here are the pics:

J LOVES sticks. She is always looking for the perfect one. It is very rare when she doesn't have one in her hand when outdoors.

She also loves picking the Nandina berries.

Happy 90th Birthday Great Grandmother Fox!

2008-03-05T00:11:00.009-05:00

Ryan's wonderful, beautiful, incredibly young at heart grandmother's 90th birthday is today. All of her children, many of her grandchildren, and her great-granddaughter all celebrated with her in Knoxville this past weekend. We celebrated with a get together on Saturday night and then on Sunday morning we went to church and lunch after. We had a lovely time and were so honored to celebrate this momentous occasion with her. Here are some pics from the weekend:

4 Generations! (Rick, Ryan, Julianna, Gram Fox)

Everyone after Church

Grandmother and Julianna at lunch.

Grandmother with some of her grandsons.

Here are just some miscellaneous pics from the weekend:

Daddy and Julianna passed out after a long day of travelling, visiting, and partying.

Kissy Face

On the way to church. She promised she would be a good girl!

She forgot about her promise, so we were kind of wandering around outside the santuary and a lovely lady gave J a rose.

More wandering.

Even though not the greatest, a rare family photo.

Visiting with Grandma Brown (Ryan's maternal Grandmother)

Julianna lovin' on Dixie at Grandma Brown's.

Favorite Foto Friday

2008-02-29T16:37:00.004-05:00

I have seen "Favorite Foto Friday" on a lot of blogs. Instead of posting a new picture, people often dig back through and post old faves. This is one of my all time favorites. Julianna is, not surprisingly, in the bathtub. She has LOVED her bath since day one. In fact, if she is in a grouchy mood that she just can't seem to shake, I will put her in the tub. That always snaps her out of it immediately. Anyway, she is 15 weeks old and looks like a little cartoon character. So stinkin' cute!!!

Walking Pics

2008-02-26T22:18:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to drop off a few pics of J walking. She has totally turned the corner and I'm afraid that crawling will be a thing of the past quite soon.

Don't you just love her little dirty knees?

I'm not sure how, but she managed to not trip over blankey!

February 24, 2008

2008-02-24T22:18:00.006-05:00

Well I think that I can officially say that Julianna is walking. She is walking about as much as (or more than)she is crawling. She still looks like Frankenbaby and is wobbly, but more and more she is choosing to brave it on foot rather than drop down and crawl. I am awed by these little ones' bravery. If I fell down just about everytime I tried to walk - sometimes actually hurting myself - I'm not so sure I would keep trying to walk. But they do (and I guess I did). I'm also a little sad to say goodbye to crawling. I just think it is the cutest (and shortest -she has the rest of her life to walk) stage. Before Julianna's bath we often strip her down in her room and then let her crawl down the hall to the bathroom naked. Ryan says she looks just like Smeagol (a.k.a. Gollum) from the Lord of the Rings. She is teeny tiny skinny and her head looks rather large on that tiny naked body. Oh I will miss you little Smeagol!!

Here are a few pics from the last few days:

Julianna (sort of) Dancing

2008-02-20T23:16:00.028-05:00

This is a video I took of Julianna hoping to catch her dancing - which she LOVES to do - just not when I get the camera out unfortunately. But she is watching a little show that she loves called "Jack's Big Music Show". Anyway, you can see in the video she is trying to do what the puppets are doing on the tv. The song goes "Come on everybody give your foot a tap" and after a bit of a delay you see her trying to tap her feet. Then the song says "Come on everybody give your hands a clap" and then she claps her hands. It's pretty darn cute. I hope to get a video of her really dancing her heart out soon. Will post it when I do.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Little Navigator

2008-02-19T22:55:00.005-05:00

Don't worry, the car was in park! Julianna and I went to see Granddaddy (Ryan's dad) play in the praise band at his church on Sunday. I didn't want to put her in the nursery as the flu is supposedly spreading rampantly whether or not you've had a flu shot. Anyway, Julianna did very well for about half of the service. She and I went and played in the car (it was cool outside) for the last half of the service. Julianna wanted to make sure that we were going to take the best route home :)

February 15, 2008

2008-02-15T23:07:00.005-05:00

Daddy did not work today so he got up with Julianna and let me sleep in (to give credit where it is due, I should disclose that he does this every day he is off)! When I woke up I could not find the two of them. I went outside and found them playing in the back of Daddy's truck. When I got close enough to see what my child was wearing I could have died laughing and had to run for my camera! See for yourself!

Very cute.

Adorable, but you still can't tell what she has on. Wait for it....

What!?#&$%! Footy pj's with coat, hat, and Crocs! Hee Hee Hee Hee.

Yea! I love it when Daddy is off work!!

* There are 2 more new posts from tonight below :) XOXOXO

Valentine's Day

2008-02-15T22:57:00.005-05:00

Just a couple of pictures from Valentine's Day. Julianna, Mommy and Daddy LOVE you so much! We were even fighting over whose Valentine you were. Hee. By the way, she was VERY diplomatic and never let on which parent was her true Valentine. (It was Mommy, right?)

