Christmas Card 2012

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Cohen at 7 Months

At 7 months I can...
- sit very well and play
- push up onto my hands and knees and then rock back and forth
- scoot backwards
- wave "Hi"...sometimes
- reach for mommy
- make lots of adorable (and high pitched) sounds

Likes
- mirrors
- spoons
- my toes
- Christmas lights
- wrapping paper
- attention from all of the kids around
- baths

Dislikes
- taking long naps
- falling over

Angelversary

One year.
Miss you so.
Love you more.

Julia Photo Book

My Julia photo book arrived last night and is the perfect birthday gift.  

I am so pleased with how it turned out! 

I know it is a bit long but there were so many sweet photos and sweet memories that had to be included...

Click here to view a larger version.

                                  

Butterfly House

The butterfly counts not months but moments….

Sydney's class recently visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History for a field trip. I decided to meet the class there and tour the museum with Sydney. We passed by the butterfly house but did not go in. Through the window I saw a large chart of different types of butterflies. One of the butterflies on the chart was dryas julia, the Julia Longwing butterfly. After seeing this butterfly on the chart, I knew I had to try and find it. Sydney's class unfortunately was not scheduled to go in that exhibit. Cohen and I just had to explore it though. Once inside there were dozens and dozens of butterflies all around. We wandered through, admiring the beauty and variety of butterflies. One even landed on Cohen's back. Finally, near the exit, I found the area where there were several Julia Longwing butterflies. Seeing these delicate, beautiful butterflies gave me a sense of peace. I'm grateful for these signs of my dear one.

Cohen at 6 Months

At 6 months I can...

- sit up for 5- 10 minutes at a time

- push up onto my hands and knees and rock (ready to crawl?)

- eat lots of pureed fruits and veggies

- grab onto everything with a super tight grip (especially Mommy's and Sydney's hair)

- roll over very quickly

- make lots of sounds

- smile with my 2 teeth!!

- weigh in at 18 lbs 5 oz!

- measure 28 inches tall!

- "say" I have been to the top of the Empire State Building!

Likes:

- Playing with Sydney and Isaac

- Eating bananas, sweet potatoes, carrots, peaches, apples, pears, mangos, squash, and most any combination of the above

- Meeting my cousins

- Touring around in the baby carrier

- Going to museums and places with lots of fun things to look see (Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Natural History Museum in the last month)

- Being held by Mommy

- Being sung to by Daddy

- Being loved on every morning at the bus stop by the Yasuda girls!

- Christmas tree lights and ornaments

Dislikes:

- Long car rides

- Short car rides

- Peas

- Shots (5 at his last appointment!)

- Changing clothes

NYC

Our family spent Julia's birthday this year in NYC. We wanted to look forward to and enjoy our girl's special day. We wanted to be together. We wanted to live and be adventurous. Taking an eight year old, five year old, and six month old to New York seemed adventurous to us! Marc took the day off and the older kids missed a day of school. We were joined by my brother and sister-in-law. We planned a weekend of sight seeing, good eating, and new experiences. We remembered Julia's birthday and ate tiny cupcakes in her honor. We toasted her life over a lovely Italian dinner. We sent kisses to her from the top of the Empire State Building. We marveled at the twinkling Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. We enjoyed the beauty of Central Park. And so it was a happy day, just as it should be.
We love you, Julia!

On Her Second Birthday

Nov 30, 2011 ~ Julia's 1st Birthday

My Sweetest Julia,
Today is your second birthday. We are thinking of you so much today (even more than usual!) and missing you tons! We are also celebrating you today. Dad, Syd, and Isaac all took the day off so that we could all be together on your special day.
I know that you would want us to be happy on your birthday even though we are missing you. Because your birth and your birthday should be celebrated, we made a list of things about our time together that we are thankful for.
I am thankful for your smile and that you blessed us with so many of them!
Cohen is thankful that he is your baby brother and that you were the first of his siblings to know he was coming! He also thanks you for all of the fun toys!
Sydney is thankful that you are her sister and that you are a miracle!
Isaac is thankful that you were with us for a whole year and two weeks.
Daddy is thankful for all of the quality late night time you two had together.
Most of all we are thankful to be your family. We love you so much, sweet girl.
Happy 2nd birthday to you. Sending lots of love, kisses, and hugs to you today.

Love you forever,
Mommy

Birthday Month - A Look Back Part 5

More Julia Photos! These should be called "Smiles and Silly Faces."

How I miss her many expressions and her priceless smiles!  

Daddy is funny!

I think I might like my tie-dyed onesie!

How cute am I?

My mommy is a little weird.

What did you say?

Oh, that IS funny!

I'll think about it...

Where did my hand go?

Uh-Oh!

Mommy is silly!

I'm not telling!

I'm a pumpkin?

I love Pat-a-Cake!

Birthday Month -- A Look Back Part 4

More of Julia's lesser known photos...these are from summer 2011.

We had such a good summer and were even able to travel to visit family.

What a blessing those memories are today.

Love you so much, sweet girl.

Prayer Flag

As part of National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day on October 15, I created a prayer flag for Julia.  I sent this prayer flag to Australia to Carly Marie of Project Heal to be displayed with prayer flags from around the world. She received more than 300 prayer flags in memory of little ones gone too soon. She then photographed them in groups at sunset on Christian's Beach (for her son Christian). This beach is also where she creates the beautiful beach butterflies and writes names in the sand for bereaved families. 

Thank you, Carly Marie, for all you do to remember our precious angels.  

Birthday Month - A Look Back Part 3

Missing you 11 months today, my sweet Julia.

Continuing our look back at some of Julia's lesser known photos...

Birthday Month -- A Look Back Part 2

These are a few more of Julia's lesser known and lesser shown photos. These are all from January and February of 2011.  We sure do love her. And miss her. A lot.