The Month in Review

I can not believe it has been so long since my last post.  I will try to catch you up on our little world.

Bill's mom came for a visit.  I did not take many pictures but we enjoyed our time with her.  Our busy girl kept Grandma Carol on the go! 

Juliana playing with Grandma's zipper 

We celebrated my parent's 51st wedding anniversary.  We went to a local landmark, The Columbia Restaurant.  It is a delicious Spanish restaurant that has been in Ybor City since 1905.  It is a family favorite.  Juliana was happy.  Cuban bread will do that to a girl.

My Mom & Dad

Juliana with Aunt Linda

This month we also celebrated our nephew's 18th birthday.  It is hard to believe that little boy can be all grown up.  Chaise is an intelligent, handsome young man with a fantastic sense of humor.  My oh my can he make us laugh!

Juliana enjoyed the party.  She provided the musical entertainment.

Performing a duet with her cousin, Emily.

Juliana loves dogs.  My brother's family dog was no exception.  She was mesmerized by Remi's ears.  Remi is such a sweet girl she let Juliana play with them.

And kiss her too!

The next day was Mother's Day.  It was a wonderful day.  I truly savored the day and the overwhelming blessing I have to be Momma to our sweet girl.  My heart is filled with immense love. 

The greatest moment of the day was receiving this card made by Juliana.  Oh so sweet, I didn't need anything else.

The verse printed in her card is Proverbs 23:25. 

 It reads: May your father and your mother be glad, May she who gave birth to you rejoice.

Such an interesting yet appropriate verse.

Exactly 3 months after we arrived home, Juliana started to attend my bible study with me.  It is Bible Study Fellowship which includes a wonderful program for children.  She has loved it.  From her excitement of getting to see my mom-she starts yelling "Ba-ba!" (her name for Grandma Kent) as soon as we pull into the parking lot.  To her joy for her teachers and classmates.  We have been amazed to see her learn something new every week.  The study runs from September to May.  In the past, when May comes around I am ready for the summer break.  This year I was sad for it to end because it was an end for Juliana also.  We look forward to starting back in September.

Here she is with one of her teachers, Mrs. Sample.

We also went to a surprise party for my aunt and uncle.  It was their 50th wedding anniversary.  They were surprised and we had a great time.  Juliana once again tickled the ivories.  A piano may be in our future!  She was also a dancing queen.  She hopped, skipped, clapped her hands and spun until she was dizzy.  Obviously I was preoccupied with dancing with my girl because I didn't take any pictures.  Hopefully I can order some from the photographer!

In between all her social engagements, Juliana has been busy at home. 

Enjoying the pool.

She loves the water!  We have finally signed her up for swim lessons starting next week. 

In the meantime, we bought a mini pool so she can splash about without us getting in with her.

Anything to beat the heat, the hose works too!

Juliana has fallen in love with her polar bear, Louie.  He is named after our sweet friends, Louie and Carol, who gave him to her. 

She looks for him as soon as she wakes up. 

He goes shopping with us.

He tags along on our walks.

He is her little playmate!

Look at her gazing at him!

That just about wraps up the past month.  So much fun can be exhausting!

Beach Weekend

This past weekend we took Juliana on her first weekend away to the beach.  After being in Russia for that long trip 2, we thought we may never leave home again!  But time passed and we were ready to take her on another first time adventure!  We headed to Sarasota, just a short 1  1/2 hour car ride from home.  Juliana quickly made her self at home in the hotel room as she grabbed the remote and phone.  Bill and I had flashbacks of Russia!!  She loved playing with both during our stay in St. Petersburg!  She checked out the balcony.

And the bathtub! 

This was on our way out to dinner.  A nice man offered to take a picture of the 3 of us.

The next day was the big day.  Her first trip to the beach.  She loved it all!

The sand,

that first view of the water,

and she was ready to dive in!

Little Miss must have been feeling pretty special.  She seated herself in the "Members Only" section of the beach club.  Well excuse us!

She loves the pool too.

She could have played with the turtles all day!

Did I mention how much she loves her sunglasses?

And her hat.

It was a great weekend filled with lots of firsts, joyful squeals and giggles,  and lots of love.  Sarasota is a place Bill & I have visited many, many times.  Yet experiencing it through the eyes of our daughter made it seem like our first time too! 

Easter

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter weekend.  It was such a joy to share another first with our sweet girl!
The week before Easter we went to an Easter egg hunt.  She quickly figured out this game.

Although there were eggs everywhere, she decided she wanted the one in a little boy's hand.  When that didn't go over very well, she had another strategy...she found the jackpot!

And loaded up!

Then she used her big muscles to carry her basket.

On Saturday, of Easter weekend, all of my family came to visit.  This included our niece, Emily, who is away at college.  This was the first time she met Juliana.  They became fast friends.

There were lots of special moments to be had.  She was thrilled to play with Uncle Chuck.  Especially when she got her hands on his phone!

There was swinging with Uncle Robert

Dancing with Aunt Linda

Her cousin, Chaise, tried out her bike.  Hmmm just a tad too small for him!

Aunt Angie brought her books.  Juliana loves books!

She even got gifts in the mail from her Aunt Dee.  She loved the clothes.  So much she immediately began to try them on!

Easter Sunday was a day of starting our own family traditions.  After church, we enjoyed lunch with family and had an egg hunt.  Juliana also discovered what the Easter Bunny brought her. 

She hunted for eggs.  Not many made it in her basket.  She would pick one up and before she put it into her basket she would spot another.  The first one would get tossed in the air as she ran to get the next egg!

Here she is with my parents, Gamma & Pop-Pop.  She is looking serious as she works on getting that bow out of her hair!

By the end of the weekend, we were all worn out.  It was so worth it.  We cherished sharing our first Easter together.  Every day is a blessing with our dear little girl.  Her joy is contagious.