2 years + 3 months

8:14 AM
So I use to do an update every month when Jules was hitting milestone after milestone, day after day but things have slowed down now so I'm going to try and do one every three months.  We have something to celebrate each month from October all the way to June every year so this time of year is always a little busy to say the least.  That's fine though, it keeps my mind off of how fast she is growing up.

She's quiet and methodical by nature.  Everything she does is with deep thought and concentration.  She a sensory seeking little girl that loves putting stickers on her lips and smelling every thing.  She still signs most of her words but will, very enthusiastically, praise you when you finally guess what she wants by saying,"that's right" or "that's it"!  She's still turning down any kind of meat and inhaling all the carbs she can find.  (She get it from her mama.) However, she'll at least always try it before spitting it out all over her clothes.  She hugs and kisses everyone and anyone that speaks to her so we buy antibacterial in bulk.  Drawing, writing, coloring, painting, play-doh, and stickers/magnets are her favorite things to play with right now and will gladly share with you for approximately 2.5 seconds.  


















These are definitely the good ol' days even when the food goes flying or when she gets in the tub fully dressed while the water is still running.  I try to remember one special thing from each day and I hope she does to.  I'll leave you with this cute little clip of her dancing in her diaper the other night.  The foot work is absolutely adorable and she is sure to be the big ticket item at the nursing home Valentine's Day dance when she's older.   
 

Play Kitchen

4:37 PM
I've had so many ask questions about how I revamped Juliet's play kitchen so I thought I'd do a quick post with a few pictures with sources.  The kitchen orignally belonged to our nephews and Joey's sister so kindly let us have it since Jules didn't have a play kitchen yet.  We fixed it up after we moved into the new house and gave it to her for Easter last year.  We've added things here and there to finally make it a complete kitchen.  It is her most favorite thing to do, well... other than drawing and coloring.  I've listed all the sources of the paint and products that we used at the bottom under all the pictures, (just click on the items and they'll take you to the link).  Hope this comes in handy!





Shelf  

Here are a two others that we drew inspiration from and they're just the most adorable things ever!  







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Snow Day

12:25 PM
We weren't expecting snow so soon in the year.  We usually get one, maybe two snows a year between January and March, and this year it came early!  Friday night when we went to bed, it was just sleeting and we were starting to doubt the forecast of 4-8 inches by morning.  Nevertheless, we sat our boots out by the door in hopes that we would wake up to a Winter wonderland!  Not sure of when it started snowing, but by the time Juliet woke up there was probably two inches of snow in some spots.  We waited for it to warm up, then threw on lots of layers and headed outside!











When we came back in we made a big breakfast and warmed up by the fire.  I love that when it snows here in the South everything shuts down and everyone's to-do list gets put on hold.  Luckily, Joey grew up driving in snow and ice so after Juliet's nap we headed over to my sister-in-law's house for pizza, cards, and cannoli. It made for a wonderful weekend.



Juliet keeps bringing me my phone so we can watch the videos of her sledding and playing.  She had so much fun and her eyes light up every time she hears herself laugh on the videos.  I hope we get at least one more snow before the winter is over, we just love snow days weekends!

Hope you all got to enjoy a little winter magic where ever you are!  XOXO!


Christmas 2016

2:38 PM
We started our trip to Mississippi for Christmas at 2:30 in the morning on Christmas Eve.  One thing I've always loved about my hubs is that he is totally up for spontaneity.  We went out for dinner that night and when we got back home he suggested that he sleep for a few hours and then we leave in the middle of the night.  I had everything pretty much ready to go so why not start the party early? 

We spent Christmas Eve night, like most parents, putting together toys and searching for batteries.  We had reindeer pancakes Christmas morning and then we took Jules out to let her ride her tricycle since the weather stayed in the mid 70s while we were there.  She kept screaming, "Whee-hoo!  Whee-hoo!"  Christmas morning was over so fast.  I can remember begging my parents to let us open presents and what seemed like such a heartless thing, to make us wait, is now clear to me that they were probably just trying to make the magic last a little bit longer.    


We celebrated all week long with family and Juliet loved playing with cousins and getting all the attention.  She spoke more than we've ever heard her speak and that made us so happy.  (I'll write more about our journey with Speech and OT on a later post.)  We spent most of our time outside around the fire pit or riding on the golf cart.  We love going back home where the time moves a little bit slower with very little cell service, for me at least.  It was lovely.



Hat (sold out)  //  Happy Camper sweatshirt  //  Boots





Our tree is still up and I've just now gotten everything unpacked, washed, & put away.  This has to be the best time of year making memories and being with family.  We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with the ones you love.  XOXO

p.s.  Sorry for the blurry pictures.  My digital camera wouldn't focus so I had to use my phone for all my pictures and most of them didn't turn out well.  Better luck next time! :)