The Minnesota Juliens

Addie & James - Summer Pics

2011-11-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

I love watching our two children play together! Addie loves James SO much (sometimes a little too much in his opinion!). You can tell he enjoys her company and she loves having a permanent playmate around 24/7. :)

Addie's Arm

2011-11-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, October 22nd, Addie fell out of her booster seat and broke her arm. She was reaching for another cinnamon roll (that would have made 3) and slipped in her footed pjs. She then went into shock and I called Stef to come home (he was at church). We brought her to urgent care around 9am. After x-rays and an exam, they decided it was bad enough for surgery. They called around to several hospitals before deciding Gillette Children's Hospital. We ran home for 5 minutes, grab clean clothes and Addie's blankie, and headed to St. Paul! The afternoon was filled with books, movies, nurse check-ins and lots of Addie time. At 4, they wheeled her down to the OR recovery room. We meet the two on-call nurses (which she LOVED). They treated her like a princess! She had balloons, lipstick, stuffed animals, stickers, you name it. Her surgery lasted 45 minutes and at 5pm, she was out and waking up. It was a rough wake-up. She was pretty crabby (fairly normal). But lots of cheerios, juice, Popsicles and graham crackers, and she was ready to leave by 6:30. In bed around 9:30pm, and exhausted! Not the way we planned our weekend, but praise God everything went smoothly and the doc said it should heal just fine!!! Such a blessing, Nana and Papa arrived the next day for Addie's birthday. They were able to "hang-out" all week long with the kids and recover!! She gets her cast off next week!!

Family Time

2011-04-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

My brother just found out he is moving to Boston. His fiancee moved out there in September for law school and he has been looking for a job. He just accepted one last week, and it leaving in 1 week. Everything happened really fast. We are really going to miss him, but Addie is already looking forward to Skype time with Uncle Dan.

Mimi and Norm!! Getting his head massaged.

This morning bad hair was just too good to pass up. We had to take a picture of it!!! Can you believe it. She sleeps SO hard and rubs around so much at night, that she wakes up with a huge mat of hair snarled together just in the back. The front looks like it has been comb and lays perfectly. :)

Our happy little guy!! James is now 5 months old and loving life. He is still a semi-unpredictable sleeper. Addie was sleeping close to 10-12 hours at age 3 months. James goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and wakes up anywhere between 3:30 and sometimes as late as 6:00am. He is getting there. He just loves to cuddle and snuggle in the middle of the night. I often thing he isn't even really awake. Just wants his early morning snack so he can sleep in late.

Addie the doctor

2011-04-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

Addie loves using her stethoscope and listening to peoples hearts. She might be a bit confused in this picture. She is listening to James' head? :)

James loves the Johnny Jumper. He is actually already too tall for it. :)

The MOA Aquarium

2011-04-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, daddy took the day off of work and I was on Spring break. We decided to try out the newly remodeled MOA Aquarium. We had found online coupons, so were able to go all four of us for a great price. We had such a fun time. Addie loved looking at the stingrays with daddy the best. The jellyfish exhibit was amazing. They had all the lights turned off and the tanks had a neon light in them, turning the jellyfish fun neon colors. When we got into the tunnel walk, Addie wasn't sure what to make of the entire thing. I have to admit, it was pretty intense. Sharks were EVERYWHERE!!! It took her a bit to realize that the glass was protecting us, and they weren't going to eat her. She kept saying that the Nemo sharks were our friends! :)

Jellyfish!

Shark tunnel!

Lunch date with Mimi and Boppa

2011-04-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Addie and Mimi making chocolate chip cookies.

Addie did all the measuring and stirring. She also did a lot of sampling directly off the wooden spoon. I'm not sure how sanitary our cookie process was.

Super Addie

2011-04-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

Super Addie, super Addie, flying through the air!

Our belly boy! His shirt was stuck underneath his little man boobs. :)

James and mommy on Skype with Nana and Papa.

He still fits.

New Jogger

2011-04-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

Stefan and I researched double joggers the past couple of months and finally purchased one! After debating on the widespread of costs out there, we ended up finding fairly inexpensive one, but with great reviews. We've taken it for around 10 walks and 1 jog so far and it works awesome. The kids love it, and Addie's favorite part is the sun shade. She pretends it's her secret fort. :)

Helping daddy and grandpa fix the ceiling.

Due to a crack in our brand new ceiling, Stefan and my dad had to spend a Saturday removing a piece and putting in a new piece of sheet rock. Our ceiling guy then came back over and made the patch look spectacular. You'd never even be able to tell we had 3 huge cracks in the ceiling.

James - 4 1/2 months old

2011-04-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

Our plump little man!

Addie always wants to hold James, but in this picture he looks about the same size as her.

Hanging out with daddy!

James' first real meal

2011-04-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

James had cereal for the first time today. We started him at exactly 4 months old, 2 months early than we started with Addie. He seemed really ready. He wasn't sleeping as well and acting like he was starved all the time. He LOVES his cereal and slurped it up instantly.

He is really easy to read when he is all finished. When he is done drinking or eating, his thumb makes it up to his mouth and this is his sign that he is all full. Pretty cute!!

Big belly!! All full from dinner.

