Decorating the Tree

Julia loved decorating the tree, and she unwrapped each ornament from its tissue paper as if she was opening a new present. "LOOK AT THIS ONE!!" She especially loved the sparkly ones, the fairies and angels, and the wedding ornaments. She could easily put the ornaments on the tree herself, but she tended to put the ornaments very close to one another in clumps, mostly at the bottom of the tree.

Annabelle, on the other hand, was a bull in a china shop. She was first interested in the round ornaments, but she thought of them as balls so she started throwing them. (Luckily, they landed on the rug and were not broken.) Then, she scooped up all the pink ornaments and shouted "Mine! Mine!" She wasn't interested in putting ornaments on the tree. Instead, she seemed intent on creating mayhem. I finally took the easy road and let her play with my phone so we could decorate the tree, breaking my own rule about cutting back her screen time.

We finished decorating the tree, and Julia, with some help from Papa, put the star on top. She thought it needed a little something more, so she asked for help taking off her necklace. She and Papa placed her necklace on top of the star - her own personal touch.

Sisters

AB

Papa

"Look at this one!"

Julia with Mom

The final touch

Happy Easter

Halloween is coming!

This girl (and her Mom) are both excited about Halloween in our new neighborhood, as most yards are decorated and rumor has it that we get many, many trick-or-treaters!

Santa Arrives

Obviously, this was not Julia's first Christmas, but in many ways, it felt as if it was. She was so much excited about what was going on, even if she didn't fully get some of the concepts, like Santa Claus.

On Christmas morning, Julia woke, and I put her in bed with us for a bit of snuggle time. She and her Papa were quite content to sleep. I, on the other hand, was about go crazy, as I knew Santa Claus had made a stop at our house and left presents downstairs. "OK, let's get up and go downstairs!" I would announce, and they would snuggle themselves back into the covers for more sleep. I was dying to watch Julia open her presents, but I had to learn to be a little patient.

Finally, we made our way downstairs, and we had such fun watching Julia open her gifts from Santa and from Aunt Lulu (who was chosen to be her Secret Santa in my family's gift exchange this year.)

Julia's dollhouse with new furniture from Santa

New drum from Santa

(She's been drumming on everything from plastic containers to cups since she saw an drums on an episode of Toot and Puddle.)

New drum from Santa

Opening gifts from Lulu

Puzzle from Lulu

Pots and pans from Lulu

Puzzle from Lulu

Decorating the Tree

Decorating the tree with R and Julia was such fun! (Sometimes, I tend to romanticize how a family event is going to go and need to manage my expectations, but this evening was the storybook, Norman Rockwell event I imagined.)

Julia LOVED unwrapping each ornament from its tissue paper, and would exclaim, "Look! Look, Papa!!" or "Look, Mommy, look at this!!" She was old enough that she could handle the ornaments and put them on the tree. From time to time, she needed a bit of help, but she loved the whole experience. One of my favorite moments was when she called snowman ornament with a looong skinny hat a maraca.

R and I talked about the different ornaments, and where we were when I bought them - it was a little walk down memory lane of our relationship: ornaments from Chicago, the Empire State building representing New York, the bicycle representing Holland, and the snow men from my first Christmas with his family when they where vacationing in Colorado.

Julia & Papa

Busy decorating

Papa

Busy girl

Placing the star on top

My favorite part of this video is when Julia stops at the lion ornament to roar!

Happy Easter

We had a wonderful time with Oma and Opa, but we had to cut our fun short as R was sick. Our festivities got Julia off her schedule, and she skipped her nap. She went to bed at 6:30 pm, and I was asleep less than ten minutes later.



Julia's Easter dress this year was the tulip dress lent to her by the Charron girls. (Note the new bunny from Oma & Opa.)


Julia's Dutch grandparents loved the tulip dress!

Thanksgiving

We did have a good time on Thanksgiving, thanks to Oma's great cooking and Julia's brief reprieve from her illness. Julia got a kick out of playing with a napkin...great for both peek-a-boo and as a blanket for her babies. Jake basked in the glow of Oma and Opa's attention.

