We're still here

It's been a while since we've posted new Julia pics, so here are a whole bunch from our Christmas festivities. As you can see from the previous post, our girl did not care one bit for Santa. Who can blame her really? He is kind of scary with the big beard and hat...



Anyway, so much has happened since our last post....



We went to West Palm to celebrate with the Pignottis and the Casales. It was so fun for Julia to be with her cousins. And, while I didn't hear it, my sister-in-law says Julia said mama! Oh happy day. I mean, she's been saying dada since July and has added other bigger words, like happy, duckie, cracker, stuck, ball, baby and bye-bye. And after all, am I not the one who carried her for nine months and got up with her every two hours in the night when she was a newborn, and am I not the one who changes 96 percent of the diapers? I am so ready to hear mama!




We celebrated Christmas day at home with Julia's nana. Julia was a little confused by the whole presents thing. She wasn't much into opening. I think she was overwhelmed. Santa brought her a Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn kitchen. It is so darn cute. Her favorite things to play with have been my spices and measuring cups and spoons, so this is perfect. We're nurturing her inner Rachael Ray. (Mike will kill me for typing that....) Everyone was spoiled this year, Mike with lots of new pants and tickets to see Kathy Griffin and me most of all with..... an iPhone. That's right. I went from being one of the only people left on the planet without a cell phone to having the mac daddy of all cell phones. Holy crap. It's a bit initimidating really. Wish me luck figuring it out.

Merry Christmas

Never a dull moment

Certainly not around our house. This morning, Julia walked into our bedroom and emerged like this:


in my beach hat, the one Mike despises. I think he's embarassed when we go to the beach but I wouldn't be caught dead without it. It keeps my head and the top of my ears from getting burned...




Anyway, as much as he can't stand the thing, you have to admit Julia sure looks cute in it ...

Girl on the go

That's right. Our girl is a walking machine. It started out as a few steps here and there a month or so ago. Then it was making laps around the love seat, holding on with one hand. Then one day last week, I came home from work and Julia walked across the room. Just like that...


Now she doesn't crawl anymore, she walks.... all over the house.


Oh, and now that she is upright, her hands are free to carry stuff... all over the house.
She takes her dirty laundry out of the hamper and carries bibs all the way to our closet on the other side of the house. The set of blocks from Aunt Lisa, they turn up in the strangest of places. The other day she carried around a new container of Diaper Genie refills, who knows why....


It's exciting to see our girl doing new things, but it still tugs at my heart that every step takes her further away from being my baby... ugh.


But one good thing about all this is that we're shoe shopping and finally getting to wear some of the ones already in her collection.

So thankful

I've been complaining about how much I dislike my job and the hours I work so much, that I figured now would be a good time to reflect on some of the good things....

I mean, I am thankful for my family beyond words. There's the biggies like my health, their health, having my mom here, our home, our good friends (as far away as they might be).... Those go without saying.

But there are lots of little things to be thankful for, like

• When Mike and I decided to start a family, I don't know how much further we thought past, well, we better get us a baby. Who knew God would give us one with the biggest most beautiful eyes (the color of which we still can't determine) and the most delicious chubby cheeks; who waves and says "baaaabeee" when she sees herself in the mirror; who snuggles on the couch in the morning to watch Sesame Street; who claps every time she hears music; who gets excited beyond belief when she sees her Nana; who can imitate a dog and a monkey; who splashes like crazy in the bathtub; who laughs so hysterically when you tickle her you can hardly believe the huge sound is coming from such a tiny being; who can identify her belly, her feet and her nose; and who has her dada's laid-back style and silly sense of humor and isn't a cranky nervous-nilly like her mama? We are so blessed.
  
• All of my laundry has been washed, dried, folded and put away. That seems like a rarity these days.


• I can finally fit back into my pre-Julia clothes. Some are even baggy!


• There's a Law & Order marathon on TV today. Love that!


• The newspaper is full of ads. My favorite part of the paper.


• My turkey is a fully cooked one from Publix that requires nothing more than a few hours in the oven!


• Pumpkin spice cheesecake bars! Yum-o!

Life's a beach

November is so fabulous in Florida. The temperature drops down into the 70s and it's been super sunny. So nice to be outside. And you can even wear those few remaining sweaters in your closet. Love it.

So... any of our friends and family in colder climes, now would be a good time to visit....

We took advantage of the weather last weekend and went to the beach.

I love this one! It's sort of like, please, no autographs...

And one of the other nice things about November.....

WARM JAMMIES!

