A Whole New Level of Cuteness

Fun, Fun and More FUN!

Julia turned 22 months yesterday and she is getting to be more fun by the minute. We have had a blast lately doing all kinds of kid stuff. She is speaking in sentences now and I thought I would list some common phrases that we are hearing around here....

"I told you I be right back."

"That was a good movie." This Richard Scarry movie about counting....she is obsessed! We have to watch it every night before we read books before bed. The last thing she says every night is, "That was a good movie."

"Are you ready to eat?"

"No like it."

"Sit right here you."

"I want a blankie/milk."

"Wanna play bwocks (blocks)?"

"What choo doing Daddy/Mommy?"

"You hear it Mommy? Daddy playin titar (guitar)?"

"Want read it again." We are now reading the same books over and over again at least three and sometimes even five times. Tonight was the exception. We read a book about pottying and she only wanted to read it once....lol.

Our sweet Sol turned two in early September and we celebrated with a Yo Gabba Gabba themed party. The jumpy was the deal this year. I have decided that all of us parents should just go in together and buy one and just move it from house to house.

I have to admit....the jumpies are fun. I would love to have a few minutes in one all by myself. For now, Julia is my excuse to "have" to get in there because she is a little shy and scared at first. She warms up fast though!

Julia getting ready to go to the PTA Fall Festival. She has her necklace on and eyeshadow ready.
Cute Julia! Thought I would post a picture of this dress because it will be the last time she gets to wear it.

Because....she accidentally got some paint on it while painting these pumpkins!


I had a moment of realization when I sat her up on that bench to paint....she is getting to be such a big girl and really didn't need or want my help at all!

All of the painted pumpkins waiting to dry. Julia's is in the far right hand corner. She used a lot of green in her piece of art.

She had to get in all four jumpies. Notice that this time I am not in there with her!

On the hayride.....

Leaving Fall Festival with a concession. PTA Fall Festival is at the top of my list. It was so much fun and was a little like stepping back in time. I am so happy that I have Julia so that I don't have to miss out on all the kiddie fun!

Sunday, Julia, John and I headed to Jonesboro to the Crowley's Ridge Nature Center. There was lots there to touch, see and hear. Julia's favorite thing was to push the buttons to hear the different bird sounds. She also liked the giant moose that was hanging on the wall.

Mesmerized by the fish and turtles

Learning about bison

Touching the mushrooms on our hike

Holding Daddy's hand on the hike

11 Years!

John and I celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary Saturday. I can't believe it has been 11 years. But then again when I think about it, I can't remember my life without him in it. I know it sounds cheesy and I am sure that I said it about our tenth, but the 11th year was definitely our best year yet! Unfortunately, we didn't get to celebrate in any special way on our actual date because we had an incredibly busy day Saturday. Our gift to eachother was tickets to see The Chorus Line at the Orpheum Thursday night so we will celebrate then....I can't wait!

Saturday morning, Julia and I headed to the Cooper Young festival in Memphis. We parked at Tara's and she and John met up with us later. We missed our sweet Emmy who was spending the night with friends. I so love the Cooper Young fest. Julia and I made some record art.

Check it out!

Saturday afternoon, Julia went home for a nap and I went to Village Creek to celebrate Ms. Bradshaw's birthday party. Her children and grandchildren actually pulled off a surprise birthday party for her. She is one of my favorites and I had a great time.

Here are Julia's friends playing in the bubble machine. I was a little sad that she missed out on the fun!

The birthday girl! I think those candle numbers say 87!

Sunday was a great laid back day at home. John had band practice in the basement while I cooked a big pot of vegetable soup. This is Julia doing what she does while she is hanging out at home with us. She is playing with her Little People barn. She doesn't play with the Little People and animals that came with it, but substitutes those with her favorite Weebles. Weebles are these round bottom characters that she can fit in her hand. She has loved them ever since she was old enough to play. She transfers them from one spot to another all day long. From her car, to her Elmo shopping cart, to her baby stroller, into her backpack, and then back to the barn. It's a fun game and occupies her for hours!

