Friday, December 30, 2011

a year in review: 2011

Wow! It seriously seems as though I was just creating a post like this not very long ago. Another year has gone by. A year that made me stronger and wiser. A year that I will never forget. A year that I grew further in my faith, in my relationship with my husband, and in my experience as a mother. I learned way more than I ever could have expected about God's love and how He's truly in control. Another wonderful year and a year that was a blessing. I'm looking forward to what 2012 has in store for our family. I know there will be a few wonderful changes. In the meantime, here's our year in review...

January: Julianna started eating table food at 10 months. We also got iced in for a few days! We enjoyed the quality family time. One of Josh's favorite parts of January was the brand new TV that we purchased!


February: Julianna got her 2 front teeth! Josh also traveled to El Salvador on a business trip. We missed him very much!

March: Julianna turned 1! She had a big, birthday celebration with friends and family at our church. We also found out this month that Julianna didn't need tear duct surgery. Two weeks after I took her to the doctor and two weeks of prayers, her eye was completely better and has been ever since. Praise the Lord!

April: Julianna discovered her love for climbing on things. She surprised us by climbing up our stairs way faster than I thought possible. Julianna also enjoyed her very first Easter egg hunts. She had one at daycare and then we went to one at my brother's house. We also planted a new tree in our front yard. I'm hoping for some large, pink blossoms this spring!

May: Julianna became the proud owner of a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe... one of my Mother's Day presents.

June: Josh and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! Julianna also started walking this month! Very exciting month!

July: We had a blast during our 4th of July celebrations and we also celebrated Josh's 27th birthday. Julianna cut all 4 of her molars--which led to Julianna enjoying her first popsicle! It was also one of the hardest months of all. I learned I was pregnant and then just a week later, I had a miscarriage. I never knew what kind of pain a miscarriage could bring. Some physical, mostly emotional. God was with us through this and turned pain and sorrow to hope and joy. My story of my miscarriage has helped me reach out to so many other women who have gone through the same thing. I know I have another child in Heaven and I'm excited to meet them one day!

August: My addiction to thrifting really got crazy. Julianna had a blast the last few weeks of summer checking out the local thrift stores. I need to get back into it! I also started back school so Julianna did too. I met my wonderful class of 22 third graders.

September: This month held a HUGE surprise! But we kept it a secret til October. Josh's sister got married so we traveled to South Carolina to be apart of the big day.

October: The big surprise was revealed! Another baby Soto is on the way! Our family and friends were thrilled to learn our big news. This pregnancy is such an amazing miracle straight from God! Julianna also enjoyed her 2nd Halloween, dressed as a precious ladybug.

November: I celebrated my 26th birthday and Julianna started brushing her teeth on her own (which she has decided isn't as cool anymore). Julianna also enjoyed her 2nd Thanksgiving-- complete with 2 Thanksgiving meals.

December: Julianna rode in her first Christmas parade and on the very best float of all--Santa's float! She enjoyed her 2nd Christmas and was very excited to open gifts. She also drove through her first holiday light show in South Carolina.
From our family to yours, we wish you a blessed New Year--full of happiness and love! Happy 2012!


a fishy follow-up

Julianna got to meet Fish tonight. She didn't notice the mysterious new bowl in the living room. But after dinner, I sat her in the stool at the table where Fish is living. She immediately lit up and said "awww a fish!!!!" It was precious seeing the excitement on her face. Fish is a betta so they don't really move around a lot but it started swimming all over the place. I guess it saw her big, bright eyes peeping into it's bowl!

Meeting Fish!



a new pet for Julianna

Julianna has a little obsession with fish. When she sees one in a book or on tv, she immediately yells out, "FISH!" Well, she was beyond excited when we visited Josh's dad this week and discovered that he owned quite a few fish of his own. She sat and stared at those fish on many occasions during our stay. So Josh decided to surprise her with a fish. We bought her a betta fish today and we're oh-so-original- we named it Fish. She hasn't met it yet but I'm sure she will be thrilled with a new pet. I'm going to try to get some pictures of her and Fish when she gets home from daycare.

