happy birthday grampa steve-o!

I forgot to take the camera out at my parents house, so we took a few quick pics when we got home to show off her little outfit for the day (it's still a little big on her!)

4 weeks

Hey everyone! Not going to write a lot, but thought I'd post some pictures! Yesterday Juliette was 4 weeks old, so we had our weekly photo shoot...and I took some other pics too. Life is good.

baby butt :-)
you can't see the whole lamb in this one, but it's cute!

I wonder how outdated the dvd/receiver/directv thing will look in 20 years...

chillin in the swing (also, this is her first day wearing socks!)
no more pictures, please (the paparazzi are too much!)

going on a walk to the neighbors
neighbor...

tummy time! (i think she looks like a turtle when she lifts her head...)

Well, hope you all have a nice weekend! We are getting ready to go to Grampa Steve-O and Gramma Jule's house for Grampa's birthday! We'll post some pics from that next week!

another monday...not that it matters

This is how we start our Mondays (or anyday...) after "breakfast":

I love that days of the week don't mean anything (well, for my schedule at least, I understand some people have to work!). Well, weekends do mean something because Joey is home and that is helpful, but I guess my point is I can wear pajama's everyday. It is awesome and I highly recommend it (another way to achieve this without having a baby is to be a Phy Ed teacher...).

This weekend we were actually pretty busy cleaning around the house and getting ready for the week. Joey also had a golf lesson and a round this weekend, plus going to work out. I went into work on Sunday and then to Target and Rainbow...got a lot done. Joey also cleaned the house :-)

On the Juliette front, she has been awake a lot (during the day!!!) and seems more alert. She is also getting pretty strong...doesn't feel like a fragile little baby. Not a huge fan of the bath yet, but we'll get there.

Here are some pictures we took last night...I've been realizing they are all of her and we need some with us in them!

week 3 and some surprise donuts

Again, sorry for my lack of posting...I always feel like I should have a picture when I post and the taking a picture to putting in on the computer seems to be such a process (you know, all 30 seconds!).

Anyway, here are some from last night with her lamb...she is already 3 weeks!! It's so funny because she could've been less than a week old, or even late at this point! She slept through most of the pictures and she's in her outfit from week one because: a. she pooped in her other outfit and b. she only has like 3 outfits that fit her right now (well, at least with sleeves so she doesn't scratch herself too much)

sleeping...

taking pictures is such hard work...

Things are still going well here. Sleep is actually ok. In 3 weeks I've probably had 2 tough nights (and probably not all that tough considering). We're working on tummy time and her head seems pretty strong (not that I know what to compare this to, but it seems strong to me!). She can also roll on to her back when she is on her tummy- she did that last week I think. We've taken a trip to the Green Mill Corp office and a few to the g-parents. I also took her to Concordia last night for my Alumni Council meeting...she slept the whole time! We're working on being a bit more mobile :-)

Finally, today mom dropped off some more donuts. She said she just couldn't let go...and I am fine with that. I like donuts!!

DUE DATE!

Well, today was my due date. I always loved that it was on the 17th- seemed so fitting. Then the fact that she came early let me know she was an Erickson :-) It's funny to think that she could still be in there! I did love being pregnant and wasn't really ready to be "done", but she had her own schedule!

We also celebrated today with our last donut Friday. I am really going to miss these! My mom did an awesome job every week! Here is my last plate of donuts (I shared with Joey...didn't eat them all myself!)...

Here are a few more pics from the week...

Yesterday was 2 weeks, so here is her lamb picture:

Here she is with Gramma Jule...who has seen her everyday- even if it's just stopping by for a quick kiss! She just can't get enough!

I have been trying to get better at calling back and setting up times for visitors...so if I haven't called you or emailed you, maybe try me again. Next week Joey is work and my mom is not here so it will just be me and Juliette! It is still hard to time things perfectly, as we're not on any real schedule, but we try to be cute for visitors :-)

Have a great weekend!

Happy 2 weeks!

Today Juliette is 2 weeks old! That went pretty fast!

