Here's what's new!

Well, I've (Sarah) finally gotten around to posting. These past few months have been very busy. Juliette's birthday and party was lots of fun. Two days after her birthday party, Juliette and I left for Florida with my dad. Juliette did very well on the flight. We had a very nice visit with Great-Grandma and Great Aunt Lois. My grandma was so happy to see her again. Juliette went in a pool for the very first time. She didn't mind the water. She also played with sand and took a dip in the cold Gulf for the first time. My grandma has two cats. This was the first time Juliette had ever met cats. She was enthralled by them. She would get so excited to them when they came out of hiding. After a week in Florida, Juliette and I returned to Illinois without my dad.

Juliette is quite the dancer now. She really gets into the music. It's so cute.

Juliette had her first major bump/bruise. She got clothes-lined by Smudge and his leash and fell face forward into a big rock. When I picked her up, she already had a golf ball sized bump on her head. She didn't cry for too long afterwords except for when I tried to put an ice pack on the bump.

We're finally getting a fence. It should be completed by the end of this week. It'll be so nice to go outside with Juliette and not have to have Smudge on a leash or leave him inside.

8 Days till Party!

I can't believe how fast time goes by. In less than a week my little Sweet Pea will be ONE year old. It truly is amazing how much she has grown and changed over the last year. Over the last couple of months I've been gathering things for her birthday party next Saturday. We're going with a dog theme. I'm going to make her birthday cake (might as well put my decorating classes to work). Grandma has volunteered to take Juliette for an afternoon so that I may decorate without interruptions. We're just having a party with family and Godparents. I didn't feel like doing two parties or having one really big one. We'll invite friends over this summer for a BBQ instead.

Juliette started a music class with the Bloomington Parks and Rec last week. Basically, we just sing and dance for about 45 minutes. Juliette really enjoys being around all the other kids. She definitely is not shy. She usually walks away from me and would rather stand by the other moms and kids. Bryan will be able to come to class this week since he is taking the day off of work to be with Juliette on her birthday.

Grandpa Weldon flies in this Monday for Juliette's birthday and the party. Juliette and I will be flying back down to Florida with him on the 19th since we were able to find a cheap flight. We'll be spending 5 days in Florida. Bryan will remain in Bloomington. It will be very hard for us to be way from him for that long. I'm a little nervous about the flight back IL since I'll be traveling by myself. It'll be an adventure. I'm hoping Juliette will fall asleep right away on the plane.

More pictures

Click here for more pictures

Juliette climbed into the sideboard and got stuck, so naturally I called for Bryan and then took some pictures.

I can't believe that is has been over two months since my last post. So much has happened since then. Let me begin with the biggest news....Juliette is walking. She is so cute as she cruises around the house. She especially enjoys walking while carrying something. She is quite the explorer, getting into everything. She empties out one of the drawers in the kitchen daily.

We had our first experience with Juliette being sick. She got a stomach bug that was going around, according to the doctor. That's what I get for taking her to the library for a play date. She woke up at 2:30am and threw up all over the bed, keep in mind she was in our bed. Shortly after that she threw up all over me. Poor thing. She got sick a couple more times throughout the day. I guess I can be thankful that she was healthy for 10 months.

Bryan and I have been busy. He's in the midst of studying for an insurance exam for work. He's also been busy watching Purdue and pacing back and forth in the family room. I'm taking a cake decorating class with my friend Michelle. Last week was my first class. Bryan is excited for all the cake he will be getting.

Other big news is that I've made the switch to cloth diapers. I'm sold on them. I really like using them. They are much easier than I thought they would be. I wish I had started using them sooner. It would have saved us lots of money.

Exhausted

Christmas is exhausting with an 8 month old. Well, we survived Christmas this year. It was a very busy week. We had a total of 3 "Christmases", Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Christmas Day. Juliette had lots of fun opening her presents. She enjoyed ripping the paper but it got old fast for her so Bryan, Grandma, Grandpa and I ended up opening most of her presents. Grandma and Grandpa Kennedy really enjoyed putting together all the wonderful gifts they got for Juliette. Grandma wasn't kidding when she said that Juliette could probably open her own toy store after Christmas :)

Juliette will now "dance" when she hears music. She will start the music on one of her toys and bounce. She does it standing or sitting. Sometimes she really gets into it and moves her arms too. She is definitely my girl.

