Luke and Jules

my big girl!

2011-03-29T05:09:00.000-07:00

She did it! She finished her chart about a month ago. So we owe her a trip to Chuck E. Cheese's. Hopefully will get to take her in April. I'm so proud of my big girl!

another Happy Heart Day

2011-02-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

fun times

2011-01-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

to remember-

our little sugar fairy is that a sleeve?

snuggle time!

a super fun trip to Georgia with Mommy: we got to visit with Mom's dear old friend, Kimmy and her adorable girls, Audrey and Chloe! Audrey was very sad to see us go! I promised that we would stay longer next time!

you can't beat watching cartoons in a living room tent! little pocahontas ;)

chillin' in kids church at the new place!

so proud!

2011-01-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

today was a celebration day!

(this is her face, post fudge-dipped vanilla ice cream cone!)

Jules has been pull-up free for a while now. However, because of some "going" issues she has had trouble getting #2 in the right spot. She waits as long as possible, and has generally just hated to do the deed. Anywho, we finally decided that a positive rewards system was required to get her over the hump. As it hasn't been a development issue or a practice issue. Jules is a huge candy fan. So we got her special heart-shaped suckers. I printed out a Dora chart that says "I did it!" and taped it to the box. So, every time she's done a #2 in the potty, she's gotten a sticker on her chart, and a sucker. She's improved by leaps and bounds. She was promised something special at the end of her first row. The treat was icecream. When we pulled through the Dairy Queen drive-through she said, "icecream, icecream, yay, yay, yay!" as she clapped. super cute. We've told her how proud we are of her. Great job Jules!

pretty girl!

2011-01-04T18:38:00.000-08:00

(in her Christmas outfit worn in the New Year)

Christmas treats!

2010-12-31T18:31:00.000-08:00

Julianne's Three!!!

2010-11-28T20:07:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? It seems like now-a-days that's all we say. How fast the time goes. We blink and the year's gone. I suppose it's ok because the time is spent living life, hopefully enjoying as much as we can on this merry-go-round! Well, Julianne is three!

What's she like? She's crazy, and amazing, and frustrating, and like a bowl full of sunshine. She's definitely an introvert. She can make the most serious faces. Her scowl could freeze ice! But when she's comfortable, or forgets who's around, she explodes with life. She has this classic little girl giggle that makes the world perfect. She's putty in her daddy's hands when he's making her laugh or smile or tickling her. Her blue eyes are a gorgeous crystal blue and they still often get her out of trouble. She's sensitive and tender-hearted. She also knows how to wrap people around her little finger to get what she wants.

During the past six months we've especially been attached at the hip. She prefers to be with me most of the time. She is her most independent when she's on the computer. Yes, long before she turned three she learned how to double-click, open firefox, and explore her bookmarks, choose games, and learn how to play them and new ones. As you can see, I've given her plenty of "independent" play time. Her vocabulary and speech skills have exploded exponentially. She loves to pretend. She is a classic girly girl. She loves her little polly pocket doll houses, and plays with a boxful of pretend figures. She loves her dolls, and everything becomes a baby - "it's okay baby, I've gotcha." She especially loves a basket full of dolls I made especially for her - which delights my soul. And if you have a basket, watch out! She will quickly confiscate it - to carry her stuff or to climb into.

She still adores Luke and wants to do anything he can do. That's when the girly girl says funny things like, "I'm gonna fight you!" or "I'm going to destroy you!" or "It's a bomb! aaaaaah!" Or runs around the house, chasing him with a toy fireman's ax. Yeah, she can play army with Luke without missing a beat!

She's begun singing and humming her own little songs and is adorable singing along with "Go, Diego, Go!" Her favorite show in Pingu - from which she has developed a love of penguins. She also loves Dora, Diego, and Blue's Clue's. She's very interested in the ABC's and numbers. She has been repeating them out of order this past year, especially when Luke is doing his homework. She wants to participate too!

She's not a great eater. She is still milk-obsessed. And it takes concentrated effort to sway her from milk to something other - food, juice, water... She likes cheese, mac 'n cheese and plain crackers - for real! She loves strawberries and grapes and will sometimes do bananas. She could live on sweets! We constantly have to remind her that treats are not meals.

