Lonliness...

Did you know that it's possible to feel lonely even when there are others around? I didn't. I feel like I don't have a place. I feel like no one gets me. Like I don't belong. And to add to that, Ryan and I had a big fight this morning, and I am again alone in the house with the little girl. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the alone time with my little girl. It's rare to have time with just her, plus she's been very happy during our times alone, but I crave interaction.

The crazy lady inside of me burst loose this morning, and I couldn't control her and as a result I'm alone again.

I want my mom or Jaime...

Also, please pray for my dad. He sees the cardiologist today about his recent a-fibs and heart palpitations.

Noah loves his sister...

Since Noah acknowledged that he has a sister, he has doted on her with the love of a big brother. Every day when she gets up, he says, "hi sister" and gives her a kiss. When he plays with his cars, he always brings one to her and puts it on her so she can play with it. Today, when I picked him up from Theresa's house (one of his favorite people), he got in the van and said, "hi sister. hi pretty girl". When he sees me feeding her, he almost always brings me a fresh burp cloth even though I don't need one. When I make her do tummy time, most of the time Noah will get down on the floor and do tummy time too. When she lays on the activity mat, he lays down next to her and points out things that he knows. It makes me so happy that he loves his little sister, and I hope that he continues to for the rest of his life.

Baby Dedications...

We go to a wonderful church, and have been fortunate to have both of our children dedicated by the same pastor. We were a little slow in getting Noah dedicated, he was a little past 1 year old, but we got him dedicated while our church was at the old building. Since then, our church is meeting in a junior high as we wait to begin building our new building. We were not slow getting Juliana dedicated, as we did that this past Sunday. Both of our kids behaved well. Noah had to take Papa Jim's watch up with him, and Juliana slept through hers.

After each dedication, we had a family get together at our house. This time, we invited other "family" members to join us- Jeff and Jenny, Dori and Mike, and Pam and Tim (who were unable to attend). Ryan grilled up delicious steaks and made 2 different types of salads. Jeff made appetizers, Jenny made a dessert salad, and Noah and I made cupcakes- which Noah then decorated to the best of his ability.

Below are some pictures from their dedications...

Did I mention that Noah was super gassy that day, which is why I'm smiling during the prayer? I was trying hard not to laugh!

I love Chuck Taylor...

The sneakers, that is. I don't really know the man who started the Converse sneaker trend. If you've seen my closet, you have seen the variety of "chucks" that I have. I only wear the hi-tops, and I have 8 pairs in a rainbow of colors.

Since Noah learned how to open the closet, he also seems drawn to "chucks" as well. Well, a certain style of "chucks" that I have...

Watermelon...

If you know Noah, you know that he is not big into eating (frankly, I don't know where he gets that from, because it's certainly not from me!). Come summer time, there are three things that we can always get him to eat: guacamole (well that's all year round), corn on the cob, and watermelon. Noah loves watermelon. He knows how to take the lid off the cut watermelon and the pictures below will illustrate his love of the melon...

And yes, he did need a new shirt after he was done. He said, "Momma. Messy, Messy. Need new shirt."

It only took 7.5 weeks!

Today, my little ladybug is 2 months old. Where has the time gone? Last week, Noah finally acknowledged that he has a sister. I think before he just thought she was going to eventually go away.

Last Friday, I had Juliana laying on the couch doing some tummy time, and she got up on her side. Noah noticed, and ran over to the couch to lay next to her, and called her "sister". I've been trying to get him to say Juliana or Juli, but he's happy calling her "sister". Now, any time that she is crying, he lets me know that "sister crying momma". Sometimes he says, "i get nuk" and pushes a chair to the changing table, gets up on the chair, finds Juliana's nuk, and brings it to me. On Thursday, he actually got the nuk in her mouth and she stopped crying for us. I think he's going to be a good big brother, and it only took him 7.5 weeks to acknowledge her (it was a long 7.5 weeks for me, I felt so bad for Noah).

Now on to other stories...

On Wednesday, after we all got adjusted at the chiropractor, I took Noah to get his hair cut. As much as I love him to be shaggy, he needed shorter hair for the summer, and I think they did a really nice job on it. He looks so different now!

Before...

After...

On Thursday we had several doctor's appointments to go to. In the morning I took Juliana up to the cardiologist. Our wonderful neighbor, Pam, watched Noah for us and put him down for a nap. Ryan met me there. Juliana did not like the stethoscope at all. Any time the doctor put it on her chest, she began to scream. It was diva-ish behavior. I told her, jokingly, that we are only tolerating it because she's a small baby, once she gets older, we will not tolerate that type of behavior. The cardiologist laughed. He was nice and left the room 3 times so we could get her calmed down, because if you've heard Juliana scream, you know that you cannot hear anything over that! The doctor gave us some good news in that he thinks her smallest hole is closing- which is a huge relief to us!

Thursday afternoon we went to the pediatrician for a well-baby checkup and to get her belly button checked. Noah was really good and got to hold the expensive doctor equipment when Dr. Russell came in the room, plus he got a bunch of Thomas stickers from the nurse. Juliana is up to 9 lbs 2.4 ounces, which puts her in the 14th percentile for weight. She doesn't look like she's 9 lbs, but once he told me her head was in the 72nd percentile, I figured out where all the weight it. Lengthwise, she's in the 3rd percentile. Guess she's not going to be very tall, but then again, neither are Ryan and I.

And finally, yesterday I was able to drag out the kiddie pool so that Noah could play in it with Daddy. After almost an hour in it, Daddy made Noah come inside, because even though he was wearing sunscreen, Noah's nose was starting to turn a little pink.

My Dad...

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my dad. We are in Florida on the beach. I'm 13- wow that was a LONG time ago.

Since Father's Day is coming up, I thought I would do a top ten list of why my dad is so wonderful.

10). One time when I was home sick in elementary school, and Mom wasn't home, he and I watched Rambo: First Blood together. Mom wasn't very happy when she found out, but I loved every minute of it.

9). He taught me how to play sports- from throwing a spiral football pass, to throwing a baseball, to shooting a basketball. The only thing I wouldn't let him teach me was tennis.

8). Whenever he got free tickets to Bears games, instead of taking one of his guy friends, he would take me... even if we had to leave at halftime because I was frozen and had already had 5 cups of hot chocolate.

7). When my cat, Snirt, fell out the window and ran away, he pulled all nighters waiting for him to come home- which he did.

6). When I was stressed out about my wedding, he told me he would put a ladder outside of my window (the house is 1 story) so that Ryan and I could elope.

5). As the only male in the house, he put up with a countless hours of "crazy" females.

4). When I was 13, he took me on a date to show me how a girl was supposed to be treated.

3). He just spent a half hour showing Noah his Corvette and letting Noah climb all over it and "drive" it, and it's very hot outside.

2). When I was in fourth grade, he helped me train to ride my bike in the Udder Century, and then we rode together in it- 33 miles.

1). When I was in the hospital for migraines in high school, he always came at dinner time so that I would never have to eat dinner by myself.