Fish

20 weeks

Pregnancy: 20 weeks
Weight Gain: 5 pounds
Sleep: I don't love sleeping on my side!
Gender: it's a girl!
Name: Olivia Grace
Feeling: even more excited now that I'm half way through my pregnancy
Health: better, as I was trying to get over my cold, I developed a fever and cold chills
Movement: lots of thumps on a daily basis
Size of Baby: about the size of a banana
Cravings: Mexican food and fruit and I dislike anything greasy
Belly Button: in
Next Appointment: January 11


20 weeks with my sweet husband and daughter in South Carolina


Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas 2011

This was by far one of my most favorite Christmas seasons of all. Watching the pure joy and excitement on your child's face is just priceless. We spent quality time with all of our family and remembered the true meaning of the season. I am so thankful for everything have. We are beyond blessed. Now, enjoy a few pictures from our Christmas celebrations!










Thursday, December 22, 2011

19 weeks

Pregnancy: 19 weeks
Weight Gain: 5 pounds
Sleep: I don't love sleeping on my side!
Gender: it's a girl!
Name: Olivia Grace
Feeling: good, except for an icky cough I've had for a few days
Health: see above :)
Movement: more flutters everyday
Size of Baby: 8 oz. at last check
Cravings: Mexican food and fruit
Belly Button: in.
Next Appointment: mid-January for a regular monthly visit with my OB

We also bought a few things for Olivia this week. We bought her first teddy bear the day we found out she was a girl and I bought the frame below to put her ultrasound picture in. Julianna has the same frame in her bedroom from her anatomy ultrasound.


Tuesday, December 20, 2011

sick day

I got a call at work yesterday that my sweet Julianna was running a temperature of 102. I raced out of work to pick her up from daycare and took her to the doctor.

She currently weighs 23 pounds and is 33 inches tall. I was thinking she may have an ear infection since she got so many last winter but it ended up being strep throat. We immediately went to Wal-Mart to pick up her perscription, popcicles, and jello. Poor thing threw up all over the place- probably the 2nd time she's ever thrown up (besides the frequent spit up as an infant).

We went straight home, cuddled, and she drank a whole cup of juice. Josh and I had to do some teamwork to get her to take her medicine. About 15 minutes after she took it, we noticed that she had a red rash around her mouth. Immediately I assumed it was an allergic reaction to her medicine because the only other thing she had was apple juice- which she has all of the time. It was scary! We called the physician on call and they told us to give her Benedryl. Josh was gone about 20 minutes buying the Benedryl and by the time he got back, the rash around her was completely gone. I have no idea what it actually was but we gave her the Benedryl just in case. Poor thing was so exhausted- put her to bed at 7pm and Josh got her up at 7:30am this morning. The rest did her good because she's back to her old self today- complete change from yesterday! Temperature is normal and she's eating again. I am so thankful that she got better so fast!

Josh spent the day at home with her. Check out the fun hair design that he created for Julianna today:

Friday, December 16, 2011

It's a GIRL!!!

I am so happy to announce that Josh and I are expecting another baby girl! Today, the ultrasound tech was immediately able to identify the gender of our little one. She showed the "goods" proudly and was moving all over the place. Our sweet little girl will be Olivia Grace and we've already nicknamed her Livy. We are thrilled!




Monday, December 12, 2011

Anatomy Ultrasound 1

We went in today hoping to find out the gender of our baby but our baby had other plans. Baby decided to stay balled up the whole time! The technician couldn't even guess the gender. We couldn't get a good look at the spine either so the doctor wants us to come back on Friday to take another look. Hopefully we'll get a good look at the "goods" and his/her spine on Friday. The anticipation is driving me crazy!




Saturday, December 10, 2011

17 weeks

Pregnancy: 17 weeks
Weight Gain: 5 pounds
Sleep: I have energy during the day but I'm ready to crash by 8pm.
Gender: we'll find out Monday!
Name: we have names picked out for both genders.
Feeling: hungry all of the time!
Health: better, my cold is almost gone.
Movement: lots of little flutters!
Belly Button: in.
Next Appointment: Monday! Anatomy ultrasound and finding out if it's a boy or girl!

17 weeks with Julianna

17 weeks with Baby Soto

Fun at the Park

One of Julianna's favorite things to do right now is to go the park. There is a toddler sized playground set at our local playground, only 5 minutes away from our house. She loves to swing and slide. When we get there she says, "weeeeee!!!"

Fall Photos

I just realized I haven't posted pictures from Julianna's fall photo session with her cousin, Clara. We took these pictures on a beautiful October day.