She is such a smart girl! She knows her colors, can count to 14, knows about 60% of her letters by sight, can sing the ABC song with a little prompting, and is such a joy. She keeps us laughing smiling around here. John and I can't wait to see what the next 11 years of marriage will bring.

More Pictures....

My favorite picture from our DC trip.....maybe my favorite picture ever!

Or this one.....

Julia at 21 months! This picture was taken after she had had her first Cheetos experience.

Julia enjoying her first ever ice cream cone at the Air and Space Museum.

Julia and I on the Subway in DC

This was what was left of our Ethiopian meal when we finished devouring it. It was delicious and very different from anything we had ever tried before. It was served on a spongy bread that was also used as the utensils.

Senator Ted Kennedy....RIP.

The check in desk at the YMCA where we stayed in NYC. I have never seen more tread mills in my life!

In the Heights......one of the Broadway musicals that we say while in NYC. I LOVED it!

Julia eating a watermelon "Julia style!"

Juicy Julia!

Travel East, Travel West....After All, Home is Best!

Washington DC monuments

I returned last week after a long, but wonderful vacation/work trip to Washington DC and NYC! It was the best of everything.....family time, work time and girl time! Julia, John and I flew to Washington two Saturdays ago and stayed at the Grand Hyatt. Julia was such a near perfect angel on the trip that I am still saying that I would take her to Paris next weekend if I could afford it! She was such a city girl and her favorite things were the airplanes, taxis, elevators, escalators, subways (oh, she LOVED getting on the train!), ice cream cones, and pigeons. We went to see the monuments, Arlington cemetery, Museum of Natural History, Air and Space museum, spent some time in Georgetown (my favorite!), spent Sunday at Eastern Market which is a large arts and crafts/trade show, and even got to see Ted Kennedy's funeral procession just when it was heading into Arlington cemetery towards Senator Kennedy's final resting place. I was so excited to get to see such an important piece of history! John bought the newspaper for us to keep for Julia so that she will know that she got to see it.

We ate some interesting food after asking some locals what their favorites were. The most memorable was the Ethiopian restaurant where all the food was eaten with no utensils.....only a piece of large flat bread was used to pick up different meats and vegetables. Very interesting experience and delicious! I had to put Julia and John on the plane Tuesday evening to head back to Memphis so that John could get back to school. That was tough....but we all survived.

I headed back to an empty and quiet hotel room and hopped a bus the next day after meetings to head to NYC. Believe it or not, I found a $5.00 bus fare for a bus that left on the hour every hour to New York. So around 11:45, I checked out of the hotel, literally walked across the street to board the brand new bus, and 3 and a half hours later, I was in NYC! Mary Katherine flew in from Fayetteville and met up with us that night. We stayed with my cousin Scottie and her husband Jason (the ones that just got married in Aspen....see previous post) for the first two nights. I can sum up the whole NYC experience by saying that it was FABULOUS and that I loved every minute of being there. Scottie, Mary Katherine and I had a blast and I had so much fun getting some quality time with both of them. Scottie was the perfect hostess and their apartment in SoHo was definitely a treat. We saw 9 to 5 on Broadway, took a double decker tour, did some shopping, and ate some very memorable sushi!

Mary Katherine and I spent our last two nights at the Vanderbilt YMCA where we shared a dorm style room complete with bunk beds and hardly enough room for us to fit our suitcases. We also shared a college style bathroom with many very young European travelers. Interesting.... I am still trying to make a final determination, but for now, I would say that I would do it again because it is dirt cheap and how nice do your accommodations really need to be when you are sleeping 6 hours and then heading out again for the day????

After four fun packed days of museums, the best pizza and food that I have ever eaten, Broadway, shopping, late night manicures and pedicures, and great girl time, I was refreshed and ready to get home to my sweet baby girl. She and John were waiting on me at the airport and Julia screamed with excitement when she saw me. I couldn't (and still can't) stop kissing her. Julia did well while I was gone. She got to spend a lot of time with her grandparents and John even took her to Memphis to see Sesame Street Live "Elmo's Green Thumb." Even with all the guilt I felt in leaving her, I now believe that mommas actually do need some time to do things just for fun. So, we are planning our next long weekend that we will take next summer or maybe even the next. I am guessing it will be NYC again because I don't think I could ever get enough.....