Day care / Samuel's 1st b-day

2011-04-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

First day back at Susie's house. Addie loved seeing Susie again and being able to play with her friends. Addie transition quite well back to daycare. The only thing she wasn't used to was waking up and GETTING DRESSED. She fought with us for about 2 weeks, "No! Addie keep her pjs ON!" She also didn't like the idea of eating breakfast somewhere else. Once we got to Susie's she would get teary eyed for the first couple minutes, and by the time I came in the afternoon to pick her up, she didn't want to leave. :)

Samuel's 1st birthday party at the church.

Reading Time

2011-04-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

She likes to grab a hold of his fingers and help him point to pictures. She's learned that from us. A teacher in the making already!

James' Dedication

2011-04-06T18:25:00.000-07:00

James' Dedication outfit. The outfit lasted just long enough to finish his dedication at church. As soon as we sat back down in the pews, Stefan found his pants wet. He had leaked all over and outfit was done for the morning. He changed into his comfy pjs for the rest of the church service. We were blessed to have most of our family there with us to celebrate. Both Nana and Papa were there, along with Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Dan, Uncle Matt, Auntie Julie and Uncle Jim. It was an amazing morning.

Wearing his little gray sweater that Great Grandma Wanda, or "Great Wanda" (what Addie calls her), made for James.

Nana and Papa visit

2011-04-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

Stefan and I watched the Canucks beat the Wild. Lots of Canadian flag waving that evening!!

Cuddle time in the morning while mom and dad were getting ready for work.

I love this picture!! This is one of about 20 pictures I shot that morning. This one captures Addie reading to James, while she is holding his hand. So precious.

Papa and Addie covered in stickers!

Swimming Lessons

2011-04-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

Daddy, Addie, Olivia and Trevor at swimming lessons. Daddy night!

Mimi and Addie reading a story.

Nana comes to visit and gets to participate in swimming lessons.

Ollie, Kinsley, Olivia, Trevor, Addie and Nana.

James

2011-04-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

We met up with Uncle Mark's girlfriend Kim and her friend Sarah at Caribou. She was in town visiting her friend for the weekend. Addie was super excited to have hot coco with Kim. :)

James 3 1/2 months

2011-04-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

Addie and mommy put James in Addie's dolly highchair. He barely fit, and liked sitting and watching his big sister pretend to feed him.

This is how we do bath time at the Julien household. James usually starts, so Addie can get an extra couple minutes into playtime. She also likes helping wash James' hair and pouring water on him. He's not always quite as appreciative.

James and Addie

2011-02-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

My mom knit James a little blue hat and matching slippers when he was first born. We thought we'd take some pictures of him. It only lasted for 20 seconds before Addie wanted in on the action, so the remaining pictures are of both of them. :)

Charming! You've gotta love the belly!

James - 3 months

2011-02-01T09:10:00.000-08:00

Gotta love that smile! James is now 3 months old. I cannot believe how fast he has grown. He is such an amazing boy and a great baby. He loves life. He had been sleeping around 8-9 hours a night, but due to a cold this week, he enjoyed getting a snack about every 2-3 hours causing a very tired mommy. He just started to giggle this week. It is absolutely precious. He loves playing with his rattle and has just discovered his fingers (which causes quite a puddle of drool on his shirts). He loves to play horsey on his daddy's lap and loves it when anyone sings songs to him. I've LOVED being home with my little man!!!

Matt's 30th Birthday

2011-02-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

The James' enjoying a game of bowling.

Addie adored helping Tanya bowl.

Matt turned 30 on December 26th and Addie couldn't stop asking when we were going to singing Happy Birthday to Uncle Matt. We helped Matt celebrate his birthday by bowling and enjoying cake.

If you can see behind this picture, there are around 20 different light flashing, music playing, noise making games that Addie went crazy over. She loved running around and pretending to money in everything!

Hockey Time

2011-02-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

Addie, Daddy and I went and played hockey a couple weekends ago at the McKenzie Park. We had the place to ourselves.

No one was in the warming house, so James snuggled in his snowsuit, Bundle Me and carseat for a very cozy morning nap! He looks so lonely in the corner.

Addie enjoyed riding on the chair more than attempting to skate.

Friends

2011-02-01T08:59:00.000-08:00

Addie, James, Lily and Charlie

The pigtail sisters! Olivia and Addie!

Future HHS football players, Will and Samuel!

Will, Olivia, Jacob, Ben, Samuel, Addie and James! This is my favorite picture, because everyone is NOT looking at the camera except the two youngest babes! Classic!

2011-01-27T17:18:00.000-08:00

Ben, Cullen, and Addie at swimming lessons. Addie is in the Baby Tot class with Olivia and Kinsley. Ben and Cullen are in the big boy class by themselves. :)

Trevor and Olivia.

Classic! Can you figure out what Addie is trying to do in this picture? My tank top is her hooter hider and she is nursing her cabbage patch doll. :) Love it!

Addie after a nap: All 100 baby wipes made it onto the floor.

Last of the Christmas Pics

2011-01-27T17:13:00.000-08:00

Watching a Canucks game!

Addie and Hannah!

Alex, Gordon, and Addie.

On our way home to MN.

Aunties and Hannah

2011-01-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

Playing hockey and ice skatting

2011-01-27T16:36:00.000-08:00

James and Indy

2011-01-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

Love the eyes. I'm not sure why James is looking so freaked out... "Look at my feet!"

