Dave's 32nd birthday.

Dave turned 32 yesterday!
We had a little birthday pool party for him on Saturday which was realy fun. It was a beautiful day and we had fun hangin in the pool and jacuzzi with friends. and Last night I took Dave out for a special date for his birthday. We had such a great time. Grammy Edkins came over and babysat for us. This is actually the first time we had gotten out on a date just the 2 of us since Summer was born. It was perfect. We went down to the Beach House restaurant in Laguna Beach which is one of our favorites and always has the most amazing views from your table. Since we had decided I wouldn't get Dave a gift this year. Dinner was kinda like his gift, so I told him to spurlge and get whatever he wanted and he got a nice big meal of Prime Rib and Crab Legs. I think it was a treat for him which is what i wanted. We truly had a wonderful time to just reconnect just the two of us and it was a beautiful night. The pictures will show you the awesome sunset we got to enjoy while eating dinner.
Then we got home and Dave wanted to spend some time with his baby girl on his birthday. As soon as he picked her up and started talking to her she was just gazing at him and started smiling alot. It was so sweet!
I think Dave had a great 32nd birthday! I sure enjoyed it.

I just came across a couple of these pictures I wanted to show you guys. I love this one with Summer and her teddy bear. Dave must have taken this without me knowing because I just found it and just think its soo cute :)
These are some pictures of Summer in the cradle. My Mom's mom gave her this cradle. Me and my two sisters slept in it as babies and my niece and nephew and now Summer too. It is very special. My mom has pictures of me in it and they look just like these ones of Summer.

The pictures of Summer in her swim suit and hat was our little pool day at my parents house with Brandon and Amber. We loved dressing Summer in her little beach attire.. so fun! Summer and her little friend Jayda hanging out for the first time. We hope they look back on this picture when they are older and are still good friends!

First Bath in the bath-tub.

This is Summer and I having her very first bath in her bath-tub. We had lots of fun. I love giving her a bath. I just think its like our special play time.. Most of the time Summer really likes her bath time.

one month...

Love is an interesting thing. The way you think you love something with your entire heart and then the next day you love them even more.
I remember the day Dave proposed to me thinking that there was no way I could ever love him more than i did that day. ( mushy i know :) and then I remember feeling the same way on our Wedding day... and now today I love him even so much more than that. So as I experience life and love more, I realize that true love is constant and unconditional but it is also growing, maturing and deepening as you journey through life and experiences.
I am feeling this same feeling with my daughter. When Summer was in the womb, I loved her so much, the more she moved and played inside my stomach, the more I felt my love grow... The day she was born I loved her more than I could have ever imagined and now as each day passes my love for her just keeps growing and growing. I remember my mom telling me once that "when you think your heart couldn't possibly love something any more... than your heart gets bigger"
Its hard to imagine that tommorrow I will love her even more than today... But I know I will.

Summer turned 1 month yesterday. It has gone by really fast. I feel like that fog we had the first week was just yesterday but in other ways I feel like she has been in our lives for so long. She is really starting to change. She is starting to look more and more like "our" baby. the first few weeks I didnt really think she looked like us too much. She is so much more alert now. When you lay her on her tummy she is started to lift up her head and she is really starting to follow things with her eyes. I love watching her in her swing looking up at the little bears on the mobile.
Parenting is going great! I am starting to feel more comfortable and like I am realy connecting and understanding my baby more and her needs. Summer and I are learning together and I think it is going well.
Dave is truly a great dad.. a natural. His eyes gleam for love for Summer. THe minute he walks in the door from work he cant wait to spend time with her. I love watching him talk to her and love on her.
We are both very thankful!~

Lots of Love

Jules

Dreams

Only two and a half years ago I went on a date that would be the beginning of my dreams coming true. I knew from the first date that Dave was special and at 6 weeks I knew that what we had was very special. I was going to marry this man. And only 11 short months later we were married. Throughout your life you may have a glimpse of what your future spouse will be like and the family you hope to have, and as Dave and I journeyed through the first couple years of our relationship I saw that who Dave was and what we had was beyond anything I could have hoped and comprehended … Dave and our marriage was the beginning of all my dreams coming true.....
Now only 2 and a half years after that wonderful first date, Together we got to experience the most amazing day of our lives. The birth of our beautiful, precious daughter, Summer Nicole. I will never forget the first time I saw her face. Her beautiful blue eyes shined bright even in her first minutes of life. As Dave held her for the first time right next to me in the hospital bed, she immediatly responded to both of our voices and we knew that our lives would never be the same.
Now a few days later as I sit in her nursery in the early hours of the morning, feeding her and rocking her, I am overflowed with emotions of joy and thankfulness for the beautiful family I have been blessed with.
A beautiful, healthy baby girl and a husband who loves our daughter so much and is already such an amazing dad and who loves and supports me so well which allows me to give so much more of myself to baby Summer.

