July 2010

Summer News

Wow! Is it already July? We are only days away from welcoming our new son into our hearts and lives! Julianna kisses my belly often and talks to her baby brother. She will say, "Hi baby brother - come out of mommy's belly!" or "I love you, baby brother." He moves constantly, reminding me of the miracle that I have been blessed to hold, nuture, and bring to life inside of my womb . . . . how can I ever thank my God for giving us a son. We patiently await his arrival.


As for me . . . my belly draws attention wherever I go! It is hard to explain except just to say that it looks like a basketball that is hiding under my shirt. I have had perfect strangers point and stare and some that have come up to me to express the fact that they have never seen a pregnant lady look like me before. It has become a way of life and I just thank them and try to pretend that they have just given me a compliment - they were trying to compliment me . . . . I think! At any rate, I am a proud mom and have had a wonderful pregnancy!


Julianna is barely two years old! She is now mostly potty trained and speaks about as clearly as any two year old I have ever met. She loves to do puzzles, read books, play kitchen, feed her baby, fix mommy's hair, and help with everything around the house. She can set the table, put the silverware away, and helps me put the groceries in their place. She helps me with the laundry and runs to get her own vaccum out when mommy is vaccuming. She is truly a joy to have around and has become someone that I can actually carry on a conversation with - it's fun! Of couse, there are many times that she needs a little discipline, too. She has quite the personality and strong will. I am in constant prayer, it seems, that the Lord would help me to be a consistent, loving mother who guides her daughter to obedience, cheerfulness, and kindness. God is such a perfect example of all of these things to us!


We have had lots of water time this summer. Julianna has become quite the little fish! She can jump into the water and swim to the top without any flotation devices. She will actually keep herself afloat for a few seconds, too! We are thrilled, but just can't take our eyes off of her for a second - she jumps in and doesn't undertand that she cannot do it "all by herself."

Daddy is a wonderful Chick-fi-A operator! The Lord has blessed our business and given him a wonderful year so far. I am so thankful for a husband that provides for our family, serves others, and is constantly searching for ways to impact the lives of his employees and customers. I cannot express enough to you how much I am in love with my husband. He truly is a Godly man and the husband that God knew I would need!

Well, those are my thoughts for now! I'm sure I will be posting such exciting news soon!

January 2010

Life in the Wells family is great these days. A few months ago we had the pleasure of discovering that we are going to have a new baby. Julianna was the first to notice! Before we had even taken a pregnancy test, she pointed at my belly and said, "baby." I am not kidding. I questioned her and she repeated herself. The next day, the test confirmed her little suspicions . . . or crazy coincidence. The first trimester went by like a charm. I didn't have much morning sickness and seldom felt that overwhelming tiredness that accompanies such a precious little gift. My belly has already begun to show - I can't believe it. I am only 4 months pregnant. My official due date is July 24th. We are so excited that we going to be having another baby. In just a few short weeks we will find out if we are having a boy or girl. Either would be wonderful!

We had a great 2009. It was our first full year in Lexington, KY. Kyle's Chick-fil-A is going very well and he is such a fantastic operator. We are so proud of him! Julianna is 20 months old now. Here is a little update on her life as she sees it:

"I am a big girl now! Mommy lets me help her all the time around the house. When mommy vacuums, I use my little vacuum to get what she leaves behind. I can also help mommy put the wet clothes into the dryer. And I can pick almost anything up and put it away. Mommy lets me help her unload the dishwasher, too - my job is putting the forks and spoons away and all of the tupperware and my bowls. I am good at that! I know where it all goes. I can put my own socks and shoes on.
My best friends are Jackson, Samuel, and Pearson. I get to see Jackson and Samuel twice a week when I go over to their house to play - mommy goes to work while I am at Miss Megan's. I like to go over there and play with my bestest friends. I see Pearson every Thursday because mommy and I have a shopping day with him and his mommy. This is day when I sometimes get in trouble for not wanting to sit in my stroller. Hey, I get tired of shopping and want to get out and play! Mom normally says "no" to that. I have to admit that sometimes I am disobedient but mom and dad are pretty serious about it so mostly I try to obey. I am learning how to be polite. I say "excuse me" when I want to get by with my baby stroller. Also, I say "yes, maam" to mommy and daddy. Daddy frowns because I haven't learned to say "yes, sir" yet, but I keep forgetting that he is a "sir" - so much to learn. I love it when daddy reads me books and helps me with my puzzles - actually I can do my puzzles all by myself. Daddy and mommy think this is fantastic and am amazed that I know where to put all the puzzle pieces, but it is soooo easy! I learned that snow is yummy but very cold. I got to play in the snow for the first time. I have to go now but maybe when I come back we can dance to some music - that is still one of my favorite things to do. bye, bye! ~Julianna

