Baby Pictures

Aren't these just the sweetest pictures of the sweetest little baby??  A very sweet gal named Melanie took them and she did a great job! 

Normally, Juliana is very smiley and she actually enjoys photo-ops.  However, the morning we had scheduled to do the pictures, she decided that she was going to be fussy and not very cooperative.  Undeterred, Melanie kept snapping pictures and here are the finished products; completely precious and oh-so-pretty!

First Day of School 2012!

School is back in session!  (And just in the nick of time...mom was completely worn out from the summer!)  Emily is now a second grader and Christian started Kindergarten!!!

 Both were pretty excited and picked out their very own clothes for the big day.  Of course, we had to do the customary "first day" pictures...

 Looking so grown up--and with a "messenger bag"-style back pack that she wanted.

 And check out this big boy!  Two days before school started his old shoes became very small.  Turns out, his feet had grown TWO sizes.  His feet are now bigger than Emily's.

 "Woo-hoo!!!"  Not kidding, this is what Kari was saying during this picture.  (I had asked her what she thought of the big kids going to school--ha!)  Honestly, she misses them and is pretty excited at the end of the day when they get home.  But...on the flip-side, she is LOVING the extra Mommy-time and she screeches a whole lot less through out the day with no older siblings to tease her!

 Here is a half of our little neighborhood gang; all ready to walk up!

 Christian, walking into his first day of kindergarten!  (Sniff, sniff!)  Cubby took the day off and had walked them up.  True to form, as soon as they were out of sight, I burst into tears.  I just can't believe that the first little chapter of his life is over and the next is already beginning.

 The first day was a 1/2 day and so the kids got out before lunchtime.  We went over to our neighbor's home for a picnic and all of the kids got to spend the afternoon playing.

Here is the gang!  (Kinda' reminds me of the Sandlot!) 

Both Emily and Christian reported back that they had a great first day and really like their teachers.  And, now that I'm writing this post at the end of the second week, I can report that both are still bringing back good news!  Christian has randomly said things like, "Today was really good!" and "This day went by really fast!"  Both are completely exhausted by the end of the day/week so I guess they're getting their energy out! 

Also, both are already bringing home the good reports and being recognized for their good behavior.  We're so proud!  Funny enough though, Cubby and I told the kids that we were going to set up a good-behavior system like they have at school.  Exasperated, Christian shouts out, "No!  I'm already good all day long at school!  I don't want to be good at home too!"

Hmmm.....

So happy school is back IN!

Dino-mite

 Another nice morning last week took us to the dinosaur exhibit over at Fontenelle Forest.  The kids all did great and we had a really fun morning walking the boardwalk and looking at all of the "dinosaurs."

 And here's everyone climbing in the tree house-fort.  Good stuff.

 Below is the view from the boardwalk.  Very pretty.  You can see the zoo and downtown.

 Here is Emily pointing out the zoo to Kari.  A sweet teaching moment for Big(gest) Sister!

 Ah, lest we forget, sweet Juliana.  She enjoyed the fresh air....

 And then decided she'd had enough and fell asleep.

 After the boardwalk, we ventured downstairs where they have some fun areas for little kids (dress up, a puppet area, and a "dino-dig" area with rubber pieces (rather than dirt or sand).  Kids had fun down there for a bit and then it was getting close to lunch so we went home.  All around, another successful morning outing with the munchkins!

(Kari had a "Tiny Pteranadon" hat on (from PBS's Dinosaur Train), but it kept falling off.  Take my word, it was hilarious.  Still, Christian's face is pretty intimidating, wouldn't you say?

And Now For Something Completely Different

Okay, so the zoo isn't something different.  However, for us this summer, it was!  It has been sooooo hot all.summer.long.  Between the heat and having a new baby (and not wanting to take Juliana out in the extremem heat), we've pretty much stuck to the pool and the indoors.  So, when the weather finally cooled down this past week, I made sure to make the best of it by taking the kiddos out in the mornings to some of our old haunts that we hadn't been to in a while!

