Okay, here goes...

After spending ages reading the blogs of family and friends, I am finally ready to give it a go myself.


We are in a flurry of activity here as we get ready for a visit from Nana & Grandaddy (my mom and dad) and Great-Grandma (my grandmother) and also as we prepare for the arrival of Liam James McCarthy (due Feb 29). We have been painting rooms, clearing out closets, cleaning the garage, and much much more. Julia has enjoyed all the hubbub, especially having found the stash of her old baby items -- bath seat, car seat, toys, etc. Not sure what she'll think when she has to relinquish control of those things to her new little brother, but we'll see how we go.


Nana & Grandadddy went to Hawaii recently and sent Julia the cutest hula outfit (complete with a coconut bikini-- although Julia has decided that works better as cymbals)! She loves the skirt and shell necklace now though, and she's a pretty amazing little dancer, moving her hips and everything!!

Julia absolutely loves playing outside. She really likes the water, but we're still in the middle of a really severe drought here and can't have a hose or sprinkler on (we can't even wash our cars or take showers longer than 4 minutes, in fact). Since she's constantly at the tap asking for water to play in, though, we've made a compromise. I fill a big party ice bucket with water and drag it into the middle of the yard, fill it with cups and toys, and let her splash in it all she wants-- within minutes she's usually soaking wet!

Julia found Matt's ski hat in a drawer a couple of weeks ago and now wears it for at least part of each day. As if just having on her dad's hat isn't funny enough, picture that it is well over 90 degrees and sunny outside. Needless to say, we get some very bizarre looks on the few occasions I've let her wear it out of the house (some days it's just not worth the fight). The big ole grin is her "camera smile."

I have to make sure not to mention a trip to the park until everything is packed up and I'm ready to walk out the door because at the first mention of swings or a playground, Julia has grabbed my keys and pokes them into the screen door (her way of "opening" it) until I go out to the car with her. We have a great little park nearby that is close to a lake. Lately, Julia wants to walk around the lake after playing. She's got some stamina and can make it almost all the way around by herself (usually at a run) -- 1/2 mile maybe?, but it's always nice to stop for a snack break halfway around!