Future Mr. and Mrs. Julien, eh?

James and Indy hanging out with their Nanas!

More Christmas Pics

2011-01-27T16:31:00.000-08:00

Auntie Sarah and Addie playing some Christmas tunes and probably Happy Birthday!

The boys and their matching pjs!

Christmas Eve and morning

2011-01-27T16:30:00.000-08:00

A family pic before we headed out the door for Christmas Eve service at Summerland Baptist. Thanks Grandma for the matching toques. :)

Addie and Papa!

Christmas morning before the chaos started! Look how neat the floor is...

Yes, Addie is sporting a pink and purple fanny pack. Thanks Nana for digging up an old treasure from Auntie Carley and Sarah's younger years.

2011-01-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

Addie's new sleeping bag! :) Addie slept in Nana and Papa's room during our visit. She loved reading books and cuddling with Nana and Papa in the early morning hours. :)

Of course, countless hours at Rock Band again!

Addie carried around one of Nana's little snowmen like a baby doll. She liked feeding it its nightly bottle. :)

The boys hanging out!

Christmas in Summerland

2011-01-27T14:36:00.000-08:00

This was a wide awake Addie at 12:15am in the Seattle airport. When booking our flights, we though, "Late night flights, GREAT! The kids will sleep and so will we." Wrong! Addie's legs were just long enough for her to kick the seat in front of her on the MSP to SEA flight. Let's just say the lady in front of her, didn't make eye contact when exiting the plane and there was no sleep to be had by any parties in our row. :(

The above picture was taken after we had first boarded our SEA to Kelowna flight, and then told that something was wrong with the engine and that we would need to exit and re board a new plane they were sending. When we finally landed that evening and made it to the Julien's house, it was 3:30am our time.

Our Christmas Eve walk along the lake!!

Christmas in MN

2011-01-27T14:31:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas with my family before we left for Canada. We had breakfast, opened stockings and some presents at my parents house that morning and then came home for a quick nap. Then that afternoon, we loaded up and headed over to the Simondet's for a second round of Christmas. What a great day! Addie loved every minute of it. :)

Christmas in MN

2011-01-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas in MN

2011-01-27T14:25:00.000-08:00

Pictures

2011-01-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

Addie had fun with daddy's shaving cream. We talked about keeping the shaving cream on the cookie tray, but when I turned my back she was rubbing it up her arms and all over the table. She smelled like aloe for a couple of days!

Libby and the big man!

Our church playgroup had a birthday party for Jesus before Christmas. Our friend Erin was kind enough to host. It was so much fun. The kids did art and each took turns blowing out the birthday candles. Addie was singing Happy Birthday to Jesus for weeks.

Christmas Baking

2011-01-25T15:07:00.000-08:00

Addie and daddy made a very modern and sugar filled gingerbread house!

Christmas cookie baking with Grandma, Mimi, Addie and Mommy! Boppa came over for lunch.

Addie had a blast decorating all the sugar cookies and sampling the frosting along the way!

Pictures

2011-01-25T15:04:00.000-08:00

Addie loves sitting in this baby bouncy chair. She moves it in front of the TV when cartoons are on, or often times you find her reading stories to her babies. :) On this particular day, she was wearing my pink shorts around the house. She loves wearing my clothing items around the house. The best is when she gets into our underwear drawers.

Mimi and Addie at Thanksgiving!

Our first Vikings game, compliments of Tanya!!

Addie and Uncle Dan playing Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday (Addie's two favorite songs). :)

SNOW!!

2011-01-25T14:28:00.000-08:00

We got our first HUGE snowfall in December! After shoveling and snow plowing all morning, Stef made a ramp going off of our patio, to the backyard. I got Addie all bundled up and out she went. She lasted exactly 2 runs down the ramp, ending in a face full of snow and exclaiming, "Daddy all done, all done!" I caught some of it on video as well.

Christmas set-up

2011-01-25T14:26:00.000-08:00

Addie was fascinated this year with Christmas in general, but especially all the ornaments and decorations. Every time we turned around, she had another ornament in her hand or was playing tea party with all the snowmen decorations. Once presents made it under the tree (we didn't really hide the whole Santa thing from her, she in fact helped wrap most of the presents), it was hard to keep her from opening them all up. Her favorite was a little present to Maari, a tiny little package with a bow. She carried around her "baby present" as she called it for about a month leading up to Christmas. :)

James

2011-01-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

James LOVES bath time. He somehow manages to pee within 1 minute of getting into the tub. Is that true with all boys? Maybe it is with girls too, you just can't see it!

James Thanksgiving and Christmas outfit. My dad said he reminded him of our old neighbor Paul with his conductor hat!

We seem to have very large bellied children!

Addie and James

2011-01-25T13:45:00.000-08:00

The Como Zoo

2011-01-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

We went to the Como Zoo while Nana SuSu visited in November. Addie loved the animals that were behind cages and far away. She wasn't so sure about the ones that were only behind glass and seemed to almost be able to touch you. :) Her favorite saying was, "I don't like it either!" - code for all done with that scary animal

Man time!

