An Elmo Party!

Julie has been so excited for her Elmo birthday! So this morning, she could not wait!! She woke up and got to open 2 gifts from Mommy and Daddy. One of them was a super cool pair of cowgirl boots! She was running around wearing them with her bathrobe. This is her doing the "yummy in my tummy" dance. After Memere got her dressed for the party!

She was so excited to have her friends over! She is so blessed to, at such a young age, have some awesome, loving friends.

Although, this is trouble!

I love this picture of Julie and Anabelle Lee!

Julie INSISTED she had to have 4 birthday candles because her favorite number is four. So, being the birthday girl, she got it! She had a big "3" candle and 3 little swirly ones.

Of course Brother got some cake too.

Present time! Julie got some awesome clothes and toys. Unfortunately, by this point, she was a little over it and not very interested. But, after an afternoon nap, she was all over those new presents and tutus and toys and clothes!

She finally crashed with cowboy after the last guest departed.

I think all in all it was a successful party. We are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives. She is such a loved little girl.

Paci-Free

I am happy to say that Julie has been paci free for over 3 weeks now.

Yes, she had her paci for quite a while, but it was the last bit of baby she had, so we didn’t push the issue. She only had it for naps and at night, so it wasn’t like she was taking it to school with her.

On New Years Day, she went to Memere’s just like any normal Friday, and there was no paci there. So, she took her nap without it. When she woke up, she called me and said, “I am a big girl now, I don’t need a paci anymore!!”

John and I leapt at the chance and found all of her paci’s that had been hidden behind furniture and under beds and put them in a drawer and vowed that we would not give them back, no matter what.

So that night, she asked for her paci. We tried to talk to her about how she didn’t need them anymore and how she was a big girl. She wasn’t buying it.

My mom always told me that when I was really little, she had a hard time getting me to give up my bottle (I was way younger than Julie and don’t remember this) so she had me bag them up and leave them for the bottle bunny.

Remembering this story, I asked Julie if she wanted to send her paci’s away to someone who needed them. She asked who would need them and I said “there must be a baby somewhere that needs a paci.” She jet out of bed and said “Yeah! Christina’s baby in her belly needs them!!”

We went into where the paci’s were hidden, put them in a box which Julie completely wrapped in tape and put them on the front step for the mailman to pick up and bring to Christina’s baby.

The next morning, Julie woke up and ran to the front door and the paci’s were gone. She was very happy that Christina’s new baby would be able to use them and for a few days asked me if he had them yet. I kept telling her that his mommy was holding them until he was born and ready for them.

There were a few rough nights, a few missed naps, and a few, “can we go to the store and get a new paci?” But, for the last week, she has not even mentioned her paci.

I am so proud of her. Not for giving up her paci, I mean, eventually she would have done that on her own. But for thinking of a baby that she wanted to have them more and being so willing to give up someTHING she loves for someONE she loves (or will love, as soon as he is born).

She is officially a big girl.

Clean Bill

We took Andy to the doctor again this morning, just to make sure he was all clear, and the doctor gave him a clean bill of health. YAY! They think that everything was caused by the virus and hopefully he won't have that reaction again. But if he does, we know how to handle it!

Big Steps Forward

I am sure I mentioned in a previous post how "2" Julie has been acting...well, I am happy to say that she has become much more agreeable in the last few weeks.

John and I were talking about it last night and we have noticed an huge difference since we moved her into the 3 year old class at school. She really likes her new classmates and is much more challenged than in her old class. She misses a few of her old classmates, but since they are right across the hall, she still gets to say good morning to them when we come in.

Also, naps have started to become more seldom. She only naps every other, sometimes every 3rd day. We discovered that we would be fighting with her to take a nap, then she wouldn't be tired enough at night and we would fight with her again. So that is two less fights a day right there. But she still does quiet time, most of the time it is wrapped in a blanket on the chair, either reading books or watching Caillou on the computer.
And, as if her vocabulary wasn't extensive enough, she has been saying the funniest things! Some of her new sayings are:

You go girl!

You are kidding me!

I'm such a big girl, I am almost a grown up!

She and John were just having a conversation about how he and I share a bed.

Daddy: Why do you think Mommy and I share a bed?

Julie: Because there are 2 pillows.

Daddy: Oh.

Julie: And you have to share Daddy, we share toys, books, and elephants.

Daddy: Oh

The other day, we were in the grocery store and Julie and I had this conversation.

Julie: Brr, I am cold because I am not wearing a jacket!

Me: I'm sorry, I don't have a jacket for you, I am such a bad mommy!

Julie: Mommy, I have to tell you (I swear she said that!) you are a good mommy, not a bad one!