17 Months Old - Julianna Marie is growing up!

Julianna just turned 17 months old and she is such a little princess! She loves to put her own shoes on and brings me her hairbows so I can put them in her hair. She walks around the house with mommy's bracelets on her arms and my purse on her shoulder. I can't believe all that she picks up on already! She watches everything I do and tries to repeat much of it. What an unbelievable thing to have a child noticing your every move throughout the day. She is truly a miracle and the biggest blessing Kyle and I have ever received. Julianna squeals with delight when daddy walks in the door and she must immediately give him a big hug and lots of "sugies."

Her favorite words are mommy, daddy, please, no, yes, dog, shoes, hairbow, eat, and milk. She is such a good talker and surprises us with how many words she can say. She is up to about 25 words and even puts them together to say "there's daddy" or "milk please". Julianna LOVES the outside, dogs, books, Baby Einstein, her riding toy, coloring, dancing to music, eating, and her sippy cup of milk! She follows instructions very well and can put trash in the trash can, her clothes in the hamper, shoes in the shoe basket, and even cleans her toys with a washcloth when asked to. Her friends are Jackson, Samuel, and Pearson but she loves every child she sees! Julianna is soooo lovable and gives us hugs and "sugies" all throughout the day. Her favorite foods are Chick-fil-A nuggets, all fruits and vegetables, eggs, toast, and anything with peanut butter on it. She is a great eater!

She can point to her nose, eyes, mouth, ears, fingers, hands, toes, feet, elbow, hair, and belly. We are working on cheeks, chin, and eyebrows! Haha! Mom is always working with her on something. I guess that's the teacher in me. She loves to find the dogs in every book but also points out the birds.

Life is very busy right now, but we love residing in Lexington, KY! We definately miss everyone and treasure the times we get to see you on visits. I will try to be more deliberate about getting updates and pictures up for you to see! We love you all!

A Photo Montage of Julianna's Birth

I finally took some time to put this together. I hope you enjoy it!

The Crib Adventures of Julianna Marie!

Author: Mom

Introduction
Julianna Marie Wells is now 8 months & 3 weeks old. We have had a very interesting past couple of weeks. It all started when I walked in to find Julianna standing in her crib. Normally, I would have been elated since she had only a day earlier learned how to pull up to a standing position by herself - Except that we had not lowered the bed yet (chalk that up to first time parenting). She was standing with more of her body above the railings than below. She reached out her arms towards me and nearly fell out of the crib. Oh my!

Chapter One - In the Beginning God created . . . .

In the beginning God created Julianna! And she slept. And she slept well. And she slept in the bassinet beside mommy and slept all through the night. And then . . . Julianna got old enough to start sleeping in her CRIB. . .
By nature, this little brown-haired, blue-eyed creature has been all about cuddling, nursing, and being held. None of these three things can be offered by her crib, therefore, being put to sleep in a large, uninviting, cold room all by herself has never been Julianna's idea of fun! The adventures really began when we moved to Lexington and decided it was time for her to move from the bassinet to the crib and sleep in her own room. She was two months old. I can remember like it was yesterday, the patting, rubbing, picking up, putting down, putting paci in mouth, etc. while trying to convince Julianna to go to sleep in her crib. As soon as I would pick her up, she would cuddle up to me immediately and begin her journey into never, never land. As soon as I would begin to put her in her crib, the journey would halt and all manner of pleas would ensue from her pursed little lips. Sometimes if she fell asleep in my arms, I could lay her in her crib and she would sleep just fine. We eventually worked through this phase until Julianna was content to be laid in her crib while still awake and go to sleep without even a tear. Oh, I was a proud mom!