2011-01-25T13:40:00.000-08:00

I love this picture of the men in my life. We have a similar picture of Stef and Addie when she was a little one. Stef loves cuddle time, as does James! Thanks Auntie Carley for the kimono!!

Visitors

2011-01-25T13:36:00.000-08:00

We were blessed with lots of visitors the first month that James was born. It was amazing the amount of meals, gifts and thoughtful words that friends and family brought to us! Thank you so much and Addie LOVED seeing everyone. Two weeks after James was born, Nana SuSu came to help. It was so wonderful to have here in MN with us. We had lots of fun outings, froze some meals and I got some great naps in! Thank you Sue for all your help.

Addie, the new big sister

2011-01-25T13:29:00.000-08:00

First week at home

2011-01-25T13:28:00.000-08:00

Addie realizing that Mom and Dad were preoccupied, managed to take out most of the "baby toys" in James' new room and sit and pretend to be the baby. It was pretty cute until we started clean up time. :)

Famous laundry basket picture. It's the only way to do both the laundry and be with my little guy at the same time! It's a win win, because he LOVED the warm clothes.

My favorite 3 people!!

More Hospital Pictures

2011-01-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

Going home!! We went home on Monday, November 1st (James' original due date). It was a beautiful fall day, crisp and sunny.

Introducing James Warren Julien

2011-01-25T13:18:00.000-08:00

Better late than never! We are introducing James Warren Julien. He was born exactly 3 months ago on Saturday, October 30th, 2010. I finished teaching on Friday, October 29th and officially went on mat leave that Saturday. We had a busy day; a baby shower in the morning, fall yard cleaning all afternoon, and a bonfire in the evening. Stef and I finally sat down to relax at 7:45 that evening and turned on the Gopher game.

15 minutes late, my water broke. Man, what a feeling! I felt a really strong jab, his foot or something, and it started gushing. My parents got there 4 minutes later. My dad said my mom must have broken multiple traffic violations to get there so quickly. We jumped in the car (I slowly waddled, as I was panicking that my water kept gushing - when they mean break, it's literally a flood) and headed to the hospital. On the way, we called the nurses line. They said for us to go back home, take a nice long bath and call later. Not happening!

By the time we reached the hospital at 8:45, my contractions were around 4 minutes apart. After they did the initial check-in, my contractions were down to 3 minutes apart. The immediately started me on an IV (I had to have that before they would administer the epidural). Contractions were a nightmare. God must have known I could only handle them for 1 hour (I know, a big wimp) and at 9:45, the epidural was in and starting to take affect. 20 minutes later, I was ready to push. Just like with Addie, 3 pushes later, James came into this world!

Again, just like with Addie, we didn't have a name until the morning. We had been 99% sure he was going to be a boy, and hadn't really discussed girl names. Stefan feel in love with the name James about 2 months before he was born. James is a family name and Warren is his dad's name! He has a quiet demeanor and LOVES to eat. Addie was in love instantly. She wanted to hold, kiss, cuddle, you name it. When she was finished, she'd push James back into my arms and say, "All done!" Classic.

Canadian Thanksgiving

2010-10-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

TC Marathon Movie

2010-10-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

TC Marathon 2010

2010-10-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

Stefan and his dad Warren ran the Twin Cities Marathon today. We are SO proud of them. They did an amazing job, finished with a time of 4:40, no injuries, didn't get sick, and were still smiling when we left the capitol. :) Lots of friends and family came out to cheer them on. Addie loved waving the Canadian flag in support for her daddy and Papa.

Addie's garage sale treasure

2010-08-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

Addie picked out this treasure last week at a garage sale. Bapa Gene fixed it up on Friday and she has not put it down since then. She LOVES it!! Her favorite features are the rhythm section and the demo buttons (as you can tell in the video). The volume automatically turns on at "loud", so even though I'm constantly showing her how to turn down the volume, every time she turns it on and off again, it goes right back to where we started "loud". This toy is going to be my lifesaver and worst enemy all at once. :)

Our "working" kitchen

2010-08-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

We finally got our kitchen in "working condition this weekend. We still have lots of mini projects left to complete (backsplash, painting, trim, etc) but had our first two meals in the kitchen already (pizza last night and eggs and hashbrowns this morning). Man, it tasted yummy! So fun!

Summerland - 2010

2010-07-20T19:45:00.001-07:00

James and Megan's wedding reception!
Our last night in Summerland we went out to eat at Zia's. Addie enjoyed a dinner of ketchup, washed down by a few fries.
Papa JJ and Bobo watching the Blue Jays on TV.
Catching Rainbow Trout up at Pennask Lake. We had a perfect day and limited out.

Summerland - 2010

2010-07-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

Hanging out in Summerland. The first part of our trip was spent up with Stef's family at home.

Addie - Flower Girl

2010-06-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

Getting ready!!
Addie made it halfway down the isle... But she did a 5 second scan of everyone in the pews and realized that she didn't recognize anyone. So she made a beeline back towards the doorway.
The first bridesmaid picked her up and helped her perform the rest of her flower girl duty. We thought she want to go right to Stef after this, but she marched the rest of the way to the altar.
Her last job was to put her flower in a vase. As you can see this took a little while, but she was successful and pretty proud of herself. :) We had a blast, what a wonderful wedding. Congrats James and Megan. :)

Cabinets are being installed and stained

2010-06-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

So...last week we had the rest of our kitchen, dining room and hallway floor put in. We had a floor guy match our old red oak floor in the living room and he was able to use old boards (that we had pulled out) and new boards to make our floor look amazing.

