anddddd we're off...like a herd of turtles

Simon is starting his residency interviews this week in Missouri and Illinois and is allowing his ladies to tag along...

 *note the enthusiasm radiating from Julia's expressive face

We know he will do great but wish him a little luck and maybe say a little prayer for him.

 

introducing...

Julia's new bestie...(leaving her beloved windows very jealous)

 The sparsely decorated Christmas tree (or not decorated at all Christmas tree...the lights came with....)

Yes, we like our trees naked around here...and by we I mean Simon. I've decided to be a kind wife and let him have his way in this department this year...white lights and no hat to speak of for our artificial guest.

Happy Advent.

phantom

Simon swears he didn't take this video and I'm 100% positive I didn't take it either. So...it appears we have a ghost living among us that enjoys capturing super unexciting clips of little J

 (and we know that YOU [Seaton family] will find it enjoyable)

found on our dresser...

    

thankful

for our fat and happy little girl (or cutest boy lookalike)

Even if she gets an F in her tummy time class:

vowel sounds

triple threat: a sprinkle of happy, a dash of whiney and a dollop of three chins.

Simon Says

1. A few nights ago I heard Simon walk into the bathroom and step onto the scale to weigh himself (as opposed to all those other things people do when stepping on a scale). After a medium-sized pause he called out, "Grace, how much do you think jeans weigh?"

2. As Simon was greeting me with a kiss (and catching a whiff of my apppppparently offensive breath) that same evening he again paused and very seriously asked, "uh.............have you been snacking on one of Julia's diapers??"

the MOST won-der-ful time of the ... day

Julia would like all readers to believe that she is always happy ... always carefree ... always low maintenance ... and always agreeable. 

Her parents would like all readers to know that this is most certainly not the case. The proof is in the following photos captured at a recent bedtime .... her mostttt hated time of every single day. 

 To try and deter me from my mission (seemingly impossible)..she tries to scare me with the meanest face she is able to conjure...

scare factor upped when she dons her pink and leopard print loooong geriatric nighty

When that doesn't knock me off track, she goes into denial mode and seeks solace in her latest pastime: fist sucking...

When she realizes that I still mean business she refuses to make eye contact with me and starts her audible pouting and robotic arm flailing...

She then spots Simon and mistakenly thinks that he might save her from her cruelly intentioned madre...

And then...she pulls out the big guns...

ugly, ugly, ugly

Of course, she always survives the night and wakes up eager to show off her bald spots and old man bed head...

El Fin... for now. You can be sure that we can't wait to do it alllll over again tonight!

little boy blue

Presenting our two month old son, Julia...

 

When I ask her to smile (80 million times in a row)...sometimes she complies...

 but usually she just does this...

 and this...

 We were heading out the door last night and Simon suggested that we top her off with a pink, floral headband to feminize her look a bit...so we did. That didn't stop a stranger from inquiring ... "girl or boy??" later that evening (and to be honest...I didn't really blame her).

Have a wonderful weekend.

two (2) things

1. Pampers diapers are the worst. Worst.  I will be boycotting them for the rest of my life ... just as soon as we have used up the two boxes that contain over 200 of the blasted things.

2. As Simon was leaving for class earlier he gave me a brief hug and said..."if you HAPPEN to find yourself in a shower this afternoon with maybe some soap...lots of soap..that wouldn't be the WORST thing in the world..."
Apparently he doesn't appreciate that I have been sacrificing all time previously dedicated to hygienic practices in order to try to sweat off these last million pesky postpartum pounds.

new game, new name

homemade bebe recliner

Simon and I have been seriously discussing renaming Julia. Something like Juliadiva or Juliarequiresnosleepever or maybe Juliacriesuntileveryoneintheneighborhoodcanhear. .... I think they all have nice rings to them? Julia's latest trick is to work herself into an inconsolable state in the middle of the night until her parents are both very wide awake, appear concerned and have pulled out all of their hair (eyebrows and lashes included). She then wiggles her miniature magic wand and somehow finds herself tucked tightly into her parents bed where they can wake up every seven minutes to give her back her pacifier (because her life is seriously over when her pacifier falls out).

However..somehow, little J still manages to be very smiley the next morning and her parents find themselves forgiving and forgetting (somewhat reluctantly) the little lady...

I hope these count as social smiles because if they don't she is WAY behind on the developmental train. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other happy Julia news.....

She DID discover a new window to stare at/out of the other day...

 and any digestive problem that the formula had posed has obviously been solved.

If you need me, I will be  harvesting steroid enhanced coffee beans and brewing the strongest coffee in the whole entire universe that shall be sweetened with Red Bull and spiced with a Monster Energy Drink.

