Tracy's 30th

This is Julianne's "new friend" Jack at his mom's 30th birthday party at Brio. We had so much fun! Jack and Julianne do gymnastics together and we laugh because they tell eachother that they love eachother and then they bicker like an old married couple.

More Christmas Pics

Christmas in Dallas was great! We got to celebrate Jenny's 29th birthday at Maggiano's, cook and enjoy many wonderful meals, read, play games, play the Wii (check out Julianne on the drums), enjoy the park in Jenny and Ryan's neighborhood, visit the movie theatre, and enjoy being together.

Thank you to Ryan and Jenny for hosting us!

Christmas Holiday

Picture #1: Santa visited Julianne at home and in Dallas! Santa... with the help of Daddy, Papa, and 2 uncles by the names of "Rynu" and "Agamoo" put together this kitchen for Julianne's main Christmas treat!

Picture #2: After I had already told Santa that Julianne wanted a kitchen for Christmas (ok, she never asked for one, but every little girl HAS to have one) she started saying that she wanted a bicycle...Not just a bicycle, but a pink and purple one. Soooo, Santa made a last minute decision to get this bike and give it to her on our Christmas morning at home which actually occured on the 23rd.

Picture #3: Julianne and her 2nd cousin Ethan. They had quite a ball together pushing all of the singing snow man buttons at the same time - it made quite a cacaphony! We also found them cuddling on the couch upstairs watching Nemo. Adorable!

Picture#4: Julianne outside our church in front of the playground where she plays during school.

Picture #5: Julianne in front of our tree in one of her Christmas dresses. When I put it on her she looked up at me with wide eyes, gasped, and asked, "Am I getting MARRIED???" I guess she felt very fancy.

Karaoke Queens

Saturday night brought much laughter and fun as we tried our hand at Karaoke. Justin's team which includes my dear sister, Lauren, went to dinner and a Karaoke bar for our Christmas celebration together. It was a blast. Justin made everyone laugh with various country songs, rap songs, and a great rendition of Kid Rock. Lauren and I stuck to "Time after Time" by Cyndi Lauper and "Baby Got Back" when we felt wild. OK, we were told to get on stage for Baby Got Back. It was fun for a stay at home mom to get out, have a few drinks, and let loose a bit. Geez, I sound so OLD.

Let it Snow

Ok, so this week, IT SNOWED!!! It was Wednesday night and freezing cold and all of a sudden, we had tons of snow flurries. We bundled up and went outside only to meet the rest of the neighborhood doing the same thing. People were posing for pictures and gawking at the sky. Julianne was trying to catch flakes in her mouth and it just made looking at all of the neighborhood lights that night that much more festive. It really feels like Christmas.

We've Been Elfed

We dressed up like elves the other night and went to a good old Texas Honky Tonk bar:

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/qVe4HpmceWXkb7Fw

Precious Words

Julianne has come up with some great lines the past few weeks, so here they are:

*In the Atlanta airport we saw a teenage boy with spiked mohawk hair. I did not think anything of it, but I am sure it is the first time she has ever seen such a thing. She stopped dead in her tracks, pointed, and yelled, "Mom!!! That man looks like a dinosaur!!!"

*Last night, after I laid down with Julianne for a few mintues, I said, "I need to go to my bed with Daddy now." She looked up at me with sad eyes and said, "but, then I'll be alone" and I said, "nooo, we are right down the hall and can hear you and see you on the monitor and besides God is always with you" She thought about that for a minute and said, "Is he in my HAWRT?"

*We went on a little mini hike today on a woodsy trail with Jules and June. Afterwards, Julianne signed and said, "that was a great "Benture" which meant "Adventure."

Advent

I admit that I love everything about Christmas as most of us do. The trees, the lights, the music, the gifts, the cards, etc. I find myself wanting to drag out the month of December for much longer than the 31 days we actually get. As much as I love Christmas, this year I am trying my best NOT to stress about gift buying and card sending and picture taking and decorating, but it is hard. I am trying to remember Christ's birthday and all of the blessings that are in my life because of Him. Lauren shared a site with me that stuck a cord, so check it out if you so desire.

http://adventconspiracy.org

I am trying to explain to Julianne that the reason "Santa" brings gifts is because Jesus wants her and all the other children to have His birthday presents. She looks at me like I am crazy and is like, "Is it MY birthday? Am I Twee?" I guess maybe it will make more sense as she gets older.

