Julia looks forward to 2 days a year: Halloween, and her birthday. After waiting for Mom, Dad, and Quincy's to pass, it was finally her turn! Grandpa Bob flew in to spend it with us, and we stayed at a real fun condo down by Tampa. We went to the beach twice, ate at a few cute ocean view restaurants, played with LOTS of new toys, went to the Children's museum, and just had tons of fun with Grandpa. Jules was in total heaven, and loved waking up to all her party decorations. She was so pumped the whole day. Waiting to see her cake almost killed her:) She is too funny.
Well, she waited so long for her birthday season, we couldn't just limit it to one weekend! We had a little get-together with some of her close friends a few days later, so she could have even more birthday fun. She is obsessed with her birthday, and keeps asking me if it's her birthday yet... I keep telling her it's a LONG way off:)
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| Opening presents and blowing out the candles on her "Brave" birthday cake we made her |
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| At the Children's Museum the day after her birthday |
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| At her little party- we had a "Cars" cake this time. |
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| Messy kids and cupcakes |
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| Julia and some of her besties (haha Amelia, loving TJ's outfit here | ) |
To Julia:
Jules, I've never written you a letter before, but you just turned 3- and I wanted to take a few minutes to let you know how much I love you. You mean the world to me! Words can't describe the excitement I felt the first time I heard you were a girl... I knew you and I were going to have so much fun together, and we'd be sidekicks for life:) You are my little buddy... you love to snuggle (ha even when I don't), you love to help, you are such a good big sister. Everyone calls you Julesies, because aunt Christi started calling you Julesie-bub and then somehow Julesies just stuck. You even call yourself Julesies- so when people ask your name and you tell them, they have no clue what in the world you just said. You have the most awesome personality. You didn't start talking until later, and we can still only understand like 70% of what you say, but you have the biggest personality for a 3 year old. You are the most social little kid I have EVER seen... you love making new friends, old and young, and you always have. We'll be walking anywhere, and you just say hi to complete strangers all day long... I love to see people light up when you do that to them:) You are the biggest tease of a 3 year old I have ever known... you get that from your dad. You love to tease and pester all the live long day, and you love to get a rise out of people. You are a total stinker like that. Your new victim is your baby brother- probably because he can't fight back. I tell you all the time what the word karma means... one day he'll be bigger, and it will be payback time. You sit in lots of time-outs for teasing... the stool in the bathroom is like your second home some days ha. You have been obsessed with your blankie since the first time you touched it. You have never been without it a day in your life for over 2 years now. It is your total comfort... you suck your thumb while you hold and smell it. You LOVE to dance... we recently put you in dance classes... you love them. Miss Jackie says you are such a great student... you listen so well- that you follow all her her moves, even when she is just itching her head:) You are a good listener, but you also like to see what you can get away with. We fight a lot some days, so I try to have something for you to do or someone to play with most days so you can get all that crazy little kid energy out. You scream all the time. You never laugh. I can count on one hand how many times you've really truly laughed since you were born. You just scream when you are excited and happy... which is all the time. You love pizza and guacamole- they have been your favorite foods since the first time you had them. I love when you say "deewicious." It's like your favorite word... you stole it from your cousins and ran with it. You have absolutely NO fear. There isn't a ride or a show or a situation too scary for you. You are the biggest, bravest 3 year old I have ever met. Speaking of biggest.... you are ginormo. You have been since birth. You were almost 24 inches tall, and haven't slowed down yet. You are the tallest kid in nursery by far, and everyone thinks you are a lot older than you really are. You wear a 5t shirt because your torso is so long. You were going on roller coasters when you were only just 2 because you made the 40" height requirement so young. You love to swim. You are a water baby. You could swim the whole day if we let you. I knew you would love it. The first time I bathed you, you were in heaven, and have loved it every day since. I think you were supposed to actually be a fish. You are so independent. You have this "it's my way or the highway" attitude. I tried to potty train you 6 months ago (for 2 whole months!) And you would have none of it. One day a few weeks ago, you just decided you were potty trained- and that was that. We've never even had an accident. It's totally nuts, but that's just how you are. Your daddy is your hero, you get ecstatic when he comes home. When I ask you who you are going to marry in the temple some day, your answer is always "My daddy." When I lay in your bed with you at night, you always ask to talk about "my family." We talk a lot about your cousins, and uncle Jeff's dog Aki, and your favorite uncle Randy. You always tell me you want to fly on a plane to see them, and you then mimic an airplane going up into the sky. I think you look just like your daddy, but with my mouth. You guys have twin eyes, and can make all the same hilarious facial expressions. Those sweet eyes get you out of trouble- I look at them and just can't get mad at you sometimes:) I just love and adore you. I always worry and stress and have a ton of mom-guilt that maybe I'm not doing this right... maybe I'm not raising you good enough... not teaching you enough... not spending enough quality time with you... being too hard on you. I am always worried that I'll mess you up. That I'll take away that rambunctious, hilarious personality that I love. I hope I am doing what's best for you baby girl, you mean everything to me. I hope you can look back on your childhood and remember all the good and happy times we are having right now together. You have made our lives so happy, and we have been so blessed to be your parents. You are the most amazing girl I know, and I couldn't possibly love you any more. Happy 3rd birthday, my Julesies!
Love, Mom
