Our first Mother's Day

Julia is now 7 months old! She is advancing very well on her solids. She now eats apples, peaches, pears, bananas, peas, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, carrots, rice ceral and oatmeal and we are moving on to the meats soon. She also eats little puffed rice cereal snacks that are crunchy and peach flavored. She loves these snacks and can chew them very well. They melt in your mouth, so that is always helpful when learning how to chew. We also give Julia a taste of our food every once in a while to see if she likes it. She drinks from a sippy cup very well and we give her either water or diluted formula in the sippy cup when she is in her highchair eating. She can getting the sippy cup spout in her mouth, but hasn't quite figured out that you need to tip the cup upward in order to get the beverage to flow out. Julia sits up to play all the time and is pretty balanced when sitting. She does occasionally tip over and just continues to play however she lands.

Last weekend Julia did some gardening and yard work with us. We had her in her stroller and she contently watched mommy plant flowers in pots and in the landscaping in front of the house. She watched daddy stain some wood timbers for our veggie garden we are hoping to dig up within the next few weekends.

Julia sitting up, playing with daddy

Sitting up, posing for the camera

This weekend we had more guests at our house. Uncle Jim and Aunt Beth came on Friday and stayed with us the for the weekend. It was a very relaxing, fun weekend. We didn't do too much strenuous stuff or traveling around- we played video games (Wii games), went out for lunch, sat on our deck and enjoyed some good food and drinks. Julia enjoyed the new company and having them here. She loves it when we have people visiting. She really enjoyed Aunt Beth and was mesmerized by her glasses. Beth and Jim were both very entertaining for Julia and she loved playing with them (she gets bored with mommy and daddy many times on the weekend, so she gets excited when there are new people to play with).

A lovely picture with Uncle Jim and Aunt Beth


Should I pull on his beard or not?

Today is of course my first Mother's Day. It is very weird to actually be celebrating this day for myself and I wasn't sure what to expect. After becoming a mom myself, I have a whole new respect for my mother and GREATLY appreciate all she has done for me and for raising me so well (at least I think I turned out pretty well!). Many people say to take the day off and let the hubby take care of the baby and relax yourself, but I would rather hang out with Julia and do something fun. This morning we went out for breakfast with Jim and Beth. It was a very nice morning and the restaurant was filling up fast, but luckily we got there just before it got really busy. We enjoyed a breakfast of eggs, sausage, pancakes, waffles, omelets and other tasty breakfast stuff. Julia really enjoyed herself too. She got to taste some of mommy's pancakes and she seemed to enjoy them. :)

Julia enjoying herself at Perkins for breakfast

Julia and Mike surprised me with a very nice Mother's Day gift. I had been admiring a cross necklace at a nearby jewelry store. The necklace was yellow gold and a birthstone could be placed in the center of the cross. I thought that if I ever got the necklace I would want Julia's birthstone (an opal) in the center because she has truly been a blessing for us and I thank God everyday for protecting her through her lung problems, surgery and illnesses. Well, I didn't think I would get the necklace anytime soon because they only had the necklace in yellow gold with the opal and changing it to white gold was a little pricey (I wanted white gold because all my other jewelry [wedding rings] are platinum/silver). Well, Julia and Mike surprised me this morning with a jewelry bag and inside the box was the cross necklace in white gold with an opal in the center! It is beautiful! It is a fabulous first Mother's Day gift and I am so happy to receive such a great memento of the occasion. The rest of the day will be spent relaxing and Julia and I will probably go to the park and play on the swings while daddy mows the lawn. :)

Julia and me opening my Mother's Day gift-reading the card first of course. Julia signed the card (with daddy's help) and also drew a beautiful scribbly picture on the front of the envelope

Julia and me admiring the necklace. Julia was happy and smiley and seemed proud of her gift to mommy.

A close up of the necklace and cross

A kiss for Julia

Look at those cute cheeks...you just want to pinch them, don't you?! (Julia's cheeks of course, not mine!) :) :)