Thanksgiving Week

We had a great time in Georgia complete with a visit to Athens to see our best friends and a trip to the ATL to hang with Uncle Neal, Aunt Lisa, Noelle, Andrew, Gamma, and Gumps. Despite both Julianne and Mom visiting urgent care clinics for sinus infections, we still managed to have a good time! Some highlights:
*We got to have some Georgia favorites: Mellow Mushroom Pizza, Willy's Burrito, and Eienstein Bagel.
*Driving by our old house in Marietta, GA - it is for sale again!
*Hanging out with Todd and Cara and laughing constantly, as we always do....the ease of being together never fades and it is such a blessing to see Cami and Julianne growing to be good friends as well
*Julianne and Cami decorating a gingerbread house
*Seeing Madelyn's accomplishments - sitting up, rolling, saying uh-oh, and being SO aware of what is going on around her - she does not miss a thing!
*Meeting our nephew Andrew who is a spitting image of his Uncle Michael on the Silvestro side
*Seeing Noelle and Julianne have so much fun together, playing, reading, making tamborines with pipecleaners and jingle bells (great craft idea by Aunt Lisa), going to Starbucks, the park, many great walks, jumping at Monkey Joes, etc.
*Enjoying a fabulous T-giving feast with J's family - even Andrew slept for about 20 mins during the meal so we could enjoy it
*Playing Sequence, watching Meet the Parents, and enjoying some Vietnamese Food for the first time...
*Seeing Julianne and Noelle decorate the place cards and the votive candles for our feast

Some Pictures:

Princess Pictures

I do hope the Prince will dance with me!

Ready for the ball!

This is how I used to dress up - I am fancier now that I have some actual ball gowns to put on!

Playing Princess

Julianne has become rather keen on dressing up like a princess lately. I am not sure if Halloween inspired her or if it is her new Sleeping Beauty Dress that we sort of acquired from a garage sale. It is not enough to just put on the dress - she has to have a crown, a wand, click clacks, and a purse. I usually play the part of the prince and ask her to the ball. We sing and dance through the house and I do things I would never do in front of anyone else in the world like sing opera and twirl around like a bafoon. Hey, if it makes Julianne happy - why not?

Winners for the week:

Daddy asked Julianne - What's wrong?
She replied - I don't feel so good.
Daddy asked - What hurts?
She replied - My feelings.

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Julianne told us that if the big bad wolf comes to the house we should, "kick him in the face." No idea where she heard that.

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Sometimes when we pass the Anadarko Tower on I-45, Julianne exclaims, "That is where my Daddy works (or lives)" and lately she has been saying he works "in the distance" because I told her that Dad's office building was farther away.

Pics from Birthday Week

Dinner at our new local Tex Mex joint, Rico's Hacienda. Yes, there is live Tejano music.

At lunch - remind me to never eat at Cafe Express again - that place is sick.

My birthday cake.

Watching Addison for about an hour - notice Julianne's baby dolls lined up. This was Julianne's idea - rather artistic, I think.

We all love when we hear Daddy's car roar up the drive way at night. He always place chase upon Julianne's request. They also play "My Little Ponies" and tickle and Niff (sniff). June practically hyperventilates from happiness when she sees Dad. He is so much fun.

Birthday Week and Weekend

I had a great birthday week - Justin and I went to one of our favorite haunts here in The Woodlands on my actual birthday. Some girlfriends took me to lunch and my parents (along with the birthday check from Gamma and Gumps) took me shopping. My clothes had gotten so incredibly dumpy looking it was not even funny, so I am thrilled to have a few new nice clothing items. Thank you Mimi, Papa, Gamma, and Gumps. My Dad made me a fabulous key lime pie from scratch which is my favorite pie in the world. On Saturday night Jenny, Lauren, and Andrew came out and went to dinner with us and then we saw the movie Changeling. A dream night for me, of course.

On Sunday, our neighborhood had a Chili Cook Off and it was a great event. We tasted some of the best Chili we have ever had and Julianne got to jump in a bouncy house, eat cotton candy, and get her face painted. There was a live band and we met some really nice neighbors.

I am really enjoying my time off from work and hope we can make this arrangement work through the next pregnancy and newborn stage (no, I am not pregnant yet). :-) Jules is loving gymnastics, pre-school, play dates, and I am wanting to sign us up for a class called Kinder Music, but we will see.

I will post some more pictures soon. Today I am really tired for some reason - maybe the weather, but I can barely keep my eyes open. Ughhh. Jules is still in her diaper and it is 11 am. I think it is time we hit Chick Fil A and the library or something. Over and Out.

June Chatigny

Ok, most people will think us insane, but I promise, we are not. Leo is no longer with us and we now have a new dog named June. We have given months of thought to this decision and without going into a ton of detail, we needed a hypoallergenic dog which we found in June (she is a wire haired terrier mix), a smaller dog, a dog that does not shed, and a dog that does not have bark that shakes you do the core! Leo is living on an estate called DogWood with some wonderful people with 5 Acres of land. We rescued June from the Pasadena Shelter and she is 1 year old. She is a complete joy so far and we are very happy with our decision for our family. Julianne and June are already best buddies.

