Julie Ann's Dedication

Yesterday, we were able to dedicate Julie Ann to the Lord. We stated we would disciple her and raise her following Christ's example. What a wonderful time to do this on father's day! My parents and brother were in town for this special occasion. After church we ate lunch at our house with my Aunt Euna, Uncle Sam, Candy, and their children. Laura Beth is completely in love with Sheridan and Jude and asks for them to come over whenever she thinks of them (which is often).

Fun Fashion

Laura Beth has an interesting taste in fashion. She has some "favorites" that she has asked for every day for the last few weeks. Let's start at the head.

That crown is from her cousin Hannah Claire. It is a fancy nancy crown. It "fits" Laura Beth's head the best out of all of her crowns. SO, she wears it with every "princess" outfit. In that case, she will say, "I am cinderella fancy nancy" (if she is wearing a cinderella dress). etc

Now to the attire: Laura Beth has 2 friends (the Hammonds) that have bathing suit cover ups (from wal-mart) exactly like this one (in a different color though). I thought they were cute, so I bought Laura Beth one for this summer. WELL, She was soo excited about it that she calls it a cover up "costume" and she wears it ALL the time. I think it is because she can slip it on and off REALLy easily.

Now on to the feet, Gran bought these nice "ghetto" shoes for Laura Beth. Hannah Claire has a pair. I said, "Ghetto" because they have rhinestones, peace signs, bright colors, etc. HOWEVER, THEY ALSO HAVE LIGHTS. They have blue, clear, and pink lights. Laura Beth LOVED Hannah Claire's light up shoes when we visited last. Laura Beth's pair of "non-ghetto light up shoes" had one shoe that would light up and one that would not. So, her Gran decided Laura beth needed some new light up shoes. We found the exact same pair that Hannah Claire had. Laura Beth has worn them EVERY day since they were purchased. I am over the "ghetto" part now. ha! Seeing her be sooo excited over those shoes makes them worth every penny (as they are RIDICULOUSLY over priced). ha!

If I allowed it, Laura Beth would wear this to church, school, sleep, etc. She is perfectly happy in this nice outfit. ha!

Splash Park

I recently took Laura Beth to the splash park in Alexandria. Steve kept Julie Ann and gave me and Laura Beth some time to hang out. It was so fun!

You know you want some light blue aviators. Yeah, you do.

At Mother's Day Out last week, Laura Beth threw a HUGE fit about not wanting to make hand and foot prints. She has made them before, so I am not exactly sure why that day was different. Other than she said, the paint tickles. hmmm.... However, the very next day we went to the splash park and look who was making all kinds of hand and foot prints with wet side walk chalk.

They have a playground next to the park, we took the opportunity to dry off at the swing. It was hot, so we put Laura Beth's towel on it. I love this towel that my mom bought from Blessed Be the Name (I think).

Memorial Day Weekend

First, I must say how blessed I am to have such wonderful parents. My mom and dad came to our house over the last weekend to help me with ... well, I was going to say Julie Ann, but really they helped with EVERYTHING (and Julie Ann, of course). We had a wonderful weekend!

I have a favorite picture of Laura Beth and my dad. I think this will be my favorite picture of Julie Ann and my dad. My dad was so brave...he fed AND burped Julie Ann. Love him.

Mom (Gran) IS a natural with a Julie Ann (of course). I wish she was here ALL day every day. She "learned" Julie Ann very quickly and they love each other now. ha! These next pictures are from the Splash park in Alexandria. We had a memorial day picnic there.

Don't let her fool you. She doesn't stay asleep long. :) But she sure is cute when she does sleep.

Laura Beth with her friends Abby and Hannah Beth.

As for Laura Beth, she is having such a fun summer with all the water activities beginning. She LOVES playing in water, but STILL has a little trouble with getting water in her face (she hates it). She got her first blisters on her feet this week from some dress up shoes and she is NOT happy about it. ha! Bandaids every day (sometimes twice a day).

As for Julie Ann, she has reflux. It keeps her from sleeping much of the day and night. I am perfecting "the drop"...you know, the "Drop" from your chest/arms to put a baby in the bed. We never really did that with Laura Beth, we usually put her in bed awake. We can sometimes put Julie Ann in bed "Droopy eyed," but usually she cannot stay asleep longer than 5-10 minutes if she goes to sleep on her own. So, I have perfected the "drop" for now, and will "fix" that problem later. ha!

We are "fighting" the battle of reflux and digestive problems with Prevacid and Mylecon (and elevated bed, sound machine, swaddle, pacifiers, ETC.) She has had a tough first 6 weeks, but we feel more confident each day with her that her digestive system will improve. She has weighed 10 pounds for 2 weeks now. She is still in the 75 percentile for weight, but she needs to gain an 1/2 ounce to an ounce a day. We are praying. Next week we do another "weight check." Thats all for now. Julie Ann is actually asleep in her bed, so I must go take advantage!