Baking

Here are some pictures of some pictures of the cookies I made for Bryan to take into work tomorrow. They turned out very tasty.

Pictures of Juliette for December

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022472&id=1473364907&l=23f2e619b7

The Misadventures of Juliette

Juliette has been up to a lot this week. A lot of crazy things.

Last week State Farm had Santa come and visit, so we took Juliette there to sit on Santa's lap and get a present. She did surprisingly well with Santa. I put her on his lap, and she just looked up at him, wondering who this strange looking guy was. To top it off, in continuing her never-ending thrill of pulling hair, she decided to pull Santa's beard and hang onto it when I picked her back up. Of course, Santa's beard didn't come off, but it sure was funny.

Thursday night lead to more excitement. Sarah bought Juliette another gift which, at this point, might end up being a gift for her 2nd birthday, because she has so much stuff. Anyways, she put it on a step going upstairs - roughly 4 or 5 steps up. I went up the steps to look at it, while Juliette was playing with a toy at the base of the stairs. You can probably guess what happened next. She made a strange sound, and I looked down to check on her, only to see...her feet. I had to look closer to me to actually see her, because she started crawling up the stairs. She had made it up to the 2nd/3rd step before I grabbed her. Friday was a little bit more of the same, with her trying to figure out the steps. Then, on Saturday (today, and 3rd day being the charm), Juliette managed to crawl up the steps very quickly when Sarah ran upstairs, and had to be pulled back down. So, now we have to deal with that. Good times.

Tonight, Juliette decided she wanted to help Sarah (un)fold laundry. While looking in the laundry basket, she accidentally fell into it. Then, she got stuck inside the laundry basket. We got some pictures of it, because what else where we going to do - help her first? Juliette eventually started crying, so we took her out, but that was really funny. Now we're curious if she'll do it again.

It's been way too long since I last posted. Juliette has kept me busy. She has become proficient with crawling. She can really move when she sees something she wants. She enjoys pulling herself up to stand at whatever she can find. I finally broke down and gave her a new toy even though Christmas is just around the corner. I thought she need something new since she hasn't gotten any new toys in months. I got her a piano activity table that she can stand at and do various noise making things. She really enjoys it. Juliette's favorite activities include playing with Smudge's squeaker toys. He'll take the squeaker away and then she take it from him and so on. She also likes to take out toys after I've put them away or staked them neatly. It is truly amazing how much of a mess a little girl can make.

Over the last month I have been busy baking gingerbread houses for a Gingerbread House Party I hosted this Saturday. I baked and assembled 9 houses. This whole process really meant a lot to me. My mom would bake gingerbread houses every year for friends to decorate before she passed away. I really enjoyed seeing how each house was decorated. I had lots of fun preparing for this event, especially buying the candy. Everyone seemed to have a good time. I'm looking forward to doing it again next year.

Today, Bryan put up the Christmas. So far, Juliette has ignored it, even when the lights were on and it was rotating. We'll see how she does once I start to put ornaments on.

Today we got Juliette to clap. It was so cute.

So, I love the look of stainless steel appliances but not with hand prints all over them. Juliette likes to stand at the dishwasher and kiss it.

She's crawling!

Juliette has begun to crawl. She's definately enjoying the freedom.

Baking + Juliette = Mistakes

So I'm going to have to be a bit more carefull baking while dealing with Juliette. I failed to read my recipe completely through and missed the part about refridgerating the dough for a couple of hours. Oops. Also, while doubling the recipe I didn't double the flour. Thankfully, I caught my mistakes before all was lost. The first half of a gingerbread house came out fine. Thankfully I make these houses knowing that I won't be eating them. I over cook the gingerbread to make it sturdier for the house.

Last night our smoke detector decided to go off at 2:30am, then went off again 10 minutes later and then one more time. With the way the house is wired, when one alarm goes off, they all go off. Amazingly, Juliette managed to sleep through the whole thing, including the vacuuming of the culprit alarm right outside her bedroom door.

I give it a week...