Her favorite colors fluctuate from pink to red. She loves her class at church and looks forward to it every week. She loves her friends (all boys right now!), especially Steven. Some of her favorite things to collect are rocks and leaves. We constantly have a handful in her carseat cupholder, or a dry leaf crinkling in my purse. :) She's just a joy and lights up our lives every day! We sure do love you Julianne!

Plunging in

2010-11-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

Alright. No time like the present to just plunge back in. After almost 6 months, the prospect of blogging has just seemed daunting! It might help if I hadn't created four blogs to maintain! oh well, here goes! I'll start with the present and then maybe fill in a few blanks as I can.

Halloween was a lot of fun. Mom went crazy like every year, making homemade costumes, decorating the house and finally got to throw a Halloween party again! Our party was a Henry VIII Tudor theme. Jeremy was Henry, I was Queen Jane Seymour, Luke - prince Edward and Julianne - Princess Elizabeth. Julianne's costume only stayed on for the first 15 minutes of the party. But after I explained that she had to wear it to get candy while trick-or-treating the next night, she was all about it.

Daddy took them trick-or-treating while I sat outside with our mummy, jack-o-lanterns and super fun Halloween music mix passing out candy. We all had a blast, but by the end of the night, mom and dad were very ready to but the Holiday to bed!

Super Six!

2010-05-20T21:59:00.000-07:00

Happy sixth birthday to our little man!

We love you so much Luke!

Snow Days

2010-02-01T21:00:00.001-08:00

her first whole movie

2010-01-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

Jules also experienced her first whole movie. We took the kids to see The Princess and the Frog during Luke's long track out. We made sure to arrive slightly after the start time, so that the previews were just about finished. She did great, she got antsy during the last 20 minutes, but made it all the way through! (and if you know us, we're a big movie family, so this was definitely an important milestone. :)
We all enjoyed the movie. We'd been warned by friends that it was pretty dark (with voodoo and stuff). But I didn't really find it anymore dark than other Disney movies of the past. Yes, the villain was a bad voodoo guy, but the general theme remained that good conquered evil. Julianne found a couple of parts scary. But I was there to hide her eyes and assure her. (Honestly, I always found the witch queen in Snow White to be just as scary - and evil. She does ask for Snow White's heart in a box after all.) I also think that you see what you look for. And it is incredibly important for parents to experience with their kids, and talk to their kids about what they've experienced.

Library

2010-01-28T07:47:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping to make it a regular habit to take Julianne to our community library. She had fun looking at books and seeing Sunny, Flash's successor.

Fireman Fun

2010-01-28T07:45:00.000-08:00

Luke got to get on a firetruck at Noah's fireman birthday. He was in heaven. I'm pretty sure he would've just left with them if we'd let him.

Hopper's House

2010-01-28T07:40:00.000-08:00

fun at Hopper's House with Natalie, on the last day before Luke tracked back in again.

just so you know

2010-01-28T07:38:00.000-08:00

the proper way to cook sushi and fortune cookies, just so you know

First Field Trip (back in November)

2010-01-28T07:19:00.000-08:00

I still wanted to post this (better late than never right?).

Back in December before he tracked out, Luke went on his very first field trip. In a school bus I might add. Some of you may know that Luke was talking about turning five before he was three. That when he turned five he would go to school and ride a school bus. Because we drive him, he hadn't gotten to experience the joy of riding a real school bus until then. He loved it. I got to go on the trip as a chaperon, so I met him there. We went to Marbles downtown.

It is a super cool place. His favorite stop was the pirate ship.

leaps and bounds

2010-01-10T22:09:00.000-08:00

Today Julianne went to her 2's and 3's class for the first time. She did great. She's been dealing with the separation thing more lately (the past two months), so I wasn't sure. Last week, she cried when I tried to leave her in nursery, so I had to coax her in. (It seems to have been more as I've been working. It will probably help to have our time back, once Luke tracks back in. On the other hand, he's loved being home and hanging out.)