Loving the ring pop from Daddy.

Starting to look nervous as Mommy thinks you've had enough sugar and starts to make moves to take ring pop away. Hee!

Botanical Gardens

2008-02-15T22:42:00.005-05:00

On Sunday, Julianna and I met Grammy and Poppy (my parents) at the lovely local Botanical Gardens. The just opened an incredible orchid conservatory. The weather was also nice enough that we were able to enjoy walking through the outdoor gardens. There weren't alot of stunning blooms outdoors, but it was really nice all the same. Julianna and I can't wait to go with Daddy in the Spring.

Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

Grammy and Julianna in front of an incredible wall of orchids.

Silly Girl

Julianna and Poppy

Grammy and Julianna running through the fountains. These fountains start and stop without any notice, so you are really taking a chance by running through. Luckily Grammy and Julianna did not get caught!

These Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Winter

2008-02-09T22:03:00.000-05:00

It has been another lovely day here with temperatures in the high 60's. It is almost impossible to get Julianna inside. She screams and cries every time we start walking towards the door. I love just sitting in the yard with her while she explores. It is such fun to imagine things through her eyes. Everything is new and exciting. New smells, textures, sounds, and tastes. It is literally a new world for her and I am just so happy to be there to watch her navigate through it.

The only thing that Julianna likes almost as much as playing outside is pulling every single book off the little bookshelf in her closet. She just thinks that it is the GREATEST fun and is not satisfied until every last book is on the floor. She is so funny, she will take a break every once in a while to look at a book that she has just pulled down. She will just sit right down on top of all of those books and start reading. What a characater she is!

"Hmmm, this one looks good..."

February 7, 2008

2008-02-07T12:11:00.000-05:00

Not much new going on here, though Julianna is walking more and more. In fact she took about 15 or so steps today while we were playing outside. She still prefers to crawl pretty much everywhere though. She is also climbing everything like a little monkey. She is able to climb onto the sofa and then onto the end table, so we have to watch her even more closely. How any of these little ones make it into adulthood without killing themselves is beyond me. Oh and a couple of weeks ago Julianna gave up her am nap :( I think that she is in that in between stage where two naps is too much and one nap isn't enough. All in all it seems to be going pretty well though. The toughest thing to figure out has been her eating schedule. She needs to have lunch before her nap because if she doesn't wake up until past 2:00, then it quite late for lunch and puts dinner REALLY late. She also isn't used to eating lunch before noon, so it is hard to get her to eat so much earlier. Oh well, I know it will work itself out in time.

The weather has been amazingly nice here the past couple of days with temps in the 70's. It is a little cooler today (mid 50's) but still quite nice. Both Ryan and I have been taking J outside as much as possible. She totally loves being outside and cries almost everytime we bring her in.

Here are a few pics from the week:

Loving the bubble-maker-thingy from Auntie Stephanie.

"Shhh"

Buster doesn't look like he is enjoying the wagon ride quite as much as J :)

Looking QUITE impish after crawling onto the sofa.

Happy Forever Family Day!!!

2008-02-05T18:39:00.000-05:00

Woooohoooo! We are so thrilled for you Jens, Tracy, Alex, and Anika! I know that the road to becoming a family has not been easy or without its bumps. But as you said on your blog "It is so so worth it." Oh Happy Day! And what a gorgeous girl!

Guatemama Two (Tracy's blog)

More Pics

2008-01-30T22:19:00.000-05:00

Just dropping off a few more pictures. Be sure to see the post below too. The picture is just too much.

Most Pitiful Face in the History of the World

2008-01-30T22:07:00.000-05:00

Park and Pigtails Pics

2008-01-28T00:54:00.000-05:00

Aren't they the cutest!!

These might be the last pictures of Julianna in pigtails that you ever see. I'm just kidding (sort of), but she did NOT like them. I tried not to make them too tight, but she really did seem uncomfortable.

Baby Thunderdome and More Bath Pics

2008-01-23T16:08:00.001-05:00

Ryan was off work on Monday so we decided to take Julianna over to a mall that has a little play area for little ones. We didn't realize that it was Martin Luther King Jr. day and that the kids were off of school. It was a mad house to say the least. Kids were stepping on, rolling over, and sliding onto other little ones. Ryan said it was like Baby Thunderdome. Julianna was one of the smallest and I was having a panic attack just about the whole time we were there (which was VERY short because my nerves couldn't take it.) She wasn't at all intimidated though, and loved the other kids and had a blast. I have to admit I was also anxiety ridden about all the little germs that must be swimming around in a place like that. I look at it and see one giant petri dish. I know I need to relax and that you can't keep the little nippers in a bubble, but sometimes that doesn't seem like such a bad idea...I mean just until she turns 18! I don't know what was going on with my camera, but I really didn't get a single good picture, though for some reason I really like this one:

Also, here are some pics from Julianna's bath last night. She is such an adorable little show-off during her bath!

