SNOW!!!

All I have to say is I-LOVE-THE-SNOW! I am a bit surprised it came so early this year, but if this is a sign of what our winter has in store for us, I am looking forward to it. The other day Julianna and I were stranded at home, which I must admit, I thought I would go stir crazy, but we had such a great snow day together. We read books, played with her dolls, played with stickers, played in the snow, drank hot chocolate, and made dinner together. I asked her that morning what she wanted to do for the day and jokingly suggested that maybe we should shave our legs and paint our nails to which she promptly replied "mommy, I am not old enough to do that". Of course I know she is not old enough to shave her legs, but the fact that she knows that made me laugh. Here are some pictures of our time in the snow!

Happy birthday Julianna!

We celebrated Julianna's 3rd birthday this past weekend. I cannot believe that my baby girl is three already. She seems so grown up, and is a smart, funny, silly, beautiful, sweet little girl and believe me, I am proud to be her mama! On her actual birthday, before we came downstairs to eat her heart birthday pancake with whipped cream, she had to put on her crown, clip on earrings, and cinderella necklace. She is very much into to dressing up and princesses. We celebrated Thursday with two of her friends that have birthdays the same week, then again on Friday for her actual birthday, and yet again on Saturday for her little party. Needless to say, she woke up Sunday morning asking if it was her birthday again. She dressed like a princess all three of the days that we celebrated, and even now is wearing a crown:) I love this little princess with all of my heart and I am beginning to understand now when everyone says it goes so fast so I had better enjoy every second. I am enjoying Julianna (and her "princess" ways) so much and I am so proud of who she is becoming. Happy birthday baby girl!

Family picture at her little party

At a princess party with her friends Kaya and Lily and the "real" princess

Eating her birthday breakfast

Singing happy birthday to her

Trick or Treat!

This was not the first year that Julianna dressed up for halloween, but it was the first year that she was able to go trick-or-treating. She got to go with some of her little friends, and let me tell you...she LOVED the idea of going house to house yelling "trick or treat!" and getting candy in return. In fact, she is enjoying some nerds as we speak. Jeremy decided that he was going to dress up as well, which doesn't surprise me, but was a little embarrassing as he was the only adult dressed up:) Here are a few pictures from the night:

Justus (tiger), Alaina (princess), Julianna (Sleeping Beauty), Ben (Spiderman)

Sleeping Beauty and Creepy the Clown

Morning Cartoons

Typical attire for morning cartoons......

First Day of Preschool

On her way in

So excited!

Julianna's first day of preschool was (pretty much) a success! She ate a big breakfast, put on her new school clothes, got her backpack, and we were on our way to preschool. Initially she only wanted to sit on my lap when we got there. Then, slowly she moved to the carpet were all of the other kids were sitting, and I made my escape when she was listening to her teacher. As soon as she realized I was gone, she lost it. I was able to watch it all through the one way window outside her classroom. She cried for about 3 minutes, and then she was fine! I of course was begging God to help her calm down as I was feeling like the worst mom ever, and she did...Thank God! I picked her up and asked her to tell me all about her first day, and it was the most ADORABLE thing to hear her try and explain everything she did. I pretty much knew she painted due to the blue paint above her mouth, but she also told me she made a necklace, sang songs, and had a snack. I know there was more to her day, but I think she did a pretty good job telling me about it. I cannot believe how big she is already and that she is already in preschool.

Day #2 on Wednesday and we are looking forward to it!

It's a.......

...GIRL!!!! Julianna got her wish...well, more like she got her demand. She was very certain that she was going to have a baby sister and not a baby brother even when we tried explaining to her that there was a good possibility she was getting a brother. But, we no longer have to have this conversation as we went to the ultrasound and the tech said she could say with good certainty that it is a girl. I think that I am already in the "nesting" phase as I have already gone through all of Julianna's old clothes and hung them in the baby's closet and put some in her dresser, I have bought and painted a dresser, had a garage sale to get rid of a lot of JUNK, cleaned vents that haven't been cleaned in a few years, and there are many more things on my list. We are so thrilled to be adding another little girl to our family and NO, she will not be playing hockey! (sorry Jer)

21 Weeks Prego

Summer Fun

We have been having a very nice and BUSY summer with our sweet little girl. Julianna sure keeps us on our toes, and I keep saying it, but this is my favorite age so far. She is stinkin' hilarious and talks like she is 20. Many things that come out of her mouth are things that I say and it is very interesting hearing how you sound through a 2 and a half year old's mouth:) The other day she told me "not talk to her that way", and she told her daddy that he was "not listening to her" (in a very stern, motherly voice). I actually find it very hard not to laugh even when she is being sassy, so I have to reign it in often.

I have been pretty bad at taking pictures lately but here are a few recent ones:

On daddy's birthday

Helping mommy make the cake

At the Ruck family reunion in the pool