Luke is more and more the big kid. For Christmas he got a new rewards chart. So he's been steadily working to get stars. He earned $2 for last week which he was very proud of. (Just: feeding pets, getting dressed and ready, cleaning his room, picking up toys, being particularly helpful,etc.) I'm so proud of him. We have had a blast playing Super Mario on the Wii together. He even shows J and I special tricks.

Christmas in Georgia!

2010-01-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

We went down to Georgia for Christmas this year to see Papa and Laloo (Christie's parents). We had a blast. Visiting with Aunts and Uncles, cousins, Great Grandparents and even having a sleepover and Uncle Isaac and Alexis'.

Christmas morning - look what Santa brought!

the aircraft carrier!!!

a kitchen set for Miss Jules

and a Wii for the family! (and two army games for Luke)

dinner at Great Grandma V's house
and presents and dessert at Great Uncle Jamie and Stacey's house

chaos and fun!

more Christmas fun!

2010-01-10T16:41:00.000-08:00

Luke's letter to Santa (he did at school). Up until then, we didn't realize how much he wanted an Aircraft Carrier.

We celebrated an early Christmas with Papa and J. Opening presents and spending the night. We had loads of fun. J decorated sugar cookies with Luke and Jules the next day. Jules got little dishes and an apron set (to go along with a Santa gift yet to come). She got one gift early from Mom and Dad - Strawberry Shortcake and Cruiser. Luke got a super cool army set from Papa and J, and a 200 piece army figures set from Mom and Dad. As you can see, he set right to work building armies and battles. He was in heaven! Jeremy even came up with a cool way to play battle with him. They took a dice (die?), and rolled it when it was their turn, the number determined how many of the enemies guys they could take away. Brilliant - trust me, it saved a lot of tears and turmoil.

it's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

2010-01-10T16:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas tree hunting at our favorite oldest lot in Fuquay

very pleased with his work!

old enough this year to help decorate

building his own train around the tree :)

visiting Santa at Crabtree Valley Mall
I want an aircraft carrier.

There was no one in line, so the kids got an extra long chat with Santa.
Jules didn't mind sitting on Santa's lap at all. Anything with Luke is okay.

the cutest little reindeer!

family Christmas pictures

2010-01-10T16:31:00.001-08:00

Jess took some family pictures for our Christmas card again. She did a great job, and we have so much fun while she's doing it. She's our picture fairy. ;)

Julianne at Two

2009-12-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

Although, we're already several weeks past her birthday, I wanted to jot down a few thoughts about this little girl. Over the past year she's gone from walking to prissing around everywhere. As much as Luke is all boy, she is all girl. She is the sweetest little girl, and beyond cute. Yes, she certainly has all of us wrapped around her little finger. Including her Papa and J. For months now she's been saying, "Hi Papa!" "Hi J!" "Hi Mommee" "Hi Daddee!" "Hi Luke!" She loves to jibber-jabber. And everyday learns new words, phrases and practices putting sentences together.

She often says, "Hold you mommy." (which I love, I remember when Luke used to say that!) "I can't do it" "I can't open up!" "Want cookie/candy!" (The girl has a serious sweet tooth!) She's definitely two! When we ask her if she's ready to go night-night, she scowls and shakes her head "uh-uh!" She has no problem saying no, if the suggestion doesn't suit her. Ah, the fun that awaits us this year!

It's been fun to watch her grow into her own different person. She has different tastes than Luke. She's quite a bit more adventurous when it comes to food. She'll try just about anything her Aunt Jess gives her to try (including salsa, hm hmmm ;). She even loves tomatillo salsa from Moe's. She's been know to gnaw on lemons and pickles too. A daughter after my own heart! :) She still eats like a bird though. She would rather pick at someone else's food than really eat. She's content with her milk, occasional fruit or a piece of cheese.

She continues to follow Luke everywhere. She adores him and wants to do everything he does. (I have to remind him all the time that she's watching and will copy him - good or bad.) He takes very good care of her, and loves to correct her. Her favorite room in the house is his room, and has been picking up random toys to "shoot" with for a while.

