Santa

Jeff took Jules to see Santa on Sunday.
This is a picture of a picture, so not the best quality... (and Susan, you'll find this dress familiar too. She LOVES IT!)



We had a busy holiday weekend.
Jules loved the Parade of Lights... Like jumping up and down, clapping and screaming "Merry Christmas" to the parade participants loved it.

We went Saturday morning with our friends Susan and Kenyon to see Tangled at the Flapjacks and Flick thing that the Movie Tavern does. :-)

Saturday afternoon, we put up our Christmas tree... and it literally took us the rest of the day (except for nap time). We watched Polar Express afterward, and Jules was entranced by it. Afterward, she was ready for Christmas to be TOMORROW.
I told her we have much too much to do for it to be tomorrow!

Holiday Pics and Family

Yay! I love family pictures.





While Uncle Buck was in town, we took family pictures.
These are the images from the cd.


Ella didn't like it much when they changed her clothes. :-)

Cute Pictures

A friend of mine offered to do some fun Halloween portraits for Jules. She's building her portrait business (already has a great wedding photography business). Here are a few samples...



Thanks Erin for some truly fabulous pictures!
Check out the photographer's website here.

Ella

Baby Eleanor Katherine (aka Ella) was born Thursday, September 30th.
Weighed 7lbs, 11 oz. She's a perfect little bundle...

Sweet Cousins

BABY BABY BABY

My sister is going to have her baby today! I'm so excited that I can't stand it. Probably going to leave work early. :-D

Ballet/Tap Class

Jules was really looking forward to her new dance class. She thinks she's having class with our friend, Caitie (my friend and cousin's daughter). Unfortunately, we're on the waiting list for Caitie's class (earlier in the day)... but Jules loved the class... and took Caitie not being there in stride. :-)

She followed directions well, stayed on task, and most importantly, really enjoyed herself.

Hoping not to lose it...

... my sanity, that is. Usually, I'm a very sane person… but sometimes, I think I’m LOSING IT! I have a very full life. Jules is starting dance class and piano lessons. (she did great with piano lessons yesterday!) I’m in school part time, have a full time job, involved in my church and my softball league starts next week. Plus, my sister is about to have a baby and my mom must depend on others (often me) to drive her around until she’s seizure free for six months.

All that being said, I am literally losing it, sometimes. I have lost my wallet twice in the last ten days. Both times, it has been returned with everything in it. Blessed beyond measure. I couldn't be more fortunate. This last time, it was found in the trash can at work. The housekeeping staff noticed that it was there. I need to be more careful. I’ve been overscheduling myself and inadvertently booking two things on one night. (sorry friends!) I’m going to have to slow down or I really am going to go insane.

The other day, I left work early, went to class, drove home from Denton, stayed up later than normal to do homework for the following day's class… dozed off a bit and then woke up for a while. Couldn’t go back to sleep once I got back to bed. Needless to say I drank a lot of coffee the next morning.

I’m moving in with my sister (temporarily) this weekend. I'm waiting for my niece to arrive… and helping her in any way I can. Except for a couple of kids' birthday parties, school and softball, my schedule is clear (that doesn't really leave a lot of open spaces anyway!). I'm going to try to slow down for a while. I’m going to take time to calm it down and be in the now.

I'm so glad it's Friday.

Football!

When Jules and I watched the Texas game last week, I attempted to explain the gist of the game to her.

Last night, Jules was at Jeff's house for the opening Cowboy's game. I got this text: "You can run with the ball, or you can throw it, or you can kick it. If you get to the end, then you get points." This is your daughter.

Heck yes, that's my daughter!

Smartest kid ever.

Labor Day Weekend

Jules and I took a little road trip to Houston to see the Texas vs. Rice football game. She was great and we had a lot of fun. She wanted her "Baby Bevo" stuffed animal to go see his Daddy. LOL. Had to explain to her that we don't get to go down and see the actual Longhorn. :-)

Summer

Summer has been great! Since getting her cast off (and subsequently, taking the boot off), we've had fun. Jules got to go to the Circus with Jeff and Poppy. We've tried out several area pools and aquatic centers.

My family took a quick vacation to Turner Falls in Oklahoma. We had a blast...

Pictures to come. I need to get a new adapter for my memory card. :-)

Update...

Long time coming! It's been a few weeks since I posted anything.

July 9th, Jules got her cast off. Yay! It was just getting to where it was itchy and bothering her. She stuck her hand in the top part by her thigh often to give some relief. I had to get on to her for trying to stick a pen in there. Poor girl. But we're glad it's done!

Daddy took her to get the cast removed.



She only has to wear the boot for two weeks... and can take it off for swimming and bath time. Yay! Tomorrow is the last day of the boot.:-)

We've had more and more time without the boot, trying to get her used to not wearing it. We make sure she wears it while she's at "school" because they're watching so many kids at once, we don't want her to turn her ankle wrong again.

We went swimming twice the day after the cast was off. :-)


She's had a rough cough for about the last month, we've gone to the pediatrician and he's fiddled with the medications. (Jules will even tell you "I have allergies." So sweet.) This week, he decided that, because of her snoring and the cough, and the repeated ear infections earlier this year, we should get her a chest and sinus x-ray. He says "since she has such a big head", that there could be hidden sinus areas that are carrying microbes. Poor girl and her big head. :-) She comes by it honestly though!

She was great at the x-ray place again. The same guy that did her ankle x-ray did the chest and sinus x-rays today.