Pictures of Fall

I got a new laptop for my birthday, so stay tuned for more frequent blog posts. Here are some pictures of Julianne this Fall. We used my parents Halloween decorations (they don't decorate for Halloween anymore - Baa Humbug!), but we really had fun with the spiders, witches, and ghosts this year. We hosted a play group for Julianne's class at our house a few weeks ago which was the inspiration for the decorations. Our neighborhood went crazy with Halloween decor which is one of the reasons we love it here - the front porches lend themselves well to holiday decorations, so most people had great stuff out including orange lights!

We have had a few Halloween events to attend (one play date at a park with school friends) and a birthday party, so it was fun to get to see Julianne dressed up 3 times this year. She was a white fairy princess this year and we used her cute Ladybug costume from last year as well - it is so darn cute.

We visited a Farm called 7 Acre Woods in Conroe complete with a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo, an old timey town for kids, and a huge playground. We went with Leslie and Emma and had a blast. Emma did eat some dirt, but she did not seem to mind. She is a darling, sweet friend! I am thinking this may be a good spot for a birthday party in February, but we will see.

On Halloween, we trick or treated with our new friend, Jack, who is Julianne's age (he is the pumpkin) and the kids had a great time. Our neighborhood had all the kids meet in the park and then we went on from there.

A few cute things to remember:

*Julianne and I were looking at the stars the other night and she said, "they are soooooo cute."

*When Julianne spent the night at my parents house the other night, she woke up singing, "Oh Susanna, on won't you cry for me" which she calls "Mommy's song."

*I was fussing at Daddy for something and she pointed her finger at me and said, "Be Nice to MY DADDY!"

*When she was mad at me she said, "You are not..a good...idea." This comes from us saying things like, "let's not touch the oven - that is not a good idea." I started to pretend cry and she ran over and said, "mom, it's ok, you ARE a good idea!!"

Where oh where did my laptop go?

Oh yeah, I don't have one anymore because Deloitte laid me off for the second time in 10 years and asked me to turn in my computer 24 hours later. Bitter? Sort of. Relieved? Surprisingly, yes, I feel relief. Staying Busy? Yes, insanely. Enjoying time away from work? Absolutely!

Julianne is doing well despite her allergies/sinus trouble that do get her up in the night. Right now she is into:

*My Little Ponies
*Making "houses" for her ponies made of other toys, pillows, etc.
*Group hugs pronouced Goop Hug
*A little boy named Eli at school pronouced Eeeewhy
*Asking for Dr Haggerty when she feels bad pronouced Hagga Docterdy

We have had some fun weekends with a date night to the movies (my favorite)... we saw Body of Lies which is awesome, SupperClub, Birthday parties, etc. Jules and I ventured down to the Houston Zoo yesterday and had dinner with Aunt Lauren and Dwight while Dad worked late.

Basically, time is flying and the weeks are flying - I wish time would slow down a bit. I guess that ain't going to happen.

I hope to update the blog when I either get a new laptop or revive our old one from 10 years ago. :-)

Cold Plate

This is the name of Julianne's favorite band. We are fortunate enough to be going to their concert in November (too bad Jules will have to sit that one out). For those "old fogies" reading this blog, the name of the band is actually Coldplay and they have a very mellow, yet happy sound that Julianne really likes. Julianne fequently requests that we play Coldplate in the car. It is a nice change from Big Girls Don't Cry. Keep making that beautiful music, Coldplate!

2nd Cousins

Last week, Julianne got to hang out with her second cousins Parker, Kali, Madison, River, and Brooke. I can't believe I actually got them all to look at the camera and the 3 oldest are smiling! River and Brooke are turning one sometime this week - Happy Birthday!

Andrew Chatigny

He is 2 weeks old now, but we have a new nephew and Julianne has a new cousin! His name is Andrew Chatigny and will most likely be called, "Agamoo" by Julianne. Uncle Justin has already met the handsome little guy and Jules and I will meet him at Thanksgiving. It will be so fun to have a little boy in the mix and I am sure Noelle and Julianne will have so much fun tormenting him, dressing him up like a princess, and forcing him to play with barbies in the future!