Here are some pics from her newborn photo shoot yesterday (my favorite is now at the top of this blog):

(to see the rest go to http://stulagu.bigfolioblog.com/ )

She was a bit fussy yesterday, but was awesome during the pics, so I'll take it!

checking in...

Not too much to report today. Things are still going well. My mom took off yesterday and tomorrow to help me out. She has been awesome. Yesterday she brought breakfast and then made cookies while I snuck out for 45 minutes to run some errands. Tomorrow, no big plans, but it will be Juliette's 2 week b-day! Then Friday is her due date!!! How crazy is that?? She could still be in my tummy right now!?!

Yesterday Andrea came over to meet Juliette (she was out of town when we were in the hospital) and then Lindsey dropped by for a quick minute after work. She also told me that she is expecting a...girl! (They were going to not find out for this one, but has the lady write it down for them...I knew she wouldn't last!!). Today Katrina is coming over to take Juliette's newborn pics. I'll share them when I get them...I am sure they will turn out cute :-)

Also for a picture fix, here is Juliette in one of the onesies that I made when I went down to Meghan's in March (I have her little mittens on so she doesn't scratch her face before the photo shoot!). I had to take the pic and hold her, so it's not the best, but you get the idea...

Finally, here is a picture of the sweater that Laura's mom made for Juliette (I saw a preview at my shower, but just got the finished product in the mail yesterday!). It is SUPER nice and I am so excited for Juliette to have something especially handmade for her! It won't fit her for a long while, but I am sure the time will go fast!

Thanks for checking in on us!

you understand...

Sorry for my lack of blogging lately, but I've been busy :-) Here are some pics from the last week for you... Overall things are going well, she is still a good sleeper and an awesome baby! We are very lucky!!!

first stroller ride...down to unkie b and antie k's house

first visit to gramma jule and grandpa steve-o's house


visit from the fastner's...grandma's, mom's and kids!

noelle in charge of it all!

these pictures were taken on time, just posted late!

this one is gramma jule's favorite b/c it looks like they are holding hands

tried for the actual effect of her size

this one is kinda sweet

So there you go, a quick Juliette fix...I'll try to get better with the updates! Have a good week!

i've got a sleeper!

I wonder when my luck will run out??? Juliette is a sleeper (I was not...I had colic and cried constantly!), so I think we're lucky. I have to wake her up to eat half the time. Now this could all change, but right now it's a great way to ease into things. Plus, her daddy can not handle ANY little cry! He's a sucker...but I love it! Here are some pics from our first few days at home...

all bundled up...

sleeping in the swing...she's only been in it like twice

what are you looking at?

so tiny in her crib...

playing with mom...

before playing with mom (i look awesome here... but it's funny)

So there are some pics. She is awesome.

I have tried to get back to everyone with calls/emails/texts, so if I didn't get back to you, sorry. But you're all supposed to understand and I know you'll get over it :-) This first week we kind of decided on a "no visitors" thing (except immediate fam), since it was Joey's time off from work and so that we can start to get adjusted without being overwhelmed. Next week we'll start having people over to see the princess, but still keeping visits short and only one a day (again, we'll see how it all goes). Thanks for all your generous offers and support. We're excited for you all to meet Juliette!

perfect

My life is perfect (see last post!!). I couldn't be and more happy or lucky. Everything has exceeded expectations and gone awesome. I will try to highlight a few things (hopefully this will avoid some really long paragraphs that I have already told to many of you--if you want the long version you can give me a call!)...

1. Women now hate me. I pushed for 10 minutes. Literally. I started at 11pm and she was born at 11:10. My exact words when she came out we "That was it. That was easy." (note: the epidural should get some mad props for this). I did have a small tear...one stitch.

2. Joey is awesome. He LOVES his baby girl. You can just see it in him. He is very eager to hold her and soothe her. His schedule had been turned upside down in the past week from work and this early delivery turned it around even more.

