Happy 1st Birthday Julie!!!

Monday, March 31st, is Julie's first birthday! We can't believe that the year has gone by as quickly as it has. She's growing up so fast! It's been a terrific year and we have had a blast. She is such a joy and a blessing and we are super thankful that she is our little girl. We had her birthday party on Saturday afternoon and it was a lot of fun. My family came over from AR for the party and several of our friends from our homegroup at church came over to celebrate with us. Julie had a lot of fun tearing up the tissue/wrapping paper and playing with her new toys. Here are a few pictures from our day.

As I was decorating her cake, her Papaw let Julie get a taste of some chocolate frosting. That's what Papaws are for!!


The theme for her party was Candyland. And we sure did have a lot of candy!! I had a lot of fun making her cake.




Julie sure did get a lot of fun toys! She got a bubble blower, books, clothes and a stuff toy from her friends. Aunt April gave her a floaty for the lake and she got a climber/slide from her grandparents. She got a few toys to play with from mommy and daddy too. She had so much fun checking it all out.



She didn't get as messy as we expected but she had a lot of fun playing in and eating a little of her cake. We gave her a special heart cake all for herself. I think she wasn't so sure what to do with so much cake but it didn't take long for her to tear into it.



She got this green tube to crawl in and around from her Aunt Robin and Uncle Chris and she wasn't so sure about it. She liked looking in, and her friends had fun crawling in it but she didn't want to go in. She finally took the plunge and crawled in it a day later and loved it. Silly girl.



We had so much fun. Thanks to everyone who came over and celebrated with us!

Easter Weekend, Part Two

Sunday morning we all went to church together. After church Julie got to get into her Easter baskets and see her goodies that the Easter Bunny brought her. And then she even got to hunt some eggs!

Easter Weekend, Part One

I love Easter! It is my very favorite holiday. This Easter weekend we went to visit my family to celebrate with them. On Saturday we went to Wye Mountain in Arkansas to see all the daffodils in bloom and to take some pictures of Julie. We had a great time. It was perfect weather and the flowers were beautiful. Julie wore her dress that her Grandma gave to her for this specific occasion at our baby shower before she was born. It was a special time for all of us. We've been to Wye to see the flowers several times as a family and it was really cool to see Julie now enjoying them. Here are a few of the hundred or so pictures that I took that day. : )

Julie had a lot of fun checking out all the pretty flowers.

What a pretty flower!

My sweet, happy little girl.

She tried a couple flowers to see what they tasted like.

Children's Museum Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our little adventure at the Children's Museum while Tom and Hilary were in town. Julie loved getting to know her aunt and uncle. She really took to both of them and just played and played.






We wore her out! She found this pillow and crashed!

Update!

It's been a while since I've updated my blog and have had a few requests, so here goes! We've been busy the last little while. My parents have come over for a couple visits and just this last weekend we went to visit them. Ben's brother and his wife came to visit us and it was the first time that Julie got to meet her Uncle Tom and Aunt Hilary. And Julie has been growing up a storm. She seems to change everyday. She's pulling up on everything and zooming along the furniture. I'm sure she'll be taking a step or two soon. She is such a precious little part of our family and we are loving getting to know her as her little personality develops. It's wild to see her personality really starting to come out. She's a truly cheerful child, she laughs so much everyday and keeps me laughing. She does have my stubbornness, so that's interesting to deal with at times. She is super curious and loves to explore her world. She's terrific and we are having a blast with her.
Here's some pictures from our last few weeks.


Of course the more Julie is able to get around, the more she chases the kitties. She loves the kitties!!

Julie really likes riding her pony. She loves to press the buttons to make it sing.

Hanging out with Grandma and Papaw.

Here's Julie playing with her Papaw.

Here's Julie in her Happy Valentine's Day onesie that my Aunt Doris and Uncle Larry sent to her. What a cutie!!

Ben took this picture while working outside on a lock to our back door. He let Julie "help" him.

She loves books. She plays with her books more than any other toy.

Julie loves to "drink" out of Mommy's cup. She's such a big girl!

New Year's Weekend

Over the New Year's weekend we went to visit with Ben's brother and his family. We had a great time! Julie just loved being with her cousin for a couple of days. She did super well on the road trip there and back. She's such a trooper! Here are a couple of pictures from our adventures in MO!

It was a little chilly in Springfield, MO. Here's Julie all bundled up with Daddy.

Julie loves to "fly" with aunt Amy!

We went to a fun little restaurant for lunch one day and had some yummy food. Julie tried a tater tot for the first time while sitting with Amy, Paul and Claire.

Here Julie is reading a book with her cousin Claire and aunt Amy. Julie just loves being around Claire. She watches her and tries to play with her as much as she can. These two are going to have a blast together when they get a little older!

We went bowling on New Year's Eve with some folks from Paul and Amy's church. It was a lot of fun. Julie was a great sport and seemed to have a good time too.

Christmas!!

We had a terrific Christmas. We went to Benton to visit my family for four days and just had a great time. My aunt and uncle came up from Texas to be with us too. It was extra special to have so much family celebrating Christmas together. Julie wasn't quite sure what to think of it all at the time but she loves all of her new toys and books and clothes. Here are a few pictures of Julie's first Christmas!

What's in this one??

Here is Julie checking out her mountain of Christmas presents.

She sure loved the bows!!

This opening presents business sure can wear a baby Julie out!

Playing with a couple of her new Christmas toys.


Julie having a little nap after Christmas morning with Grandma.