I sit and look at Summer's precious face, her beautiful eyes and tiny toes. She is a product of the deep and true love Dave and I have for each other, and the abundant blessings of our good and faithful God. all I can think of is that this is exactly how I always hoped and dreamt my life would be.
Dreams are an interesting thing. We often have dreams for our lives like, finishing school, a certain job, a family etc.. but often we fail to recognize when we are living in the midst of that dream coming true. That is the realization that I am feeling and do not take for granted..... My husband. my daughter. my family. my life is my dream come true!!

Preparing for Summer's arrivial!

Well, It is hard to believe that Summer's due date is only a week away. Time has sure flown by. Dave and I just sit and think how crazy that any day we will have a daughter and we will be parents. It is amazing, beautiful and sometimes a little hard to imagine but we are beyond excited!~
We feel ready. We were beyond blessed with so much generosity from friends, family and Dave's work who all showered us with so many wonderful gifts. So we feel like we pretty much have everything we need to bring our baby girl to this world. The special cradle that my mom's mom gave her and all three of us girls slept in and my niece and nephew is in our bedroom washed and ready for sweet little Summer to sleep in. THe stroller and carseat are in place and we just finished up in the nursery. The rocking horse was Dave's when he was a little boy and the teddy is a special gift from Great Grammy Edkins.
We love Summer's little beach themed nursery! It really turned out exactly how we wanted and was so much fun to put together. Yesterday was a really fun day, Dave hung the letters on the wall while I put together some little things like the bouncer and bath tub. It was just fun putting around in her room... anticipating the times ahead~ (embracing all the little moments...)
I am feeling great. I have definetly noticed my body changing these past couple weeks but still feeling good. I have really enjoyed pregnancy and think that overall I have had a prety good, easy time. I am off work now which has been so nice. I have really gotten to get everything around the house clean and organized and just get some time to relax. I love it~
We are so thankful for you all. for your excitement, support and joy in our lives!!
We will keep you posted!
lots of love!

Legacy

So yesterday I went to a funeral for a family friend. Her name was Polly and my family has lived across the street from her and her husband for almost 20 years. She had a long battle with pancreatic cancer that finally took her life.
Her funeral was so beautiful.. I love going to funerals where they speak about the person and you are sitting there thinking.... "This is all so legitimently true of how Polly was. no exaggerations, that really was how she was."
I would say the overall theme of the way people saw Polly was giving, selfless and thoughtful and I couldnt describe her better. She did all the little thoughtful acts that many of us often think about doing but dont get around to it. Polly always did them and this is how she showed her love and genuine care for others.
Polly was a Christian and had a genuine love for Jesus Christ. This was so evident in the person she was, in her battling her illness and eventually facing death and she still showed little fear. She had comfort and peace in knowing that she would soon be walking with her God Jesus Christ. That is so admirable to me. I am a Christian too and I have a relationship with Jesus Christ and I know that when I die I will go to spend forever with my GOd... but if I am being honest when you are truly facing death, your faith gets more real.. and the kind of faith you have been saying you have or trying to have your whole life comes face to face. heart to heart. It made me think how I would handle the reallity of facing death so closely and it also made me realize that in a way we face death everyday as we never know the number of the days of our lives.
Pastor Doug did a wonderful job leading the service. He talked about the reason that Polly was able to live life so full of grace and love is because she received it so often from spending time with her Lord. How you can't give something you havent been given. and Polly was able to give so much love and grace to people all throughout her life because she had received so much love and grace that it was overflowing out of her. THis really made me want to read my bible more and spend more time learning about Jesus. Who He was and how He loved because I so bad want to be the type of person that flows love and grace from who i am and I believe the only way to truly do that is to be overflowing with the love and grace from the Lord.
One other point that Pasor Doug talked about was the power of your mouth, your words. How the way we use our words should always build up others even those who are just listening to you. This is something I had been thinking about quite a bit even before the funeral and so it was really great to hear it again and hear it talked about in the scriptures. THe power of our words can build and encourage someone beyond our imaginations and can also beat someone down and hurt people so deeply. I think we often get caught up in saying negative things about people to others and think that since the person doesn't know we are talking about them that it is causing no harm.... but I believe it still is. Paul talks about in Ephesians that our words should build up all who listen as well.. SO all this to say that it was another reminder that I want to strive hard to be a person that builds up always and that we make a conscious effort to only speak words of kindness about others.. THis is something that is hard and I am not saying I succeed at it by many means but it has been on my heart for a while to not fall into negative talk and this service and memory of Polly spoke to me and reminded me of how important that is.
So we will all miss Polly so much but I think she lived a life well lived. A life to be proud of. I know it is my greatest desire that people leave my funeral wanting to be a better person and grow closer to God because of who I was and how I chose to live. I remember feeling this way remembering my grandma's funeral as well, and that is completely how I felt leaving Polly's funeral. That is leaving a legacy!
Love and Blessings!