 Our first pit stop was the Aquarium.  It wasn't overly busy and so the kids really had fun watching the penguins, sharks, rays, fish and turtles.

 Juliana was fascinated with the tunnel area.  This was her first trip to the zoo and liked seeing all of the animals swimming above her.

 After the aquarium, we stopped for a snack and so I could nurse Juliana.  To keep the troups happy, I gave Emily the camera.  She took a self picture, of course.

 She also snuck a picture of me, chilling out.

 I then snapped a picture of them playing on the turtle statues.

With a nice full tummy, Juliana then decided that it was time to take a snooze.

We also saw the giraffes, macaws and parrots at the Garden of the Senses, cheetas, the Madagascaar exhibit and finally, we pretty much sprinted through the gorillas b/c by that point, the troops (and their fearless leader) were ready to get home.

On the whole, my first trip to the zoo with four little ones went very well!  Until the very end, they all hung in there and we had a fun time together, doing something just a bit out of the ordinary (for this summer, at least)!

Aegean Teal

It's the color of our new (old) coffee table!  My living room is entirely too brown and beige.  So, I figured one project that I could tackle (and cheaply!) was to paint our coffee table.  My sweet and crafty friend, Lori, suggested the color Aegean Teal from Benjamin Moore.  I looked it up, and, low and behold, the colors that they said that agean teal coordinates with are the exact colors of my walls and drapes!  It was meant to be. 

So, I went to work (and it took me a while b/c trying to find time to sand, paint and then distress takes a while when you have a baby who only likes to cat-nap during the day and three other children who all like to "help").  Finally, this past weekend though, I finished up as best I could and Cubby brought it back upstairs.  It has made such a difference in our living room!  I love the pop of color it gives to the room.  Now, I need to find a replacement rug for underneath!  (Our old rug fell victim to three little busy-bodies who shall remain nameless....)

Family Swim Night!

Once again this summer, to save my sanity!, we got a pass to Papio Bay.  We use it all the time and last Friday we all went in the evening for a little family swim time!  We ate crappy pizza and swam it up on a hot summer night!  Lots of fun and it was great having all of the extra hands to help with the kids!

Gatorade vs. H20....Christian's vote was for gatorade!

Gpa Harvey and Baby J watching some diving

Kari, of course, is right with Grandma! 

Miss Emily, heading off of the high dive!!

Cannonball!!!!

Christian and Daddy, going down the slides

It's been an incredibly hot summer (even too hot for the pool some weeks!), but we've been so grateful that we were able to get a pass and enjoy the time in the water so much.   Good times!

Three Months Old!

 Little Miss Juliana is 3 months old today!!  Yup, she is pretty happy about it too.  Let me tell you all about her many talents and abilities!

Juliana is very good at smiling.  She recognizes her family and loves to reward their efforts with her best grins.  It's amazing to see the recognition in her eyes as she watches each of us make total fools of ourselves getting her to smile.  Juliana has also started to laugh!  She is ticklish and produces some darling little gutteral laughs when we tickle her!

She also is very adept at holding her head up while sitting or on her tummy.  She has very big, strong legs and is very good at pushing up on them while we help her to stand.

Like her sister before her, Juliana loves the Olympics!  (The winter Olympics was on when Kari was an infant and she loved to watch all of the movement!)  Juliana does too and gets cranky if we get in the way or turn it off!  Ha!

Bathtime is her favorite part of her day.  She realizes once her little jammies come off what's coming and just gets so excited--kicking her legs and smiling.  She LOVES bathtime and is all smiles the whole time!

Juliana is a very talented eater.  She LOVES to nurse, much like her brother!  No joking, she nurses every hour and a half all.day.long.  However, she sleeps through the night (lately 9-7!) so she's just packing in her calories during the day. (And that's just fine with Mommy!)  Right now, Juliana is not earning any medals for napping.  (She's a cat-napper, folks!)  But, again, she gets the gold for night-time sleeping.

Juliana is a huge hit with our family.  Another gold-medal kiddo for sure!  We're so grateful she's such a healthy and happy baby and we're thrilled she's a part of our family!