Chapter Two - Nothing lasts forever!

Just about the time I had gotten used to the wonderful world of three naps a day, with no fussing for nap time (which, by the way, you can be sure I was bragging about to all my other mommy friends) the next phase began. It came on suddenly with no warning! Julianna had decided that instead of going to sleep she would put her new found abilities to use and explore her surroundings. Upon sitting up, then kneeling on all fours, she realized that if she held on tightly to these peculiar side bars that she could hoist herself onto her feet and have such a view of the entire room that . . . . but, uh oh, there was a problem! Once up on her feet holding on to the crib, Julianna did not know how to get down. Crying ensued! I would go into the room, release her from the stronghold she had on the crib and lay her back down, firmly telling her "No, Julianna! Mommy wants you to go to sleep." However, she would be back on her feet before I reached the door to leave! After several repetitions of this, I decided that Julianna would have to learn how to get down by herself. This she learned fairly quickly and within a day was standing up and getting down all by herself. Then she started all manner of explorations in the crib that included holding on and walking along the crib, turning herself around so that she was holding on backwards while standing (a position which she could NOT get herself out of) and exploring how it would be if she caused for her head to make contact with the edge of the crib. I was at my wits end and considering wrapping the entire crib in blankets to keep her from accumulating any more bruises. However, after about three days the drama began to slow down. Thankfully Julianna came to the realization that exploring the crib was not as fun as she thought it would be. She settled down to going to sleep with only an occasional outburst before a nap. Phew! I can honestly say that these few days were right up there with the most difficult days I have had since becoming a parent. We are through this phase and enjoying peace in the Wells household again . . . holding our breath, knowing that . . . . nothing last forever!

Today's Headlines:

"A tooth makes its appearance after a long week of struggle!"

At 7 months and 4 weeks, Julianna gets her first tooth.

I knew that it was coming as she has been drooling like crazy for about a week now. It finally pushed through the surface of her gummy little mouth to say hello sometime yesterday. This week has been an eventful one for her. She got her first ear infection and had her first tooth come in all in the same week. Needless to say, she has not been herself. Mommy and dady have been up with her some nights and have done a lot of extra holding, rocking, and soothing!

Besides that, Julianna has really been enjoying her playtime. She can now sit up all by herself with complete confidence. She can move from the sitting position to her belly but not back yet. From her belly she likes to go to the "all-fours" position and also what daddy calls the "push-up" position. This is where she suspends her whole body in the air on her hands and tippy toes as if she were going down for ten. Daddy encourages her to do the push up but we haven't seen it yet! :-) She loves to take steps and can go all the way across the room as long as we are there for support. No steps by herself except those at her little musical table. There she will stand up all by herself and play taking an occasional step or two while holding on. When she is tired of standing at the table she will start to whine as if to say, "Okay, mom, I'm ready to be done." Life is so fun in our house! Julianna is always surprising us! The other big "first" that happened this week was the sweetest word that I could ever have heard! Any guesses? Yes! She said "mama." Daddy heard it loud and clear and asked, "Did you hear what she just said?" I had heard it too! Yeah, Julianna! So far, she has only said it once. Was it an accident or possibly just a slurring of her tongue on the way to say "dada?" Absolutely not. She clearly said "mama" and knew what she was saying. Such important words should only be said on occasion. I am eagerly awaiting that next occasion. :0)

My sweet child is now 7 1/2 months old!

So much has happened in the last few months. Here's a quick recap:

"Seven Months Old"

I can't believe my little girl is already seven months! She is growing so fast and weighs 16 lbs. 2.5 ounces. She is in the 35% for weight and the 66% for height at 27 inches long. The baby fat has been showing up in little love handles all over! I love it! Julianna has settled into a very consistent schedule. Bedtime is at 7:30 pm and is daddy's time with Julianna. Daddy has proved to be an expert at putting her down for the night. Her bedtime routine includes lights out, a few minutes of cuddling, rocking, and singing (normally 2-3 minutes), prayer and a goodnight kiss, and down she goes! The rest of the night is mommy and daddy time together. She wakes at 5 am and is ready to eat and play for about an hour. From there, she is on a 4 hour schedule, taking two naps a day that last about two hours. Mommy enjoys staying on schedule but also realizes that it is okay if things don't go exactly as planned. The days are finallly starting to fall into a beautiful routine! Thank you Lord!