Winter Weather

2008-01-19T22:45:00.000-05:00

Yes, I realize that all of you folks that live north of the Mason-Dixon Line are rolling your eyes at the "Winter Weather" post title. But it really has snowed twice this week, so for North Carolina, that is as wintery weathery as it gets! I have discovered that my child definitely inherited her father's want-to-be-outside-even-when-its-cold-and-yucky genes. She just practically begs to go out and cries EVERY time I bring her in. Anyway, I really just wanted to drop off a couple more pics:

Baby Laughing

2008-01-18T00:48:00.000-05:00

My cousin Tracy (can you believe that I figured out this link thing???) posted a little video of a baby laughing SO HARD on her blog. It is super cute! By the way, Tracy is just days away from finding out when they get to pick up their little girl, Anika, from Guatemala and bring her home forever and ever!!

Isn't she a beauty?!

The video reminded me of a video that I posted long ago of Julianna laughing in the bath tub. The video was taken in early to mid May, so she was not yet 5 months old. I went looking for it and felt like it was worth posting again:

A more recent pic of J in the bath tub. Can you believe how much she has changed?! What a little mess she was and still is!

*By the way, this is my third post of the day (well, I guess that it is technically after midnight and a new day...) so if you haven't seen the 2 following posts be sure to scroll down and take a look. There are some super cute pics (if I don't say so myself!).

Little Red Wagon

2008-01-17T11:45:00.000-05:00

Santa brought this wagon for Julianna. She LOVES it. I remember having a wagon and loving it too. They are good for so many shenanigans when you are a kid. I am sure she will play with it for years.

Oh, and there is another post from this morning below this one - mostly just more pictures.

XOXOXO

Can you see her little top toofers that are finally coming in?

1-17-08

2008-01-17T11:29:00.000-05:00

It snowed a bit last night. I knew that it was supposed to be raining by the time we got up this morning, so when Julianna woke up at about 2:00 am, I took her outside to see it. I know I'm nuts, but I didn't want her to miss it. Then after getting her nice and awake, I handed her off to Ryan and went on to bed! Actually, Ryan said she wasn't too amped up and went back to bed pretty easily. Anyway, here are a few pictures from this morning.

XOXOXO

Ryan snapped this at 2:00am

Blue-Eyed Girl

2008-01-14T23:31:00.000-05:00

*I have some more super-cute pictures that I will try to post in another day or two. I am just having a hard time finding the time to upload them to the computer from my camera.

Long Overdue Update and Pics

2008-01-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

We have just been settling back into "normal" life after the holidays. On New Year's Day, I'm sure Julianna was thinking, "Where are my presents?" Christmas was exactly one week before New Year's and her birthday was exactly one week before that. She probably thought that we had instated "Gift Giving Tuesdays". Hee. Poor thing has to wait an entire year for the next round. Oh well, I don't think that she will be deprived. Let's face it, Santa has nothing on her Grandmas.

She had her one year appointment last week (Her primary care physician got married and was out of the office for a couple of weeks). She is still in the 95% in height, 75% in head size, and 10% in weight. She is only 18lb 8oz. I was SOOO hoping that she had reached 20lb so that we could turn her car seat around, but no luck. At this rate it will be another 3 months at least. The doctor once again assured me that she is totally healthy, just little. She said that all of her numbers are staying on a pretty perfect curve and she even gave me the go ahead to take her off formula and put her on cow's milk. I have to admit that I am a little worried that she won't drink enough milk to replace the calories and nutrition that the formula provides. I think that I will ween her slowly.

Ryan and I took J to the park a few days ago (sorry about the not so smooth transitions :) and we had the most fun EVER. She was so stinkin' cute. She LOVED the slides and wanted to go down a million times. I love that we have a pretty amazing park less than a mile from our house. I am sure that we will spend ALOT of time there over the next several years.

We were also SO sad to see Auntie Stephanie leave on Tuesday. We miss and love you!

Ok, here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks.

XOXOXO

Just hangin' out in my chair.

What a mess!

She is dancing her little heart out. She just loves to dance. So cute!

Yikes. I can't believe that she is not scared. It looks like she is about to take off.

She loved crawling back and forth between Mommy and Daddy in these tubes.

My favorite cheesy grin makes yet another appearance.

I love this picture!

Christmas and New Year's Resolutions

2007-12-30T23:17:00.000-05:00

Our second Holiday Season as a family was even more wonderful than the first! I was SOOOO tired on the first one that if it weren't for the pictures, I'm not sure I would remember it at all!