Enchanted by Ella

So, I finally had some free time this morning (thanks to Daylight Saving time and Mike getting up with Julia) and I used it to drink coffee, read the paper without a 1-year-old climbing on me and finally ordering prints of all the digital photos I'd been hoarding.

And as I was shipping them off to Walgreen's something caught my eye -- a yellow and blue creature in almost every photo....

That would be Ella, Julia's stuffed elephant, bedtime companion, teething toy, snuggle bunny, source of comfort and best friend. She loves that thing. It goes everywhere. She had it when she was in the hospital this summer, it goes to Publix and Target, it's been left behind on the floor at Kohl's where it had to be searched for frantically by mom.... Ella gets around. And I don't think Julia could sleep without her. She gets so happy when she sees her. She snuggles with her at night and chews on her nose when her teeth are hurting (poor Ella is starting to look ragged).

Julia's got a new trick now though -- she likes to throw things, including Ella out of the crib, when she's fighting a nap. Then when she realizes she's ready to sleep, but Ella's on the floor, hysteria ensues. We're trying to figure out what to do about that one.

A Halloween treat

Here she is -- the cutest ladybug ever...

Julia wore her costume to Kindermusik last week since mama has to work on Halloween. Here she is trying to catch bubbles, which is her favorite part of the 45-minute session. I'm not sure what she thought of wearing a costume, but everyone else sure thought she was cute. Too bad I never got around to making her a little headband with antenna...

And here, even a ladybug gets tuckered out...

And while we're on the topic of fall festivities, the Cherry family ventured out to a pumpkin patch this weekend. We picked a few to decorate and took some pictures. And while it looks like a lovely fall day, with all the pumpkins and the hay and whatnot, I have to tell you, it was 87 freaking degrees that day with glaring sun, so we were in and out of there in 10 minutes! That's Florida for you. Mike even took a dip in the pool Sunday. I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever cool down.

Those of you from WV are probably wondering what the heck I'm complaining about considering all the whining I did there about how cold it was and how much I hated scraping ice off my windshield at 5:30 in the morning so I could get to the Daily Mail on time...

Birthday girl

What a fun birthday party we had for Miss Julia this weekend. We had friends, family, food, flowers and yes, even a cupcake in the face.

The highlight of the party may have been when Julia yanked a bottle right out of baby Jake's mouth. I think it may have been her diva moment.

Julia was spoiled rotten with presents! So many cute outfits, books and toys...

I'm still sad that my baby is a year old, but enjoy the pics anyway... Some are from her party on Saturday, some from her actual birthday.

One year ago today...

we welcomed Julia Grace Cherry into the world and our family. I can not believe my sweet girl is one. I can't imagine life without her -- her sweet little smile, her chubby cheeks, her hysterical laughter, her soft little body, her silly noises, her quirky personality...
How funny it is that such a tiny little being can turn your world on its head.

One year ago today,

*I weighed more than my husband.

*Epidural became my favorite word.

*We finally got to see the face of the little creature that had been kicking the crap out of me for the past several months. And what a precious face it is ...

*I never knew it was possible to be so in love with someone in just a matter of seconds.

*I didn't regularly use words like Boppy, Bumbo, sippy cup, Diaper Genie, cutie patootie, sweetie peatie... Now they are part of my vocabulary.

*We regularly had bottles of wine in the house. Now we have baby bottles.

*I used to sleep in until 9 or so. Now I'm up at 7, greeted by Miss Julia bouncing up and down in her crib because she's happy to see me. What a fabulous way to start the day.

*My house used to be spotless but now there are piles of books, toys, napkins, bibs, whatever Julia can get her hands on all over the floor.

*I didn't kiss other people's toes, but now I can't get enough of that girl's sweet little feet. I just want to eat her with a spoon!

*I wasn't one to say a lot of prayers but now I thank God every night for giving me this most precious gift and asking for help so that I won't mess up too badly.

Some pics of our baby from her first year of life.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Blue jean baby

Look at that face! Too cute.

And look at those jeans. Aren't they adorable? A gift from Aunt Sue a few months ago. Thanks, Aunt Sue. She's just now fitting in them and we love them. They're covered in tiny pink flowers.

And next month when it gets a little cooler, Julia will be sporting a blue jean dress from Aunt Lisa. And you can count on pictures of that too!

And I just have to share these photos. For the past year, I have refrained from putting little ribbons or headbands in Julia's hair because I just thought they were silly. But today, I thought I'd give them a try And OH MY, isn't this sooo funny? Mike came home and declared she looked like Pebbles Flintstone...

By the way, we're under one week until Julia's big day...