Happy 7 Months Baby Girl!

Growing up so fast!

My beautiful outfit made by cousin Mandi! It has an airplane and my monogram.

My very first swing ride on Valentine's Day!

My very first slide!

My first Valentine's Day!

Showing off my army crawl

Trying so hard to grab it!

Investigating......

So glad Daddy bought sunflowers for Mommy!

All that fun playing wore her out!

A nice nap in the park enjoying the shaded sunshine.

The car ride home.

Happy Valentine's Day morning!

More of the photo shoot.

Trying to grab her hat!

Big smile for her hat and her monogram!

Showing off our pretty lake and her pretty blue eyes!

Grab your hand weights and get ready to exercise!

Leg lifts!

Her new tricks include blowing raspberries, sticking our her tongue, spitting, and any many other weird movements.

Our new playmat from Mommy's friend Amber! It's so pretty

Sneaking this in...Kathy and her first baby.

Just the quick update-

Julia turned 7 months on Tuesday. She's been enjoying trying Puffs this week and has learned to feed them to herself. She's still not quite crawling forward - she is a very fluent roller and twister though and seems to prefer to move forward using a combination of those moves. She is so much fun to be around as she is learning so much. She is so observant and loves to meet new people. She has been holding her hand out and shaking hands during "Pass the Peace" at church. She also holds her arms out to be held and for things she wants. She seems to love babies and kids already and gets very excited whenever she sees another baby. She also goes crazy for her Mom's Cabbage Patch Doll (video to come soon).

Kathy always works so hard for our family. I'm so proud to call her my wife. She's been getting very involved at church and will be writing the church bulletin. She finished working on our taxes today and we are getting a great return (Thanks Julia!). She's been busy with her part time job and getting things very organized. She been working hard with Julia and teaching her lots of new songs and games. Kathy was finally able to sneak away last week and get a hair cut. It's about six inches shorter and looks great!

As for me, we will be using some tax refund to fix my car up. I had a great Valentine's Day with my girls. It's so nice to get out into the sunshine again (it was cold for Florida the last few weeks). Julia wrote me a beautiful poem and added her handprints too. I love getting home from work and seeing my girls.

Julia and her Daddy

Julia wasn't so sure about this - but in the end she loved it!

Happy Valentine's Day

My first tooth! Nope - just a Puff!

"I'll get you my pretty."

Julia loves taking showers!

Bonding with her puppy!

She loved eating mangos and holding her own bowl.

Julia is too cool for a sippy - she prefers a big girl cup!

On your mark, get set, go!

Best Friends Forever!

Practicing my crawl - up on all fours!

Happy Valentine's Day. Love you all!

Be Mine

I love my stacking cups.

"People all over the world, join hands, start a love train, love train..."

Her first fort!

Peaches!

"Somebody get me outta here!"

Going for a walk with mom and Dagny!

Sweet Potatoes!

Funny face

Snuggling with Daddy

First time on all fours! Scooting backwards

6 months and Happy 2011!

Hi all. It has been a long month so far. My month started out with a suicidal bird and getting stuck in Honduras while waiting for the airplane to be fixed. Then a week of ground school for 10 hours a day. That alone is enough to tire a guy out. But then I had 4 - 16 hour days and one 9 hour day. Needless to say I have been too tired to do much of anything, especially blog; but I'll try to catch you all up on your favorite Floridians.
First, Grandma Ortiz came down to help Kathy out for a week while I was so busy. Kathy and I had our 2nd date since Julia was born and went to see "Little Fockers". I'm sorry that I didn't get to spend much time with you Grandma Ortiz but I really appreciate you coming down.
Kathy was very excited to have her mom for a whole week and they managed to do plenty of shopping! They even went and got us all some new pictures of your favorite baby. Kath has been working hard with the kid, the house, her husband (so kid number 2), and all her projects she has going. I don't know how she manages to find the time for everything, but she gets it all done.
Julia has seemed to master the art of reverse crawling - so she is officially mobile! Now all we have to do is get her going forward and we will be in business. She can't wait to go and run with her puppy. Speaking of her puppy, we have a video that I'll have to get put up. Julia loves her dog and thinks it is the coolest thing whenever Dagny moves or pretty much does anything. Julia screams in delight every time she sees the dog. Julia is babbling so much and we had a "raspberry" fight back and forth the other day till my lips went numb. I can't wait till she starts talking, but her noises warm my heart.
Dagny spent last weekend with the pastors family while he was away on a retreat all weekend. Gloria, his wife, likes having Dagny around to bark at strangers while Pastor Stuart is away. Dagny had fun playing with all the kids, but we missed her greatly and couldn't wait to get her back home to us.
Jem spent a few days enjoying a Dagny free house and really enjoyed sleeping with Grandma Ortiz every night.
Finally, I will be participating in the annual Crop Walk this year. The Crop Walks are ecumenical, interfaith community events. The funds help support the worldwide programs of Church World Service. In partnership, CWS supports self-help development, meets emergency needs, and helps address the root causes of poverty and powerlessness. I am asking for donations to be sent to help me in this endeavor. My goal is to raise $150.

• $30 is the cost of 3 pairs of rabbits to increase families' incomes.
• $100 is the cost of field and garden seed for six families.
• $150 can provide 3 farm families with everything they need to make succulent, nutritious and marketable honey - training, hives, and equipment.
• $500 can provide 4,000 lbs of food for a local food bank or provide up to 400 meals in a soup kitchen.

Please consider sponsoring me in this event!

We had a couple other important birthdays this month. Grandpa Ortiz celebrated his 64th birthday on January 2nd. On Thursday, January 20th, Olivia Christine Low was born. We regret that we couldn't be there, but we have Skyped a couple times and the newest cousins have "met" over the Internet. We are so happy for Dave and Christy and we can't wait to get back to Michigan and visit. Then, on Friday, January 21st, our two oldest nieces shared a birthday, and they even got to hang out for a little bit since they were both in Chicago. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Isabella and Mia. We love you very much. Isabella and Rebecca were in Chicago for a dance competition. We can't wait to see some video of their performances. I think that's about it for now we love you all and can't wait to see you again.

And now for your viewing pleasure,

Julia.....

Here are some pics of her latest photo shoot!

Curly in the front. Finger-in-a-light socket in the back!!

Momma going fishing for a squiggle fish

mmmmm carrots

Nap time with Daddy

Hi Grandma! How did you get to Florida?

Grandma feeding Julia green beans!

Whoa big eyes!

Spinning circles!

Julia's new pack and play (Thanks Grandma Ortiz)! Now she can hang out in the rest of the house and not worry about being run over by the dog or cat.

My fun outfit from Aunt Sue and Sophie the giraffe!

Chewing on my ducks

Different beads

Crazy Face!

"No more pictures please!"

Bananas mixed with prune juice - my favorite!