I have been trying to think about what I could write to express the joy that I feel this holiday season. Once again, I know how lucky I am to have such an amazing husband, kid, parents, in-laws, family and friends. In a million ways this year has been harder than I thought it would be, but in a billion ways it has been so much more incredibly wonderful than I ever could have imagined. That being said, I am completely guilty of getting caught up in my daily life and sometimes I take for granted how truly blessed I am. The holidays are always sort of a reflective time when I seem to put on an especially pink pair of rosy glasses. I just wish that I could keep these glasses on all year long and not let little things keep me from seeing how truly amazing my life is. I know that it is so cliche, but I really want to try not to sweat the small stuff this year. I want to be completely present when playing with my daughter. When I am reading to her I don't want to be thinking about the dishes in the sink. This year has gone by too fast and I truly know what people mean when they say life is short (There were a few years in the not so distant past that really seemed to drag on - so this sentiment didn't really strike a cord). The time you have with your kids is too darn brief. And you don't get to do a single day over again. As they say, "Life is not a dress rehearsal". Sometimes you flub a line but the show must go on! It is midnight and I'm not sure that this will even make any sense tomorrow. But right now it seems right and true.

Christmas day itself was magical. Though Julianna really had no clue about what was going on, she was delighted with all of the presents. She really has played with everything. We woke up here and opened presents and then went up to Grammy and Poppy's for the day. I think that it is the first time that myself and all of my siblings and our families have been in the same place at the same time since the day I gave birth. We had a great time and once again J was a real trooper. Just a real sweetie all day long - even with a VERY abbreviated morning nap and NO afternoon nap at all! Oh, and she has started to dance. It is so darn cute. She just bops up and down really fast to music. I will have to upload a video of it soon. Here are some pictures from the day.

When we walked into the room she couldn't take her eyes off this "key key", and when I put her down she went straight for it.

She LOVES Dora and her Backpack.

More lovin' on her "key key".

This shopping cart is too cute!

She is looking at a Swiper the Fox ornament. Swiper is the villain on Dora. She LOVES him and doesn't have any idea he is the "bad guy".

Beautiful Girl!

This little kitty is a present from Grandmama and Granddaddy. It is too cute. It meows and purrs and even kneads you with its little paws. She LOVES it.

Showing off in my "fur" coat.

Christmas Eve

2007-12-29T15:55:00.000-05:00

On Christmas Eve, Ryan and I took Julianna to see Santa at the mall. Before we got up to Santa she was saying "San-Ta!" (or something close to that) but when we got up to him, she had a full fledged melt down! She started clinging to me and crying. I probably should have just left with her, but I forced the poor child to sit on the scary Santa's lap so that we could get a picture. The picture is too funny. Ryan was taking pictures with our camera but he had to stand way back so you can't tell how miserable she really was. Anyway the rest of the day was much better for the poor traumatized girl. We went to my parents for the evening and then came home to help Santa assemble a wagon. Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve. I will post some pictures from Christmas later.

XOXOXO

Santa looks none too pleased either! I guess by x-mas eve, he was probably OVER IT!

Feeling much better now that we are far from that scary man!

Loving a peppermint stick.

Tights and shoes with no dress is a pretty good look, right?

Slideshow of J's 1st year

2007-12-27T23:51:00.000-05:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I obviously didn't get the slideshow up before Christmas as I had hoped. With J's birthday and Christmas so close together and hundreds of pics taken in the last week, I have had a hard time finding time to download the pictures off my camera. Anyway, I have been working on this slideshow for a while now. It starts with the day Julianna was born and runs through her first birthday. I must warn you that this slideshow is a long one. I'm not sure exactly how long it is, but it is definitely over ten minutes long and contains over 150 pictures. I understand if you don't have that kind of time to invest :) I know it seems like a ton of pictures but with thousands of pictures to choose from, I really feel like I whittled it down to the bare minimum. hee. Also, this particular program will only allow you to use one song, so it just runs over and over again. Oh well. I promise to post about our Christmas and pics in the next couple of days. Just click on the little picture below and it will link you to the slideshow. You may have to maximize the screen by clicking on the middle little box on the upper right corner of the page.

XOXOXO

Julianna's First Year

Cindy Lou Who

2007-12-21T23:53:00.000-05:00

Hi All,
I have been working on a slideshow of my favorite pictures from the past year and also wading through the hundreds (literally) of pictures taken on Julianna's birthday. I hope to post both in the next couple of days before Christmas. In the mean time, I was watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas with J (She LOVES it. She doesn't seem at all afraid of the Grinch and adores his dog Max.) and I realized that I had a picture of Julianna where she looks remakably like Cindy Lou Who. What do you think?
XOXOXO

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

2007-12-18T13:05:00.000-05:00

Mommy and Daddy love you so very much. How lucky we are to be your parents. You are the sweetest, smartest, funniest, most beautiful child on the earth. Our love for you has no end.

One of my VERY favorites from the hospital. So very sweet.

I will try to post more favorites from the past year during the day as I get time.