This week our contractor put in all the cabinets and the finisher came to our house, taped and put plastic up everywhere and spray stained everything. My parents were able to go over and get pics of all the steps.

We've been so impressed with the quality that our friend Brian has done. We can't wait to see everything finished in 1 week! :)

Mudding the Walls / Strawberries

2010-06-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, after lunch, I found Addie in the corner of our basement surrounded by some of her random toys. Baby, cow, spatula, truck book, toy car, camera, daddy's guitar case, not sure what her activity was, but it was pretty cute!

Vic has about 3 days left of our wall mudding. It looks amazing and he does such an amazing job. We are so happy that we hired him to do this section of our house. He's a friend from church and I love hearing our local Christan radio station playing all day long!! :)

My VERY healthy strawberry patch....

is producing an entire pail full every 2 days!!! So much fun! Good thing Addie LOVES eating them.

Camping at Sibley

2010-05-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

Addie had a blast camping this weekend. We only "camped" for the day. No sleeping over this time (we were busy with the kitchen). She loved playing in the woods and her favorite activity was riding in the hiking backpack. We borrowed it from our friends Trevor and Sarah. She squealed with delight every time she saw it and almost couldn't contain her excitement when we finally put her in for our Mount Tom hike. :) My mom has some fun pictures from the weekend. The best is of Addie's backside. We only had her in shorts on Sunday (when we left Mtka it was 80, and 2 hours later at Sibley is was 60) and were not prepared for cold weather. So my Auntie Julie rummaged through her doggie clothes for Sadi and Sami and found an old pair of Vikings leggings (with a hole for the dog tail in the back), and so our daughter walked around with tight holey leggings all day. Priceless!

Addie loves playing Mommy

2010-05-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

She's sitting in the middle of our kitchen reno feeding and burping her baby!

One sip for you...

One sip for me!!

Now for a burp! :)

Finished Sheet Rock - YEAH!!!!

2010-05-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

We are finished with the sheet rock!!! Yippee!! Stef and my dad worked SO hard this weekend. We were blessed with awesome weather and lots of good food provided by our family! :)

Insulation

2010-05-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

Addie is always daddy's little helper around the kitchen. Tools and things usually go missing for a day after she's been in the toolbox. :)

All the electrical wiring is finished and has been inspected.

Two cabinet door options. We were originally wanting white, but after some discussions are learning towards clear coated cherry.

Stef and I finished all the insulation and poly late last night and were able to squeeze in our inspection today. This weekend we are hopefully going to get most of the sheet rock up. :)

Eau Claire Babies

2010-05-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

Libby graciously hosted a baby shower for all the Eau Claire new mommies. She cooked a fabulous brunch and we had such a fun time meeting and hanging out with all the precious babes. Addie thoroughly enjoyed being "a helper" the entire time. She likes to carry wipes, diapers, pacifiers, and especially carrying around all the new little baby outfits. Thank you Libby for hosting!

In order, Addie, Kellan (Anne & Patrick's), Gracie (Liz & Steve's), and Will (Ashley & David's).

Lights

2010-05-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

After tearing down all the insulation, we (mostly my dad and Stef) put up all our recessed lighting. It makes our kitchen and living room SOOO bright. :)

Our sweetheart - 18 months

2010-05-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

What a busy, crazy and fun last couple months it has been. I'm now 15 weeks along and feeling sicker than a dog in the mornings. I don't remember things being quite this rough with Addie. Somehow you forget all the yucky feelings when you finally give birth and are blessed with your new baby. I'm praying that once the summer hits, I'm able to start feeling a little better and enjoy the slower pace of life.

Addie is now 18 months old. What a great age! We probably say that about all of her ages, but honestly, every stage gets better. She's in the process of getting four more teeth, so lots of gnawing on fingers and cuddle time. She's learned how to wash her self with a washcloth in the bathtub. Her favorite is cleaning toes, under her armpits and of course taking a quick drink by sucking the water from her washcloth in between all cleanings. Addie's new words include: NO, Up or Uppie, Now (that one comes and goes), Norm (kinda comes out as Orm), and ball and baby are still favorites. She really enjoys playing pretend or copycat. Last week I was mowing the lawn and all she wanted to do was follow me while pushing her own mower. When I making dinner, she's either rearranging my temporary kitchen in the basement or feeding her babies.

Hope all is well up in Canada! That stinks that the Canucks lost. At least that means that my hubby will climb into bed before midnight on a consistent basis.

We love you all lots. Miss you more! God Bless, Stefan, Betsy, Addie, Norm and Baby J #2

Babies

2010-05-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

Addie is quite obsessed with babies lately. She now has 3 baby dolls and enjoys spending her time feeding, walking, kissing, and cooking for all of them. She's also enjoyed all the real babies that have come along. We've had multiple friends give birth in the last couple of months (almost all boys): Erik, Harper, Jack, Samuel, Kellan, Will and Gracie. There are 4 new friends coming her way as well by fall. It's so much fun! What a blessing all babies have been happy, healthy and moms are doing great.

