Julia is 2!!!

On October 3rd, our little girl turned 2! We threw her a Tu-Tu Birthday Party at the park, where all her friends wore tu-tus too! It was so cute!
The girls all loved their wands and tu-tus!
She knew just what to do after singing "Happy Birthday" and blew her candle out. Unfortunately, the wind did not cooperate, but she blew anyway. It was a far cry from her first birthday when she had a melt down. What a difference a year makes!
Yes, Julia even ate the paper!
She did so well opening her presents. Everything got a "WOW," her cards were "MAIL," and she told everyone "THANK YOU!" She was so good!
Mommy and Daddy got her a new kitchen! She loves it and plays in her room cutting vegetables and microwaving toys!
The night of her birthday, Julia got to eat another cupcake. She was one happy girl!

Summer Vacation 2011

With Julia 22months old, and me 26weeks pregnant, we took our first family trip to Disneyland!!! Between the two of us, we helped keep the pace slower than what Tim and I were used to at the theme park. Disneyland with a kid in tow is a completely different experience. No longer did we care as much about roller coasters and thrills (though Tim did get to ride Screamin and the new Star Tours), but we cared about Julia's reaction to all the fun stuff around her.
To Julia, every ride was a boat, or the "horsies" on the carousel (which we rode 4 times!) and she wanted to "ride it". She was overwhelmed when we first got there, but loved running to the next thing, keeping very busy.

She wasn't too sure about meeting the characters or princesses, although she talked about them a ton.

Whenever she was excited, or music was playing, she would bounce. During the parade, she was bouncing on my belly from all the excitement.
Peter Pan even gave her a high 5!


















Daddy's shoulders were the best place to see everything, especially the night shows and fireworks!
It was a busy trip, but she fell asleep in her stroller every afternoon before our hotel break (for Mommy too), as well as every night in the park. Everyday, she is still talking about Disneyland and the "Tiki Roo00m" with the "birds singing" or "Tinkeybell flying" and the "princesses."


We did take a side trip to Laguna Beach for the day and she loved the cold "oceay" water and sand. It was a great vacation for our little toddler and growing family. (Except the 13hour drive back home, but that's another story!)

Been awhile, eh?

Considering it's been since November that I posted, I thought it might be time for an update.

We're expecting Baby #2 in November (or the end of October). It's a girl!!! Julia gets a sister, and we'll have our 2 little girls! Tim is already feeling out numbered, but can't wait to spoil his girls! Past 14 weeks of nausea, the pregnancy has been great so far. We are busy getting ready for our expanding family.
Julia is now almost 22 months old and changing everyday. She's talking a ton, counting to ten (and beyond), singing her ABCs (or at least Q-the end of the song), blowing bubbles in the pool, and playing tug-of-war with Toby, our dog. She cracks us up everyday with new things she does and says!
Summer is in full swing. We attempted camping with a toddler. It got a little tiring telling Julia, "Nasty, don't put that in your mouth," but we had a good time anyway.

We've been to the lake, gone swimming, went to Kansas City to visit Grandma Sharon and the Sebastians, went to a Royals baseball game, watched fireworks on the 4th of July, had the Chagnons stay with us for 2 weeks and loved playing with the cousins, I got my braces off, and we celebrated our 5the wedding Anniversary. That's been our adventures in a nutshell. We are making the most of our summer! Next week...We're going to Disneyland!!!

Apple Hill

We went up to Apple Hill for the day with a bunch of friends. The first couple hours were dry, followed by rain. Tim sees rain as a prerequisite to a good Apple Hill day, but we agreed that an over cast day would have been preferred. It was a lot of coordinating amongst our group, but in between we had some yummy apple goodness! Apple donuts, kettle corn, apple cider, corn dogs, and apple pie. I, of course, got sick!

The cutest pumpkin in the patch!


She didn't care too much for the wet hay on her bum, but she's cute!

Julia is ONE!!!

Our little Julia Grace is ONE!!! It has been such an amazing year to watch her grow and see all that she can do! We love our baby (now entering the toddler zone!) Happy Birthday Julia!!!


Grandma Sharon came to CA to celebrate Julia's Birthday! It was a special treat for us all! After church and lunch, we went to the Nut Tree for some fun!

How cute is this little one year old!!! We had to practice some walking. Julia started taking a couple steps 2 weeks before her birthday, and is growing in more confidence everyday!


Grandma Sharon took Julia on the carousel for her Birthday ride! It's free til she's 2!


Yummy cupcakes!!! Julia had a Cupcake Birthday!!!


Yup, these little cupcake lollipops are homemade too! Are you drooling yet?

After we sang Happy Birthday, and with the cake in place, Julia FREAKED OUT!!! Too many people and too many emotions!!! She only ate the cake I stuck in her mouth! She was done! The next night, we tried it again, with just the three of us. As soon as we belted out "Happy Birthday to...." Same reaction. We let her play and calm down, then started feeding her cake.After awhile, she was all into eating the cake and forgetting how we traumatized her! Hopefully she'll forget her traumatic experience by next year!

Our New Home

We've been in our new house for a month now and are the official owners. It has been a busy process of settling in, figuring out where to put the furniture, buying drapes for the windows, and doing various home improvement projects. This last weekend we cleaned and organized the garage...what a task. We thought to park a car in, but in our needs, we might turn it into our band room! Anyone want to jam?



It would be nice to have everything in order, the walls painted like we want them, new doors already hung, but it is a process. BABY STEPS!!! We've got to set little goals and not be overwhelmed by the long list of projects we'd like to do. Don't get me wrong, I am excited that we get to make it our own, in our time. It's just a lot of work, but we are willing!



Our busiest project at hand is Julia! Our girl is crazy!!! She loves exploring our house and we have to constantly watch her so she's not getting into something. Yes, we are in the process of childproofing things, but we want her to be able to explore her home. She loves climbing the stairs, the walls, banging cabinet doors, and putting every piece of lint she finds in her mouth. She doesn't sit still for long at all. Her pack n play had been a useful tool as we work on projects that we don't want her underfoot in. While in it, it is the only time she will sit and play with her toys and read her books.


Our girl sure is busy...and will be a 1 year old in 2 weeks!!!

Home Owners...almost

We're buying our first home!!!

We are so excited, yet extremely cautious! The house we got is a short sale, which can be a headache on its own. We were supposed to close on the house by 8/8, which obviously didn't happen. We're waiting on a piece of paperwork from the bank, so our hands are tied. Our plan was to move on Saturday...yes, 2 days from now!!! We'll see if that happens! We've been in boxes the last 2 weeks. Our massive garage sale was last week, we've packed ever thing up, and are ready to go! Until we hear anything else, it's paper plates, easy meals, and more waiting! Pray with us!!