5 Days 'Til Our Baby's Birthday

2007-12-13T22:34:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe that Julianna will be one year old on Tuesday. Where did the time go? I can remember exactly how I felt one year ago around this time. I knew that if I didn't go into labor myself by Sunday I would be induced. I was trying EVERYTHING to get my labor started. My sister and I were walking the malls day after day. There are some other old wives tales that I tried that I won't mention. In the end I was induced and had my baby in my arms by Monday evening. How could that have been a year ago? Don't get me wrong, it is hard to remember what life was like before Julianna, but I can remember putting her in her carseat for the first time to come home like it was yesterday. It is like yesterday and forever ago all in wrapped up in one. I think that on her birthday I will try to post some sort of picture retrospective. She has changed so very much, but, to me, in a lot of ways she still looks just like that baby I brought home from the hospital almost a year ago.

Here are a couple from this week:

Tagged by Tracy

2007-12-03T22:24:00.001-05:00

I've been tagged by Tracy: http://guatemamatwo.blogspot.com
I can't figure out the hyperlink thing either!

My cousin Tracy tagged me to play a game that goes around the blogs where you answer some questions about yourself. Oh by the way, Tracy just got the wonderful, amazing news that her little girl is coming home from Guatemala in January!!!! Congratulations Tracy, Jens, and Alex! We are thrilled and can't wait to see you all. Well here goes with the questions:

4 jobs I have held:
Nanny
Retail
Worked for Interior Design Wholesale Company
Mom - The VERY VERY VERY BESTEST!

4 movies watched more than once:
Good Will Hunting
The Sound of Music
Tombstone
The Christmas Story - Haven't we all been forced to watch this movie atleast a million times!

4 TV Shows I watch faithfully:
The Amazing Race
Heroes
The Daily Show with Jon Stuart
Any UNC Basketball Game (Go Heels!!)

4 places I have vacationed:
Several Caribbean Cruises
Prescott, AZ
San Diego, CA
Outerbanks, NC

4 Favorite Foods:
Anything Southern Fried - Really, anything.
Sashimi Tuna
Chinese
Thai

4 Places I'd rather be:
I like it pretty well right here! I think I'll stay.

Hobbies I have:
Taking pictures
Crossword Puzzles
Watching Sports (Especially College Basketball - Go Heels!)
Reading

Thanks for the Tag Tracy. It was fun. Well why we're here, I thought I might as well post a pic of the girl:

Her shirt says "Pinch Me, I'm cute". Don't you REALLY want to? I think I just might.

Bathtime!

2007-11-30T19:38:00.000-05:00

Here are some super cute pics from her bath today.

*Also, I posted 3 different entries today, so be sure to scroll down to see the others. There are too many cute pictures that you don't want to miss. :)

I just love this cheesy grin!

Favorite Fotos From This Week

2007-11-30T17:10:00.000-05:00

Hugging her 2 piggies

Very excited about watching Dora

Showing off the only 2 teeth she has!

I know that this is wrong on so many levels, but it is just too cute!

Key-Key and Daddy

2007-11-29T23:06:00.000-05:00

Julianna is obsessed with kitty cats. She carries around the pitiful little black cat with the silly witch's hat that Daddy got her for Halloween everywhere she goes. She even sleeps with it and calls for it from bed if you forget to put it in with her. She goes around saying "key key" all the time. Whenever she sees one in a book, in our driveway, on television, she just squeals with delight and says "key-key". We think that she started calling them key-keys because Ryan would always take her outside to see the cats and say "Here kitty-kitty" to call them to him. She is just too cute! Julianna is also obsessed with Daddy these days. If Daddy is around she wants to be held by him! They actually snuggled in bed for like a half an hour and Julianna wasn't even asleep. She just cuddled up with him and was completely content to just lie there with him. She is usually such a wiggle worm and would NEVER just lie in bed with me in the middle of the day. Since Mommy is at home with her and her primary caregiver it sometimes makes her feel like chopped liver. Oh well, I know how Daddies and their little girls are. I guess that I'd better get used to it.

Truly Thankful

2007-11-24T09:56:00.000-05:00

To say that Ryan and I were thankful to spend our first Thanksgiving as a family rather than a couple would be a gross understatement. This has been the best year of our lives and we are beyond grateful for the amazing little girl that is our daughter. How lucky we are to be her parents. Everyday as she learns something new, we too are learning. With every kiss and squeeze our hearts are growing. Never has there been a Thanksgiving when I have been more aware of my blessings.

In addition to my incredibly sweet, funny, and adorable daughter I am thankful for so very much. I am thankful for my husband. Every day he strives to be the best husband and father. He is so funny and honest and beautiful. He works so very hard and never complains. Julianna and I are so lucky.

Ryan and I are so very thankful for our parents. We are filled with gratitude for all that they have done for us over the past year (and of couse, our entire lives). It is because of them that I have been able to stay home with our daughter this year. Never have I done anything more fulfilling. Never has a job felt more important. I know that I will soon have to return to work and quite honestly, I know that it will completely break my heart. But my sorrow in having to leave my little girl does not diminish the gratitude that I have for every single day that I was able to be with her this past year.

We are so thankful for our families. Ryan and I both have so many fantastic, fun, kind, interesting, and talented grandparents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We are so grateful.

