Julia Turns 1!

Julia had her first birthday on Tuesday!

This cake was entirely hers, and the minute I put it in front of her she enthusiastically stuck her hand in the frosting. Turns out, she's terrified of sticky frosting, and she wouldn't stop crying until I cleaned it off her hands.

She loves the walker we got her. Yes, she is running into Aaron, but if I remember right he might have deserved it.

Isabelle loved playing with Julia.

And she had lots of help opening her presents.

After her friends left, I had to get a picture of her in her birthday girl bib. "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"

On Saturday, we had a Triple Birthday Party for Julia, Greg, and me!

Sam's Club did an awesome job with the cake!

Here's some perspective of how big this cake was!

"Happy Birthday, dear Julia"

And Greg and Lara!

I just couldn't bear to slice into her cute little face. Fortunately, somebody else did it for me and then she felt so bad. "I'm so sorry I sliced into your baby's face - right between the eyes! Did you want to save that piece?"

Levi taking Julia on a date. He thinks he's driving, but really Julia is in control of this vehicle.

We ended the evening with a backyard movie of "Wreck-It Ralph" -- loved it!
Thanks to all who made our triple birthday party a huge success!

Apparently Goofy Runs in the Family

I mean, who does this....

Yep, she is fast asleep with her leg up on her toy. The best part is that the toy was playing music and flashing lights, and still not even a stir from her.

She thinks it's hilarious to feed herself. Not so funny when Mom has to clean it up.

And she loves this little toy spoon, and will crawl around all day with it in her mouth. If she can't find the spoon, the elephant's bum will do (see previous post).

And this is what you do in the high chair when you're not eating!

I'm thinking she got her athletic abilities from her mom.

The Ultimate Goofball!

This is how she plays "peekaboo". For the record, we did try and teach her to cover her eyes and not her ears, but she insists!

She's slightly afraid of bubbles...

And her piano skills needs a little more practice. That hand position is terrible!

And THIS face is what she walks around with in public always. I'm starting to get a little embarrassed by the giraffe tongue!

We all enjoyed a quick 18-hour trip from Lea and Shayne during a lay-over. Thank goodness Lea came so she could show us how to brush her tooth. There may be just one tooth there, but she knows how to bite with it!

Proof they were here!

And In Other News...

In case you haven't heard, Greg is working again! He has now been working for 2 1/2 weeks at SunTrust which meant I lost my full-time babysitter. Julia is now going to preschool (okay, it's an educational daycare, but preschool makes me feel like a better mom), and although she doesn't love it yet, I think they're wonderful.

This is the pic they sent me of her 1st day at school to let me know she was still alive....well, barely.

And have you noticed my photos have gotten better lately? I took a photography class and learned how to work my Canon Rebel!

Modeling in one of the cutest outfits ever!

And the first day I gave her a ponytail (I've gotten much better since then). I'm anxiously awaiting  the day when she grows hair on the side of her head and I can give her piggytails! Piggytails + giraffe tongue = an even more adorable goofy girl!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I clearly made the best decision of my life when I married Greg. Since this is the first year he wasn't scrambling to get home from work, stopping at the grocery store for a card and flowers last minute, he decided to take advantage of the situation. He made me a wonderful dinner, complete with homemade bread (via breadmaker) since that is my favorite food.

And this was dessert! (Notice Julia's shirt says "Daddy's Sweetheart." She's going to have to fight me for him! I'M HIS SWEETHEART!)

Chocolate cake complete with caramel and fudge sauce, whipped cream, berries, and cookies 'n cream ice cream.

Hmmm...who was this dessert really for?

Girls in Pink

Can you see it? Julia got her first tooth on Valentine's Day, bottom left (your right).

The better to bite you with, my dear!

What do you do in the wintertime?

If you're in Georgia, you can go hiking in the wintertime! 

Wave hi!

Yep, it's January, and Greg is wearing short-sleeves.

Making friends with the tree

BUT...if you go to Franklin, TN, you can go SLEDDING in the wintertime.

Family Sledding Time!

We were visiting Ben, Jenny, Tyler and Tucker

Greg threw a snowball at her, and she thought it was hilarious!

All the kids....Tucker didn't go sledding, but he did hang out with us in the snow.

Tyler took Julia down. There's only one thing she loves more than sledding, and that is Tyler. She worships Tyler.

And this is the little man we came to visit...Tucker Jay.

He was blessed on the first Sunday of February.

How adorable are these matching suits?!

And how adorable is this dress, compliments of Aunt Jenny?

The Happy Family

Tyler dancing with Julia

Can you tell how much she adores her older cousin?

The Tornado

Julia went from being a passive, slow-army-crawling, never-makes-any-trouble baby to a wild, into-everything, crawls-everywhere-in-the-blink-of-an-eye, tornado baby! It all happened when she finally transitioned to crawling on her knees, and of course the day she figured out how to open cabinets and drawers.  

This is Julia when she was a good baby. See how innocent she looks?

Then she learned how to pull all the DVDs off the shelves

And climb into cabinets

And she figured out a new place she could poop in private

She found all the baby-safe toys we left for her under the sink

Yeah, we let our 10-month-old play with plastic bags. Don't you?

What's that? Actually playing with her own toys! It happens every once in a while.

Hello!

Open, close, open, close...it never gets old

And I'm getting really nervous about what Greg is teaching her while I'm at work. THE TRUMPET? Seriously???!!!

She even goes wild in her crib when we're not watching

Notice how she has to stand on everything, like the dustpan.

And she loves the stairs, and is good at going up AND down them.

I wonder what is in this cabinet....

Or this cabinet

Making friends with the cans

More cabinets

And more cabinets...

And drawers...

Smoking a syringe...good thing I took all of the cigars out of that drawer!

She crawled right into this box

And she insists on putting the elephant's tail in her mouth and crawling around the house. I don't know why, but it's adorable.

So why are we encouraging her to learn how to walk when she's already a tornado? Now THAT'S a good question.