White Family Reunion

We enjoyed a great weekend at the second annual White Family Reunion.  Last year we all went to Galveston.  This year, Kyle's Aunt Celia and Uncle Dennis hosted everyone at their beautiful property outside of Giddings.  We arrived Friday evening and enjoyed dinner together, came back Saturday after breakfast at the hotel and spent the day doing all kinds of activities and just catching up, then returned again for brunch on Sunday before we all parted.  We had a great time, especially Julia, who was content to be passed off from person to person. 

We had a great group.  We were missing 2 families, though, and hope to have everyone at our gathering next year.

Julia and Pop

We were all excited to meet Ivy, the newest addition to the family, who just arrived a couple months ago from China.  She is about 2 months older than Julia.

Julia enjoyed being loved on and was held all but about 30 minutes.

We surprised Aunt Celia and celebrated her 50th birthday.

We also celebrated Shane's 2nd birthday.  This picture was taken after he ate his yummy iced cookie.

Julia saw bubbles for the first time and thought they were fun.

Having lots of fun!!

First time to see a bonfire.

Julia and Gigi

Julia had just learned to clap, which is what she is doing in this picture and the one below.

Our side of the family.  We are missing Kimberly, Mark, and Madison.

Recent Visitors

We've had several visitors lately.  They came mostly to see Julia, of course, since she is the star of our household now.

First, Rusty & Jennifer:

Then Adam & Jasmine:


Then Katherine:
Then Fred & Shuai:

Cameron Park Zoo

Julia and I went with some friends to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco.  It was Julia's first experience at the zoo and she really enjoyed it.  The weather was really nice, but unfortunately we happened to have picked the area-wide zoo field trip day.  We were told there were 1,100 kids there that day!

Some of our friends who went with us.

A meerkat - so cute! 

Julia spotted the elephant and just stared.

Julia was  tired by this point, but was still very interested in all the fish.

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was a special day to celebrate the joys and blessings of being a mother to Julia.  I enjoyed spending the day with my precious little family.

Fun on the Boat

We recently became proud owners of a new (to us) boat and have had lots of fun taking friends out on Lake Georgetown to ride around, tube, and ski.  Julia loves being out there, too.  The sound of the motor, the wind, and the warm air are relaxing to her and she is content to be held the entire time.

Julia's first experience on the lake.

The first life jacket we bought for Julia turned out to be a little big for her and she looked so uncomfortable.  Poor thing, couldn't turn her head or look down, but she never complained. 

The new life jacket fits much better!

We never thought Julia would actually keep the sunglasses on, but she does!

Melanie on the tube

Julia with "Aunt" Jenni

Kyle on skis

Sweet baby fell asleep in Rusty's arms, and didn't even wake up after we took off her life jacket.

Julia: 8 Months

Just a quick update on Julia now that she is 8-months old...

• She is very good at pulling up on chairs and other objects so she can stand like a big girl.
  
• She loves the nursery rhyme, "round and round the mulberry bush..." and does a cute wiggle/dance when she hears it.
  
• She is very talkative, mostly making "dada" and "yaya" sounds.
  
• She loves shoes, particularly the soles of shoes.  Either she kicks hers off so she can get them in her mouth, or she finds ours to play with.
  
• She still loves tags, especially price tags made of paper.  Magazines are fun too, if she can get her hands on them.
• She does not like chicken and turkey, and is very dramatic when she gets some mixed in with her food.  She will eat it, but gags and complains and will eventually break into tears if we persist with it.
  
• Her favorite foods are avocado, sweet potato, and squash. 
  
• She loves "peekaboo" and being tickled too.

Trip to Fort Worth

Julia and I made a quick trip to Fort Worth for a couple of days.  We stayed with Lindsay, Kolby, and Shane.  Julia thought their house was Disney World - there were so many new toys for her to play with.  She also enjoyed seeing her aunt, uncle, and cousin.  It was a busy trip - time with family, a bridal shower, a visit with the Flemings, and a day trip to McKinney, and shopping with Lindsay and Shane.

Uncle Kolby and Aunt Lindsay

The girls at Jill's bridal shower.  It was so good to see them.

We had the chance to meet Eli for the first time.  It was difficult to get them both to look and smile at the camera without moving or blocking one another.

Julia seemed so tiny compared to Shane, who is almost two.