Ashebrooke Easter Egg Hunt

On Saturday our neighborhood had our annual Easter Egg Hunt. I organized it this year and it wasn't that bad since only 26 kids signed up. The numbers were really low to start that I thought about canceling it but I'm glad I didn't. The kids had fun and that's all that matters. If I organize it again next year then I'm going to do some egg relay races or something else since an egg hunt is over before you know it. Julia was on the hunt for some eggs and at the beginning it seemed like she was only looking for certain colors. You may have guessed it but she really wanted pink eggs and she even settled for purple (which happened to be my favorite color growing up).

A pink egg of course.

Checking out her eggs.

Relaxing with her friend Liam after the egg hunt. It was such a beautiful day despite the pollen.

Next year we'll sign Andrew up and I'm sure he'll be running all over to find the eggs. I don't think he'll be shy about the whole thing either.

Julia and one of her many pink eggs.

A quick photo of Daddy and Julia before we left.

Greenway

Last weekend we went for a walk on the Greenway and enjoyed the nice weather and the great trail that we have so close to home. We brought Julia's bike along with her stroller and she rode her bike for a little bit and then pushed Elmo in the stroller for a bit. Don't you just love her pink helmet? Julia absolutely LOVES pink and I love it. Anything we see that is pink she says she likes it even if she has no idea what it is.

Hard to believe this is Andrew...but it's him. He definitely looks much older than a 10 month old in this photo. He enjoyed relaxing in the stroller during our walk but then again who wouldn't enjoy that. I just love his blond hair and his big blue eyes. We're so thankful to have Julia and Andrew and not a day passes where we don't think about how lucky we are to be their parents.

Messy Eater

Andrew is almost 10 months old and loves to eat 'real' food as compared to baby food. He really enjoys feeding himself and of course he gets very messy in the process. I think I'll soon hand the spoon to him and just see how he does. Here he is enjoying a cereal bar.

Since he gets so messy eating we get him dressed after breakfast. He's now eating three meals a day and loves to eat what we're eating. Such a cutie!

Julia Visits the Dentist

On Thursday Julia visited the dentist for the first time. About two months ago Julia went with me to my appointment to see what going to the dentist is all about and now it was her turn. Ms. Pam was so great with Julia and showed her the tools she uses to clean her teeth. Julia was a bit apprehensive about the whole experience and they were only able to count her teeth and polish a few in the front. They said it was fine since the whole point of the first appointment is to have a positive experience and that we did.

As you can see Julia is as far away from Ms. Pam as she can be. She got to wear some cute pink sunglasses since the light is so bright. She was even more apprehensive once the dentist came in to check her but they were both great with her and hopefully at her next appointment Julia will feel more comfortable. I must say I'm not surprised by the way Julia was at the dentist. She is very timid around people she doesn't know and it takes time for her to feel comfortable around new people and new situations. When we left she said she wanted to go back to the dentist again which is a good thing.

Playground Fun

The other day Andrew, Julia and I enjoyed some fun out on the playground. Julia had fun pushing Andrew in the swing and was very proud of herself. I think Andrew enjoyed being pushed more by Julia than myself. She did a great job being a big sister. I love his little Cape Cod sweatshirt that our neighbors got for him and the hat that my sister got him.

Andrew definitely liked the swing but I don't think as much as Julia did when she was little...who knows maybe that will change.

After doing some pushing she did some swinging on her belly. We're so thankful we can play outdoors all year long. Love her facial expression!

Julia is saying 'cheese' as she's swinging.

Andrew 9 months

We just had Andrew's 9 month well check up and he's doing great. He weighed 18 pounds 8 ounces (10-25 percentile) and was 28 1/2 inches long (50-75 percentile). He gained weight and got taller since his 6 month check up but his percentiles went down for his weight and height. In three months he only gained 1 1/2 pounds...he's definitely been on the move so I'm sure that explains it. Looking more like a boy than a baby nowadays but just as cute as ever. Andrew usually goes to bed at 7 and gets up at 5am to eat and falls right back asleep until about 6:30. He usually only takes two naps during the day which only last 30 minutes each. He often cries when he wakes up which makes me think he's not rested but seems to be ready to play after you hold him for a little bit. He's eating more table food with us at dinner and just the other night he ate lots of brown rice and squash. He's still crawling on his belly but gets his bum up in the air and is trying to figure out how to crawl on his hands and knees. Andrew is such a happy little boy who smiles at everyone who talks to him. He is definitely a wiggle bug and tries to grab for everything within reach when you're holding him. Oh, one more thing...he gives the best hugs!

Georgia Aquarium

On Monday I took Julia and Andrew to the Georgia Aquarium for the first time. We met my friend Leigh and her son Bradon there and we all had a great time. It was so nice going during the week since it wasn't that busy.

Julia really liked the beluga whales the best. The one on the right is pregnant and expected to have a baby soon (another month or so). Julia kept asking me questions about the whale having a baby...she was quite interested. She wanted to know why the whale was going to have a baby and if it had to go to the hospital. Lots of questions from a curious three year old. Once we got home we listened to the song Baby Beluga by Raffi.

Checking out the dolphins before the dolphin show. I like dolphins and I was telling Julia about the time when her Daddy and I were kayaking in the Outer Banks and dolphins were swimming around our kayak and one jumped over the front of our kayak..how cool.

I carried Andrew the whole time in the Baby Bjorn so he could see everything too. Right towards the end I turned him facing me so he could fall asleep since he was exhausted. It worked and he fell right asleep.

It was so fun just hanging out and looking at the fish without having to make your way through a crowd.

Stingrays. I still can't believe Thomas and I went swimming with Stingrays while we were in the Cayman Islands for our 5 year anniversary.

Julia and Bradon enjoyed looking at the huge tank with so many different kinds of fish and sharks. It definitely was a relaxing place to hang out.

A goodbye hug. It was so nice meeting up with Leigh and Bradon.

Doing Laundry

On Saturday I was upstairs holding Andrew and trying to do laundry at the same time...multitasking (hence the unmade bed). I was kinda talking to myself saying I need help and before I knew it Julia was climbing up the stairs saying I can help. She helped take out Andrew's clothes from the dryer and then climbed up on our bed and started folding his clothes for me. It was so cute I had to take a few photos. She folded all the clothes and I folded the towels, blankets and sheets. I was so proud of her and at dinner she was so sweet and reminded me that I could be thankful that she helped me do Andrew's laundry...I was very thankful to have such a great helper.

Julia did such a great job of folding his clothes...I guess she's seen me do laundry before. I must say doing laundry is always more fun with Julia than doing it alone. Thanks Julia for being such a great helper!

Playtime

We're all having so much fun seeing Andrew crawl around and get into things. He has found the door stoppers and plays with those just like Julia did and just yesterday he discovered the handles on Thomas' dresser and stayed there for a while just holding it and smiling. It's so fun watching him explore things and see new stuff for the first time. Julia is still my little love bug who has gotten very good at coloring. I showed her how to hold a marker and she's been doing such a great job ever since. She knows all her uppercase and lowercase letters along with the sounds they make. We'll continue to do things with letters and numbers to be sure she retains everything she's learned. She loves going outside and playing too! I love this photo of Julia and Andrew while we were playing the other day..they just mean the world to us!