Curious Baby Girl

What a face!

Feeling Daddy's stubble

Rolling onto her back!

Whatcha lookin' at?

Cute pants! (Gift from Great-Gramma B.)

Julia sure is growing up fast! Her curiosity brings so much joy to our lives. We love watching her discover new things. Lately, she's been grabbing for everything and anything that passes by her, and she has to give everything the taste test. We love putting new things in her hands for her to feel. She really likes grabbing our faces now, as we tell her what she's touching (I've learned to close my eyes when her little fingers come towards me!).

Daddy Makes Me Laugh!

4 Months

This is a little overdue (Mommy's been busy!), but here are Julia's photos from the day she turned 4 months. I think she's closer to 5 months now, oops! She's been rolling over lots and talking to Mommy and Daddy quite a bit. She'll also babble to her toys and is started to learn to be LOUD. Some mornings her and I will lay awake in bed and Daddy will still be sleeping, but Julia will make sure that he's awake by making really loud noises (the word coo wouldn't be right, because I think of coos as gentle noises, hahah). We love our little girl!

Celebrate Independence

Happy Independence Day! Although our day was pretty uneventful (Tom was working the celebration event on base and I was at home keeping Julia out of the heat - we were able to watch the fireworks from our balacony together, though!), I had a lot of time to reflect on what this day means to us, as Americans. I think we all can get caught up in our day to day lives and unintentionally take for granted the unique legacy that we've inherited by being American. I feel blessed to have known countless patriots, beginning first with those family members who have served our country selflessly, not necessarily in the military, but also in the way they live their lives, and now, serving alongside my brothers and sisters in arms. It's comforting to me, that when it seems as though the world is going crazy and people are getting increasingly self-centered and self-serving, to know that there are many many people who would give so willingly and freely of themselves, regardless of the fact that their sacrifices often go unnoticed or unappreciated. It gives me hope in our future, and I know that's the kind of hope you can rely on - not empty promises or underhanded words. With the sacrifices our family has made and will continue to make, we have only to look at Julia to know the reason we serve - to secure freedom and democracy for today and tomorrow.

Look what I can do!

Practicing sitting up

Mommy finally hung up the quilt Gramma made!

She figured out how to make the music play!

Mini-push-up!

She can grab her toes and suck on her fingers :)

Inspecting her toy

Daddy's Girl

Julia's been growing and changing so much lately! I haven't had much time to post anything in the last couple of weeks, but here's a bunch of pictures of Jules and what she's been doing. One really cool thing that she did last weekend was roll over! I had her on her tummy and she lifted her head really high to look at me and in the process, turned herself over. She was really suprised! She hasn't done it again yet, but I think she's also really close to rolling over from her back to her tummy. She's gotten really good at grabbing toys and other objects, even her toes! We've been having a rough time with the heat here (in the 80's and living in a country that doesn't believe in A/C = misery). Julia does not sleep well in the heat, so when she doesn't take naps during the day, she's really exhausted at night and has a more difficult time falling asleep. She is a trooper though! Enjoy the photos :).