She's absolutely in love with Strawberry Shortcake. She would watch her three dvd's all day if we let her. She loves Sesame Street, and Ernie has been her favorite character. She loves music, and does the funniest funky dances every time she hears music - no matter where we are. She's tried her voice and singing a little bit too, copying random words.

She loves her room, especially since we converted her bed to a toddler bed. And loves her teepee we made her for her birthday. She loves playing with her babies and stuffed animals, and looks at all of her books. It's not uncommon to find her on her bed with books piled all around her. It's also fun to watch her this season. She's really experiencing Christmas for the first time (more aware of what's going on than the past two years.) She calls Santa, "Claus."

I'm sure I'll have more to add, but that's at least a little of what she's up to.

Dear Santa

2009-12-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

A special visit with Santa at Crabtree Valley Mall. There was noone in line, so the kids (including Jeremy :) got an extra long chat with the big guy. Luke asked for an Aircraft Carrier with Jets (for real!) and more army stuff (surprise!). Julianne just took it all in stride (anything Luke is okay with, she is).

the tree hunt

2009-12-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

Last week we went tree hunting. Julianne's first time. Usually, just the boys go. It was a cold drizzly day, but we had fun going to the same lot we've gone to since we moved here.

gobble gobble

2009-12-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

We all look forward all year long for Thanksgiving week, when we get to see Jeremy's brothers and all the cousins. We have a blast playing games. The kids are having more and more fun with each other as they grow older. The highlight of this trip was the bouncy house Papa and J rented for Friday.

remembering Halloween

2009-12-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

I have major catching up to do!

Here are a few tidbits from Halloween.
Seriously, the cutest army guy and Strawberry Shortcake I've ever seen! (If I do say so myself.)

fun with Cafe Mom

2009-12-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

We went to Green Level Gourd Farm with Cafe Mom for some Fall fun. It was a charming little place close by. We visited the animals and corn maze for free. The hayride was only a couple of bucks a piece. We all had a blast.

Julianne's 2nd Birthday

2009-11-26T08:30:00.002-08:00

Jules turns Two!

2009-11-26T08:30:00.001-08:00

Aquarium Fun

2009-10-19T08:45:00.001-07:00

Virginia Beach has a great Aquarium. We especially loved the sim submarine and shark tank.

Bird Chase

2009-10-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

Julianne was more excited about the birds than she was about the rest of the beach. She could definitely do without the sand, but eventually overcame her dislike of the stuff to go chase birds. She loves the water. She wasn't afraid at all, she'd just run headlong into it.
(Fun for mommy, really, lots!)

Mommy brought some scraps to feed the birds so she could get a closer look. I'm sure the rest of the beach loved us (they were probably like, oh great). It was fun though.

She chased the birds saying, "come on bird."

Virginia Beach Trip

2009-10-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

While Luke was tracked out, we got to tag alone with Daddy on a business trip (to help a friend) out to Virginia Beach.

Yay Luke!

2009-09-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

(I've been so behind on posts lately, naughty mommy.)
A couple of weeks ago, Luke came home with a Good Character award. He proudly told us that because he had been making such good choices and getting compliments, he got to go the Guidance Counselor's office to receive an award. Yay Luke! So we took him out to Mickey D's to celebrate.
We also had our very first parent-teacher conference regarding Luke's progress right before he tracked out last Friday. We goofed up and showed up a week early for ours. (oops. :) overeager. well, we missed the letter, and misunderstood an email. We told her we just HAD to know how he was doing - I mean, his pre-med career is on the line!)
She was so great. (We really LOVE his teacher!) She grabbed his folder and gave us an informal presentation of how he's doing. He has made so much progress in just a month and a half. He's learned so many new things, improved greatly on his alphabet, numbers, handwriting, and begun learning the calendar, etc. He's been so proud when he's had the responsibility for leading or ending the line, doing the calendar for the day, etc. We've loved experiencing all of these new firsts.