Enjoy your Wednesday.

the (really, really) shouldn'ts

1. The super skinnies shouldn't stand in the front of the room during exercise classes.

2. Also, the super skinnies shouldn't wear spandex while standing in the front of the room during exercise classes.

3. Babies shouldn't spit up in their mother's clean ponytails.

4. Babies also shouldn't be allowed to cry like their world has come crashing down around them when they are alone in a moving car with their mother.

5. I shouldn't bake and devour large quantities of decadent, sugary things late at night.

6. Cold weather shouldn't exist.

7. Four am shouldn't be a time seen by anyone. (all humans included)

8. I shouldn't complain so much.

Cheerfully and happily (obviously) yours,

Grace

judge away. . .

I've been having a difficult time finding a good book to sink my hungry teeth into these days. After too many minutes of browsing the library shelves I returned home with a mediocre book with a super cheesy title (not to be revealed to the masses...but it may sound something like A Miracle at St. Cecilia's...maybe). It has been getting the job done...eight minutes of mindless reading before bed and a page reluctantly devoured here and there throughout the day. I was clearly not nearly discriminating enough while picking out the blessed book as Simon recently picked up the book and read the description out loud to me...trying not to laugh TOO hard...

"If you like the series Touched by an Angel...this is the book for you..."


ugh.

whoopsy.

daisies.

and back to the biblioteca I go.

pronto.

newest trick

Aside from staring out windows, crossing her feet and permanently staining all of her cute outfits by way of diaper failure..Julia has mastered the reallllly fun and realllllly exciting Bumbo sit. (fyi...her outfits DO get changed on occasion...)

busybee Julia

Occasionally the house will fall quiet and little Julia will disappear from our sight. We can always be sure that we will find that she has made her way to her favorite perch in the house..on the big person bed staring out the window...


She just stares and stares and stares


Nothing can deter her from her favorite pastime ... she does not let anyone nor anything get in the way of her staring...


Sometimes we have to give her a little startle and tempt a smile to bring her back to reality...indoors.


But as sooooon as we look away she settles RIGHT back in for a nice long stare...


Simon has joked that she must be under the impression that her mother is the East window and her father is the South window and that she is an obvious product of their love. She must be paying some serious homage to her proverbial parentals.

just another baby blog

I realize this has become jjjjust another blog plastered with baby photos...and for that I am sorry...sort of. I'll just consider myself an uber modern and techy mom that opts out of frills such as baby books and tangible photos and takes the easy avenue...blog style.

Here we have little J showing off her headband made by the very talented ANNA and her ability to sit up with the help of a chair:



She requested that we let her TRY walking the other day...she decided the attempt was a tad premature but appreciated our efforts, of course:



Feeling rather adventurous, Julia asked that she be hoisted onto Simon's shoulders so that she might gather his hair into a pony/rat tail. I would say she succeeded:



She is such a kind little dear. In an attempt to hide her mom's postpartum face chub...Julia put on HER fattest face for this photo:

Amen.

check it

The most lovely fairy Godmother in all of the land with her inquisitve little Goddaughter...


Mary is hosting a superbly wonderful giveaway over at her BLOG....go go go!!!

And...over here at Camp Patton we have a little camper that seems to require fewer hours of sleep than the average bear. If she so much as smells an activity in which she is not included...she lets us know in her dialect of screech and scream.

Happy Monday night.

Chalk

Last night:

Simon: Give me a high five

Grace: ok, why? (high five)

Simon: We already ate dinner, loaded the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen and it is merely............5:07 pm.

ALSO...to continue and maintain the geriatric lifestyle that we lead oh so successfully these days...

Last night I went to the library in search of some John Steinbeck but instead came back with a book entitled "B is for Beer" and this movie that brought back some not so pleasant memories from last year...

attention glutton

Julia sensed that Simon and I were enjoying a little movie viewing without her very royal highness. So we let her join in the obvious fun:

World's most spoiled six week old.

ZUMBA

AKA:

1. Ricky Martin meets crack cocaine.

2. Arm flailing, leg stomping adult temper tantrum.

3. Thigh, upper arm and ear lobe jiggling 'dance'.

4. A crazyperson's recreation.

5. Knee slapping, laugh inducing and permanent eyebrow raising by any outsiders.

6. High volume of highly inappropriate hip thrusting, hip circling and hip gyrating.

7. A class I will never, ever attend again after making the fatal mistake of doing so last night.

___________________________________________________________


Onto a more pleasant subject matter:

Aunt Emily and Julia


Simon and daughter Julia


Grace, Julia and nursing cover (thank you to Genevieve's mom for loaning--favorite invention of all time)


Uncles Paul, Andrew, Pedro and niece Julia


A most feminine Genevieve and her boyfriend, Julia


Pedro

'drobe despair

"Did she get dressed in the dark?!" Simon asked after seeing her attire this morning: