Unbelievable

All photos credited to Alana Donovan Photography

I cannot believe this is my baby girl. Unbelievable. 

I have been catching myself using the word "unbelievable" countless times in the past few weeks. Every time I talk to someone or describe the circumstances that have unfolded this month, "unbelievable" is the only word that comes to mind!

She was so interested in the purple clover!

If you haven't heard, we picked up and moved to St. Louis, Missouri in literally less than five days. Pretty unbelievable, huh? (see, it's just so appropriate!) But the truly unbelievable part of the story is how everything happened to get us here. You just wait, though. A thorough update is due soon!

I love her little face in this photo.

For now, a Julip update is in store. Did anyone notice I totally missed her 13 month update? I didn't until yesterday! Unbelievable, huh?

Her hair is so cute, too!

We have a 13 month walking around now. That's right! Walking! Little Julip is practicing and perfecting her two-step. Well, it is usually a little more than two steps. Yesterday, she nearly ran to me! I know she enjoys being able to move about more freely. She is such a big girl now. Unbelievable.

Profile! Awww!

One of the steps of preparing for our move to St. Louis was for Dustin to bring me to St. Louis to meet the pastors, co-workers, and church members and to explore the city with him. After much consideration, we decided to let little Julibelle stay with my mom for the weekend. Being a one-year-old, she was certainly big enough to stay with Su Su, but with Julip still nursing, I was very worried. After pumping what felt like a gallon of milk for the trip, I drove to Jackson and kissed Jubie goodbye. The entire time, she only drank about 4 oz. of that milk I pumped. Thankfully, Su Su fed her yogurt and other solids and she was quite satisfied. And, best of all, she nursed without any problem minutes after landing in the Jackson airport! It was as if I hadn't gone away for four days! Unbelievable.

The only sad thing was that Dustin wasn't with us to partake in the fun photoshoot!

A surprise and magical gift we received while in Jackson before I flew out was a photography session with the famous Alana Donovan. Listen to me... If you are in Mississippi and want a very affordable, super talented photographer to capture priceless memories in still shots, contact Alana! She is pretty unbelievable. I cannot tell you how overwhelmingly blessed I feel that she took these pictures of little Julip! I wish she lived with us! I love these photos!

She was putting her hand on her hip. Such a cheese-ball!

Back on the subject of food, Julip is finally eating! Anything and everything we eat, she eats. However, Julip has one condition: it must be paired with pears... or apples, oranges, bananas, or some sweet fruit. I'm ok with that. Veggies and rice mixed with fruit is an A+ in my book! (And with her eating so much there is finally some pooping! Praise the Lord! Pretty unbelievable, huh?)

She was working for the camera!

Sweet baby Julip is saying "HI!", "buh-buh" (bye-bye), "ma-ma-ma-ma", and "da-da-da-da". We don't think she's really referring to her "Mama" or "Dada", though. She understands "No" (thanks to her Su Su, ha) and opens her mouth if I ask, "Want another bite?". I can tell her brain is making connections and understanding more and more everyday.

Sweet baby getting excited for Mrs.Alana!

People here in St. Louis already love her, too! Everyone wants to hold her and talk to her, and being the cheese she is, she's more than happy to charm them with her smile and head-cock! My favorite thing someone has said about Julip thus far came from a young boy named Theo. He asked recently, "What time of year does the Julip flower bloom?" And you know, I can't decide if he was making fun of her or hitting on her. Either way, both would be a first!

Her eyebrows are so expressive!

She was singing! What a cute baby girl!

Stay tuned for our big move update!
With love,
the Jernigans, xoxo

P.S. You know what else is unbelievable? These photos aren't even edited yet! These are straight off of the camera!