The Julia and Kate Chronicles

Easter Highlights

2009-04-19T22:00:00.001-07:00

Easter morning at Grandma Peggy's House. Thanks for hosting such a special Easter, Grandma and Papa!

Liam is the first one to notice that their are eggs outside. Julia repeatedly tells us how she heard the Easter bunny hopping last night and this morning.

The kids give us a good smile after their egg hung.

They "played" Easter all morning...continuing to refill their Easter baskets and rehide empty while the other was pretending to be asleep. Grandma Peggy is still finding empty Easter eggs throughout her backyard.

Kate got an egg too...but where did the candy go?

Julia and Liam also enjoyed playing bubbles, ball and watering plants in Grandma Peggy's front yard. It was a beautiful day!

The kids after hunting eggs in our backyard Saturday morning. Julia was very excited to discover that the Easter bunny made an early trip to our house too.

Thanks, Aunty Rin, for the box full of goodies! Yum!

Thanks, Nana, for our special egg decorating kits. We had lots of fun!

Thanks, Nana!

2009-04-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

We LOVE our Easter goodies! Thanks for helping to make our Easter so special!

Happy Belated Easter!

"Look, Julia, bubbles."
"Oh, yea. Cool, Liam. Nana gave me pink ones."
(That is pretty much exactly how the conversation went.)

"Thank you, Nana! We love you!"

"Look, Julia..."

Jaeson demos the neon hat for the kids.

Uncle Corey takes a pic of Liam wearing it in the dark bathroom. Cool!

Mommy's New Favorite Pictures

2009-04-19T17:49:00.001-07:00

Family cuddling after our Easter adventures. I love sweet pictures of the kids all together (and they are hard to get...this one has Julia and Liam so sincere and sweet.)

The bond between sisters can truly be special. Julia always tells me that Kate is her best friend and discusses at length how they will play when Kate can do more. :)

A sincere Hello and show of love between two special cousins and friends. (I also love this picture because Liam and Julia both chose their outfits and it is EASTER! Julia wanted to be silly and wear her Halloween outfit and Liam looks FANTASTIC in his 4th of July attire and rainboots. LOVE IT!!)

What is Kate Up to These Spring Days?

2009-04-19T17:32:00.001-07:00

Kate has really been enjoying grabbing toys and pulling. She's been doing a great job playing "at the midline" (as the devlopment specialists say) with both hands.

Kate fell asleep mid play with her two favorite toys!

She is continuing to practice getting her neck and trunk stronger every day. (She continues to go to physical therapy two times a week.)

Of course, she likes to help Daddy analyze the aroma of the wines he makes. :)

She's been enjoying fun walks with big sister, Julia, in the double stroller.

She is so HAPPY to have her NG tube out and to be gaining weight with her new G tube in her tummy.

She LOVES playing with her ladybug that Aunty Ron gave her. It is her favorite!

What is Julia Up to These Spring Days?

2009-04-19T17:03:00.001-07:00

Starting in March, she loves getting her face painted (and her hand, and her arm, and...) This is a big deal as before this she was STRONGLY against all face painting! (She also loves temporary tattoos. When her special Auntys in Hawaii send her them in the mail she promptly gets her wet cloth and applies them to all parts of her body she can access.)

Julia is growing caterpillars in her room and is anxiously awaiting them to make their cacoons. She's been reading books about butterflies. She is taking a nature class at a nearby park and learning about birds. She has also been visiting a pond at another park that is full of tadpoles. She is anxious for them to grow legs and grow into frogs. Happy Earth Day! (She also loves Sid the Science Kid on PBS and won't watch anything else right now...except Cars with her cousin, Liam, of course.)

Julia LOVES to swing on the big swings now and wants to be pushed high. HUGE difference from her past fear and strong dislike of all swings. She loves getting on and off herself (of course).

Julia is constantly having "babies" and this day she actually was pregnant too! If you look carefully, this baby is actually already wearing a onsie which will ultimately be very convenient after he is born! :) Her babies are fed in various ways including breastfeeding, bottles and, of course, feeding tubes.

She also plays wedding just as often (after having been at Aunty Christina's wedding last June...it still lives on almost everyday). This is her wedding attire...you may make note of the pants posing as a veil! (I conveniently didn't add the pictures of Jaeson and I dressed up fancy to go to the wedding with her.)

Julia has been enjoying decorating the sliding glass door with various holiday stick-on decorations. This morning in Feb. , she decided sunglassses as the morning sun was SO bright as she decorated.

She really enjoys creating with all different building blocks. She developed the ideas for most of this house. I think she's taking after her very talented daddy!

Happy 4th Birthday, Julia!

2009-04-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

Julia enjoys a chocolate cupcake at Granpa Bob's house. It was her fourth time having Happy Birthday sung to her with a special dessert. How appropriate!

To celebrate her birthday with her friends at school, Julia and Mommy made letter sugar cookies so each friend could have their "special letter" (i.e. the first letter of their name) then we made a whole bunch of "4" cookies. It was a lot of fun and perfect as Julia is VERY into letters and numbers right now.

Liam, Aunty Kelly, and Uncle Corey came over on Julia's real birthday to enjoy Pad Thai and ice cream birthday cake. Julia and Liam were waiting patiently here for the candles to be lit in Julia's Little Mermaid ice cream cake.

Special cousins pose together before Julia opens her birthday present from Liam.

Thanksgiving Pies

2008-12-12T14:23:00.001-08:00

Julia and I enjoyed our new holiday tradition of making pies together before Thanksgiving. We made two apple pies at home the Sunday before. Later we took a cooking class together the Wednesday before turkey day where we made a yummy pumpkin pie. Julia really enjoys cooking and being in the kitchen as you can see below...

Julia helps mommy make pie crust for the apple pies while Kate watches and supervises.

At our cooking class, Julia mixes the pumpkin pie filling.

Julia watches carefully while mommy pours the filling in the crust.

Yum!! The finished product! This is our second year making pies together...I look forward to many more!

Julia's New Bike

2008-12-12T13:29:00.000-08:00

I've been taking the girls to the park on Fridays as we've been having lovely sunny, crisp fall weather. We've been going to a great park that has a bike path. When we went the first Friday, Julia rode her tricycle and it was clear that it was way too small (knees amost at chin :) ). We all went to Target on Sunday when Jaeson had a day off and Julia fell in love with this red, Dora bike.

After we decided to get it and we were heading to the check out line with it in our cart, Jaeson said..."Oops, what about Santa?!" Oh, well...too late at that point. We were happy we got it in November as she's been riding tons everyday and enjoying the fall weather. Julia's doing a great job navigating these bike paths, making turns, slowing with the brakes, etc. We've been going on weekly bike rides to Whole Foods across the street from our house where she locks the bike up next to the other big bikes and feels very grown up!

These pics are from a trip to the park with our friends Sarah and Ronan. We brought Julia's tricycle for Ronan to try. His mom had to help a lot but he definitely loved trying it!

Julia gives Ronan some important bike riding pointers.

When we got home from the park, both girls had fallen fast alseep. It only lasted 5 minutes but was sweet while it lasted!

Halloween Highlights

2008-11-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

Julia and Daddy sort the Halloween "booty" after a fun evening of trick or treating in the neighborhood. Jaeson told Julia this was his favorite part of Halloween night. Julia agreed!
The trick-or-treaters do a quick pose before heading out.

Aunty Kel and some other wonderful moms from the Santa Rosa Mother's Club organized a very fun Halloween Carnival for the kids at an assisted living center in town. We had a great time doing crafts, eating yummy snacks, and trick-or-treating with the residents at the home. Below are Julia and Liam after they switched Halloween costumes.

Julia (aka Mater) tows Liam (aka Lightning McQueen) after he fell down.

Julia trick or treats with some of the assisted living residents while they enjoy their lunch. It was so much fun and enjoyed by all.

Julia and Liam show off the pumpkins they chose during our family trip to the pumpkin patch.

Mater and Lightning McQueen "drive" through the pumpkin patch.

Julia enjoys a well-decorated pumpkin cookie she made from a special kit Nana sent her. Thanks, Nana! YUM!

Daddy and Julia decorate the cookies together...

...after Mommy and Julia carefully cut out and cooked them!

It was a fun Halloween activity that we did after our pumpkin patch trip. Julia waited very patiently as she knew she got to open Nana's present after going to the pumpkin patch. She had been asking Mommy for about 2 weeks if it was time to open Nana's gift! :)

What's Up with Kate These Days...

2008-10-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

Kate has been enjoying getting in the holiday spirit and getting the house all festive for the holidays!

Kate has been going to a wonderful pediatric physical therapist twice a week now to help her catch up with her gross motor skills. We are currently focusing on strengthening her neck control and trunk. We've also been helping her open her hands more and grasp things. We're definitely seeing progress and it feels good. Her favorite toy to grab is her pacifier which she often likes to pull out and replace with her fingers.

