Are you ready for some football, soccer, dance???

Pictures (L to R): Jules and Daddy having anniversary ice cream. Our friend Aimee gave Jules some fun play mustaches. Doesn't it remind you of Mario Brothers?

Who knew the life of a three-year-old could be so taxing?! Jules started a new class a few weeks ago and is still trying to decide if she wants to stay there. (Little does she know she doesn't have a choice.) While she's made a few new friends, Jules still has her "best buddy" Holden with her.

With the new school year comes new choices, Tumble Bus, music, dance, soccer and the list goes on. Julia has been adamant that she wants to take dance and was quick to sacrifice Tumble Bus for the chance at dance. Dad and Mom are "talking about it" and hopefully Dad can be persuaded to pay for the most expensive DVD (recital video) he will ever own.

In the meantime, Jules signed up for soccer at our local Y. I attended the parents meeting yesterday where I learned that her team has no coach or assistant coach and practice begins next week. "What will they do?", you ask. Apparently, I am now the assistant soccer coach for Julia's 3-year-old team. (You can stop laughing now.) Holden's Mom volunteered to be coach if they couldn't find someone over the holiday weekend...I'm guessing next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. we will be coaching our first practice. It should be interesting since neither of us played soccer.

In honor of our 10 year anniversary, we decided to have a romantic dinner with Julia and the local frozen custard shop. We thought we might as well do something memorable and fun since she is significant part of the past ten years and the greatest gift we could have given to each other. Plus, it was pretty nice having an excuse to eat ice cream for dinner.

John is off to the first OU game and in the spirit of the football season I tried to get Shorty to sport her OU t-shirt for Dad. She refused. She would not even consider wearing it. He convinced her to put on the OU jersey for a photo and she promptly removed it. I actually felt kind of bad but only for a minute. Go Pokes!

Reflection

We haven't taken many pictures in the last month so I started flipping through all of our old photos. I am amazed at how things change in twelve short months.

Julia went from using a binky to no binky by her second birthday.

She was talking last January but to strangers it was mostly gibberish. Now she is reasoning with us and we are amazed at her use of logic particularly when it is to her benefit. We really noticed a difference at the 2009 annual Christmas program at her school. Last year she mummbled a few words along with her friends but this year she sang the entire song Away in a Manger as well as several other new songs she learned in music class.

She can now dress herself completely even though she prefers the lazy-man's way and begs for us to help her. She is very particular about what she wears and most likely it is not going to be what you selected for her. You have to love independent thinking...or do you?

We took our first family trip with Julia on an airplane in 2009. Jules became an international traveler as we headed to Cancun. We returned successfully without the swine flu. Julia learned to appreciate sand after returning from the beach...there's always next time.

She continues to amaze us with how much she learns each day and her personality continues to make us smile, laugh and cringe at times. Independence and determination are two traits Julia possesses without question. Her sassy personality makes us smile but lands her in timeout on many Saturday afternoons. Last Saturday, she ventured into our room to watch cartoons rather than taking her nap. When I found her and expressed my frustration and told her to get to her room for her nap she looked me straight in the eye and yelled "No!" Really. Isn't the defiance supposed to start when they turn thirteen?

We hope you enjoy our flashback photo and a few recent pictures from 2010. More to come as we are quickly approaching her third birthday...I can't believe my baby is going to be three.

A Baby, A Bike and A Radio

It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke but it is actually Julia's list for Santa. She went from no list to a snowman to a baby, a bike and a radio. A radio? We still aren't sure where or why this came up as one of the top three but the girl does like to boogie.

Thanks to Mother Nature, we had a beautiful white Christmas. It did delay our trip to see Papa John in Okmulgee but only by two days. Jules had fun opening gifts and loved everything she received. I love that about her. Seriously, most two-year-olds aren't overjoyed by pajamas.

She did get everything on her list...two babies, a bike with a baby seat and a portable CD player. We left the bike in the garage so she wouldn't be completely distracted by it first. She was so excited to see the radio but when we asked her if she got everything she wanted she sadly replied...he didn't bring me a bike. John brought it in and she screamed "he got me a bike". She has enjoyed pushing her babies around the house in the baby seat and can't wait for the snow to go away so she can take it outside.