We're so proud of you Luke!

dancing queen

2009-09-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

Jules loves music, and this week she discovered what those earphones are for. Anytime she hears music she busts into a dance (with such abandon I might add). It makes me smile. I love dancing with my little dancing queen!

outside

2009-09-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

Fostering the Dane has also been great for us, because it got us to get the yard more cleaned up in preparation. So Julianne has been playing out on the playset and loving it. She loves to spend as much time as possible swinging and sliding. She can't quite climb up by herself yet, because of the spacing of the ladder, but I added three new rungs this week to help her out. Luke was having a blast doing a photo shoot of the whole back yard.

the new "puppy"

2009-09-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

The kids and our new Great Dane foster from MAGDRL.
You can see how huge he is. Rest assured we took proper precautions before letting him this close to her (or either one of them). Mrs. Judy was so great with the kids, prepping and teaching Luke, introducing them individually to Stetson, and helping gauge Stetson's handling of the transition.

The kids making Stetson feel at home. They've done so well with him and vice versa.

a girl's "kiddy"

2009-09-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

He's so tolerant of her! This is just a typical scene, with Xander sitting on the bench tolerating Julianne's "love." He is a girl's kitty. He's been partial to me as his mommy since we got him. However, we were so surprised to see how much he took to Julianne from the time she was born. When she was tiny and we would have her on a blanket in front of a fire in the fireplace, he would lay right beside her. So for her whole life, they've been best buds. Xander walked around for a while with a beach ball still on his behind. I told him I like his tattoo. Good kitty.

homework

2009-09-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

It's really been cool experiencing school with Luke. We're experiencing all of these new firsts with him. Show and Tell, Reading logs, practicing handwriting and numbers. Doing homework with him one-on-one is surprising fun. I love watching his eyes light up with all this new information. Jeremy is especially good with helping Luke do his homework. I love seeing them together.

Daddy!

2009-09-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

building

2009-09-15T07:28:00.000-07:00

He loves to build, and loves having pictures taken of his work. The bottom one involves lincoln logs if you look closely. I don't know maybe construction or engineering will be in his future. We'll see . . . :)

digging

2009-09-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

His trench! It's deeper than it looks. It's at least a foot deep.(and, well, you can see how deep this crazy hole is)

Luke's latest construction projects. This kid is crazy, and driving his Dad nuts. You should just seem him go though. When he gets his mind set on a project, he will work and work and work at it until it's done. He's tireless, and can do some serious digging for a kid! You're only a kid once right Little by little we're recovering our yard, but we'll still leave him his own digging spot.

our Sweetpea

2009-08-27T09:00:00.001-07:00

As of Sunday, Julianne is 21 months old. Just 3 months shy of being 2 years old!
She's doing great. Her vocabulary is beginning to explode now. Everyday she is learning and exploring new words. Soleil has graduated to "Solo." She begs to watch "Fabbi" from morning to night and gets just a little upset when we tell her we're not watching the Strawberry Shortcake DVD all the time. She loves to "colo."
This last week she had a sad first. She fell all the way down the stairs, but thankfully was ok. She actually navigates the stairs really well. However, we still stay right by her. However, this particular time we were upstairs without the gate and she tripped on a toy she'd dropped. Mommy is still recovering long after she's forgotten about it!
She's super silly and loves to dance whenever she hears music.
She also has learned how to climb right up into her highchair and says "hungy" (or something like that). She's a milk fiend but still eats like a bird. Preferring to mooch off of others plates. She loves "nannas" and "fabbies." She loves our showers, until Mommy insists on washing her hair. Then she starts calling "honey," hoping Daddy will come rescue her. She's still doing great with her naps. Running for the gate and saying night-night and sassi. We are both absolutely loving our time together during the day. And she loves seeing the "horsies" when we go to pick up Luke from school. Such fun!

rain!

2009-08-22T17:28:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun playing in the rain today. Okay, they played and I really just watched. But they were so cute! Luke was grinning ear to ear as he positioned his army men and staged battles in the downpour. And Julianne was just excited to be out in the "rain." She went back and forth from wading in the water to putting her hand under the downspout saying "rain!"

we LOVE Sesame Street!

