Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Pups, Ducks, Parks, and Pigtails (Updated) - Blogged by JME




N8 took June Bug to the park the other day while I was at work and put her in a swing for the first time.  She really loved it, so we both made another trip out earlier this week.  She recognized the park when we got there and was so excited she had another chance to swing. 


She is also a big fan of slides and had a great time with help from mommy. 


Crawling through the tube was a blast!  She did that over and over again and never seemed to get tired of it.   
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Last Sunday, we went to Grandma's house (N8's mom) for Z and BJ's birthday party and June Bug's great uncle brought their new golden retriever puppy, Sunny!  June Bug fell in love the instant she saw this little pup and had a great time playing with her.  I love her little dimples.  She gets those from her handsome daddy.
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Recently, N8, June Bug, and I go out on Sunday afternoons when it is nice and feed the ducks.  June Bug loves it.  This particular Sunday, Bapa and Grammy came along (my mom and dad).  This is the first time I put June Bug's hair in pigtails and I absolutely love the way she looks with them. 


She just looks so big!  She let Bapa carry her around the whole time with her little luvee (blanket).  She is Bapa's girl!  


The lake was beautiful and there were so many different types of ducks.  It was a lot of fun!  


My cute cousin (Jo Jo) gave me this sweet little outfit for a shower I had last year before June Bug was born.  This outfit was inspired by the swimsuit she is wearing in the picture below.  


Jme on the left, Jo Jo on the right

This is Jo Jo and I when we were really little at the pool.   Jo Jo saw this outfit and it totally reminded her of this picture and so she bought it for my little June Bug. 


June Bug looks like such a doll in this, Jo Jo!  I'm so glad she is big enough to wear it now.  It makes her look so bright and springy and it goes so well with her personality.  

My sweet little princess!  I just love you to pieces.   

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

A Trip to the Zoo - Blogged by JME

N8 and I celebrated our 9th anniversary yesterday by taking our little June Bug to the zoo.  It has been a tradition in the past to go to the zoo for our anniversary, but this was the first "official" year that June Bug came along.  

I say "official" because last year she was with us, just not in the same way.


Our little one had a wonderful time.  She saw a giraffe for the first time, aside from the 'Sophie' squeak and chew toy she has. 



 

She also saw some Lions . . .



Tigers . . .
 




 
And her very favorite . . . Bears!!!

 


She has a stuffed bear at home and a couple of books with pictures of bears.  She recognized the word when we were showing her the bears.  She became very excited and interested.   


I'm almost convinced that if we had let her, she would have climbed right into the bear enclosure and mauled those bears more than they would have her.

 
She did get to touch the statue of a bear.  She liked that a lot. 
 



June Bug's favorite books are the Llama Llama books we get from the library.  She absolutely loves Llama Llama and finally got to meet him at the zoo. 


 
The zoo wasn't very crawler-friendly. June Bug was constantly in the stroller or in Mama's arms. It took us awhile, but we finally found just the place for June Bug to stretch her legs.
 

She even got to play a game of peek-a-boo.
 
 
 
We had to make sure we stopped in and saw Daddy's favorite animal . . . the sloth. I'm not sure if we've posted this in the past, but N8 was able to hold a sloth when he was in Colombia during his old sailor days.







She was fascinated with the bright strange birds she saw. 



And loved the monkeys.   June Bug's great Aunt A gave her some fun jungle-themed stickers to put up on the wall.  It has monkeys on them and ever since she was very small, we would show them to her and say, "Monkey . . . OOOO OOOO OOO EEE EEE EEE."  That was probably the first word she recognized and when she first started to crawl, all we would have to say is monkey and she would crawl right to it.  She even tries to mimic the noise. 




Somebody made these out of Lego's.  We thought they were real from far away.  They were really cool! 

 The gorilla was very friendly.  He came over and posed for us. 


This orangutan was a little shy and kept his distance. 


I told June Bug that this ape-statue is a statue of her daddy.  She thought that was pretty silly and laughed and laughed.  Mama's so funny! 


She loved riding the elephant's trunk.  You almost have to make an appointment to get your child a chance to get this close, let alone take a picture on this elephant.  It is always overrun with kids. 


We had a fun time seeing this goose with her goslings.  She was just out roaming around with the little fellas.  Not something you see every day. 