I give it a week before Juliette is crawling. Yesterday, she was getting into position but would just flop back down onto her stomach. Today, she is actually starting to move forword a little before she flops down. I guess I should start baby proofing the house. Well, at least Bryan needs to get his PS3 off the floor since she has a thing for expensive electronics. She's also starting to sit up from the crawling position. Soon will be gone the days where I could set her down on the floor and step out of the room for a moment without any worries.

Happy Halloween!

album 10\29\2009, by Sarah Kennedy

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

6 month check-up

Juliette had her 6 month check up today. She looks good and strong according to the doctor. She weighed in at 16 lb 14 oz, 75th percentile. She measured 26 inches, 52nd percentile. She got some more shots. I didn't even shed a tear this time. I guess I must have toughened up since Tuesday. She really enjoyed playing with the paper on the exam table.

Finally broke down.

Well, I finally broke down and got Juliette a costume for Halloween with thanks to Grandpa Weldon. It was only $10 so I don't feel too bad about it. She's going to be a traditional pumpkin. She looks pretty cute in the costume. I have yet to get some pictures of her in it.

This has been a very busy week. On Tuesday, we picked up Grandpa Weldon from the Peoria Airport. Juliette did well on the hour drive there but the drive back was a different story. She started crying 15 minutes into the drive. I ended up pulling off at the rest stop to feed her thinking she was hungry. Not the case. She continued to cry after being fed. Finally, we stopped off at Sam's Club 20 min from home to switch drivers. My dad drove and I sat in the back with Juliette while giving driving directions. Then later that day Juliette and I went to the Sale Barn where the health department was have an H1N1 vaccine clinic. I ended up waiting in line 2 hours for Juliette to get her shot. Thankfully, I had her in her carrier and she was good the entire time we waited in line. She even managed to fall asleep among all the noise 10 minutes before she was to get her shot. Luckily, the nurse was able to give the shot to her while she remained in the carrier asleep. She woke up briefly from the prick of the needle but went back to sleep shortly after. I think I shed more tears than she did. Yes, I'm a big softy. I really had to hold back the tears while all the other little kiddies were getting their shots, lots of screams and crying.

Grandpa Weldon has been busy playing with Juliette. She's been giving him lots of smiles. Today, we went shopping for her Christmas presents from him. We had a good time looking at all the different toys. We even helped Grandpa Weldon wrap the presents too.

Juliette goes for her 6 month check up this Friday.

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to sub for the first time this year. I really enjoyed being back in the classroom and working with the little ones.

This is from awhile ago. Bryan is playing peek a boo with Juliette from behind my laptop.

Sitting up

Juliette is sitting up on her own now. She particularly enjoys playing with her toys while sitting up. She still isn't a big fan of being on her stomach which leads me to think she will be a late crawler or just skip that altogether and walk first instead.

Juliette continues to be a good sleeper at night, only with the occasional mid-night wakings. I have been able to get her to go back to sleep in the middle of the night after a diaper change on her own in her crib. Very helpful.

Last weekend, we took a trip to Rader Farms, with Grandma, on the outskirts of Bloomington. We took a lot of really good Fall pictures of Juliette and managed to get a good family picture too. Juliette did not enjoy walking through the barn with the animals. I don't blame her, it was pretty stinky. I'm really looking forward to her going next year. I think she'll really enjoy it, lots to do for the little ones.

Yesterday, Bryan and I dropped Juliette off at Grandma and Grandpa's for the day while we went to see Michigan State play Illinois in football. The game tickets were one of my birthday presents. Bryan even bought himself a Michigan State t-shirt. I must say he looks good in green :) We really enjoyed the game. Bryan especially liked the guys who sat behind us. They were Illinois fans but they kept on making fun of their own team. This allowed Bryan to speak freely about his hatred for the Illini. Michigan State won! While we were at the game Juliette showed Grandma and Grandpa how loud and long she can cry and scream. Grandma gave her a new toy. Stack & Roll 'em cups. Juliette really enjoys these, as do Bryan and I. They are so much fun and you can do so many things with them.

Bryan is working on getting some of the videos of Juliette edited and shrunk for your viewing pleasure. This week Juliette turns 6 months and I think it's about time we get some videos of her posted for everyone.

With great suprise today, I discovered that Juliette's two lower front teeth have already cut through her gums. My little girl is growing up. I did not expect this so soon. This probably explains her increased irritability and difficulty sleeping at night.