2009-08-21T07:27:00.001-07:00

what they're saying:

2009-08-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

Luke's favorite word right now is "Ginormous." I don't know if he came up with it himself or if he heard someone else say it, but it cracks me up every time.

Jules still calls her paci "sa-see." She also has taken to calling Soleil "sadow." She asked Luke to "hold me" tonight. She loves choo-choos now and asks to watch Thomas DVD's all the time, and loves playing with them. The train sets are back in action. (There was a time when Luke lived to play with them.) She also got out of her crib all by herself for the first time last night. I hope this isn't a new phase. we'll see. . .

school, shoes and chores

2009-08-11T07:42:00.001-07:00

Luke finished his first full week of school last week. He had a great week, loves his teachers, and loves his new friends even more. They work so hard on transitioning the parents and the kids in Kindergarten, you can't help but fall right into things. They are concentrating a lot at the beginning on getting the kids used to the school setting, the environment, where things are, how to walk in a line, what's expected of them, where things go, what are responsibilities, etc.

On the first day I took him in to class, and he found his cubby and went off right away. They held a "Tea and Tissue" time for moms. But honestly, by the time I'd been through staggered entry and meet the teacher, it wasn't necessary. It was nice to meet a few of the moms though. Daddy started taking him to school in the mornings. The second day, he walked him in, but Luke said he knew where he was going so Dad didn't need to walk him to the room. The rest of the week Luke just asked Jeremy to drop him off in carpool. As you can see, he was so ready for all of this!

We can already see a difference in Luke. In some ways, he seems more grown up. Then there are still plenty of times when he falls a part, or tests every boundary he can. I suppose that's what kids do. He's still trying to understand why school has certain rules. We've talked about safety and fairness, etc. He doesn't understand why he can't take his shoes off at school. Especially when you know that this kid spends most of his time barefoot or relatively so in his crocs. All in all, he's doing really good. We're working on getting him back into his chore chart as he adjusts to all of this new stuff. He had been doing really great for several weeks, so hopefully this week, we can get back into it. (as an aside - I was really surprised at how difficult it was to find free clipart for his chart. I googled it, but it took a while - let me know if you want ours as a starting point.)

a Luke-in-training

2009-08-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

She loves anything that has to do with Luke. It cracks me up to look over, and she's put something else of Luke's on. This girl loves hats. We've got to get her some - she's outgrown her own. She is 20 1/2 months as of today. She's something else. So sweet, listens pretty well. On the whole, if we say no she'll listen, or can be pretty easily distracted. She loves to swing with Grandma J and to take walks with the wagon. Her favorite words are "fabbi" for strawberry and "mano" for water. Her newest word is "honey." She hears me say it to Jeremy all the time. She loves Elmo and pretty much anything Sesame Street. She points out Elmo, Ernie and Cookie. She also recently pointed to the Count and said "ha, ha." -because that's what we do when we read his part. She also loves to get out all the DVD's and asks to see the choo-choo (Thomas - not him again!). And then says, "here goes." She still loves to take her naps, mainly because she knows she gets her milk in her sippy cup and her paci's, she also gets a board book in her crib. She loves to snuggle and lounge. She loves to wave, say hi and bye-bye. We took the kids to family night at Chick-fil-a and they had a big cow and a little girl cow. She loved both of them. She kept waving, shook their hands and let the big one pat her head. She is loving having me all to herself and so am I (even though it is a little too quiet sometimes - I never thought I'd say that!). She asks for Luke every now and then but has fun picking him up in carpool.
Last week, Luke started "springing" her from her crib. She cried a lot, teething with two new teeth on the bottom. So, he would sneak in to her room and help her out of bed. We've explained the situation to him, and why she needs to stay in bed, but he did again last night. He thinks he's taking care of her. It could be worse. They definitely have a new comraderie.

cookin

2009-08-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

a makeshift kitchen (until Christmas :) while Luke was at school
He thought it was pretty cool when he came home, too!

Jules in style

2009-07-30T18:12:00.001-07:00

Jules going to pick up Luke at carpool. She found and fell in love with these rain boots in her closet. She completed the look with her baby's bag.

