Fall Memories 2010 - Part One

I love taking pictures in the fall and spring...probably because that's when everything is changing and looks so pretty. Not like I'm a Professional Photographer, but it's still fun to try and get some good shots! I took some pictures this fall and wanted to make a special blog entry for it. I still have some other fall picture opportunities coming up, so I think I will do a "Part two" later on in November.

OK so this one isn't really "fall" themed but it's still cute.

We have many of these furry critters collecting acorns & eating our pumpkins!

This is our county in NJ - a very pretty part of Northwest NJ.

Pretty tree on our property

Julianna playing in the leaves

Playing in the leaves again

Daddy playing Airplane with Julianna

Daddy & Julianna

Julianna playing in the leaves again (My husband raked up some leaves and we put down a rust colored throw, and then put a bunch of leaves on top of her. Oddly enough, she didn't hate it so we snapped away!)

This is Lake Hopatcong. It is the largest lake in NJ and one of the prettiest. We attract tons of tourism all year long... you should see the number of boats out on the lake in the summer!

Crescent Cove

I don't know what kind of plant this is, but I thought it was worth a picture.

The colors are popping out all over!

Northwood section of the lake

Country Road on Lake Hopatcong

A small 'one house' island on the Lake  

Pretty Berries- Bird food for winter! 

Some ducks trying to get warm at the Harvest Festival.

Ort Farms in Long Valley - We love this place!

Daddy & Julianna picking out pumpkins

Me, Julianna and Daddy. The happy family at Ort Farms.

Mommy & Julianna 

Daddy & Julianna decided on which pumpkins to buy

Pumpkin patch

Nice dispay at Ort

This is what the squirrels did to our pumpkins... we can't enjoy them too long before the furry rats get to them unfortunately. The dog sits at the front window and wines & salivates as she dreams about chasing all the squirrels that are munching on the pumpkins. We finally had to throw our little pumpkins in the woods after a few days of the squirrels torturing our poor little crazy jack russell.  

22 week progress - Julianna is 5 months old!!

I can not beleive it. It's so very true what people say - Don't blink because they grow up in front of your eyes. My little sweet Julianna Belle is 5 months old. I was looking through her newborn pics yesterday and she looks so different and 'older' now! Amazing how much they change in such a short time!

OK here it is... the 22 week (5 month) progress for Julianna

Solid Foods - So we have tried Rice Cereal, Oatmeal, Barley Cereal & carrots. I would say Julianna seems to have a preference for oatmeal. For the first time, she opened her mouth when I put the spoon of cereal in front of her. Yayyyyyyyyy! She actually wanted me to feed the barley cereal to her! What an amazing feeling that is when your baby 'gets' the spoon! Now I just need to have patience for what she does once she puts the food in her mouth. She hasn't quite gotten the whole "put the food in the back of your mouth & swallow" thing. But hey, I know it's early in the game & I know I need to be patient. It will all fall into place.
We just atarted her on her "Veggies" journey. Carrots last night... not sure if she likes it yet.

2 hands - Julianna is firmly grabbing things with 2 hands. I can give her a toy, pick her up, and she will still hold the toy in her hand. Pretty neat. She especially likes to put Sophie the Giraffe's beak in her mouth and chew on that. Pretty funny visual.

"I eat my feet" - Yup ... She loves her feet. No, she's obsessed with her feet actually. She loves  to pull them into her mouth. I have to say, it's just about the funniest thing ever!

Tummy Time - I had Julianna on the bed sitting up against the pillows the other day... and she started to fall forward and normally would have done a face-plant on the bed. Well, she didn't plant face this time. She caught herself with her arms and held herself up (like a girl push-up) looking up at me laughing. Guess she thought it was funny LOL! She's getting very strong. She is starting to "wriggle" on her belly like she wants to crawl, but is not quite there yet.

Sitting up strong - We prop her up on the sofa and she sits there playing with any toy we give her. She is getting strong. She is also trying to pull herself up if she is on her back.

