I had planned on waiting until Julia was 6 months old to introduce cereal, but I guess I was bored today so I bought some cereal and fed her. She did pretty well too! The first few bites went in and out, but then she got the hang of it and ate it all. Now I just have to remember to do this everyday. Hopefully she will start sleeping longer stretches at night again. She had been getting up only once, but then got a cold. So for the past 2 or 3 weeks (they blend together!) she has been getting up 3 times most nights. So maybe I'm hoping the cereal works a little magic.
Santa came to Blake's office today, so I took the kids to see him. Grant made Santa a present, and Santa gave both kids some treats. The first thing Grant said to him was, "Julia looks like you!" since she was wearing her Santa outfit. 
Well we knew it was bound to happen sooner or later - Grant finally had reason to visit the ER. It was bedtime (of course - don't these things always happen before bed!) and he fell off one chair and knocked his eyebrow against the wooden arm of another chair. After debating and having our friend Traci take a look at it (she's a nurse), we decided a visit to the ER was in order. It was a great experience too! They were so nice and were able to close it up with Dermabond - meaning no stitches! Grant watched Polar Express while we waited. Were we only there about 90 minutes. As we left, they all said goodbye and gave Grant a bear. He didn't have any pain and in fact I think he had fun. I'm glad things went well, but I hope he doesn't make us go back for a long time! Oh, and Julia came along too. She was due to eat as we left, but fell asleep instead and slept the whole time. What a good baby!!!
Since it's too cold to play outside, Grant and I made a gingerbread tree today. When we were finished, I put some green icing on one finger and white on the other. He says the green tastes better :) He was in heaven when I told him he could have more! He did most of the frosting with only a little guidance from me. 
And here is sweet Julia, just laying on the beautiful blanket Taffy made her, checking her fine self out in the mirror.
Since I bought so many 3 month pictures that they gave me the disc, thought I would post 2 other poses. I had the same pose taken with Grant when he was 3 months old (the one with the blanket, except his was blue) and to see the 2 pictures next to each other is pretty neat. We are going to hang them in our house somewhere, hopefully soon. My mom has a picture of me in the same pose when I was the same age (that's where I got the idea). 
Grant and I bought a gingerbread house kit a few weeks ago and he's been begging to make it. Yesterday we were waiting for a repairman so I decided it would be a good way to kill some time. Grant was one happy camper! Here is our finished product, I think it turned out pretty well considering a 3 year old had a big part in making it. When it came time to decorate the roof, I had to feed Julia and noticed Grant was being very quiet while I was in the other room. Grant's mouth was a little discolored and some of the candy was missing when I returned - I was able to put 2 and 2 together to figure out what happened :)
Here is Jules in her Hawkeye sweatshirt. Doesn't she look happy to know she's a Hawkeye?
I have had enough with the poo and pee for one day! Julia has been through 3 outfits and I've changed her sheet twice today. Goodness. Maybe I need to go up a size in diapers for her. Or maybe I should invent an outfit that's a diaper. That would sure save me some time! Man is she lucky she is cute :)
Julia is one tired strawberry. After we took her to the neighbors, I put on her pjs and was holding her in my arms. She was smiling at me and sticking out her tongue, then just closed her eyes and fell asleep. I didn't know a baby could be this easy!
Grant ran as fast as he could from one house to the next.
Here he is checking out his loot.
I love this picture of Julia - she smiles and coos all the time. She is such a happy little girl!
The kids must have felt like movie stars with all the moms snapping pictures!
Grant and his teacher, Mrs. Houlton.
Grant and his Mama :)
Decisions, decisions!
Our monkey boy. 
Drew and Julia.
Josh and his sugar stick.
For Uncle Jake - you'll be proud to know Grant knew exactly who this was and was very excited! Did I mention the Patch has lots of random things? Not sure if other Star Wars people were there or not. 
The Machaceks (a third little cutie will arrive next spring)
