Julia at Three Months

Julia is our little doll with big kissable cheeks and a seriously receded hairline. I love to go in to get her in the morning or after a nap because she greets Macy and me with the biggest smiles, flailing her arms and kicking her legs. There is something heavenly about her current weight and size -- when I hold her snuggled on my chest, she just puddles in my arms.

She is starting to drool. Macy was a pro drooler and I suspect that JuJu will be soaking her shirts in no time. She is very ticklish and close to fully laughing. She is a little bit of heaven in our home!

The Magic of Ordinary Days

My very favorite thing to do with my girls is to take a walk over to the park by our house. There is magic at that park. There is nothing to be done, nothing to be cleaned, no to-do lists to write. There are only . . .

ladders to climb, slides to ride,

games to play,

puddles to splash,

sprinklers to run through, rocks to be thrown in the fishing pond,

dreams of playing soccer,

and conquering the monkey bars.

There is something about the sunshine at the park and the way it highlights Macy's gorgeous curls and the way Julia looks up at me from the stroller, smiling and cooing until she can't keep her eyes open one more second. These are the moments I desperately want to stamp on my heart, to engrain deep in my memory so that years from now I can recall every detail of how they look, the warmth of the sun on our faces, the simplicity of their lives and how much I love being their mama. I am blessed.

Radio Star

Macy is so shy that a lot of our family members still haven't heard her talk.  But if you put a microphone in front of her, she comes out of her shell.  So, when asked if she would help record a radio ad for WCF, we weren't sure which would win: the stranger anxiety or the diva instinct.  The performer instinct won.  

Her lines are "You're my owie fixer" and the second "Be careful out there."

The ads will run on 1320 KFAN and in the arena during Jazz games.

Fishing

Bink There, Done That

photo by Rebecca of Sweet Poppy Designs

My only hesitation about this post is that I have to confess that Macy still had a binky until last week.  I always had an excuse for waiting a little longer to take it away.  And she truly loved her binky.  We asked her why she liked it so much and she explained that "it makes my mouth feel soft and fluffy."  She would put it in her mouth and her eyes would roll back in her head and she would mutter "soft and fluffy."  During the day, when she was not allowed to have them, she would sneak into her room for an occasional hit off the bink.

Recently, we had talked about how it was time to get rid of them and we dropped the bomb that she'd have to detox before we go to Disneyland next month.  We thought that we might have to gather the family for a formal intervention.  But to my GREAT surprise, while I was making dinner on Tuesday night, she casually said, "I want to throw my binkies away." She gathered them up and threw them in the garbage with no fanfare.  She hasn't cried for them or slept any worse.  She found two more on Wednesday, took a small suck, and then threw them away.   

JD felt very nostalgic about this -- the last of bastion of babyhood for our little sweetheart.  I honestly just feel relief; I had imagined nights of no sleep and many tears.  I have been so worried about taking them away and she just did it all by herself.  She surprised me again on Wednesday when she wrote her name on the MagnaDoodle.  I had no idea she could do it, and I don't think she did either.  

Yellowstone Bear World

During the last weekend in August, we escaped with our little family for a much-needed short getaway.  We drove to Idaho Falls for a visit to Bear World.  

JD called Bear World "Disneyland for Daddy"

  

The center picture of the temple was the gorgeous view from our balcony.

Macy took the picture of JD and me.  She did a great job -- especially considering that JD took a picture of Macy and me right before that and cut off the top of the temple.

Puddin' Squeeze

We have a saying in our our home: "I'm having a puddin' squeeze moment."  This is when one of the girls is just too cute and sweet and you just want to squeeze them so tight, you just can't get enough.  With those cheeks and that smile we are having a lot of puddin' squeezin' moments around here.

Daddy-Daughter Date

JD took Macy miniature golfing on Labor Day.  Her favorite part was posing for pictures.  We don't tell her to do this -- she just loves the camera.

Macy's First Day of Preschool

Macy was very excited to go to school.  She kept calling it preschoolgarten.  I was so nervous driving her school.  But when we got there she just ran right in without a glance backwards.  JD got off work early to come with me to pick her up.  We took her to Cold Stone to hear all about her big first day of school.  She was very happy and brought home some cute projects.