I am thankful for my warm house, my incredible friends, my dogs, mild NC winters (I hope I'm not jinxing anything), a car that runs (again, I hope I'm not provoking the jinx gods) and the list goes on and on. Truly "my cup runneth over".

XOXOXOXOX

Grammy in her apron taking a break from cooking to play with Julianna.

Julianna eating her very first Thanksgiving dinner! She loved the turkey and mashed potatoes and noodles, but most of all she loved the Pumpkin Pie!!!

"I finished my dinner and I am ready for my pie please!"

My little family's first Thanksgiving!

Goflette Pics

2007-11-20T08:38:00.000-05:00

Holiday Baking with Grammy

2007-11-17T21:54:00.000-05:00

Today Julianna and Grammy did some holiday baking. She also had her very first goflette(A Belgian waffle cookie that my mother's family has been making for generations). Poppy will have to email me the pictures of her first bite because he got a couple of cute ones and I didn't get one. Here are a couple pics from their baking session:

Helping Grammy stir Cream Cheese Icing - Yumm!

Grammy trying to keep J from tasting icing...just yet.

More Stirring.

Getting to lick the beater. Mommy wasn't crazy about the whole licking icing off the beater but somehow Grammy and Julianna overruled her. And you know what I say... If you can't beat 'em, take pictures.

November 9, 2007

2007-11-09T22:48:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd drop off a couple of pics. Julianna absolutely adores her stuffed animals these days. If you just stand back and watch her she will just go from one stuffed animal to the next. Sometimes throwing one over her shoulder, other times just squeezing it and even giving it a kiss. Too precious.

XOXOX

What a sweetie!

On her rocking horse.

Picture Hodgepodge

2007-11-06T09:48:00.000-05:00

Here are a bunch of cute pictures from the past couple of weeks that didn't make it onto the blog for one reason or another.

XOXOXO

Mommy looks horrendous in her gigantic sweatshirt, but I think J has the cutest little expression. You may have to click on the pic to really see how cute it is.

With kitty that Daddy got her for Halloween. She loves that little cat. She will just squeeze it. It also has a satiny hat so she uses it like a blanket too.

Love that cheesy grin!

J and Grammy

Watching the rain.

She looks like such a big girl!

Bath in Grammy's sink.

Naked sledding anyone? I was putting something up in her closet and had to pull the sled out and she climbed right up on it.

Little Bookworm

Feety Pajamas

2007-11-04T16:08:00.000-05:00

Now that it is getting colder in the evenings I have been able to put Julianna in my favorite - feety pajamas! I think that they are just the cutest. I especially love the fuzzy wuzzy kind. Here are a few pics of my little cutie in her feety pj's:

In her beloved Dora pj's.

I just love this one because she is sitting indian style. Too cute!

Halloween Pics

2007-11-02T23:02:00.000-04:00

Well I think that this post is going to be a little anticlimactic for some. We never had the heart to take either costume back and she ended wearing both on Wednesday. But since the chicken won the poll, that is the costume she went trick-or-treating in. We only went to 3 of our neighbors' houses that we are friendly with and knew that they would enjoy seeing our little one. I also have to say that I was a little disappointed in the Halloween pics. Most of them are overexposed and Julianna seemed not so sure about her costume so it was a little more difficult than usual to get good (not worried looking)pics. Anyway, here are a some of the better ones:

A few of her pre-costume Halloween outfit:

Even in these horizontal stripes her little legs look soo long!

Overexposed, but cute.

I had to crop myself out of this picture. Talk about scary!

Again overexposed, but I loved matching Grandmama and Julianna

Me and my little Kitty.

She LOVED playing with the candy in the bowl. By far the best part of Halloween for her.

On our way out for J's first Trick-Or-Treating.

Daddy got her this blue sucker and insisted that she get to have a few licks! Mommy wasn't so crazy about the idea. Looks like Julianna agrees with Daddy.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

2007-10-28T23:23:00.000-04:00

*Tuesday, October 30 - I have added a couple more farm pics.

Ryan and I took Julianna to a little farm with a pumpkin patch today. We had a great time. It was a beautiful day with temps in the mid 60's. They had all kinds of animals there. The goats were talking really loudly and scared Muffin. But she loved the little piggies (or maybe they were my favorite and I'm projecting :) I tried to get pics of her and the animals, but pretty much none of them turned out. It is hard enough to get pictures of babies or animals on their own, but together - FORGET ABOUT IT :) Here are some pics from the day:

This one is my favorite, I think. So sweet.

Fun In The Apple Box

2007-10-24T11:11:00.000-04:00

If I've ever in my entire life had as much fun as Julianna looks like she is having, someone please remind me what I was doing - I need to do it again, soon! It's amazing - You can buy them toys with bells and whistles and it is the boxes that they love! Hee.