Pepper - Julianna has taken a HUGE interest in Pepper lately. Pepper is our crazy little 20 lb. jack russell/doxie mix who can jump 4 feet high and run faster than any other dog I've seen. She is a sweet cuddly dog when she's not being a maniac. We have been prepping Pepper for "the child" by pulling her ears and her tail many times, trying to piss her off, so that when Julianna starts doing it, Pepper won't flinch. So far, she passes the test. Julianna zones in on Pepper whenever she is near her. She is in awe of her. Yesterday, Julianna grabbed Pepper's ear and 'pat' her on the head. Soffffft Pepper! Poor Pepper has no idea what she is in for.



Julianna's Room

We have a small house with 2 small bedrooms and almost non-existent closet-space. Storage is golden. Clutter is not allowed. Our original plan (way back when the real estate market was fat & happy), we were going to sell our house and move to South Carolina, and build a beautiful large home so when we did have a child, we would have plenty of room. Well, by the time we decided to sell, the market started to go downhill real fast - actually it was in a landslide. So, our little idea of making a better quality of life for ourselves got thrown right out the window once the market started circling the toilet.

So for now, our plans are on hold... until something happens, which by the looks of things, won't be for a while. So, make the best of what we got, right?? I also had to relocate my office to somewhere else in our house once Julianna came along. We now have a combination dining room/office.  I work from home, so I must have an office. "It's not forever" I just gotta keep telling myself!

It occurred to me that I only shared a few pictures of Julianna's room since I started my blog ... and I thought this was overdue. I was inspired by "The Southern Baby Belle" blog to do this & talk about Julianna's wonderful things that surround her. The theme is Woodland animals. I really did not want a super-girly theme for her room - no offense to anyone else but it just wasn't our style.

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This is right when you walk into her room. You see her pretty valences and her shelf that holds her jackets and other stuff over the changing table. The white sunflower light on the wall was purchased at Ikea. This thing is worth it's weight in gold. It takes a small 5 watt bulb, and is the perfect light to put on when we had to go in her room for middle of the night feedings (no more), and for any other time you don't want to turn on a bright light - so you get to put away laundry or do what you need to do without disturbing the baby with a bright obnoxious light.

Her stuffed animal friends (Notice Sophie the Giraffe sitting in the front of the right basket - she simply loves Sophie!! It was worth every penny of the $15 we paid for it!)

She loves her Zebra! LaMaze toys - the best. They are so colorful and textured and unique.  

This is Eddie Baur. He was retired from being the Mascot of our Explorer when it was turned in at End-of-Lease. So what better spot for him to be than in Julianna's room watching over her?! 

Her hat-n-mitten basket. I love baby hats. LOVE them. When I get on an obsessive kick like this, I know me. I will have like 50 of them by the end of the Winter for her. LOL. My poor husband. 

This is a great watercolor picture that my mother illustrated for us when I was pregnant. It is so sweet. I love birds, so this was perfect.  

My mother also did this one for us (for Julianna) for her room. I love all the woodland animals.  

No one should ever have a baby without having this awesome Seahorse. All I can say is he rocks. It has saved the day many times to say the least. He has pleasant music and a soft light... puts Julianna right to sleep... and she can snuggle with it later on.  

Julianna doesn't have a closet.. so we had to be a little creative and make storage on her shelves. So far it's working out well. It's ok as long as I stay on top of keeping everything in order. Being I am a neat-freak, it's not too hard for me to do.  

This is her crib from the doorway. We searched high and low for the perfect solid wood furniture. I am so glad we took our time and really got what we wanted. This furniture will last her til she is 18 and it's one of those 3-in-1 convertible beds. It's a Stanley and we purchased it at a furniture store, not a baby chain store.  

This glider chair was the deal of the century. It's a chair (and ottoman) that normally goes for $350. We got in from someone on Craigslist for $50. It was brand new, in perfect condition, and matched the sage green in the room perfectly. We weren't going to have a glider chair but changed our mind once we re-arranged the room to accommodate it. Now it fits perfectly. By the way, I have bought SO many things from Craigslist. Not everything has to be brand new. No I would never buy a used mattress or baby food on Craigslist, but we have gotten so many great baby deals to say the least. I think I just found a topic for another time.   

Another shot of her beautiful crib (this was taken before she came home from the hospital - we obvisouly do not leave the comforter there now)

GO YANKEES