This month was a special one as we celebrated our first Christmas with Julianna! On Christmast day Julianna drank egg nog for the first time! (haha) She opened presents with her cousins Tristan, Hailey, Whitney, Athena, and baby Michael (0nly10 days old.) It was the Main family tradition to open presents at the same time, so there was Christmas wrapping paper everywhere! This was mommy's challenge and Julianna's greatest joy as she loves to put paper in her mouth more than food I think! She delighted in all the gifts that she received and proved to be quite good at pulling the paper off. The day was full of love, laughter, pictures, presents, and the joy of spending time with the ones you love as you celebrate the One who came as a baby to take away our sins! Later we went to have the Wells family Christmas. Julianna was as happy as ever and got to see nana, granddaddy, mama, pappa, and grandmommy! I think she has enough toys to last her a full year! Baby Jesus and baby Julianna - her first Christmas 2008!

"Six Months Old"

This month Julianna started eating BABY FOOD! How fun?! We began with rice cereal. After a while we added carrots and it really was quite hilarious. Daddy had carrots everywhere and Julianna's face was covered with a big smile and lots of carrots. Julianna wasn't quite sure when to open her mouth and when to close it. It didn't take much practice before she figured out how to keep the food in her mouth long enough to swallow. We moved on to sweet potatoes, applesauce, prunes, bananas, and PEAS. This was the point at which I realized that Julianna had distinct taste buds and a little bit of stubbornness! With the first taste of peas came a look that I had never seen! Her little face tightened up and a frown came across it. Her tactics for avoiding peas included spitting it out, saying "Dada" as many times as it took for the peas to fall out on their own, blowing bubbles and sending the peas across to mommy's lap, and gagging on them. After some stern "No's" and a little added prunes to the peas we were back in business and happily eating what mommy offered to her. This was also the month that Julianna began to understand the meaning of the word "no." This was both a relief to me and a big feeling of new responsibility. This month I began praying seriously that God would give Kyle and I the courage and wisdom to "train up" Julianna in the way she should go. I am not naive enough to think that I can wait until Julianna can speak full sentences to explain to her why she should obey. The book "To Train Up a Child" is a great resource for any parent needing direction on this matter (besides the Bible, of course.) So, this month was filled with many new firsts and was one of the most enjoyable months ever. Julianna is so sweet and has such a happy disposition. She loves to play and crawl and is such a snuggle bunny. I have been cuddling and snuggling with her more than ever this month to reinforce my love. We play together when daddy gets home and the "Dada's" remain her favorite and only word to say!

"Five Months Old"
Julianna was busy learning how to crawl. She started out kicking and pushing with her feet but did not get far with that. It wasn't long before she figured out how to pull with her arms and push with her toes at the same time. She was on her way across the room! We call it the army crawl. This was such a fun month as mommy rushed after her everywhere trying to baby proof the room she was in. Once I found her with a piece of paper in her hand. She had taken a big bite out of the paper and was smiling up at me with a grin of satisfaction. Checking her mouth, I found that it was long gone! Julianna has her own meaning for the word, "recycle". If she is not crawling she may be in her bouncy chair. This has become a new favorite since she has learned how to bounce in it. This is also mommy's new best friend because she will happily bounce, bounce, bouncy, bounce for at least 20 minutes. She notices everything around her and reaches out for it - whatever it may be. She wants to touch it, hold it in her hands, put it in her mouth, or swing it in the air. While mom is cooking, Julianna happily plays in the middle of the kitchen floor. I found out that something simple like a box of Uncle Ben's rice can be lots of fun as it slide across the floor and makes noise when hit with both hands. :-) Another first for this month made Kyle proud! Julianna said her first word. Of course, it was "Dada." She always says it with grins and laughter and repeats it a few hundred times a day, in spite of my protests that sound something like this: "Don't you mean mama, honey?"