Julia's 1st Baptismal Birthday!

Julia was baptized one year ago today (we will always remember the date since it is Tax Day)!  We brought out her baptism candle at supper tonight.  She thought the flame was pretty neat.  We told her about her special day and all the family and friends that came to our house that day to celebrate.

Julia, you are a child of God!

Snow Day... AGAIN!

We woke up to A LOT of snow again this morning.  It was so disappointing since we finally were able to see grass again (for about a week).  Good news: a day at home for Mommy and Julia.  Bad news: Mommy has to make up the day in June at work

 

 

When Daddy got home we went outside to play in the snow for a little while! 

"Hey, mom, what is this stuff?"

Julia's 1st snowman... just a little guy... we are hoping he melts very soon!

 

Julia did start playing in the snow when it was time to go back inside... supper was ready!  Oh well, she'll get to play with it more NEXT YEAR!

 

We are gonna have so much fun outside when the weather warms up.  Come on spring, we are ready for you!



Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful extended weekend up north for Easter this year.  It is so nice to spend some relaxing time with family!  Grandparents enjoyed Julia to the fullest!  

 

 Here is our little Easter Bunny!

 Grandma had the grandkids decorate the Easter Bunny cake... Gavin did a great job with the details!

 Gavin listened to Grandma as she gave him some instructions! 

Julia added a few jelly beans, too!

 Grandpa and Julia sharing a cookie for breakfast!

 Happy Easter!

 Julia had fun with empty Easter eggs... putting them in/taking them out of the basket!

"See all my eggs, Great Grandma!"

 Julia even got in on a game of Scrabble this year!

 Our family pic!

 The grandkids (and Easter cake) with Grandma and Grandpa Lee!

Julia decided she wanted to feed Grandpa during the photo shoot!

Oops, got a little frosting on Grandpa's face! 

Julia tried to keep up with her older cousins!

 

 

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  ’The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'

                                        ~ Luke 24:6-7

Day Trip to MOA!

We went to Mall of America on Tuesday for a quick day trip.  Julia was finally starting to feel better after her week + of being sick.

 

We hit a few shops, walked around a bit and then went to SeaLife aquarium. Here a few pictures from our afternoon...

Julia seemed to enjoy looking at the fish and sharks at the aquarium.  It was pretty neat to see them so close.  She also enjoyed walking down the long tunnel (of course, she didn't get to see many fish that way though!).  It was getting really close to nap time so we grabbed a treat before hitting the road back home. 

Hop, Hop, Hop!

Julia met the Easter bunny Saturday afternoon at the mall.  Even though she hasn't been feeling well lately (we think it is teething) she did pretty well with the bunny.  We went down to Runnings and saw the baby chicks, too!

 "Okay, Mom, I'll stand here, but it doesn't mean I like it."

 This hand signal means "take me up, Dad." 

 She got a little Easter rubber ducky from the Easter bunny after she was done with her pics. No screaming fits, so I'd say it was a success!

 Julia got a palm branch today at Palm Sunday church service.  She thinks it is a very fun toy.

We are looking forward to spending time together as a family this week and then seeing lots more family of north later this week! 

Thanks Grandparents!

Julia had a great week and a half with her grandparents.  We are so thankful they could come down and watch Julia while our daycare provider was in Mexico.  Julia had so much fun and was spoiled, of course!  It was so nice they could spend so much time with her! Grandma and Grandpa Rudebusch came on Monday and stayed til Saturday morning and then Grandma and Grandpa Lee came on Saturday and stayed til Thursday morning.

 

Julia enjoys doing lots of different things now.  She doesn't just walk now, she "runs." Okay, well, maybe not a complete run, but she goes very fast.  She is very good at putting the rings on the stack, putting coins in the piggy bank, feeding the "puppy," hugging and kissing her babies, dancing, and she tries to do actions for songs that Mommy sings like "I'm a Little Teapot" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."  She shrugs her shoulders and smiles.  She loves to point out where your nose, eyes, mouth and teeth are.  Gus is great entertainment.  It is fun to pet him, throw a ball for him and tease him with his toys!  She blows kisses and goes around the house making smooching sounds when she sees someone (or a toy) she wants to kiss. 

She says "Dad" a lot now and doesn't say "Mama" as much as she used to.  I guess she likes Daddy more!  She continues to sign "more," "milk," "eat" (and walks to her highchair), and has just recently started to sign "sleep" or "nap."  It is so cute... she puts her hand on her face and sometimes even walks to her room when it is nap time.  There have been a few times that she signs "sleep" to me while I am reading her stories before bed, meaning she wants to go to bed now and not finish the stories.  What a smartypants!

 

She has tried all kinds of different foods... even a few cookies... yup, she has a sweet tooth like her Mommy and Daddy!

 

I noticed tonight that Julia has 4 molars coming in, yes, that is right, 4.  Wow.  The one on the bottom left is almost all the way in, the top left is a lot of the way through and the right side (bottom and top) are just poking through.  She has been hiding those well!

 

Mommy will have her first night away from Julia this weekend.  Sad for Mommy, but Daddy and Julia will have lots of fun together.  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

We just love our little Valentine!  Julia made heart sugar cookies with the other kids at daycare and they got to decorate the cookies, too.  She even brought another one home to have as a treat later!  Julia got to look at her nice cards from her grandparents and Great-Grandma Orpha and open some Valentine's gifts! What a lucky girl!

 

You might notice that Julia got a little boo-boo under her eye, nothing major, just a scrape. 

 

We are looking forward to having Grandpas and Grandmas here soon as daycare! 

 IT WILL BE SOOOOOO FUN!!!

 

I couldn't resist throwing this pics in the post... what a difference a year makes! It is amazing how much she has grown!