Big Girl

So I have this great video of Juliann that I want to post and I've tried like 10 times but its not working. Turns out that the file is too big-I'm so bummed!!! Juliann has been feeding herself with her fingers for a while but just yesterday started using a spoon all by herself! She's used a spoon before but David or I had to put the food on the spoon for her, get her fingers around the spoon and sometimes even help pull the spoon back out of her mouth. Yesterday, as she was eating lunch, I put the spoon down so I could take a bite of my own food and she picked it up and went to town on her applesauce! I'll try to get another video of her soon.

Spring Break and Easter

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter and was able to spend time with their loved ones!

The week leading up to Easter was my spring break and it was nice to have nothing to do. I slept in (as much as Jules would allow) and got some things done around the house. Juliann and I enjoyed hanging out and spent a lot of time reading and playing with her toys. She's really starting to be little miss independent. Here are a few pictures of her "reading" on her own.

On Thursday, I visited the outlets in Williamsburg with Stephanie, Merrilee, and her daughter Kendri. We spent most of the day shopping and I was amazed by the girls. They were such troopers and didn't nap all day! Jules made out well-one outfit and a pair of shoes for this summer and a handful of others for the fall and next spring. Friday afternoon David and I decided to take Jules to Maymont Park. It was a beautiful day and a great way to spend the afternoon.

Jules and Mommy walking around Maymont

That evening we hung out with some of David's VMI friends (and family-my cousin Dave was David's roommate at VMI). There were 2 other kids around Juliann's age and she enjoyed playing with them while the adults hung out. I am always so happy watching how well she interacts with other children!

Jules and Jackson

We spent the Easter holiday weekend at the lake with my family. It was great to see my parents again and also to catch up with my sister and her boyfriend. Jules also really enjoyed all the attention. She loves having so many people entertain her/wait on her hand and foot-can't say I blame her! My parents must have hidden empty eggs around the house about a dozen times throughout the weekend for Juliann. She was so good at finding them and putting them in her basket (a pink sand pail for the beach this summer-had to be practical)! When she was finished, she'd take one out and hand it to someone, all but saying, "hide it again!" On Sunday afternoon I filled the eggs with treats (puffs, teddy grams, yogurt melts, etc) and hid them out in the yard. She would stop and shake the eggs before handing them to David or I to open. We'd give her one bite and then tell her to put them in her bucket. Then she'd move on to find the next egg-it was adorable! However, the highlight of the weekend had to be the singing bunny. My dad bought her a little bunny that sings "Tutti Frutti". Jules would turn it on and then look around at the adults to make sure they were watching, then start dancing! At one point, she even picked the bunny up while it was singing and danced with it around the room. It was so cute-I wish I had been able to get a good video of her!

Juliann's Easter goodies

Opening her Easter gifts

Finding Easter eggs

Jules saying, "let me in!"

Monument Avenue 10K

At the end of March I walked/jogged the 10k with some friends from my old school. We had a great time walking and talking the first 2 miles and decided to do a little jogging. I'm a little out of shape but enjoyed breaking a sweat! We jogged the rest of the way with only a few intermittent walking sessions. In fact, we ended up running the last mile! We estimate that we jogged/ran at least half of 10k and finished in about an hour and a half! Needless to say I was hurting the next few days but had fun in the process! David and Juliann were in the crowd cheering us on and met us after the race.

Just starting out

Jules and Mom after finishing the race

Kristen with Juliann and Kate

Lexington Visit

A few weekends ago we went to Lexington to visit with David's family. Jules was able to see her grandma and grandpa as well as Uncle Peter and Anne. I've finally gotten around to downloading the pictures and wanted to share. It was a short visit but we really enjoyed getting the chance to see everyone!

Jules and Uncle Peter

Make-shift high chair :)