She has really enjoyed the snow and all of the Christmas lights this year. For those that don't know, Julia uses her magic powers to turn the lights on each night. She says the magic words "Hocus Pocus" or in her case "Pocus Pocus" and the lights magically appear. Keep in mind her magic only works at night so do not ask her to perform in the daylight. It is not possible.

Our New Year's Eve was fun as well. We spent the evening with one of Julia's best buds Holden and his parents. I think we all had a great time. We did miss our usual New Year's tradition of being with my parents and Susan, Jason and the kids but we are going to see them this evening for a little celebration.

Julia is growing up so quickly and her sassy personality continues to shine through and sometimes lands her in timeout. A few of her favorite sayings are below.

"I'm not talking to you."

"We no say that." (usually directed at John or me)

"You very happy?" (usually stated when she knows you may be getting frustrated)

And, my all time favorite..."You're my best friend."

Shame, Shame: Since we missed a few holidays, I thought I would post a few Halloween pictures of Jules with Sam and Mary at the Zoo. They had a great time as usual.

We hope the New Year brings you many blessings and a few fun surprises along the way.

Summer Vacation

Jules is out of school this week while the teachers prepare for the school year so I decided to spend the week with her (or most of it). We need to download pictures so there isn't much to share right now but we will post them soon.

In the past few months (Eeek!), Julia has been up to quite a bit. She talks all the time and speaks very clear for a 2.5 year old. Some of her choice words/phrases are 'i do it by myself', 'i do it, i do it, i do it' and 'loves you'. She has also decided to utilize the word 'stupid' at critical times such as when she is mad at me but tends to say 'i stupid'. She did learn a new word while Daddy was working on the bathroom remodel. She overheard him say a word that she thought sounded like 'box' and asked "oh, what happened? Daddy say "box". " Thank you honey for teaching our two-year-old expletives.

We took our first trip to the library last weekend. Julia picked out several books but we decided it would only be fair to check out three books. We read all of the books the first day and each night since last Saturday.

Julia has also enjoyed a few trips to the gym with Mommy this week. She likes it in the nursery and actually asks if she can go to the gym.

We will be sure to post photos soon. We are looking forward to a few trips to Texas in the next few months to see all of our friends. We will post photos and details of our traveling adventures.

Sun, Surf and...no Sand

We recently returned from our family vacation in Mexico. You would expect there may have been some chaos traveling with a two-year-old and two three-year-olds but alas it was a pleasant trip from beginning to end.

We flew out of Dallas and had to arrive two hours before our flight (international travel). The kids were a little bored at DFW but they managed to play, watch movies, ride escalators and make it onto the plane without incident. We managed the two hour flight to Mexico and the thirty minute bus ride to the hotel and it was all worth it for our time on the beach. We arrived at the hotel to meet Grandma and Papa and headed to the beach.

We quickly learned Julia was not a fan of the sand. I believe her exact words were 'Dirty, Mommy'. We tried over the three day trip to coax her onto the sand...it wasn't happening. She played with the sand while sitting on a beach chair or towel but heaven forbid she actually walk on the sand.

The weather was great and overall the kids had a great time. They loved the turtles in the lobby pond, the swimming pool, playing with each other every day and drinking their own special drinks on the beach.

We traveled home the same as we arrived. Thirty minute bus ride, two hours at the airport, two hours on the plane and a four-hour drive home to our own beds. Julia, Sam and Mary were all great travelers. It had been several years since our entire family (Mom, Dad, Susan, Jason and kids) had all been on a trip together. It was definitely worth it even when we had to return to the swine flu (pardon me, H1N1 virus) media blitz.

All is well at our house and we now have a toddler with a passport and minimal bilingual skills (Hola became the name of the housekeeper that came each day).


Jules enjoying a drink at the pool. She had a personal cabana boy (aka Daddy).


No she's not levitating. Abs of steel kept her off the sand.


The three amigos.


We took a photo with the entire family and then posed for a photo of the Godwin trio.