Karin and Brant's wedding

2010-05-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

The girls! Karin and Brant's wedding was supposed to be outdoors (they had this gorgeous overlook to a lake and prairie). But our Minnesota spring day didn't allow it. Their reception site was beautiful and nice and warm! :) Loved the Famous Daves!

Stef and Trevor (this was the 3rd attempt to get a good picture where both of their eyes were open!)

Karin and Brant! Her dress was stunning!

Stef was a dancing machine all night! Towards the end I had to drag him home. I love that my hubby loves to dance as much as I do!

Our helpers

2010-05-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

Norm either enjoys napping on the bed or running around the house while we work on the kitchen.

Addie enjoys finding daddy's tools and pretending to build things. She also likes rearranging his tool chest and especially likes the pliers.

My mom and I had the job pleasure of nail pullers last weekend. We salvaged our old wood floor and consequently needed to pull around 2000 nails. Two sore backs later, we are almost finished.

2 weeks later

2010-05-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

We ran into a piping issue, which set us back a couple weeks. Stef and my dad contemplated plumbing themselves but we ended up hiring a plumber to come and move our water lines over into the next stud. Thanks mom and dad!

Last weekend, my dad and Stef finished excavating all the installation and sheet rock from the dining room, kitchen,and ceiling. Yikes! This proved almost a messier job than the first demo.

All cleaned up!

Before and after our header

2010-05-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

This was the end result after a long and hardworking Saturday. Grandpa Gene, Cousin Matt, Dad, and Stef all spent the day taking apart the kitchen. :)

This is 3 days later after Bryan and his dad installed our header and framed in our sliding patio door area. What a difference!

Addie - 18 months

2010-04-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

Addie is now 18 months old. She continues to amaze us. Addie is such a happy, friendly child. Some of our fun moments and memories with her:

-Her hair is now long enough to put in either a barrette or side ponytail. I barely have enough time to get her hair ready and put the clip in, before her little hand reaches up to take it back out. It's become a game now to see who wins.

-She likes pretending that she is going places. Addie will find a bag, basket, my purse, doctors kit, anything that carries and holds items, pick it up, turn around and wave and say, "Bye." She then heads out of the room and then the entire process starts over. She fills up her container, puts it over her shoulder and says "Bye."

-Meal time has become interesting. She now notices differences in our dinners and her own. If anything is different what-so-ever, she wants ours. Last night we were eating sandwiches, fruit and veggies (we are kitchen-less right now so this is the consistency of a lot of our meals). She noticed that we had Fritos on our plates and she didn't. She shoved all of her food to one side of her tray, signed to Stefan for more, pointed at the chip bag, and did her little grunt sound that we've translated to meaning "now". Seriously!!

-Neighbors of ours had two of their huge oak trees cut down about 3 weeks ago. Addie was fascinated in watching the men use the chainsaws and big trucks. Every time a branch fell, she'd say, "Uh oh!" "Uh oh!" lasted the entire Saturday morning.

-Addie learned how to smile for the camera in Palm Springs (lots of pictures being taken). She not only smiles for the word cheese, but anytime anyone has a video camera or camera even out in the vicinity, she taps them and starts smiling. It's the face crunched, eyes shut, chin up, type smile. Very flattering, and pretty funny!!

Her vocabulary is pretty consistent with the words: Buh bye, Bye, dog, ruff, mum, dad, ball, bug, bebe (soother), and Hi. She still signs for more (a lot) and does this hands up, shoulder shrug for what's that, wear's that, and I don't know (that's our interpretation). Every once in a while, I think I hear new words that are probably in the forming (Susie her daycare lady, Papa, Cheerios).

Our biggest news is that Addie will get her dream fulfilled around November 1st. Our daughter absolutely adores babies. She hugs, kisses, pats, taps, leans on, brings toys to, any baby she can find. Stef and I are expecting Baby Julien #2 this fall. We are super excited and can't wait for this new blessing to join our family! I'm almost 13 weeks along and feeling pretty good. It's crazy how already having one around the house, allows no naps or extra rest period for mom. I found myself just going to bed at between 8:30 and 9am each night!

We love you all and miss you tons. Stef and I will update our blog soon with our kitchen remodel pictures. Right now it's somewhat of a mess!!!

God Bless, Stefan, Betsy, Addie, Baby J #2, and of course Norm :)

Addie's picnic

2010-04-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Addie has this amazing ability to put a lot of food into her mouth at one time. Witness how she eats her favorite sandwich, peanut butter and jelly's.

Spring Break

2010-04-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

We were blessed to be able to spend the last week in Palm Springs with the Julien family. Mark flew in from Australia the night before we arrived. We hadn't seem him since Christmas 2008. We missed him a lot, but it was awesome to hear about how God worked through his lives and the ones he touched while on his mission. Sarah and Carley also flew in later that week, so everyone was together for Easter weekend. Addie helped find all our Easter eggs, so that the big kids could divide them up and eat them. :)

Stef and I, overlooking the view from our place. It was overlooking the putting green on the 3rd hole at PGA West. Absolutely beautiful!

