ONE!!!

"Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure, measure a year!" ~ABBA

How can you measure a year full of beautiful blessings? February 25, 2010 God blessed our family with our sweet, little Julianne Avery Berridge. She was born at 8:01 am. She weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20 inches long. She had a head full of dark hair, blue eyes and looked just like big brother, Jarrett.

Since I don't think I could list 525, 600 things about her, I'll stick with 12. One for each month of her 1st year of life!

1. She is a little diva! She knows what she wants and when she wants it! (And she usually gets it!)

2. She sucks her first two fingers when she's tired. The boys always had a pacifier....not Julianne!

3. She has 8 teeth! What a mouthful for a 1 year old!

4. She has NEVER had any formula. I'm really proud of this one. I was determined to nurse for the first year. Through a lot of prayer and patience we made it!

5. She never passes up a meal! I hope she can keep a girlish figure! :)

6. Her smile lights up a room. The best smile she gives is to Daddy when she hears him come through the door each night.

7. She's very friendly. She says, "Hi" to everyone at the store.

8. She also says, "Uh-oh, bye-bye, Mama, Dada, and nigh-nigh" (and whatever else the boys "think" they hear her say)!

9. When you pick her up she pats you on the back...super sweet!

10. She loves to laugh at her brothers. And they love making her laugh!

11. She's a Mama's girl and I LOVE it!

12. She's our miracle. I prayed (and so did a lot of other people) for God to move in Brett's heart to prepare him for a third baby. And now, we can't imagine life without her!

This has been an amazing, difficult, fun, exhausting, blessed year! In this year there has been laughter, tears (lots!), adventures, long car trips, doctor visits, adjusting to daycare, chronic ear infections, tubes in ears right before Christmas, learning to roll, SLEEP, sit, crawl, pull-up, cruise around things, talk, cutting teeth, fun diapers, and the list goes on. I wouldn't trade these moments for the world! Today is a bittersweet day. I'm so sad that my baby girl is no longer a little baby. But I'm also so glad to see all that she has learned and how much she's grown this year. I'm excited to think about what next year holds for her, and the next, and the next.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

Brett and I have 3 of those gifts in our home. It is our privilege and honor to be their parents!

Happy Birthday, Julianne!

Growing Up!

Jefferson is getting so big! Last night I asked him to help me make his lunch. Tonight he asked if he could do it all by himself! So, he put the goldfish in a baggie, got a juicebox from the pantry, got a cheesestick from the fridge and a go-gurt from the freezer. He got the bread and jelly out, too. I had to get the peanut butter since I buy the 6 pound can at Sams! He had to have a little help spreading the pb and j! He even cut the sandwich! He was so excited to use a knife!

I'm so proud of my sweet boy! He's growing up so fast! In a couple of weeks he has PONY Day (Preview of Next Year)! He'll check out what 1st grade looks like! Wow!

Crafty?

I would never use this word to describe myself! I believe God has given me many other talents, but crafty-ness is not one of them. I am, however, pretty good at copying things! I love to look at blogs. Alot of the blogs I look at belong to people I don't know! For the most part these blogs give tips on how to be frugal! They share where the best deals are and how to use coupons. There are other blogs that share their crafty projects. So, I get sucked in and try to copy them. Mom and Dad bought me a sewing machine for my birthday. I've had fun trying it out. I have a lot to learn, but I figured I should just jump in and try it. Here are a few of my recent "projects."

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. I found this idea here.





My friend, Jenny, loves to drink hot tea. I made this for her. (Don't look too close...my lines aren't straight!)

I made these keychains for Jefferson's teacher and student teacher. (Next time I'll use stiffer fabric and heavier interfacing. Again, my "straight" lines are horrible!)

Jefferson's teacher put together a basket of supplies for their student teacher as a thank you gift. She asked the parents to contribute things that she could use in her classroom. I gave her sharpies, post-it notes, red pens, the keychain and this clipboard. My SIL, Erin saw this idea in Canton last year. We made a lot of them for Christmas last year. I hope Ms. Matthews enjoys this one!