Lil' Monkey

Julia enjoyed her second Halloween. We did not trick-or-treat, but she had fun at a playgroup party on Wednesday. Tonight, she enjoyed seeing the big kids all dressed up. (I let her stay up a bit late to see the neighborhood kids.)

Given her disdain for hats, I thought she would immediately pull the hood off her head. Instead, she liked the monkey costume and showed no signs of wanting to remove it.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween

July 4th in Highlands

For July 4th, we drove to Highlands, NC to visit Oma & Opa in their new, beautiful mountain house. Julia did really well in the car, but she had trouble sleeping away from home. The weather in Highlands was wonderful, and we had fun swimming in the club's pool.

Julia had a great time with Oma and Opa, as always. Then, she had some trouble with teething and came down with a fever. Our girl was not herself. After a couple of days, she was back to playing and swimming. She even had her first taste of ice cream. (No surprise, she liked it!)

Jake, on the other hand, enjoyed every minute. He was delighted to ride in R's car and had a great time playing on the golf course every day with Opa. He also loved playing with Gus and Barbara's dogs, Grammy & Beau. I was concerned he might want to stay in Highlands. He was glad he made the trip back when he saw one of his favorite people on the way home...Uncle Roger.

We can see why Oma and Opa like Highlands so much, and we look forward to many good times there in the future!

First Easter

Julia and I headed to Georgia to celebrate Easter. Julia had a great time with the family, especially cousin Scott. Scott liked Julia, too - except when his Mom or Dad held her. Then, he let everyone know that it was "MY Mommy" or "MY Daddy." The weather was beautiful, and we had a great time visiting with aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Julia went to church for the first time and made quite an impression. She spent her time in church loudly blowing raspberries, laughing at people, and creating a poopy diaper. When she started to voice her frustration about the diaper situation, I decided it was time to go.

At the airport

In her Easter dress

With her cousin Scott

With Mom

Home, Sweet Home

We are home from our Christmas celebration in Georgia. I have such mixed emotions about this long-anticipated Christmas being behind us. I loved introducing Julia to the rest of my family, and it was so great for my entire immediate family to be together for Christmas. I've missed those Christmases of 200 Waverly Way. It was chaotic, wonderful, and noisy.

On the way home, Little Miss decided that she wasn't in the mood for a flight. She cried much of the way, and all of our attempts to pacify her didn't help. Her first three flights were easy, so I guess we were due this experience. Thankfully, it was a short, nonstop flight.

This morning, Jake is quietly snoring on his dog bed. (I really, really missed him. Thanks to Roger for taking such good care of him.) Julia is sleeping contentedly in her swing. It's peaceful and quiet. I want to eat something before I start unpacking all the suitcases. I decided on the only appropriate breakfast for a Southern girl with a tinge of post-holiday letdown. I've got a pot of grits bubbling on the stove.

First Christmas

Apparently, I was too busy behind the camera for us to get a family photo. Here's a picture of Julia and her Dad on her first Christmas. Note the adorable sleeper, a gift from Grandma.

Papa & Julia
First Christmas, Dec 2007

Tractors, Cows, Haybales, and Dirt Roads

Hello from south Georgia! Julia and I are here to visit my parents, immediate family plus my grandmother and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. Robert arrives on Sunday. It has been so much fun introducing Julia to the family. There have been some priceless moments with my Grandma holding Julia and Dad singing to her. The two Julias have happily spent hours of quality time together. I don't have Internet access at my parents' house, but my uncle was kind enough to let me use a computer at his office. I'll have many, many pictures and a few videos to post when I return home.

Hope you all have a very Happy Holiday!

Four Generations

When we arrived in South Georgia, we went straight from the airport to my Grandma's house so she could meet Miss Julia as soon as possible! Introducing her to my daughter was a very special moment.

Four Generations

First Thanksgiving

We spent Julia's first Thanksgiving at Oma and Opa's house. Oma butterflied the turkey, and the food was delicious, as Berty's cooking always is. (Yum!) Julia was a bit fussy all day, prompting Daddy to take her for a drive in the car. It proved to be a loooong return home trip for him.

By the end of the day, she worked her cute spells and charmed the family.

2 months...and Happy Halloween