"first" day at school

2009-07-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

Luke's "first" day at school (his evaluation day)
He had a great day introduced to the school, classrooms, playing and being observed in centers, making new friends, playing outside, eating lunch and snack, and being picked up in carpool. We'll meet his official teacher tomorrow, and then school officially starts for him on Monday.

sunflowers

2009-07-30T17:51:00.001-07:00

Julianne loves to color now. She has her very own Strawberry Shortcake coloring book - which she calls "fabbi" (her word for strawberry). She would rather color with brother's markers than her crayons, but gets carried away coloring her own hands.

naked piano girl

2009-07-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

miss you already!

2009-07-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

After breakfast this morning, I said to Luke, "I'm going to miss you when you start school." He said, "Well, I can call you, you just need to get me a walkie talkie." I say, "That's okay. You're going to be having so much fun, you won't even have to worry about it." He says, "But I want to - I love my mommies and daddies!"

He. melts. my. heart.

the newest member of the firehouse

2009-07-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Luke loves to feed her (here he's sharing his chips)
She's wearing his prized Fireman's jacket

Princess Knight

2009-07-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

she loves anything that belongs to Luke

Firehouse

2009-07-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, Luke comes in from col0ring with chalk on the porch and says, "I sure do like this new dog I found." A red Coon hound happily greets me at the door. He looks so hot and thirsty I let him in "just for some water." Luke says, "Well, he could just stay in for just a little while." He was so good with the kids. Giving lots of big wet kisses and playing fetch with Luke. Long story short, 48 hours later, the dog was still with us, until we took him to the vet and had the microchip scanned. Billy Ray is his real name, and he is back home safe and sound. It was fun having "Firehouse" for a little while.

building like Papa

2009-07-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

Luke was building a "garage" like Papa Tudor

nap with Daddy

2009-07-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

she never sleeps like this, she's a crib baby, but she was wiped out!

Sunday outfit

2009-07-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

I saved this outfit for the 4th of July, but it was just too warm and I was afraid she would be uncomfortable. So, she wore it on Sunday. She's so adorable - if I do say so myself!She would absolutely not look at me. Little stinker.

Happy 4th!

2009-07-06T19:32:00.001-07:00

We all had so much fun at the 4th of July cookout at church. We had great food. The kids had so much fun meeting our friends new baby goat, Daisy. Julianne wasn't sure what it was. Luke couldn't stay away! He also had a blast running wild with all of the boys his age that came. He was covered from head to toe in sweat and dirt by the end of the night, and a grin from ear to ear!

This is our little Napoleon! She loves to stand like this and walk around, like she's surveying the scene, ready to give orders. It's hilarious and so cute!

crocodile tears

2009-07-06T19:22:00.001-07:00

(I have to get going if I'm going to keep up with several blogs at once! gulp)
I wanted to commemorate Julianne's first crocodile tears. We were at Chick-fil-a, and she wanted to do something, and I said the "no" word. She promptly produced two perfect shiny tears, and two very sad big blue eyes. Oh great. She has officially entered the period affectionately known as the terrible two's. It's kind of funny this go round. I find myself noting the differences between her and Luke. She is so incredibly girly. When she throws a fit, it's a very girly fit - filled with lots of drama and whining. Oh my goodness, I can't help it. I have to turn away so that I don't laugh. With Luke, he was just so passionately frustrated or mad, and I was just overwhelmed trying to figure out how to best handle each situation - damage control.

Oh, the fun of kids. Especially as they grow into themselves. Discovering that they have a mind of their own, and unique powers at their disposal. Julianne loves to throw herself on the floor as a dramatic punctuation, or sometimes just leans her head down. We can't even lie - she gets us all the time!

fun in Atlanta

2009-07-02T19:28:00.001-07:00

playing dinosaurs and babies with Ashlee - Ashlee was so sweet with Julianne, did great sharing. It was so fun seeing them play together.

We loved meeting baby Gavin.
Laloo was in heaven, hanging out with all four of her kids and all five of her grandkids!