October 17, 2007

2007-10-17T22:31:00.000-04:00

Hi. I really just wanted to drop off some pics. All is well here. Not much new going on. Aunt Stephanie had a layover in Charlotte on Sunday so we went to see her at the Airport. Julianna seemed a little over stimulated by the whole thing. She was cute nonetheless. Muffin is getting increasingly brave and trying to climb in, under and around EVERYTHING! You really have to keep your eye on that one. She has gotten stuck under our ottoman more than once :) Daddy finished up most of the baby proofing last week. He actually carpeted (temporarily, of course) our raised brick fireplace hearth. He also put styrofoam pipe insulation around anything resembling a sharp edge. I do admit that I feel a bit better. Not complacent, just less hyper-vigilant. On to the pics:

Petting her horsey.

Daddy gave mommy a break and took Julianna over to the park to swing!

I was letting Juianna crawl around in the bathroom while I was running her bath. She LOVES magazines!

With Aunt Stephanie at the airport.

Doing a little light (upside down) reading... She is sitting on our newly carpeted and styrofoamed fireplace :)

CUTIE!

Good Morning!

Daddy's Little Pumpkin! (It's what her shirt says.)

October 11, 2007

2007-10-11T10:42:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone for voting. The candidates really are neck and neck. A few votes are still trickling in (though I have my suspicions that some are voting more than once :) so I will call the winner in a couple of days. If you haven't voted yet look at the last post and leave a comment. Thanks! I am just dropping off a few pictures.

XOXOX

Adorable Little outfit Nana Louise sent to Julianna last winter. Our tiny little thing is finally able to wear it!

Reading new book that Aunt Stephanie sent.

Halloween Costumes

2007-10-05T18:53:00.001-04:00

I bought 2 Halloween costumes for Julianna thinking that I would try them both on her and Ryan and I would decide which one to keep. Well, what do you know, Ryan and I disagree. We have decided to leave the decision up to you guys. Take a look at the following pics and then leave us a comment telling us which one we should keep. You can just vote anonymously if you want. THANKS!

Little Chicken:

Kitty Kat
*Note: If you guys decide on the kitty she will wear a little black turtleneck underneath (if I can find one).*

October 3, 2007

2007-10-03T17:17:00.000-04:00

Sorry it has been so long since I updated. We have had a pretty busy week or so. My dad has been out of town so Julianna and I stayed with Grammy a couple of times this week to keep her company. Julianna also had her 9 month check up. All went well although I would not say that Muffin was on her best behavior. She decided that she didn't want the doctor to look in her ears and that was that. She cried and put together a pretty good little tantrum - maybe her worst one yet! Oh well. She is once again in the 90+ percentile for length and only the 10-20th percentile for weight. She is just a teeny tiny little thing - only 16 lbs 8 oz. The doctor assures me that she seems perfectly healthy and it is not uncommon for their weight to slip on the scale a bit once they get mobile.

Oh and also, my fairly new (May) camera was stolen. I went to Target to print out a few pics straight from the camera on one of those kiosk things. Well Julianna started to cry and I started to give her a bottle and walked away without it (I left it plugged right into the machine). I didn't realize I had left it there until I got home. By the time I called Target it was gone. I was REALLY bummed. It was a fairly expensive tiny little camera and as you know, I carry it EVERYWHERE with me. Also there were quite a few pics that I hadn't yet saved onto the computer :( So anyway, I've got a new one on order. In the mean time I have taken a few pics on Ryan's VERY old, VERY slow digital camera. By the time the thing is ready to take pics Julianna has moved on to something else. Luckily that is usually equally cute. Anyway, here are a few pics from this week:

September 21, 2007

2007-09-21T22:45:00.000-04:00

Daddy came home last Saturday and us girls couldn't be happier. I really was surprised at how much Julianna seemed to miss him. Since he has been home she has really been trying to love up on him. Whenever he walks by she puts out her arms for him to pick her up. He completely eats it up! The men folk caught a ton of fish and each of the 4 of them caught a trophy-sized (40+"!) pike (see pic below). It seems like it was quite the experience! VERY VERY COLD - sleet, snow, etc! And can you believe that none of those silly boys even took gloves?? I don't mean to be an "I told you so", but one of the last things I said to Ryan before he left was "Are you sure you don't need any gloves?????" Anyway it sounds as if they are lucky not to have done irreversible damage to their fingers. But all in all they all seemed to have a great time.

I forgot to mention that Julianna has started giving kisses in the last few weeks. Slobbery, sometimes tongue kisses, but kisses none the less. It is SOOOOO sweet. I will say to her "you better give me a kiss" and she will open up her mouth wide and lean toward you. She will kiss her dolls and stuffed animals too. So cute! Alright here are a ton of pics from this week.

XOXOX

Daddy's big catch.

The shirt says it all!

This kid has a heck of a grip. When she grabs your nose it can just about bring tears to your eyes with pain :)

Saturday September 15, 2007

2007-09-15T10:35:00.000-04:00

Daddy is coming home tonight! Yay! I spoke with him last night by Satellite phone ($9.00/min - EEK!) and in our VERY short conversation I found out that the fishing has been quite good but the weather has been dreadfully cold (snowing the last couple of days). Julianna and I will go pick him up from the airport tonight at about 11:00. I would say that it will be a real hardship to drag a sleeping baby to the airport so late, but chances are she won't be asleep anyway!

