Routine Exam........

We took Julia in for her yearly doctor visit. Everything was looking good until the doctor took a look at her spine. He made her bend over and touch her toes and he noticed a little curvature in her back. Asked a few questions about Julia, if she had any back pain or trouble breathing etc. I told the doctor she has had no complaints. She is active and healthy in all aspects! So he recommended we go get some x-rays of her back to check for a curve and also an x-ray of her legs to see if they were actually the same length because her knees seemed to be off a little bit. One seemed to be higher than her other on. 

So the next day we went down to Timpanogos Regional Hospital to get the x-rays done. Julia was excited to see her bones. She put a gown on and was able to stand very still to take the pictures. She even asked if she could see the pictures. The technicians were happy to oblige her and took her back to the room and showed her her skeleton. She thought that was the coolest thing ever. I thought was cool to but was concerned at how big the s curve was in her back. Her legs and hips weren't an issue just the angle of the curve in her back.

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The report back from the pediatrician was there was a significant curvature and that we needed to go see a specialist. First its her extra tooth and now the curve in her back. Poor thing!! So I made a few phone calls and got an appointment for the end of the week. Everything feel in to place rather quickly with all of this and I was glad. Most of the appointments weren't for a few months out and that is agony as a mother trying to be positive and hope for the best. So anyway, we met with the specialist and she said right now we just have to monitor Julia every 6 months. Hopefully the curve stays were it is at and doesn't get worse. If that is the case she will have to wear a brace so the curve won't get any worse. There is no cure for Scoliosis. It could just correct itself. It could become better over time. Most people go on to lead normal lives with this prognosis. But as parents you always want your kids happy and healthy. But for now Julia is just that. Best thing for her is to stay active and that she is. She plays soccer and has her brother to keep up with. We will keep everyone posted as we get more information at her future appointments!!

Trip to Salt Lake........

Over the weekend Layne was up doing a radio show in Salt Lake. He said meet me up here and I will show you around and then we can hang out in Salt Lake for awhile. Julia got to go in and listen to daddy as he finished up his show. She was pretty excited about that. It was neat to see the inside of a radio station, not what I expected.

Afterwards, we decided to hang out downtown. We had never been to City Creek so we decided to take a peek. But first we parked right in front of the Church History Museum. We had never been inside and so we went in and looked around. It was pretty cool. All kinds of cool stuff to look at! The kids loved it and upstairs was really hands on for the kids.

 This was what a bunk bed on a ship looked like. They got to climb in and take a look. Not very comfortable in my opinion.

 The Angel Moroni! Pretty cool to see one up close.

Christian is helping build Nephi's ship. It was neat to watch him explore. They both were excited to look around and tell us about the Book of Mormon stories they remembered.

 Next we went to look at City Creek. It was basically the mall but outdoors. It was really cool because they had fountains everywhere and a creek that ran the whole distance of the shopping area. The kids of course could not resist the water, lots of touching and drinking and splashing going on around the water. They would have jumped right in if we would have let them. We walked down to get something to eat and just enjoyed the day. People watching, eating, being together, which is few and far between most weeks. We even went into the Disney store.....how could we not!

Our last stop was of course Temple Square. It is so awesome to be there and see all the visitors and sister missionaries. The kids loved it too. The flowers were so pretty and it was a beautiful day to be outside. It was great to be there together as a family!

First day of Preschool.........

Today was Christian's big day to go to preschool. He was excited too. He gets to go on Tues. and Thurs. mornings this year! He didn't want anything to do with the backpack I gave in. I tried to get him to put in on but he was not having it. He wouldn't even let me get a quick picture with him holding it or wearing it. Oh well. I tried to get a few pictures to document the occasion but lately he is not one to sit still and pose like Julia! He is ready when he is ready so you have to be quick.

He is ready to learn and have fun. He will get to learn his letters, numbers, shapes and colors. Here is to a new adventure Christian! What a big boy.....can't believe my baby is going to school already!

 Mrs. Gen wanted us to say our goodbyes in the car and just have them walk up to the house by themselves. I thought he would want me to go with him but he jumps out of the car and saw the other kids and just ran to the door. Another big relief. He is so big and brave. Way to go Christian!!

First day of 2nd grade..........

1st day of 2nd grade! She is excited and ready to go! She got up without a fuss and got ready just excited to be going back to school! It was a rainy first day so we didn't get pictures at the school but we can always get one on the front porch! Can't believe she is in 2nd grade already! Here's to a great year JULIA!

And as always the traditional 1st day of school cookies when she comes home. This year she wanted to have peanut butter blossoms :) She said school was great and couldn't wait to go again tomorrow! That is a relief for me since last year she had a hard time transitioning from 1/2 day to a whole day! No more tears, all grown up!

Back to School.........

The Friday before we went down to see who Julia's teacher would be for 2nd grade. We were surprised to find out that one of the 1st grade teachers had moved up to 2nd grade, Mrs. Watson. She was excited to meet her and to see who was in her class.


Tonight we went to Julia's school to see where her new class would be and meet her teacher. She got to pick out her own desk and meet Mrs. Watson. She picked a desk by a girl she knew from Primary. We walked out of the school and Julia was so excited she kept saying, "I want to go to school right now!"