We also had a blast playing and sleeping at Papa & Laloo's.
Luke with Moni and Uncle Isaac. :)

fun at the Lego store

2009-06-24T20:01:00.000-07:00

On Jeremy's day off, we like to shoot the breeze at one of our local malls. So, we took the kids out to Crabtree to check out the new Lego store. It was pretty cool.

family movie night

2009-06-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

We had fun watching the Tale of Despereaux together. Julianne was pretty cute laying down with her baby beside Luke. But she got sillier and very distracting bringing toy after toy to Luke as we tried to watch. We put her to bed about 10 minutes in. The rest of us finished it and really liked it. I like this whole family movie night thing.

KY Cousins Visit

2009-06-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

at the park with Emily & Logan, before fishing for the first time with Papa

cookie

2009-06-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

Julianne's new favorite Sesame Street character is Cookie Monster. The closest she's gotten to saying Elmo has been something like, "ah-ma." But she's fallen in love with a Golden Book I picked up, Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree. She listen to the whole thing, and carries the book around the house saying "cookie."
She's also obsessed with wearing her shoes now. Up until now, we haven't been able to keep shoes on her. We finally gave up on it, and just let her go barefoot. A few months ago, I picked up some really cute hot pink mj crocs (new from a consignment sale for $4!). This past week she asks for her shoes in the morning and wears them all day. She's gotten really good at walking in the shoes too (before they would trip her up). She's growing and changing so fast!

getting ready for school

2009-06-11T12:22:00.001-07:00

Luke received his first supply for school in the mail. Audrey and Chloe (who we still haven't gotten a chance to meet in person yet - along with their parents, Kimmy and Eric) sent Luke a Lunch bag with his name on it for his birthday. He was so excited, especially that it was green. He said, "It's green like army stuff!" Thanks guys, he loves it! He is officially getting ready for Kindergarten now. (gulp)

And yes, the army-thing is his newest love. However, he still has given up the firetruck stuff or his Transformers. I suppose there's always room for one new obsession. :)

beach fun

2009-06-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had our first beach trip of the season out to Topsail beach. This was the second time Jules has been to the beach, but she wouldn't have remembered her first time, a year ago. The water wasn't too bad, a little on the chilly side, but a beautiful day overall. Luke had a blast as usual. He loves to go out on a knee board with Daddy, and make sandcastles in the never-ending sandbox. Jules was amused by the water, and even seemed to like putting her feet in it until she "fell" and got a little wet and sandy. After that she wanted to stick to the home base. At one point she babbled for me to take off her beach shoes, and tried to wipe the sand off of her feet. Later, I asked if she wanted to go see Daddy and Luke and see the sandcastle they were building. She took a look at the sand and said "no, no" and something that sounded like "natty." I asked if she meant "nasty" and she just climbed up onto one of the beach chairs. What a girl! I'm hoping that she'll get more and more used to it. We are a beach family after all. She seemed just as content to eat strawberries, sip cold water, and snuggle in her towel, which was just fine with Mommy. Towards the end of the day she got the hang of digging in the sand with the beach toys, while sitting on the towel (mind you). She went crazy over the birds every time we saw them - pelicans and seagulls. We also got to see dolphins swimming in pretty close. Jeremy even saw one jump. It was fun, and I hope the first of many beach trips this summer.

Octopus

2009-06-04T12:40:00.000-07:00

So, about a week and a half ago, I had my arms full as usual and was trying to get Jules taken care of, and Luke looks at me and says, "Mom, sometimes it like you're an octopus." All I remember is laughing and saying, "yeah right." (mind you this was completely his own 5 yr old observation)

And then this week, I was trying to do a million different things at once, with Jules fussing for breakfast, and Luke asking me to do something. So, I said impatiently, "Luke, you're just going to have to wait a sec. I can't do everything all at the same time." And he just looks at me with a grin and says, "Well Mom, you're not an octopus."

He just gets me.

Luke & Jules

2009-06-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the kids' very own new blog! (lukeandjules.blogspot.com)

out enjoying the wagon we were given

he's so good to her! (if you can't tell)
such a little princess!