Here are a few pics. Isn't her hair a scream? Can you believe how long her hair is? She is only almost 9 months old, but she looks two in those pigtails!

XOXOXO

Her little doll's feet are satin like the edges of her blanket, so she will rub the feet on her face while she sucks her thumb. So cute!

Bed head!!!

Reading a catalog with Grammy.

September 8, 2007

2007-09-08T23:10:00.000-04:00

Daddy left for his fishing trip in Canada with Poppy (my dad) and Uncle Joey today. We are both missing him already. I am already realzing how hard single parents have it. Oh well, he works hard and totally deserves a vacation. I do think that he was struggling with leaving Julianna behind. I heard him telling her the other day that she was his most favorite person in the world. I said "so I have been officially replaced, huh?" He said, very seriously, "Number 2 in the whole world isn't bad either..." I guess I can't argue with that. Hee.

I really just wanted to drop off a couple of pics before trying to catch a few minutes of sleep before Muffin wakes for the first of many times tonight. Uggh!

XOXOX

Look at those SKINNY little frog legs!

I thought baths were supposed to calm a baby down before bed.....

Books

2007-09-08T23:00:00.000-04:00

This kid LOVES books. I mean LOVES them. She loves hardcover, paperbacks, children's, and magazines. She loves to hold them, look at the pictures and turn their pages, and occasionally eat them.... She often babbles while looking at them and I swear it sounds like she is reading them in baby language. Below are a few pics from this week.

Sept. 6, 2007

2007-09-06T20:52:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't updated on Julianna is soooo long. We have had a pretty uneventful week. I have been trying to stick close to home this week and REALLY try to keep Muffin on a nap/bedtime schedule. Well despite my best efforts, it hasn't worked AT ALL. Last night she was up from 1:30 am - 4:15 am. There was nothing that I could do to persuade her that she really did need to sleep. She can stand up in her crib now and she cries while shaking the crib rail like she is in jail. I have no idea where she gets these overdramatic tendencies :) But other than her (lack of) sleeping she is doing great. She is so sweet and keeps us laughing all the time. She has grown quite attached to her blankey and when you pick her up out of her crib she looks back in it until you bring blankey along too.

She is also crawling all over the place. She crawls right up to the sofa, ottoman, insert any other piece of furniture here, and stands right up. She is starting to cruise the furniture a bit also. I think she is going to need a crash helmet before we are through. She has fallen down a couple of times and my does she howl. I think that it scares her more than anything because she doesn't have any bruises or anything yet. It is so hard to see her hurt. I try to stay pretty close to her but I guess there just isn't anyway to ALWAYS catch her when she falls. I guess these little ones are pretty resilient.

Oh yea, and still no sign of any teeth. I found a picture of Ryan from when he was 18 months old (I know because it was Halloween) and he only had 4 teeth! 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. It looks like she is going to take after him. I love her little gummy smile, but only 4 teeth in almost a year from now... She is going to be on vegetable purees forever!

Well here is a slideshow full of pretty unexciting, but still cute pics from this week.

XOXOXO

August 28, 2007

2007-08-28T18:49:00.000-04:00

This weekend Julianna and I went to the NC mountains for Grandmama's family reunion. We had a great time and escaped the truly oppresive heat in Charlotte. The montage below has several pics from the reunion and some from the nature preseve that Ryan, Julianna, and I walked through on Monday.

***It has been brought to my attention that the quality of the pics in the montage below is not so great. So underneath the montage I have added a little slideshow of the pics that you can scroll through by pushing the next button at the top right hand corner. I hope that this helps!***

XOXOX!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Monday August 20, 2007

2007-08-20T14:07:00.000-04:00

Julianna got her very first cold this week :( - And then promptly gave it to me. So we were both pretty pitiful for most of last week. Muffin seems to be feeling better, but her nose is still quite runny and stuffy. I developed some bacterial infection in my throat from all the post nasal drip and ended up going to the dr's. I got on antibiotics and feel quite a bit better. Anyway, I really tried to get a pitiful picture of Muffin while she was feeling pretty poorly. But when I would get the camera out she would smile even though one second ago she looked generally miserable. She is such a little sweetie! Well I didn't get a ton of pics this week, but here are a few:

She really was looking totally pitiful until I pulled out the camera.

Daddy brought her home a new toy because he felt so bad that she was sick!

Sunday August 12, 2007

2007-08-12T15:46:00.000-04:00

Today Julianna and I went to church with Grandmama and Granddaddy. I left her in the nursery for the first time today. It was the first time that I have EVER left her with anyone other than her grandmothers (and daddy, of course). They said that she did great. I have to admit that my mind was more on Muffin than on the Sermon....