Grandpa does neck excercises with Kate on Halloween.

Her favorite toy right now is her hands. She likes to hold one or two arms up and just gaze lovingly at those fascinating hands and fingers! She can take out her pacifier by herself now too and sometimes likes to replace it by chewing on her fists and fingers...

Her other favorite thing to do is to find a face to look at and start a conversation of cute gurgles and coos....she has lots to say....I wonder where she gets that?

What's Up with Julia These Days...

2008-10-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

Julia loves playing games! Her favorites are candyland, Dora the Explorer dominoes, and Go Fish. It's been a lot of fun and will be great as the rainy/cold season approaches.

Julia was very excited to get her own Starbucks cup when we went through the drive through. She shared mommy's fruit blended drink and felt very grown up.

Julia's school had a garbage/recycle man come visit. They made "sculptures" from recyclables and got their very own recycling can which Julia loves!

This month, Julia sat in Lynn's big chair for the first time to get her bangs cut before school pictures.

Julia LOVES to do puzzles and is VERY good at them. She did at least 50% of this floor puzzle herself. She has an amazing gift for spatial orientation...will she build and create like daddy someday?

Climbing (and running, jumping, hopping)! Julia loves to climb at the park these days. She can go up to the next level on this structure by herself. (At the beginning of spring, she could barely get on the first level herself.)

Julia loves eating chocolate!

Special Sisters -- Part 2

2008-10-28T22:01:00.001-07:00

These are some of my favorite moments with the girls. These are some special times they have shared together during October (Kate 5 months old and Julia 3 years old).

I love this picture. Julia and Kate were having a cool conversation. Kate loves to engage Julia with cooing and smiling.

"Where's mommy?"

The money shot! The first pic I got of both girls smiling and looking together!

Another sister moment sharing special conversation. (Kate, of course, talking through her fist that she now loves to chew on.)

Special Sisters

2008-10-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

Julia and Kate have a special relationship. Kate smiles and "coos" at Julia consistently and when no one else gets smiles. Julia gets them quick!

Julia is an amazing big sister. She continually tells Kate how beautiful she, brings her pacifiers, covers her with blankets, and celebrates her triumphs. "Mommy, look at Kate hold her head!"

I can be having the hardest day, frustrated by Kate's medecine regime or her seizure activity, and then Julia will come lay next to Kate and they start interacting. It truly warms my heart and changes all my feelings about the day!

September 2008 -Julia loves to have Kate "sit up" next to her....

August 2008 - the Nemo sisters...thanks, Nana, for these cute outfits!

July 2008 - Morning sister fun!

June 2008 -Julia loves to hold Kate's hand!

Fun at the County Fair

2008-08-01T15:03:00.001-07:00

We took Liam and the girls to the Sonoma County Fair last Sunday. Corey and Kelly got to go see a movie while we all explored the fair. We got to see lots of fun things and ride the train. We even got to eat some treats!
After the fair, Corey and Kelly took over kid duty and let Kelly and I go see a movie. Apparently, Kate didn't like being away from us too much, but the other two kids apparently napped well. Guess we did a good job wearing them out at the fair!
It really is nice to have family so close. Babysitting swaps work out great! Thank you Liam's mommy for the great idea!

Gramps Visits

2008-08-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

Gramps visited last Saturday. We all enjoyed spending some quality time with him... we hadn't seen him since before Kate's surgery! Thanks for driving down for the visit Gramps!

Gramps spends some alone time with Kate out on our patio.

Liam and Julia make silly faces with Gramps. Couldn't quite get a serious picture out of them. I guess Gramps just makes them get silly!

Funston Family Visit

2008-07-23T11:51:00.001-07:00

Our friends from Washington State visited last weekend. Kristin and Dave have two girls, very close in age to ours. Elisabeth is 2 months younger than Julia, and Katie is 1 month older than Kate. Brooke joined us for dinner and a photo on Sunday night.

Julia and Elisabeth turned Julia's couch into a car. Notice the bags and 'babies' in the 'trunk'. They played amazingly well together.

They had to stop driving for a moment for a communal breastfeeding. Wonder where they learned that?

Elisabeth, Julia and I reading books before bedtime on Sunday. At least that Nemo book was new to Elisabeth (I think I've read it to Julia about a hundred times ... and counting!

The Katherines chilling on a blanket. Getting both to look together anywhere near the camera was a bit of a challenge. This was as good as it got.