 
Of course, the peacock has to show off. 
 
 
 





 They added this new exhibit to the zoo and this was the first time we were able to see it. It had seals, a sea lion, and otters. It was pretty fun to see.  
 

We had a really great time.  I think June Bug really enjoyed herself.  It was a very cold day.  We had to stand in the sun a lot to keep warm.  June Bug ended up with a little sunburn on her cheeks but I think it was worth it.  It was nice to spend our anniversary as a family.  I'm so grateful for the man I married and for the father that he is. 

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Spring Fever - Blogged by JME

We kicked off spring by celebrating St. Patrick's Day with one of our favorite meals, corned beef and cabbage.  We love St. Patrick's Day, and maybe don't go all out with the decor, but we sure love the food that goes with it. 

For dessert, we enjoyed 'Million Dollar Dessert,' which was not only green, but delicious.  It was also very simple. 

Million Dollar Dessert

Crust: 
1 cup flour
1 cup butter
***Mix flour, butter, and 1/2 nuts (optional).  Press into 9x13 pan.  Bake 15 minutes at 350 (until light brown). 

Filling:
1st layer: Cream together 1 cup powdered sugar and 8 oz softened cream cheese.  Add 1 medium (8 oz) size cool whip
2nd layer:  Mix 2 pkg instant pudding with 3 cups milk.  Spread over 1st layer. 

Chill in fridge until pudding is set up.  Enjoy!



Then we ended the night playing a nice "mostly" clean game of Scrabble.

 
I think we may have planned things just right that none of us in our household got pinched.  (We gave June Bug a break during bath time and diaper changes.)
 
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A few weeks later, we enjoyed our first Easter with our little June Bug.  With the help of my sister Lee Lee, and N8's sister Pookie, she ended up with some nice things.  The Easter Bunny even brought me, N8, and June Bug little chocolate covered eggs with our names on them. 
 

My sister helped me out so much.  The few days before Easter, I had to work and so couldn't get out to get some of the things for the "Easter Bunny" to bring.  My sister ran to the dollar store and got bubbles and also got her a $2 book from Seagull Book and Tape.  She even got me some plastic Easter eggs.  We got her some fun spring PJs that were on sale, a nice pink bouncy ball, and some bath toys.  Pookie gave her a beautiful hand-me-down dress for her to wear to church.  She ended up with a really nice Easter on a very slim budget.   


June Bug had her first taste of a jelly bean Easter morning.  The plastic eggs we got were 100 for $1 and there was a reason for that.  They wouldn't stay closed very well.  One of the eggs opened up while June Bug was looking at it.  N8 saw what happened right away and started cleaning up the jelly beans but it was too late.  Before we knew it, June Bug grabbed one of the jelly beans and shoved it in her mouth.  She sure enjoyed it and did pretty well gumming it up really good. 


 
This is her in her new Easter dress.  She is so beautiful and had so many old ladies cooing over her at church.  Thanks again for the dress, Aunt Pookie.  It is for an 18-month-old but fits our little one perfectly.  It is a little long and so she has a hard time crawling in it at church, which make my job of keeping up so much easier. 
 
Spring could not have come at a better time.  We were starting to have a little bit of cabin fever at the end of winter and it has been nice to get out.  June Bug accompanies me on my runs and has become a bit of a cheerleader for me.  She squeals and sings at everything we pass by, dogs, birds, fire hydrants, etc.  When we get home, she shakes her rattle at me while I do sit ups and push ups. 
 
We are looking forward to some fun activities like going to the zoo, flying kites, and hiking.  The sunshine has done us good and we love soaking up all this vitamin D.   
 

Friday, April 19, 2013

Dating Life (Post Kids) -- Blogged by JME

I was telling N8 yesterday how much I missed him. Our opposite work schedules are great so that one of us can be with June Bug at all times; however, with our work and church callings, we are really limited with the time we get to spend together. I headed out to his work for lunch yesterday so N8 could have a double date with his two girls, but I spent most of it wresting with my almost-toddler trying to get her to eat and not fall off the chair. Not a super romantic date. I was pretty bummed about it, but then N8 sent me this comic. I laughed so hard because it really summed up how I'm feeling at this moment in my life. There is one thing I know for sure.  I can always count on N8 for a good laugh.