Where are we now?

From the beginning of May to mid-July we have (or will have) spent time in the following places:

• Philadelphia
• South Florida
• Michigan
• Baltimore
• Charlotte
• Orlando

I'm going to need a(nother) vacation...

Bad Mommy

Hubby had a wedding to go to/be in over Memorial Day and we decided that it'd be too much for baby Lu'au and I to go along. He went to play in the Mediterranean and we went to see my family in Michigan.

We had tons of fun with my family. We went to the beach (I love Lake Michigan) I went fabric shopping. It was very relaxing and good. Until... my mom got pink eye. Yup, Lu'au's Grandma got pink eye. You know, the one who had been holding her and playing with her all the time? Great. So she washed her hands a ton and didn't hold Lu'au for 2 whole days. Then... on the day we left, Lu'au got pink eye in her right eye with a vengeance. All the while, I got a sore throat. I thought it was due to drier air or something, and focused on baby girl's poor eye.

I'm not sure what exactly happened, but Lu'au's pink eye spread to the other eye. And she got whatever congestion junk I have. And the other day she had a fever. Fabulous. So she has to have eye drops every 4 hours. And off-brand "Tylenol" (Tylenol is bad due to the recall). Her nose runs so I have to suction bulb it clean. All things she HATES. She has trouble sleeping and eating. Aside from her eye drop/Tylenol regimen, there's not much I can do.

Oh, and did I mention she's only gained about 1/2 a pound since her 4 month appointment and she's now a few weeks over 5 months old?

I have a headache, an achy ear (do I have an ear infection?), and am tired from my own sickness and staying up with her...

I tried to call Tricare to set an appointment to get her ears checked (and mine too) for ear infection, but their computers are down.

Mommyhood = fail.

Waiting and Talking

Sometimes I wish baby girl (shall I call her Lu'au?) would talk. I try to interpret her cries - "Mama, I am ti-red!", "I'm bored", "Can a girl get food around here?"... I try to fit my words into each one of her outbursts.

My neighbors joke that with their kids they could discern the cries to mean #4, #7, and #2... (Surely this cry means #3) unfortunately, they never received the manual to interpret what #4, #7, and #2 meant.

At times I wish Lu'au could tell me what she wanted, what's going on in her world. If she really thinks the cereal we've started to feed her tastes terrible. If she just wants to be held sometimes. If she's not frustrated with her tummy time, instead she feels the burn of the ab workout she's getting.

I'm so excited to know what she thinks... but then again, can you imagine what a baby would say if they could talk upon birth? That's where the fun really starts... "I hate this outfit", "Holy cow! Those are MY knees?", "I have a huge poop coming and this diaper doesn't stand a chance to contain it all"... the possibilities are endless when you add those to the basic needs of sleep, food, etc.

God must have had a plan in not letting babies speak until they are about one year old. Can you imagine all of the whining that could take place? All of the confusion... And what language would it have been?

I kind of wish that I would have a little more waiting involved when I speak. Sometimes I say really dumb, hurtful things. I say a lot of things just to not have silence. I've never been particularly eloquent - words don't come naturally for me. Perhaps I should take a cue from Lu'au and wait a while before I speak... but maybe not a whole year...

Picture time!

What's up with the weather?

So we've been having colder than normal weather here. And it has me all confused. Around Easter, we had some 90*+ days. That was unseasonably warm and left me scrambling for clothes in which to dress baby girl. I find that it's hard for me NOT to dress her in layer upon layer of clothes because that's exactly what I had to do for so long when she was born. Enter Easter weekend: It's hot Hot HOT. I'm still trying to put a onesie underneath everything. I teach myself to reject this desire.

Enter cold weather IN MAY. I no longer have those layers for baby girl. Most of the stuff she's in right now (3-6 months, 6 months, or 6-9 months) is summery. I have two longsleeved onesies that she wears every other day now, in a nice little rotation. I had to retrain myself how to layer her clothes... how to make sure she's warm at night. Everything. I look forward to taking her to Florida where I'll be able to dress her in warm clothes again!

Gosh, my life is boring. Sorry.

Military Spouse Bloghop (aka I'm totally Ellen's copycat)

The fabulous Ellen had this on her blog and I thought it'd be fun to try too... I've been trying to blog more, and hope that this will help motivate me to post more often.

Riding the Roller Coaster is hosting a Military Spouse Bloghop. What a fun way to find other military spouse blogs!

My name is JulieAnn. Julie'uli'uli is a play on my name (from my hula sister back in Hawai'i) but also an 'uli'uli is a hula implement. I started dancing hula when we were stationed in Hawai'i and have somehow managed to find a halau (hula school) each place we've been stationed since then.

My dear husband (Captain Obvious or CO) is active duty in the Coast Guard. He has been a ship captain, but these days is found at a desk staring at spreadsheets - you can guess which one he likes better. We've been married for almost 4 years, and he's been in the CG much longer than that.

Baby girl (baby 'uli'uli? I need to find a name for her!) was born Christmas Eve, and is an absolute delight! You'll find her and I strolling around our town or playing on our carpet most days. She's into rolling over and playing with her rattle recently.

I've been trying to write more lately - I think it helps me do something for myself and serves as a good way to document life as it happens (moving so often has a way of making me forget things!).

Some of my favorite things are (in no particular order):

• ice cream
• traveling
• quilting and learning to sew
• learning to cook and sharing recipes
• life with a newborn
• photography
  
• hula and Hawai'i
  
• the Coast Guard and the military spouse life
• parentheses and ellipses (obviously...)
  

Some of my favorite parts :)

shaka!