Top o' the World ( =

Well, now that Julia is finally pulling up and cruising, she's decided to conquer the jungle gym at the park...she made it to the top of the jungle gym today and was so proud of herself ( = Every time she went up the steps she would get to the top and then clap for herself...and she loved being in the mix with all of the big kids. I only had six or seven small heart attacks while I climbed around after her but I was so happy to see her get a little more daring ( =

Beautiful Spring Evening...

It was so pretty out this afternoon that I packed up the cooler and took Julia to the lake...and called David to tell him that dinner was at the park tonight ( = Julia and I found a picnic table and set everything up and played in the water until David came over after work. We had a great time and had the coals hot and ready to throw the burgers and hotdogs on the grill when Dave arrived. It was a really nice way to enjoy (what we hope) is the real beginning of Spring (=

Happy Easter!

This morning we woke up early to get to the early mass (hoping it wouldn't be as crazy as our usual time). It was actually perfect...we only got there about fifteen minutes early and we sat in the sixth row on the end...much better than the 10 am Easter madness. Mass was especially nice today and the choir was the best I'd ever heard them. Julia (who I intentionally did not feed before we left) amused herself by eating an entire apple and a cup of milk. She was an angel until just before communion when Daddy took her out to the foyer to wave at the other kids and show off her Nutri-Grain bar. They came back in time for Julia to get a blessing when Mommy received communion. Afterwards, we went to a really nice brunch where Julia was really good despite being very sleepy...except towards the end when Mommy had to take her out while Daddy paid the check since she got angry when Daddy took away her steak knife and threw a fork about ten feet, narrowly missing a fragile looking old lady in a wheelchair. Daddy declared her days of fine dining are over...and thus, so are ours. Still, it was a good day, and Julia got a new burst of energy when we came home and she saw her Easter basket waiting for her ( =

She's on her feet!

Well, at 14 months, this is the first picture of Julia standing on her feet (= She's generally not happy to be standing, but she'll humor us now for longer and longer periods of time before she starts frantically looking around for some way down...other than falling. We're pretty sure it'll just be a matter of time, but right now she's still happiest shuffling around on her bum.

A day at the zoo...

Elizabeth and Maggie were nice enough to invite us to the zoo on this absolutely balmy day (I mean it was in the 60's!!!) and it was great to get outside and get some fresh air (well, as fresh as any air is at the zoo...).

Taking candy from a baby...

is harder than you might think. On New Year's Eve, I decided to let Julia celebrate by taking a couple of licks of her candy cane that Santa left in her stocking. David objected on the grounds that it would be too messy...I assured him that she would tire of it before it became too messy and handed it over. She LOVED her first taste of candy and was not about to give it up (the tears are just after I tried to take it away). David scooped her up and held her on his lap to save the carpet from the red dye but he was not amused by the mess (I thought it was adorable!!).

Christmas Day...

Christmas Eve

After Christmas Eve Mass, we took a few pictures of Julia before getting her in her jammies to wait for Santa ( =

Photo Shoot!

We took Julia to get her pictures taken on Saturday...for Christmas and her first birthday. She did fabulous despite being a little sleepy and a little hungry. Enjoy!

Mom and Tots Christmas Party

Julia had her first Christmas party through our Mom and Tots group at church adn she had a great time (her favorite part was the Music 'n Me circle with the chicken nuggets being a close second...).

You'd better not pout...

While we were visiting my parents in Springfield, we went to Opry Mills and took Julia to see Santa. You can see what she thought of the jolly old fat man...