Jules Weighs In

Our dearest little Julia went to the doctor just the other day. She had her 6-week check-up, and we got some new statistics. Her current weight is 10 pounds, 10.6 ounces (at the 75th percentile for her age). Her length was 24-1/2 inches, which is off the charts. 23 inches would have put her at the 100th percentile, but this was - quite literally - off the chart. Our pediatrician went on about how girls may outgrow their mothers, but almost never outgrow their fathers. (OK now, she's only 6 weeks old! No need to be looking that far ahead! Syl was the tallest girl in her class for many years until she stopped growing.)
Julia is quite loved by her brothers and sister. If you called our house now and managed to get the answering machine, you'd hear a cute message with everyone arguing over "my Julia."
She's an eye contact girl. That would make her like her father.
We had a garage sale just over a week ago. It went well, especially for Syndi and Junior. Syndi had a lemonade stand and also sold mini loaves of zucchini bread and banana bread. Junior sold chocolate chip cookies at 10 cents each.
Syndi made her own sign, as you can see above. She made it on the back of last year's sign, as you can see below.
Syndi sold $16.80 worth of her lemonade and bread, and Junior sold $5.25 worth of his cookies. It was a fun day for them.

Rome Olive Garden Finally Opens

As we noted in our fourth post way back in January, we've been waiting for an Olive Garden here in Rome, Georgia for 3 years. And August has finally arrived, so the new Olive Garden finally opened. It opened on Sunday, August 12th at 4PM. Was it a popular opening. Well, let's just say I haven't seen an open parking spot at the restaurant since it opened...except occasionally one of the handicap spots, but usually it's filled, too. The cars spill into the Starbucks lot area. The place has been packed every time we pass it.

My coworker, Jason, loves Olive Garden, too. So he was excited about the new Rome site as well. His wife went there the Tuesday after it opened. Apparently they only waited 30 minutes to be seated. But then it took another 1-1/2 hours to get their salad and breadsticks. Yah. I've heard similar stories from others. Seems like many Romans were excited about the grand opening.
I think Syl and I will wait a couple of months until they have an open parking space. And until they work out the service kinks. But we're really looking forward to going. We're plotting how we can get away without the kids to get there. (It feels like old days of plotting pranks at college.) Of course, the kids are just as anxious to go as we are. Every time I pass the place without Sylvia in the car, Syndi and Junior are asking if we can eat there. Right. Our day will come.

A Day on The Road

Some art from this past week, courtesy of SyndiLu Caruvana. No, we didn't make any long trips recently. She did this while Mommy was in her Bible study this past week. A couple of cars making a trip down the road, passing a pond (lily pad and frog included). Pretty neat.

Can I Hold Julia?

Julia has been a joyous addition to our household! Stephen likes to call her "my Julia," which sparks jealous arguments of "my Julia" from both Syndi and Junior. All day Sylvia hears "can I hold Julia now?" The kids all want to hold her. She's such a content little girl, and seems to enjoy being held by her brothers and sister. Below you see Stephen holding Julia, who appears to be looking admirably at her big brother. That was taken last night.

Syndi always wants to hold her little sister. She has waited and prayed long and patiently for a sister. She is excited for the day when Julia joins her in her room when she moves to the crib. Of course, we have yet to move the crib to her room, so it may be a little while. Below you see Syndi holding Julia this afternoon so Mommy could make dinner.
Julia is doing so well. Just this week we've begun extending her overnight sleeping, allowing her to sleep about 6 hours. She's really beginning to pudge up. It was neat to watch the "baby fat" spread from her face through her torso, to her arms, down her thighs and finally now reaching the calves. She's a cutie. And as long as she keeps that dark hair, people will think one of these kids is actually Jon's!