A glimpse into the future.

Not the NEAR future.... just sometime in the future when we decide to have another baby. Again... not the NEAR future. haha


This is Carson. Julianna likes to take him toys. Like this camera that is almost the same size he is.


Julianna is having fun. Caffrey isn't.


Carson's first carousel ride.


Katie and Carson. Katie and I were extremely dizzy on the slow moving ride, but the kids loved it!

We got a call from one of Ike's friends from the Naval Academy saying he was going to be in town for the next 3 weeks with his wife and baby. They were going to stay on base at the "hotel" for the whole 3 weeks they were to be in town (with a 3 month old). Of course we told them to come stay with us. They will be here for the first week and then my parents are coming to visit for 2 weeks. So for the next 3 weeks we have visitors and I LOVE IT! I love having company. Vic and Katie are a lot of fun and Carson is so stinkin' cute. Julianna has been so cute with him. She takes him toys and gives him kisses and pats his head. Very sweet. We are having so much fun. If we had enough room for all of the guests at the same time we would!

Fingers Crossed

I almost don't want to say anything yet because I don't want to jinx it, but... I think I have a potty trained child. We've gone all week (M-F) with out any accidents. I still put her in a diaper for naps and bedtime but other than that we have been great. If we leave the house for an outing, I put her in a pull up but she has kept that dry too! I am so happy and proud of her. She made it so easy! I know things won't go perfectly but I think we are really on the right track. Now, I have to get up the guts to take her on errands in undies! I might wait a few more weeks for that. We'll see. Can you imagine her reading this blog in 15 years. She will be so embarrassed!

Julianna, I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! You are such a big girl now. I can't believe how grown up you are and how much you make me laugh. I love to watch you dance around and hear you singing to yourself in your car seat. I love to watch you "swim" in the bathtub and help put your lotion on afterwards. I love it when you give me "BIIIIIGGG HUGS" and sweet kisses. You truly are such a blessing. I love you SO much. Thank you for bringing so many smiles to me and Daddy.

Children's Museum of Memphis

Julianna and I spent the morning at the CMOM. It was our first visit there and we had a great time. Here are some pics from our day. The best part... potty training is going SO well. She stayed dry the whole time we were there and even went to the big potty once!! Yesterday and the day before we went the whole day in undies (except while sleeping) with no accidents!!
YAY, JULIANNA! (YAY, MOMMY!!)

They have a Curious George Exhibit going on right now. She LOVED that.



At the "dentist office" she helped brush the patient's teeth. Move over Aunt Sara. There's a new dentist in town!


Big teeth!


She also "drove" the big plane. Lots of buttons to push!

"Juliannie do it."

Yeah, that's what I heard ALL day today. Julianna is VERY MUCH in the do it herself phase. Bring on the terrible twos. And yes, she calls herself "Juliannie." She used to call herself Annie but we have moved to Juliannie. We catch ourselves calling her that too.

We are really getting excited about her starting "school" next month. She is enrolled in a 2 year old preschool program 3 days a week. Her nap mat arrived today and we practiced putting her babies down for naps while they were "at school." It is super cute. I will post a pic tomorrow if I remember. I ordered it from a great website specifically for nap mats and covers called Siesta Sacks. The one I ordered is no longer available but she has lots of cute ones for boys and girls. Of course they can be monogrammed!

Errands with Daddy

Where else would they go? Home Depot of course!


She can have fun anywhere she goes!

Saturday

Here are some random pics from our day today. Nothing exciting. Just hanging out together.


Playing with elephant in the backyard.


Some roses that are blooming outside our kitchen window. Obviously I have nothing to do with the fact that these roses are still living. Ask me about them next summer.


Here are a "few" golf balls we have collected from our backyard.


Julianna loves to give Caffrey kisses. He doesn't always love receiving them.


Caffrey in his matching gold chair.


This gold chair was my grandmothers. We have said for years that were were going to get it recovered. It has been so long that now we are buying matching gold accessories to go with it. We decided if we wait long enough it might be in style again. ha


Julianna rode the carousel at the mall. First she drove the Zebra, next the Tiger. She cried when we told her it was time to go.


Dinner at Outback. She is giving me a sweet kiss but not letting go of that bread. I don't blame her. It's good bread.


These boots were her favorite accessory of the day. They were a Target find and match her green polka dot raincoat. She was very excited about them.


Nice pose. But look at that smile!

RIP

My poor, sweet, reliable Canon Power Shot camera might be a goner! We were having a wonderful time at the park this morning when things took a turn for the worst. Julianna was swinging on the big girl swings and doing a really good job of holding on to the chains. I decided to take a picture of her doing such a big girl thing. As always, my power shot was right there in my purse when I needed it! I take a few pics and as you will see, in the last picture I will ever take with this camera, Julianna has let go of one of the chains.