Nana, Papa, and Addie saying goodbye at the airport. Addie learned the word "cheese" this last week. Her smiles are quite interesting. She squints her eyes, wrinkles her nose, and give a big toothy grin. :)

Zoo

2010-04-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

Addie took her first trip to the zoo while we were in Palm Springs. She'd LOVED looking at the giraffes. She kept pointing at the baby giraffe.

Warthog. We didn't realize how ugly they are. They only reason they are kind of cute, is if you think of the Lion King.

Addie was NOT a fan of the petting zoo. Something about lots of goats and kids all over. She kept climbing up in our laps.

The African drums.

Easter in Palm Springs

2010-04-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

Addie was quite smitten with her uncle Marky. She loved having him read books to her, play in the swimming pool, and hang out with her.

Eating a Cheerio snack (best way to keep her happy while hanging out by the pool). :)

Addie 16 months

2010-03-03T16:42:00.000-08:00

Addie and her buddy Norm. They are still attached at the hip, and are often found together in the midst of a minor crime.

Addie new snazzy outfit from Ashley. Lots of compliments at church!

Addie found a new best friend (not that she doesn't love you too Ben)! Addie loves babies. Olivia was quite patient with Addie while she gave multiple tight hugs to her while watching the hockey game on Sunday.

Mommy's purse

2010-03-03T16:37:00.000-08:00

Addie found mommy's purse on the bench last week. The pictures tell how it went!

Baby Shower

2010-03-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

We accidentally found out that Addie was proficient in eating an apple on her own. She likes to dig through my backpack each night, sometimes taking out items and other times leaving me treasures for work the next day. On this particular evening, she had found an uneaten apple, pulled it out, and sat down in the corner and started eating. Only when she had it almost half gone, did she reappear in the kitchen with a sticky face and half soaked front shirt. :)

We had a couples baby shower for Liz and Steve Smith a couple weekends ago. Lots of fun. They are due in the middle of April.

Addie 16 months

2010-03-03T16:30:00.000-08:00

Addie continues to love bath time, probably her favorite time of the day. When we ask her if she'd like to take a bath, she starts taking her shirt off and heads to the bathroom.

Addie loves her big girl chair. Thanks Nana and Papa. I tried to have her sit in her chair and watch part of Veggie Tales while I made supper (it lasted all of 2 minutes).

Addie feeding Norman Cheerios

2010-02-09T17:51:00.001-08:00

Watch carefully. Addie was willing to share as long as she actually got the last bite. :)

Addie finds a bug

2010-01-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

Addie is really fascinated by the Box Elder bugs that manage to make their way into our house during our cold Minnesotan winter. She's not afraid of them and enjoys carefully picking them up for closer inspections. This series of pictures demonstrate her successfully capturing one, but then it eventually ends up down her sleeve. :)

Addie and Norm

2010-01-12T17:21:00.000-08:00

Addie feeding Norman

2010-01-12T05:54:00.000-08:00

Every breakfast and lunch, Addie enjoys feeding Norm his meals (she likes to try and give him snacks too). She actually picks up his bowl, walks it to the closet, opens the container, "pretends" to scoop out food (I have to help with that part), puts the cover back on, carries his bowl back into the kitchen, and sets it down right next to his water dish. My mom captured the last part of this routine on video yesterday. So funny! She is really proud of herself, and sometimes even claps as if to say, "Yeah Addie!!" Love and miss you all, Betsy

Family Photo Shoot

2009-12-29T11:05:00.000-08:00

Stefan, Addie and I are up in Canada for Christmas. We are having a wonderful time visiting with Auntie Carley, Nana and Papa. Auntie Sarah and her beau are coming in today (Sarah from Australia and Fergus from Edson). We were able to Skype with Uncle Markie on Christmas Eve. Addie can't wait to give him a hug in March. We were also blessed with a surprise visit from Stef's Auntie Allyson and Uncle John from Vancouver. They called on Saturday and asked what we were doing this weekend, and when Sue walked downstairs, they were just pulling up in the driveway. We had fun watching two Canucks games (they won both of them because Addie wore her lucky jersey), going to Stefan homecoming basketball games, and playing Rockband.

We had our family photo shoot yesterday with Heidi and wanted to post a couple of the pictures. http://hmckelveyphotography.blogspot.com/Thanks mom for the adorable toque, Addie wasn't very cooperative with wearing it, but Heidi was able to snap a couple pics with her wearing it. We love you all and hope you had a blessed and relaxing Christmas with family.

See you soon! God Bless, The Minnesota Julien's

Addie - Almost Christmas

2009-12-18T13:40:00.001-08:00

Addie is almost 1 year and 2 months (the technical term I believe is 15 months). Stefan and I cannot believe how quickly she is changing. She has turned her toddling into a full fledged run and a game of chase. She LOVES to sit in her room, and read. I will come in after 20 minutes, and she is in exactly the same spot with a huge pile of books around her. She continues to LOVE playing with Norman. Last week she suddenly surprised us by attempting to feed him. She picked up his bowl in the kitchen, walked it to the front hall closet, opened the door, and took off his food cover. I then helped out by scooping in his food. She then set or shall I say tipped over his food bowl and started feeding him handfuls of dog food (I only had to pry out 2 pieces from her tight little lips). We leave for Canada in 4 sleeps and Addie is super excited to hang out with Nana, Papa, and her aunties. She's misses her uncle Mark, but we'll definitely have to Skype. We wish you all a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year! Lots of love. :)

Addie walking

2009-11-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

Toilet Paper

2009-11-10T17:36:00.000-08:00

Addie has discovered the wonders of toilet paper. She's not satisfied until A LOT of paper comes off. We have to be careful, between Norman and Addie they can make a pretty big mess (Addie pulls it off and then Norm shreds it up all over the house).