Me: (melt into a big puddle onto the floor)

So, since Julie has been working so hard on being a big girl, she got to go to her friend Colby's 5th birthday with Mommy and Daddy and no Andy! It was a treat for her to have all of the attention and learn how bowl! Well, kind of, she had a lot of fun doing it!
And she needed a little help. But her friend Colby was more than happy to help her out.
We are so proud of our big girl and how much she is learning and growing. As always, can't wait to see (or hear) what she comes up with next!

Poor Big Man

My poor Andy has not been feeling well. He has had a cold for the last week or so, and on Monday night, he woke up at about 10 pm and was having a very hard time breathing. So, I ran him down to the emergency room, where they gave him an x-ray, breathing treatment, an inhaler and some steroids.

We expected him to feel better soon and be back to his old self, but when we went to the doctor yesterday, we found out that his lungs are still really full and the mucus is thick and since he is not coughing, it is not coming up. The Dr gave us an oral steroid that he has been on for about 24 hours now. Hopefully that will help.

His recovery also includes Uncle Justin coming over to do respiratory therapy. It is basically Justin holding him and whacking his back to try to induce coughing. It is crazy because afterward Andy is happy, like he feels much better, and his face is covered in snot, like his sinuses have been cleared out!

So we are going to keep doing what we have been and keep trying to make him cough and I am sure he will be good as new in no time!

Oh, and the Dr said to try to keep him mellow....
It doesn't last very long before he turns back into his silly self!!!

Post Holiday Fun

It seems to never be a dull moment these days! All fun and good, but never dull!

Last weekend we went to Auntie Arlene's and Uncle Hal's to celebrate Stephen's birthday. The kids had fun taking over the house.
Julie loved being a big girl with Mommy and cousin Sarah.
Of course, she asked Stephen if she could help blow out his "candles" I use quotes because we didn't actually have any candles and had to use matches from the fireplace. you should have seen the smoke!
Andy didn't like the way Arlene's kitchen was arranged, so he helped her out a little. Limes in with the bake ware, makes much more sense!
A few days later, we got a visit from Bess and Matt! We had a great time visiting and having a little Christmas with them. Unfortunately, I was really bad at taking pictures and these are all I have.

On Wednesday we had a big family dinner at our house so Bess and Matt could see everyone. It was really fun. Uncle Matt and Andy wore their matching hats made by me.
This is a great picture of Bess and Mel.
Like I said, wish I had gotten more! But it was a very nice, quick visit! We are so lucky to have such an amazing family!

Identity Theft

Identity theft is a big problem these days. Andy's identity has been stolen....by the American Girls Doll Company!! I got the catalogue in the mail and opened to this page and it FREAKED me out! Isn't he cute???

Goats Goats Everywhere!

My mom has this friend who raises goats. She used to do it for her daughter who was in 4h, but now her daughter is in college, and she still likes the goats. Right now she has 18 babies who are under 1 month old! So Mom arranged for us to go out and check out the goats! It was so fun!!

This is May. She is so sweet, and the smallest of a set of triplets. Both kids (and Memere) really liked her. Here is Julie giving her a little smooch. She pretty much acted more like a dog than a goat.
Here is Andy loving on May.

Since May is the smallest, she is bottle fed. Julie really liked watching the baby goat get fed.
This is in the barn where all the momma goats are waiting for their breakfast. They were so friendly. We went into the pen and they came right up to us and loved on us. The also tugged on our pants, jackets, shoes and even Julie's hair, but just a little bit. We have been home for a couple hours and Julie has been asking to go back ever since we left. Huge hit, thanks for a great morning Mom!

In other fun news, Julie is still cracking us up with her funny way of putting things.

The other day my cars battery died and we had to call Uncle Justin to come save us. The next day we saw a train stopped in town and Julie said " We have to call Uncle Justin to come fix that train!!"

This morning I asked if she needed to go potty and she said "No, because my poopie is still sleeping."

Yesterday she heard Andy wake up from his nap and she ran over to John and said "Daddy, you need to get Andy up. And when you go in there say "Hello my big man!!""

Andy is also getting into saying cute things. The other day I was trying to get us all out the door and I told Julie to go get in the car and Andy looked at me so hurt and said "Andy! Andy! Me!!" Like I was gonna forget about the poor little guy!

Also, as I mentioned before, I have started knitting. I made a few people fun hand warmers for Christmas, but I just moved on to hats! This is my first one. Not sure how much it will be seeing the light of day, but it wasn't too bad for my first. I am making another one right now for our brother-in-law Matt (shhh, don't tell him) and so far it is looking better than this one.
I am so excited to post pictures from the Cisneros wedding, but I am waiting for them to go first! This afternoon we are going to celebrate Stephen's birthday and Auntie Bess and Uncle Matt will be here this week, so great things to follow!!!