We went home and got ready for school the next day. Julia helped make her lunch and picked out her outfit to wear for the 1st day. Layne gave both kids back to school blessings for the new year. They both sat very quietly and listened.

Christian also gets to go to preschool this year. He will get 2 years of preschool in before he even gets to kindergarten. He is just as excited as Julia. We went on a Thursday morning to go meet Christian's teacher. She has the preschool right out of her home in our neighborhood. And she is also Christian's Sunbeam teacher at church.

We went to her house and she showed them where to take off their shoes and hang up their bags. Then we went downstairs to see the classroom. It was so cute and Christian found his desk and colored a picture and played with play-doh while Mrs. Gen. talked to all the moms. When we left he got to pick out a special pencil and we took a picture with his very first preschool teacher!

Happy 7th Birthday..........

WOW 7!!! Can't believe it. Just yesterday she was a my little baby! It goes so fast. Anyway, Julia was counting down the days to her birthday in Julia. She would get up each day and tell us how many days were left until her birthday. The day finally arrived and she was soooo excited!

We started the day with a yummy breakfast at Kneaders. The only place I could think of that Julia might eat something. She isn't big on breakfast food, only bagels and cold cereal! It was fun to see her be so excited for the day ahead of us!

We got home and she couldn't wait any longer to open up grandma and grandpa Cromwell's birthday card! She is saving it up to buy something special. She does see things she likes at the store and I remind her that she can use her birthday money to get something!

The day before a party in our house takes a lot of work. I have always made the kids birthday cakes. So that takes the most time. I love to have them wake up in the morning and come out to the kitchen to see what is waiting for them. Julia LOVES How to Train Your Dragon right now! So that is the theme we went with this year. She made a request for balloons so that was a must. And I found some cute How to Train Your Dragon decorations online. I couldn't believe they didn't have anything in the stores. Thank goodness for the internet and online shopping. Makes it easy!

I kept looking and looking for ideas on how to do this themed cake and it was not easy. I don't do fondant and so it was hard to come up with something this year. Julia couldn't decide either. So I decided for her and it was a surprise. She likes blue so I went with blue frosting. I was just about to frost the cake and got called away from my kitchen only to come back and find that Christian had added more food coloring to the frosting I had already made. It was very green. So scratch the first batch of frosting. The second batch was what she would have wanted and she did say, "Mom, I wouldn't have liked a green cake!"

I luckily found the 2 main characters that Julia loves and added them to the cake with fake candy rocks. I think it turned out really cute and she loved it so thats all that really matters!

 This year we decided to have a "friends" party along with family. For the activity we all decided to go see the 2nd "Dragons" movie. Julia was so excited to see the movie and actually wanted to dress in all black to be like Toothless. I said lets leave the black for when you are at home. But it was a cute movie and she was happy to have all her cousins and friends with her. We went home and then got out the silly string. Julia also requested this. Every time we go to the dollar store she always wants to get silly string and so we went for it. I made pretend shields for them to fend off attacks, counted down, and off they went. It was fun to watch.

 

 Once we cleaned up we headed inside to open presents. The best and most fun part, as Julia says! She was exited to open every single thing. New soccer cleats and shin guards, a new watch that lights up and to help her learn to tell time, a new home made quilt from aunt Amy in all her favorite colors, a flying toothless dragon, and of course a new tiger! She got new tennis shoes and some clothes for school, a huge bag of pistachios and of course some chocolate! She was one happy girl!

Once we opened up the presents we moved onto the cake. She blew out the candles with ease and said she had made a wish! It was a fun day overall and she had a great day! She said it was the best day ever! One of her favorite things to say! I'm so glad Julia is in our family. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!

JULIA AT 7:

46 inches tall and weighs in at 48 pounds!

Her favorite color is blue and any shade at that matter

Julia loves to watch How to Train Your Dragon and pretends to be toothless all the time. She also likes to watch musicals, and you can still find her watching WallyKaZam or Bubble Guppies.

She really likes fruit. Watermelon has been a summer favorite but she loves any and all kinds of fruit. She really loves chocolate too. I will find chocolate wrappers all around the house. Or you will find the chocolate chip bag hiding in a special spot she finds in the pantry. She loves nuts, curly noodles, pizza and her new all time favorite, salad, with croutons, cheese and cucumbers with ranch dressing!

She has started the 2nd grade and still gets a little scared to go in the mornings but comes home saying it was a good day!

Julia LOVES to play with the girls next door. She is always asking if she can go play. They all get along really great and I'm so glad she has good friends!

She loves to play soccer and she is really good at it. Her season starts in a few weeks and she can't wait. Every time she goes to practice she gets out her new cleats and shin guards. She is learning a lot through her awesome coach and we hope to have a really fun season!

Julia is very strong willed and a perfectionist. She still has to do everything perfect the first time around and gets frustrated easily because of it. But we constantly remind her that you have to practice to become better. Its okay to make mistakes. But with her personality she is self motivated and works hard!

She loves to have her proctor sisters all to herself. She loves to dress like them and do her hair like them. She loves to listen to music with them, watch movies with them and just be silly with them. She LOVES having her big sister(s) around!