Dad and Jules

Dad and Jules (seen here when she was 3 months in Williamsburg, VA) have been bonding lately. Julianne is starting to really want Daddy around and she loves when we are "all together." She has been joyfully clapping and saying, "We are all eating together!!!" when we all 3 sit down at the dinner table. She also wants to have group hugs when Daddy comes home from work at the end of the day. Last night, Justin went fishing and we joined him in a separate car. We got to see him catch his first fish in The Woodlands. When Julianne and I left she started crying and said, " I am sad for my Daddy....becasue he is by his-self." I told her he wanted to fish by himself and that we needed to get home for bed. She has become very perceptive of everyone around her and many times when the two of us are in a restaurant or at a park, I find us just people watching and observing other people around us - the apple does not fall far from the tree. She is always asking us "What's Wong, Mom? or What's Wong, Dad?" and it is hard to stay in a bad mood when she is in your face asking you that with her precious little voice.

Gymnastics

After Hurricane Ike and all of it's inconveniences (lucky for us it was nothing more than that and was actually quite fun to evacuate to see the Mills and the Zimmermans!), it was nice to return to a normal Monday which consists of Julianne going to gymnastics with Mimi. Here are some pictures of some of the activities:

Before I Forget...

I think Julianne has become a little girl rather than a Toddler. This change has been coming gradually, but I guess I am finally admitting it. Yes, she still cuddles with me at night and let's me rock her if she is having a hard time sleeping and yes, I occasionally still burp her (upon her request of "mom, burb me like a baby"), but for the most part she is all little girl. This morning we were getting ready for school and she wanted to wear her ladybug costume. I obliged her from about 7 am until 8 am and she "flew" around the house and then when I told her she had to change clothes for school she protested with, "but, I don't have red shoes on yet!!!" She wanted matching red shoes for her lady bug costume and I did not even know she noticed things like that (colors of clothes, matching shoes, etc). Pretty soon, she is going to be asking for pierced ears (not allowed until she is at least 8!) and matching accessories! We don't even own red shoes. She also told me she wanted to be a Care Bear for Halloween.

A few cute things that have come out of her mouth (and a few that would only be cute to her mother and father) that I don't want to forget:

*Upon telling her we have to leave the park or stop feeding the ducks she screams at the top of her lungs, "It's NOT FAIR, K?" Then she turns her back and folds her arms across her chest in a very awkward looking way with elbows flying everywhere. If she is in a good mood, she may ask, "2 more minutes, is that fair?" This "fair" talk comes from Daddy. :-)

*She can now pronouce her full name and it sounds something like this:
Juwianne Weed Chatigmee

*She is obsessed with the movie Toy Story and calls the movie, "Buzz." When asked what Buzz says, she replies, "To Infiny Denny...and Beyond!"

*After giving her a kiss or a hug, both of her parents have been told, "Your air stinks."

*We met Dad up at a fishing pond near out house and upon seeing her Dad fish for the first time, Julianne exclaimed, "Look at you go, Dad!"

*Sometimes when we are being silly together or going somewhere fun she will say, "Rock and Roll, Dude."

Trip to LA (Lower Alabama)

Yes, we went to LA despite Hurricane Gustov and we drove right on through Louisiana with all of the evacuees to get there. Despite the rain, we had a few nice days of partly cloudy weather and lots of rain, but we had a great trip. It was fun to be with other families with young kiddos and just be together, cook out, play at the beach, etc. We got one day of boating in and so Jules had her first boat ride and liked to go, "FAST!" Julianne traveled very well in the car thanks to the DVD player and only said, "I am tired to be in my carseat" once or twice. She was the big girl on this trip and took good care of Austin and Adalynn (6 month old twins) and Emma (1 year old). I will post more about the trip and more pics, but here are a few:


AT Lulu's - a great little dive on the bay. Owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister.
At a bar called Florabama on the adults night out. Who is that sexy kitty cat?
AT Johnson's Beach near Pensacola. Julianne and Daddy looking for shells.
Precious Jules and her shells. She also found a "Creature" which was a little muscle that she insisted taking in the car with us. She played with it for 2 days until it shriveled up and died. Then she kept saying, "Where my creature go?"

Quotes for the Day

"People will forget what you say and do, but will never forget how you make them feel."

"I don't have to attend every argument I am invited to."

"True nobility is not about being better than everyone else, it is about being better than our past sevles."

"The hightest form of maturity is called self-inquiry."

"Don't "should" on people."

"There has never been a storm that doesn't end." Who do you want to be during the storm?

"Don't take yourself so damn seriousely."

"If you look for the worst in someone, you WILL find it."

Dallas

Jenny and Ryan's new house is lovely and it was very comfortable. We played Wii, watched movies, shopped, ate out, and just enjoyed being together. They even have a fort and horse tire swing in the backyard! Natually Julianne was the center of attention, but we did get to meet "The Other Niece," Emory Jane (who is precious). The funniest thing that happened was when I put a pink outfit on Julianne that exposed her tummy b/c it has gotten too small... Dad jokingly said, "you look like white trash, Julianne!" and she cheerfully responded with, "No Dad, I'm pink trash!"