Saturday, June 28, 2014

Julia at 33 & 34 months

Julia reached 33 months in September and 34 in October. Enjoy some photographic gems, taken by yours truly.

So, umm... huge photography fail this month (actually taken in October... got a bit behind [hence the warm clothes in last month's photos - necessary for September weather, not August]). The best chair photo was this one, and Julia kind of looks like she is trying to lure the viewer in to hurt them. "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!"

And... I didn't take a door photo at all. What do you do when you forget to take a photo by the front door one month??

Take a blurry Julia photo from the month, along with a crisp door photo and work some photoshop magic, of course. Badly, I know. I'm a doctor, not a graphic designer. Cut me some slack. Haha!
At least this one is cute. But it's really gray. Again, photo editing is not my strong suit. Wish I had some graphic designers in the family. Oh, wait. Haha! If it were *actually* important that these photos look good, I do have a couple good contacts ;-)


  •  Aaron's mom sent us a Halloween package. There were a few spider rings. Julia put one on and said, "Mom, it's my wedding ring! Who am I married to?" "I don't know. Who?" I responded. "Barrett!" said Julia. I was astounded. Barrett was the ring bearer in the wedding that Julia was a flower girl in, which was in June. We hadn't talked about the ring bearer since June! What a memory!
  • Later, Julia showed Stephen her spider ring, and said, "I'm wearing this ring so Barrett will love me." Haha!
  • Halloween brought Halloween candy. Prior to this Halloween, Julia really hadn't had much candy, but it quickly became Julia's major focus. Her goal every day: getting more candy. At first, she was good at playing the reward system. "Mommy, can I have a candy for doing a good job going potty?" (Okay, sure... why not?) "Mommy, can I have a candy for doing a good job getting dressed?" (You're stretching it a little... but, fine). However, in her candy greed, she began asking for candy for the most ridiculous things. "Mommy, can I have a candy for doing a good job waking up this morning?" (Huh?! No!) "Mommy, can I have a candy for doing a good job eating my dessert?" (What?! Heck no!).
  • Throughout the summer and into fall, Julia loved to play with her barbies and dolls.... without their clothes on. She would have them in their "swimsuits" (i.e. birthday suits) and would have them all interacting as if nothing were unusual at all. "Hi, I'm Tinker Bell! What's your name?" Julia would say via naked Tinkerbell. "I'm Ken! Nice to meet you!" she would respond with naked Ken. The naked dolls would shake hands nonchalantly. Her nudist colonies of dolls always cracked me up. I'd try dressing them again while tidying up at night, only to discover them naked again the next day.

Oklahoma Thanksgiving 2013

I took vacation over Thanksgiving, but Aaron had to work. Thankfully, he was let off pretty early, so that was nice.

I was put in charge of the turkey this year. Aaron was given one as a gift from work. I decided to brine the turkey, which involved moving shelves in my fridge to make way for the big bucket I bought to contain the raw turkey and brine. Not to be modest or anything, but the bird turned out beautifully and my family agreed that it was one of the best, juiciest turkeys they'd had the pleasure of eating. (If I do say so myself. ;-) I also made a salad with granny smith apples, red onions, Gorgonzola cheese, tomatoes, nuts, and poppy seed dressing. Meghan made homemade rolls, a side or two, and some different pies. My mom made lots of different sides including sweet potato casserole, baked potato casserole, and some pies, too. A couple friends of the family without family in town were there, including a friend of Sarah's from China, experiencing his first American thanksgiving. It was a nice day.



Bubble fun outside! It was a beautiful day!


Julia and I made these headdresses for Mary-Claire and her to wear.



The next day, we reconvened and enjoyed grilled cheese, and chips with guacamole and nacho cheese. CHEESE.

November 2013: Kansas Thanksgiving

Aaron and I both took some vacation days in November and headed up to Kansas to see his family!

On the road.

We went out to dinner when we got into town. We enjoyed some festive drinks - delicious!

Julia had a lot of fun with these old Halloween masks. Too much fun, in fact. She tripped on one of the masks as she was headed downstairs, falling on her face and scraping her nose. Poor thing still has a faint scar from it!



Playing with fake snow!

Aaron's mom treated us girls to hair cuts with her hair stylist, Mendy. She's awesome. Julia still often calls herself "Minty" when we play salon.

My hair! So happy to say goodbye to a few inches!

This is the pic I took to send to my mom and sisters after my haircut... haha! I felt so much better with my new 'do.

Julia in Jessica's Hello Kitty shower cap... which she later stole... ha! Sorry, Jessica!

We went to Old Town for some holiday festivities.

There were performers braving the frigid cold.


Art projects for kids and adults!

We took a horse drawn carriage ride through downtown!



We also enjoyed a photo booth. Gotta love Julia's get up!


I wondered if Parks & Rec departments got a boost from the show? I know we were sure excited about this sign... haha!

This Santa was sure sweet with Julia.

Julia made a Clarice doll, with a song from One Direction in the paw. She choose to dress her in Grinch slippers. Hahaha!







Thanksgiving dinner. Enough food for an army ;-)


Sunday, June 22, 2014

November 2013: Family Museum Fun!

In November, we were both off on the second Saturday for the free family day at the local art museum! Fun times!

Making a birthday card for Gee Gee!


Decorating a crown.


YES. Just yes.



Someone was pretty cranky. And it wasn't Aaron.


Julia is having a conniption in this picture.

So we excused her from this photo ;-)