She is really good at reading. We don't always like to do our summer reading but once she starts she likes to find out what happens next in the book. There is a 100 book club at school this year for her grade and we are going to try and hit that 100 mark. It should be challenging but hopefully fun at the same time!

Julia is becoming to be a great helper around the house. She is great when she has a checklist of things to do. She likes to be in control of what she does and how she does it. She gets her work done and she works hard at doing it. She is also an example to her brother. She does a great job with helping Christian, a big sister cheerleader!

She has gotten really good at riding her bike and roller skating over the summer. She decided to take off the training wheels this summer and off she went. She also roller skated a lot too because her friend got the same roller skates as Julia and they would practice up and down the side walk.

 

 HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY JULIA!!

Days of Summer Part 2..........

So the first day of August we decided to do our 2nd annual camp out at grandma Mott's house. We get the kids together and have a little BBQ and s'mores. We played a fun new game Kristy found, Rainbow Tag. You get face paint crayons and place hide them all around the yard. Each person has to find each color of the rainbow and mark it on their arm. The catch is there is one person we call Pinky that wears a pink shirt. There job is to tag you and wipe on color off each time they catch you. The person to get all the colors of the rainbow on their arm without getting caught by pinky wins.  I was sure how this was going to go down with the ages in the bunch, butuIt was a success, the kids had so much fun with it. It gave them a chance to run around the yard get tired out and be ready to set up the tent.  It's always a fun time. We stayed late this year but didn't sleep over. I had to work the next day and so no sleeping out for us but the kids still had fun.

 RAINBOW TAG..........


 


 

 

 

 



We had silly times too. Playing in boxes and taking selfies. Having movie nights with the neighbors and being rewarded with play doh!  Such a fun way to pass the day!

Also took the kids to their 6 month dental checkups. They actually don't mind going to the dentist. Julia went first and was brave. She got x-rays, brushed and flossed. No cavities but we found out she has an extra tooth growing in behind her missing front tooth. (More on that later!) The picture is bad. She isn't scared or worried she is just trying to sit up and I caught her in an awkward pose.

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Christian also did fantastic. This time, thanks to big sister for setting a great example, Christian jumped right up into the chair and sat still. He got x-rays too. He even let the hygienist brush and floss his teeth. He was even giving her high 5's! Last time we went he barely opened his mouth. But in his case that is normal, just gets him in a routine and plus he had no cavities. I always tell him we have to get the cavity bugs out of his teeth and it seems to have worked! He is great at letting me brush his teeth :) Julia was being a great big sister. She was sitting right by him and holding his hand!

So onto Julia' extra tooth. So the dentist sent the x-ray he had to an oral surgeon and then we had to go make a visit to him the very next day bright and early. Julia had heard the dentist and I talking about this extra tooth and how if they needed to they would go in and cut her gums and then take it out for her and hopefully the permanent tooth would come down. So the night before I told her lets get some clothes ready so we don't have to worry about that so early in the morning. This was the following conversation:
Julia: So mom I need to get a brave shirt.
Me: Okay, let me find your 'princess' brave shirt.
Julia: No, no I need a shirt that says I'M brave, like you know.
Me: Well, what do you think you should wear.
Julia: I don't know.
Me: Well, how about a BYU shirt?
Julia: They aren't brave?!
Me: Well, they have to be tough, and they have to work hard.
Julia: Okay, which one should I wear?
Me: How about the one that says, 'Rise Up'?
Julia: What does that mean?
Me: Well, you have to Rise up to the challenge, be brave and be strong.
Julia: Okay I will wear that one!

So we wake up to get ready and she asked me what kinda of stuff will I be able to eat. I said what ever you want, not knowing what she meant. So she kinda gets mad and I said hold on a minute what do you mean and why are you so upset. She told me well I thought I would get to eat ice cream because they are going to, you know, cut open my, you know and take out the tooth. I hadn't realized she was worried about getting her tooth cut out that morning. I told her we were just going to go down to another dentist to have some more pictures taken. She then replied, "Worst day ever!" She was upset because she wasn't going to be eating ice cream and pudding all day.

Long story short. The extra tooth is close to the nerve of her permanent tooth. There is a space between the 2 teeth but the oral surgeon said if it were my daughter I would wait about 8-9 months to see if the permanent tooth gets more mature and longer and then we can go in and cut out the extra tooth. Until then she may not even have her permanent tooth come through the skin, or if it does come through it won't come all the way out! So we will see what happens in several months.

Here she is getting a 3D image taken. The x-rays and images were really cool to look at. She was really brave and all the ladies kept saying how cute she was! Such a big girl!

We had a new addition to our extended family this summer. The day before Julia's birthday her little baby cousin Grayson joined us! My sister was induced at 6pm and had the baby at 8:16pm. Talk about fast!! He sure is cute! While mom, dad, and new baby brother were in the hospital we got to have Peyton over for a little while! It was fun to have her visit. Julia loved taking care of her. She will be a great baby sitter one day! Welcome to the world Grayson!

The very next day was Julia's birthday! But I will leave that to its own separate post! Its been a great summer!