Julia's Baptism

We got some sad news a few weeks ago that our beloved pastor is retiring, so it was such a blessing and a joy to have her baptize Julia before she leaves. Just 4 years ago, she baptized Eric as well, and it brought back so many memories. Where does time go?!

4 Years Ago! Baby Eric...

Baby Bliss!

Wow, as I go through these I'm having such a hard time deciding which pictures to post - they're all so good! What a special time! This stage for Julia is baby bliss - she's sitting by herself, rolling all over the place and eating solid foods. What a busy and fun time! Meanwhile, Eric has been busy starting his 3rd year of preschool! He's been very busy with swimming lessons, playgroups and music class as well. Such a great start to the new school year!

This seat is about to be outgrown...you can see how crazy J sits in it now!

Eric and I tried to pick raspberries this year but only got 12 - literally. I guess this season was a bad one. Oh well, we still had fun!

Such an angel

In mid August, Julia started eating solid foods and took to it right away. She is a great eater!
Hey, this is pretty good!

Eric is a great helper and loves to feed his sister :) (And don't worry, she doesn't sit like this on the table anymore - it was only the first few times we fed her!! And she was ALWAYS closely supervised!!)

So happy together!

Julia spends lots of time bouncing - here, on laps, on the floor.....

Eric's first day of school!! Such a big 4 year old!

Eric talking to one of his teachers, Miss Becky

At the end of August, Julia moved to fruits and veggies, starting with potatoes and carrots. At first, it was a very messy process!!

Our good friend Keith got to visit!

Such a happy baby!

Julia was sitting so well that we started taking her outside to watch while we played with Eric. This was her first time touching grass!

We went to a new apple orchard this year and had a ball! Eric LOVES apples so had a blast.

We even found some honeycrisp apples that they said were almost gone - I think Eric sniffed them out

It was such a beautiful day!

Later that week, Eric's class had a field trip to a different apple orchard where Julia and I got to tag along!

Eric in "apple class"

We all had fun!

Julia loves bath time!
She is starting to get up on her hands and knees!

Here was the first time that she tried finger foods ("puffs")

During an especially cold fall morning, we went with Grandma and Grandpa to the pumpkin patch to get some donuts, cider and of course pumpkins! We all bundled up and had a great morning!

Hilton Head 2011

Well, all I know is that Eric and Julia are very lucky!! We continued to trend this year of having Eric go to the beach every year since he was born. Will it stay the same for Julia? We'll see!! Either way, we had a great time and loved introducing Julia to one of our favorite places. Here are some of the highlights!

We stopped on our drive down on Lake Norman, one of our favorite spots

Julia just loved the water, and especially loved to splash!A little flower petal on the beach
Dinner at the lighthouse

Happy girl Sunrise on the beach
From another perspective...
Such a happy papa

WEEEEEEEE!
Sand princess
Handsome boy

Our little man has turned into quite the fish!
On top of the lighthouse!
Playing miniature golf for the first time! (and doing great!) The whole crew