Monday, March 26, 2012

Beautiful Day!

Have I mentioned we are loving this Spring/Summer weather in March?!?!?



Her little head-band is from Mexico.  So cute!

We're getting out more!

Headed to a wedding (and we sat in the hall until the reception because one of us has a tendency to randomly scream :) )


Monday, March 19, 2012

6 months

Sweet, little Juliet is 6 months old today!  That's HALF A YEAR!!!  Wow.  She has reached some major milestones this month. First of all, she has started sitting up really well just in the last few days.  This makes grocery shopping/outings much easier because she can sit in the cart and I don't have to lug her big car seat in.  She has gotten the hang of eating solid foods and now eats about 3- 5 ice cubes worth of food for both lunch and then again at dinner.  Her favorite foods are prunes and bananas, but I have yet to find a fruit or vegetable she does not like.  She still nurses about 5 times a day.   Her first two teeth came in.  They are on the bottom middle.  The teething didn't seem to phase her one bit.  And my personal favorite milestone is that she has started sleeping through the night!!!  For a while she was sleeping from 8pm to 7 am, and just recently she has  been sleeping from 8pm to 8am (and I wake her up!).  We are ALL happier now that we sleep for long stretches of time.  :)  This month she has reduced her separation anxiety and is much more willing to let strangers (to her, at least) hold her.  She also reaches her hands out to be held when she is around someone she knows.  So sweet!  She loves to be naked, or at least have her socks off, so the Spring weather has been perfect!  She has really been noticing our animals.  She LOVES to watch them and reach out and touch them.  Also, Juliet has this huge smile that she makes when she is either really happy or cheesing for the camera (she already seems to know that is what she is suppose to do), and when she makes it her eyes practically disappear!

I would describe her as: observant, inquisitive, happy, interested, sweet, shy with strangers, and fun








Heritage

My mom grew-up on a Tobacco Farm in VA.  Her town is a classic representation of the type of small towns you see in the movies and hear about in country songs.  My mom has all these random sayings that she uses often that are clearly from the country side.  I guess she has always used them but I'm really starting to notice them now that she says them around Juliet.  I hope Juliet holds on to this part of her heritage, because it totally makes me laugh!

A few that come to mind:


"Scat, Miss. Cat" 
My mom says this when Juliet sneezes, instead of "Bless you".  For awhile I didn't even realize she was saying actual words.  I just thought she was making sounds.  Don't believe me?...trying saying it really fast.

"Shoot a monkey"
This is what you say when you make a mistake, forget something, etc.  We have a lot of dead monkeys around here.

"a fright" 
As in, "your hair is a fright, Juliet".  This means crazy or messy. 

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Fun with Stella

Juliet got to see her best little friend, Stella (who is a Doll Baby!).  They have grown so much since the last time they were together.  Stella is a few days older and was once a slightly bigger baby, but Juliet's chunkiness has now surpassed Stella's.  They were sweet together and Stella was nice to tolerate Juliet who kept trying to grab her shirt and hair.  :)



 "We are throwing up our hands....SO done with pictures!"

 Look how small they were when they first met!

Kiss Her

She's of 1/4 Irish descent!!


Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Laughing (Melt my heart!)


Spring Break!!!!!

I LOVE Spring Break.  Back in my high school days I use to spend Spring Break laying out freezing in March weather so that I could get a head start on my summer tan.  This year Spring Break has been filled with me getting around to things I need/want to get done but don't seem to have very much time to do during my regular weeks; like reading, exercise, visiting friends/family, cleaning, and organizing.  We have had SUCH nice weather this week Juliet and I have been spending lots of time outside as well!! 
So far we have.....

visited family in Lenoir for my Uncle Tommy's 60th Surpirse B-day Party
 hung-out with Zach who is back briefly from vacation in New Zealand
 taken our first family picture (none of us were prepared, hence my pajama clothing choice!)
 gone to Wal-Mart and Sam's Club (Juliet can sit in the cart without her car-seat now)
 gone "swimming"

 and played with the grass outside of the pool


 sung on the swing
 and taken lots of naps because all of these activities have worn us out!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Privilege

Juliet has developed a cold with a runny nose over the last few days and she just looks pitiful.  She sounds so stuffy when she breathes and her eyes just look so sickly and tired.  It has been harder for her to fall asleep at night so I have been rocking her some.  Last night as I rocked her I was thinking about how privileged I am.  Here I sit, able to be home with my child to put her to bed every night if I choose, I have a comfortable glider to rock her in, she has a noise maker to keep a quiet atmosphere while she sleeps, a space heater to keep the chill away, lots of cute pajamas and warm blankets, and I have the time to sit and rock her.  I have a child who does not feel well, which really breaks my heart, but she will be fine in a few days, weeks max, yet I still have access to so many resources to make her "sickly" state more comfortable.  What a privilege.  Many moms, especially single moms, struggle to keep food on the table, can't afford a crib so their baby sleeps in a shared bed, probably don't have a rocking chair and certainly don't have a glider, and must spend so much time working they don't even have the option of rocking their baby to sleep because they don't get home until well into the night. 

Last night as I rocked Juliet and prayed for her, I also prayed for all the other moms and babies out there who are not as privileged as we are.  I also prayed, and will continue to pray, that neither Juliet nor I will forget the ways in which God has richly blessed us and that He would use our blessings to also bless others in need. 

Monday, March 5, 2012

Why play with toys...

when you can have a coat-hanger?


For the (Great) Grandmas

It was kindly brought to my attention by one of Juliet's great-grandmothers that I did NOT put any new pictures of Juliet on the blog last week.  My sincere apologies.  Here you go!.......