Trips and Family

I went on a mini-mission trip with the junior high and high school kids from our church last week. While I was gone, Jules had a blast with her daddy. They went to Austin to visit friends, Houston to visit "Crazy Mike" (who Jules loves to do an impression of - cracks ME UP!) and back to town. They've gotten to spend a lot of time with Uncle Ben while things get back to normal (or whatever normal is) at Jeff's house. Jules has loved it and all of the attention.


While rolling around the forty acres with her daddy pushing her stroller, Jules told him "When I grow up and go to hookemhorns school, and I'm big, and you and mommy are little, I'll carry you."
Cracks me up!

Fractured Ankle

It's called a toddler's fracture. Google it.
She tripped over a toy on Wednesday and couldn't walk anymore. X-rays...

Visit to an orthopedic specialist today yielded a long leg cast.
Luckily, toddlers heal quickly, so it will be off in 4 weeks.

From Daddy

She bought this ice cream entirely solo - I sent her with the card to the counter while I stood back and watched her order and pay for it. She gave a polite "thank you" at the end of the transaction, lol, and was super tickled about it.

Daddy Days

Some great pictures from Daddy:








You can check out the photographer's blog here.

Zoo Run

While I ran, Jules, Grammy and Aunt Mereny completed the 1 mile fun run/walk at the Zoo Run on Saturday. Jules actually got out of the stroller this time. It was through the zoo.... so they got to see the animals as they were waking up. And she actually walked across the finish line this time! :-) I think this second week, she understood better what the whole thing was about. That's my girl! I would have loved to have had a picture of her crossing the finish line, but I had no idea where their finish line was... plus I left my camera's memory card in the computer.

Funny thing... Friday night I was showing her the t-shirt that we got. She said "Did the runners give it to me?" My reply - Yeah, well, Kind of... She says "That was nice of them." So Silly! A toddler's view of the world is so refreshing sometimes.

Afterward, my mom, Jules and I met my aunt and her grandson, Dan to go to the zoo. Maybe we should have put it off because of the rain, but we didn't. Oh well... we still had fun. Jules got her face painted. She loved it. And she's more capable than any three year old that I know of sitting still.

My cousin's seventeen year old daughter got word Saturday evening that she's been given a $10,000 scholarship for college. I am SO PROUD OF THAT KID!!!!! She has been through a lot in her young years and she has really made a lot of herself.

Opinionated

(out of nowhere) "Daddy, I don't like that shirt that you're wearing."
"Aww, why do you say that?"
"Well, I like it a little bit. Just not a lot."
"What about it don't you like?"
"I said I like it a little bit. Just not a lot."
"Really? Why don't you like it a lot?"
"Cuz yeah."

One Sunday a couple of months ago she cried... like threw a fit and cried because I wanted to change outfits after I had already gotten dressed.

First run/walk and Spring

I was going to say that Jules completed her first 5k... but really... she sat in the stroller while her aunt pushed her around for the 1 mile fun run. Mereny and Grammy did that with her and then enjoyed the kids activities with her while I ran the 5k. It was a fun, active morning.

When they crossed the finish line, they gave Jules a ribbon for completing the race. She may not have actually gotten out and walked, but I figure exposing her to healthy, active stuff like this can't hurt.

She LOVES the t-shirt that she got (even though it's like 3 sizes too big). It has a little running duck on it because the race is held at the Duck Pond in Trinity Park. She calls it her duck shirt.


Jeff and Jules went out to his aunt's house in Benbrook today. Jules got to ride a pony, which she always loves.

Easter 2010

Friday was a big evening. We went to the mall to see the Easter Bunny and did a little shopping. Then, we went home to decorate Easter Eggs. An e-mail that went around the last couple of weeks inspired me to make fun pictures on them before we dropped them in the dye. This was Jules' first experience with egg dye, and she had a lot of fun with it. Easter snuck up on me this year and I was SO not prepared... but somehow (the help from a benevolent cousin in combination with Jeff), it all went wonderfully.


We had a big lunch on Saturday to celebrate Easter with family and friends. Of course, there was an Egg Hunt.


and some tee-ball. :-)

Saturday evening, we went to Disney on Ice. The smile says it all.


She got a haul of little "babies" from the Easter Bunny. Barely noticed the Purplelicious book that she's been dying for... but we'll get to it.


Pay no attention to the Sleepy Grammy in the background. :-)
Easter is one of my favorite religious holidays. If there's a sunrise service, I will do my best to get there. So, we were out the door at 6am to head out to church. I'm so glad we didn't miss it. They released doves at the end of the service and it was wonderful. There was even a bunny there, eating the leaves of the bushes at the church. Jules was a great sport, using the opportunity to cuddle with Mommy under a blanket.

Side Note: The kids at church sang at the beginning of the service this morning (the 10:30 service). Jeff sent me another text with her version of the lyrics... "Rise and shine... keep God growing, growing"
:-D

Birthday Fun

On her actual birthday, we had a fun Mommy/Daughter day with some shopping, some playing, (unfortunately a trip to the doctor and antibiotics for an ear infection) and eating where Jules wanted to eat. She spent a couple of hours with Daddy in the late afternoon and then we all met up for dinner. Grandparents, parents and Aunt Meredith all made it for the dinner. Jules got to wear one of her princess dresses that Santa brought her for her birthday dinner. She's been dying to wear one of these outside of the house. :-D


Her Birthday Party was held on Saturday. She loved the bounce house birthday party! I think we all had fun!





Sunday morning, after all of the festivities, Jules wandered out of her bedroom and the first thing she said to me was "Mommy, thank you for all my presents." with a sweet little smile. :-D Maybe we're doing something right.
I reminded her that lots of her friends and family gave her these presents.