I picked some of my favorite pictures

This is a favorite because it represents how most of the trip went....Julia is a girl on the go...she led/drug me everywhere we went by holding my hand. She is still relatively content to be in the stroller, but adamantly prefers walking!

John took this one....

Walking to see the monuments....Julia is such a big girl!

Getting creative in the Lincoln Memorial....whatever it takes to keep Julia happy!

My favorite Memorial...

Rocks

So....my camera is officially out of commission and has been sent off. I am missing all kinds of cuteness around here and hear that I will be without it for at least 4-6 weeks. Thought I would tell you about the pictures that you would be seeing here if things were right.

1. Rocks everywhere!
Julia picks up a hand full of rocks every time she goes outside and brings them in. They are everywhere....under her bed, in her bed, in the kitchen, in the trunks of her toy cars, etc. And, they HURT when you step on them barefooted!

2. Julia dancing!
This girl loves some tunes. She dances like a wild woman and goes around and around! Three days ago, she was so wound up that she got dizzy and fell into an ottoman in her room. Within one minute of falling, the imprint of the ottoman fabric showed up on her forehead. The next day, a huge bruise showed up under the fabric imprint. Her little legs always look beat up....with mosquito bites, bruises, little scrapes, etc. I guess that's a good sign in that she is very curious and likes to explore....sometimes to her own detriment.

3. Julia "ordering drinks at Sonic"
I guess Julia has seen me order drinks at Sonic so many times that she has started "ordering" her own out of her Cozy Coupe car. She lifts her head through the front window and says, "Yes, I need a small coke and ice." Plain as day! She even sticks her head out from the deck railing and "orders." This girl keeps us rolling!

4. Julia reading big girl books
I have been so proud of Julia crawling into my lap and asking me to read to her. I have been reading stories out of a Sesame Street book lately. The pages are full of words and it takes a long time to read each page. She will sit through an entire story and not move. She even asks me to read her the book that I am reading. Pretty amazing since there are no pictures to even look at! Speaking of books, my book club just finished, The Help, which was great. It's been a long time since I have read a book that was hard to put down.

John has been playing music on the weekends, so Julia and I have had lots of girl time. We love our time together, but Julia is happies when the three of us are together and paying a lot of attention to her. We were eating dinner last night and she looked at John and asked, "You happy?" He said yes and I continued on by telling her that we were happier than we have ever been. Julia sure makes life sweet around here!

Grillin and Chillin

The happiest news this week was the arrival of sweet Rose Ryan Jackson! Sol now has a precious baby sister. I got to hold her last week and I forgot how tiny newborns really are and even better, how soft and cuddly they are. I could have held this little cuddle bug all night!

Back at home, our big girl has been busy grilling us some chicken every night on the grill that her grandparents got for her. She is talking in sentences and soaks up several new phrases every day. Last week it was, "Oh my gosh," "Oh my," and "Who knew?" Her new favorite song is "C is for Cookie." She screams with excitement when it comes on and as soon as its over she says, "Sing Cookie again? Okay Julwa!" She answers all of her questions to us with "OK Julwa" meaning that we are supposed to say yes. "Eat some chips? OK Julwa!" "Want wash hands? OK Julwa!"
Oh, she keeps us laughing and John and I usually end every day by telling each other funny Julia stories. What did we ever do without her?

She had a blast swimming this weekend! She was so brave and laughed out loud most of the time she was in the water. She loved playing Motorboat and would even jump off the side into my arms.

She even stuck her face in the water and would try to blow bubbles.

The sidewalk chalk and body art was almost as fun as being in the water.

My birthday was yesterday and I thanked John this morning for helping to give me the best birthday ever. First, my favorite meal of grilled salmon, fresh asparagus, and a sweet potato. Then, a very sweet note left of my desk and a sweet birthday card. Last, a great and relaxing night at home with my bestest peeps...John and Julia. John laughed at me when I thanked him and said that five years ago, I wouldn't have called staying at home doing nothing my best birthday. It's all about simple abundance these days.