3. My mom rocks. Most of you know this, but I had to put it out there anyway! This would be many paragraphs long...

4. My dad probably wins the award for the most emotional.

5. Brent and Kristine have been great! They were here the whole night on Thursday and stopped by a few time yesterday too. They have really been racking the miles up on their car! (fyi, if you didn't already know, they live 2 stop signs from the hospital too!)

6. When I delivered on Thursday, I basically did it during one shift, so I had the same nurse, Andrea. She was GREAT! I was very lucky to have her! The other nurses here have been really good too, but she was the best!

7. Juliette's pediatrician is an old neighbor from when I was like 4, Dr. Balfanz. His daughter and I were bff's back then. On Friday the on call doctor to come see Juliette was actually MY pediatrician who I had (Dr. Coyne)! It was fun to see him. I expected to see him again today, but in walked Dr. Balfanz!!! His daughter had called him and told him I delivered (she knew through the magic of facebook) so he called Dr. Coyne and said to stay home, that he was going to come in! Are you kidding me? On the 4th? Who does that? How lucky are we??? (This happened about 30 minutes ago so my mom and I are still in awe over it!)

8. Back to Brent. Through the magic of oversharing, he has learned a lot in the past 2 days. He has been a good trooper with listening to it all (sometimes 2 or 3 times when different visitors come). Juliette has still earned me some immunity!

9. I kinda like being in the hospital. I had always wanted to be because I thought it would be fun for people to come and visit. So far, so good. It has been really fun to see people and more are coming today. Who doesn't love being waited on 24/7?

10. Technology is pretty cool. Joey rolls his eyes when I am constantly checking my email, texts, or facebook, but I like it! It makes me happy to share our news and read all the comments that people leave...I realize how many people we have around us and it makes me smile.

Ok, so that kind of looks like some sort of Top Ten list, but it was really just my thoughts as they came to me. Baby is on her way back from some tests, so I am going to stare at her for a while...

Thanks for the love and support!

Juliette Grace

Here she is!!!

Juliette Grace

6bs. 11oz.

19 1/2 in.

born 7/2/09

11:10pm

For a few more pics, you can go to http://stulagu.bigfolioblog.com/ and look! I will also be posting a riduculous amount of pictures and time goes on...

baby likes...

When I first started to feel the baby kick/move it was really fun (still is!). Then Joey and I started associating her moving with whatveer we were eating/doing/etc. So it just became "baby likes..." and we would add in whatever she liked! Here are some things that baby likes...

Tacos (which made taco tuesday a staple in our house!)ice cream (who doesn't like this?)

eminem (seriously, i was in the car once and she was into it!)
pizza (this was probably a given...)

She likes lots of other things, but that's jsut what popped into my head while writing this...it's kind of been a fun little saying!

Also, last night I stopped by Brent and Kristine's to drop something off. I was able to get Juliette to move for them! Brent was unsure if he would want to do it, so I just grabbed his hand and put it on my belly when he didn't really have time to think about it. Kristine got a little more time and got to feel some good moving!! It was pretty cool!

july!

(stole this picture from Brent's facebook...)

Whoo hoo! Made it to July! I never thought I would realy go super early in June or anything, but I really like ruby for a birthstone (if yours was yellow topaz, you'd understand!). So now I can say I am having a baby THIS month! Joey actually called me at about 12:05 this morning to tell me...which I thought was pretty cute!

The next goal is to make it past the 11th b/c we have tickets to Green Day. Yeah, I know, I am already starting off as an awesome parent, huh? Other than that, July is pretty low key...I have a date night with Joey tomorrow and a walk and a lunch here and there, but my schedule is pretty light- which is good!

Totally switching gears...we got the cutest present last night!! Bonus points because it came UPS and who doesn't like to have a UPS package waiting for them at their front door? A friend of mine from college, Jamie (who now lives in AZ), sent this little lamb from the build-a-bear store. Then she sent little cards (like the size of business cards) with "1 week", "2 weeks", you get the pattern... so that I can take Juliette's picture next to the lamb and put the "week" card with it. It's a "Watch Me Grow" kit. SO thoughtful! And now I want to steal the idea for future moms-to-be!!