Addie is SO ticklish!

2009-11-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Addie

2009-11-02T19:39:00.000-08:00

Addie loved her first official Halloween. She dressed up as a pumpkin and mommy was a cow girl (basically whatever I could find in the closet). We went trick-or-treating to a few of our neighbors. Addie held on to her own pumpkin bucket the entire time (except when she kept wanting to reach in, and grab the candy to share with our neighbors).

Of course Norm dressed up too. He was a golf caddy and was not a fan of his costume. It's quite restricting in certain areas. He was frozen in the living room and couldn't move, so we took off his bloomers before we went trick-or-treating.

Addie's first steps sometimes mean she grabs a hold of anything she can get her hands on, "Norm's head".

Addie in her chair. She loves her chair, but hasn't figured out how to gracefully go from sitting in it, back to the floor.

Addie's 1st Birthday & Canadian Thanksgiving

2009-11-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

Addie LOVED her chocolate birthday cake. Her nice big piece was polished off in about 3 minutes.

Addie's buddy Ben!

Addie didn't make it long at her birthday party. She was a party pooper right after dessert was served, so Ben took over and helped open all her presents while she went to bed. It worked out perfectly. Addie was able to re-open them all in the morning, and everything was already assembled (thanks boys).

Addie's dance moves

2009-10-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

Kickball Team

2009-10-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

Our friends Cristin and Tony organized a kickball team this fall. It has been so much fun!! We are ranked #1. Next week is the true test, if we win, we get really cool T-shirts. So much to look forward to.

More Pics - 3 days away from Addie's 1st Birthday :)

2009-10-20T07:24:00.001-07:00

It looks uncomfortable, but this is how Bobo sleeps. Butt up in the air. Even if I try to rearrange her, she always ends up back like this.
Waiting for mom and dad to get home from work!

Addie LOVES talking!

2009-10-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

Minnetonka Apple Orchard

2009-10-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

This morning, we all (Norm too) went to the Minnetonka Apple Orchard. The drive out there was absolutely beautiful with all the changing tree colors and Lake Minnetonka in the background. Good thing for the Garmen, because we took a few too many wrong turns! We picked a HUGE bag full of Honeycrisp apples. We had a blast. It was a gorgeous morning.

Addie really enjoyed visiting the pigs and turkeys. Too bad I did zoom out just a little bit more. The pig is snout to nose with Norman. I actually think Norm had a better time visiting the barn animals than all of us combined.

Addie picked out her first pumpkin.

Addie - Almost ONE

2009-10-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

About 3 weeks ago we had our annual Momentum Bocce Ball Tournament. Despite the crummy weather, we had a wonderful evening. This was our attempt to take a picture of most of the tots present. I'm glad I am only posting the first picture, by the end, the last four our leaning in a heap and a few are crying.

Helping mom with laundry. It's the only way I can successful carry up one load of laundry and one little girl.

Trying to sneak a peak at Daddy's football game that is on TV. :)

Addie - 11 months

2009-09-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

Addie and Great Grandpa Martin.

Addie enjoy mommy's birthday cake. Addie thoroughly enjoyed her first piece of chocolate cake. It was gone in less than a minute and she was already signing for more.

Addie wearing her birthday suit. She is teething really bad right now, and consequently had pretty bad diaper rash. We decided to let her run around naked, and man, she loved it.

Addie is standing!

2009-09-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

Addie loves piano time. Stef and I try to play with her as much as we can. She likes it when we play, and then let her play after us. She even uses a different tone while she is playing, like singing.

Addie can stand on her own, but sometimes isn't too happy about it. You can tell by her look.

I made these hanging animals to match Addie's curtains and crib skirt. They turned out pretty cute. Addie loves looking at them before she goes to bed.

A race for the Cheerios

2009-09-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday morning, I gave Addie a box of Cheerios (I remember seeing pictures of myself, around the same age, LOVING the entire box of Cheerios, not just a handful). Well, exactly what I expected, happened. All the Cheerios ended up on the floor. Addie didn't mind, and neither did Norman. It was a race for the Cheerios and who could eat them the fastest. Addie had total of around 4, while Norman polished off around 40.

This is my new roller backpack for school. It's what I asked Stef for, for Mother's day, and we finally got around to picking one out and ordering it. WOW, do I look like a nerd at school, but I am much happier nerd getting to and from the car. It works great!!!

Garage remodel

2009-09-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

Stef was able to go to the first Gopher football game at the TCF Stadium. Amazing!! The Gopher's beat Northwestern for their first win of the season.

My dad and Stefan tore down our garage wall. Always a project going on. When we redid the downstairs bathroom, we noticed the previous homeowners did not put up installation between the basement and garage. No wonder it's always freezing in our basement. We are putting in installation, a new door (our old one was not to code), and sheet rock. Wow, it looks great so far.

Addie sporting her Hopkins Royals apparel.