And, finally! Melissa and Jenny helped me make some burprags for myself and another friend. I found this pattern and decided to try it out. My sweet friend, Aubin, is about to have twins, so I decided to make her some burprags. This was my first project with the new sewing machine. This was probably not a wise choice. If you'll notice....no straight lines! Plus, I added ric-rac. I think Mom and I took one of these apart 2 or 3 times! I hope Aubin will enjoy them even though they're not perfect! They are just for spit-up, right! :)

Monkey Business

Here are my 3 little monkeys all wearing "the monkey suit!" It's fun to see them next to each other. No doubt they are siblings!


Jefferson (4 days)

Jarrett (1 week)

Julianne (1 week, 1day)

2 months already?

Wow! Where does the time go? Julianne Avery Berridge joined our sweet family 2 months ago! Thursday, February 25, 2010, 8:01 am. She weigh 7 lbs. 6 oz and was 20 inches long. Her entrance into the world was smooth and easy. Dr. Burkholder was great in the OR. I didn't even know he had started the surgery! Our first observation about her was the large amount of dark hair she had. The next thing Brett said was, "She looks just like Jarrett!" Our stay in the hospital was wonderful and my recovery was so easy. This was the best delivery and recovery of the 3! The boys came up to the hospital after school that day. Jefferson immediately wanted to hold her and love on her. Jarrett was a bit more reluctant, but quickly warmed up! My mom and dad and Brett's parents were there. We also had 2 sweet friends there bright and early to celebrate her Birth-day! We were so glad that Melissa and Aron came!

We came home Saturday around noon just in time to welcome the rest of the Berridge clan from Odessa. Uncle Jason, Aunt Erin, Grant, Hagan, Evyn, Uncle Todd, Aunt Jessica and Luke all came to spend the day with us! Cousin Natalie had play rehearsal and couldn't come. The kids were so sweet with her. Aunt Erin took some wonderful pictures of Julianne for her birth announcement. We're so lucky to have Aunt Erin!

The next 2 weeks my mom stayed with us. This was a huge reason my recovery was so quick! I sat on the couch and fed Julianne. My mom did EVERYTHING else! She cooked, cleaned, bathed the boys, did the laundry, took the boys to school, EVERYTHING! She also helped in the middle of the night when the little princess couldn't get her tummy to settle down.

The next week was Spring Break and Brett was home the whole week. Again, I was able to sit and rest while Brett took care of everything else. Brett's mom came the next week to help. She also cleaned, cooked, took the boys to school and helped in the night. We were so grateful for all the help.

I think we've now settled in to our new normal. Julianne eats every 2 1/2 - 3 hours and sleeps from 10:30-6:00 most nights. She's still has more gas then any child I know! While I was pregnant I prayed that I would be able to nurse her for a year without having to supplement formula! So far, we've been successful! We go to the doctor tomorrow for her official 2 month check-up, but I think she's around 11 pounds! God is so good!

Julianne is such a precious gift! I'm so glad I get to be her mommy! We love her so much and thank God daily for her.

T-minus 12 Hours and Counting...

In less than 12 hours, we should be holding our new little girl! Here is a brief chronology of Beth's pregnancy ending with the last picture of our family as a family of four. Exciting days lie ahead for the Berridges!

Big Things Lately

I figured this was a good time to get back on the blog. It's been awhile, so please forgive me!

As most (if not all) of you already know, we have a little girl on the way. We are scheduled for a C-Section next Thursday at 7:30.

Obviously, we will be posting pics, commentary about no sleep, and general observations about our new bundle of joy........ but for now, we are just happy to have functional plumbing!

Anyone who has ever spent any length of time at our house can appreciate the water pressure (or lack thereof) in our house since we moved in almost 3 years ago. That problem has since been alleviated, in addition to our various forms of other plumbing difficulties this week! After the replacement of our water line and sewer line, we ran a tub of water, washed clothes, and washed dishes... ALL AT THE SAME TIME... just because we could!!!!

Yes, I know that it is so very lame that I'm excited about having water pressure... but after having all of the problems we have had to deal with, it's going to be nice not to have to worry about these things anymore.