About a millisecond after this picture was taken she let go with the other hand falling face forward onto the ground. Luckily for her it was mulch not concrete. So, I put down the camera and scoop her up for big "Mommy will make you feel better hugs and kisses." I pick her up and start to walk around for some distraction when I hear a crunch. Oh *@&!. What was that! (@*#$!!! Yes, I definitely stepped on the camera while the little lens was out. That was the sound of the lens being rammed back into the camera by my big fat foot.
We will take a trip to Wolf Camera and see if it can be resuscitated, but if not. RIP Power Shot. You have been a trusted friend for years and I will miss you. Thank you for all of your hard work and the many memories you have captured for me! :(

UPDATE: It's official. Power Shot was DNR. (do not resuscitate) Totaled.

Look what I can do...

...almost!

Julianna is trying to figure out how to ride this tricycle. Kalli gave it to her birthday last year and her feet just now reach the pedals!


She is saying "bike" in sign language.


Playing in the backyard with Lucy, her favorite playmate.

Potty Progress and Pigtails!

So far so good with the potty training. She is doing really well for just starting on Friday. She mostly walks around with no pants on because a few times she has sat down on her potty and pee peed with her undies still on. It's a work in progress.... I am just happy that she sat on the potty to do it! We will work on pulling the pants down later! haha


This picture features one of her 5 potties! haha She has 3 little potties and 2 seats on the big potties. We like to give her LOTS of options!
And yes she is playing with a dog toy. Lucy is good at sharing.


The pigtails are a new look. I wanted to see if I could pull her hair up at all. This is the best we could do. It looks kinda cute though!
(Thanks for my dolphin shirt Aunt Carrie!)

We have entered a new phase...

The naked phase!!
I was trying to get Julianna down for her nap today and she was yelling and I could tell she was in there playing. So, low and behold.... she had stripped off EVERYTHING and was jumping around in her bed completely BUTT NEKKED! I was SHOCKED! She has never removed a piece of clothing before, not even a diaper. She took off her EasyUp diaper and her dress. I thought.. well, that was interesting but it won't happen again. I will put the bloomers on over the diaper. I usually do but I was just lazy. 10 minutes later, I go in again, naked again. Bloomers off, diaper off, dress off...... PEE ON THE SHEETS. She was saying "UH OH!!! DIRTY!" NO KIDDING!
So, we have entered a whole new phase. I wasn't ready for it but here we are. I think potty training boot camp starts ASAP!

I did not want to post any naked pics but here are some others from our day.

No, she is not in time out. I found her in there when I got out of the bathroom. She thought it was hysterical.


She likes being caged. Look at these smiles!


CHEESE!!!!!


Lucy is her favorite playmate. She chases here all around the house, rides her like a horse, and loves to cuddle with her.


She got to "drive Zebra" at the mall.

See you tomorrow!

Fun with cookies

Fun making cookies today. These Williams-Sonoma ABC cookie cutters made a fun inside activity for a rainy day. We burned most of them but it was just for fun anyway. Please excuse my no makeup, exhausted face. I have been taking care of 2 sick babies. The little one is almost back to 100% but the big baby is just getting started.


She was really getting in to it.


Oh, I wasn't supposed to eat all of this?


OH WELL!! Do you like "See-food"?





I tried to spell out Stutts but SOMEONE ate all of the Ts! (The big baby)

What a bummer!

Our wonderful weekend came to a screeching halt when Julianna randomly spiked a fever of 102.4 and a runny nose. Sunday we had an awesome day with our neighbors for a belated 4th of July celebration. They had the moon bounce set up for the kids (and me), cotton candy machine, popcorn and snow cone machines. It was the real deal. By the time we started the fireworks (around 830p) there were about 75 people there. I put Julianna to bed, she went down fine.... but woke up a bunch of times during the night which was unusual. The next morning her nose was all stuffy, she couldn't breathe and she had a fever. BUMMER! After such a fun weekend. Ike had off on Monday and we were planning another trip to the Memphis Zoo. Instead we spent the day wiping Julianna's nose raw and pretty much doing anything she wanted because she looked and sounded so pitiful.
This morning there seems to be some improvement. She ONLY woke up 4 times last night and the fever has come down this morning. Hopefully it will go away as quickly as it came.

Our 4th!

We spent our 4th of July at the McMasters' cabin at the "Rivah." We had a great day despite a little rain. Good food, good company and good fireworks provided by TNT FIREWORKS! :) (Papa, you're welcome for the plug! haha)

Putting on her life jacket! Surprisingly she didn't mind wearing it at all.


Looking at the water.


GO REE REE!!!!!!!


YAY Daddy!!!! You did it!


See Julianna, he's ok! haha


Julianna decided she could do the driving.


Family pic on the boat. Julianna's first boat ride.


Look at all of those fireworks!! Thanks Papa!


Julianna thought the fireworks were a little scary and made "loud noises." She wanted to leave the dock and watch from the porch. Once we got up there she fell asleep. What a sweet girl.


Ike and Carlton did the fireworks show for us and it was awesome.

Thank you to the McMasters family for a wonderful holiday!!