The Holiday Season...party #1!

Every holiday season seems to get longer and longer! We have 3 get together to go to each year and each one this year is on its own weekend. So the first Christmas celebration was this past weekend at Grandma Grace's house! We had a great time and we were able to get some quality family time in!

Little James...well, he's not that little!

Leah and Elsa

Uncle Jay, Anna, Isaac and Jillian hangin' out, waiting for presents!

Grandma Grace opening a gift from Jillian

Jillian's first Christmas ornament.

More parties to come...Happy holidays everyone!

Baby Hame!

We are very excited to have a new playmate...Kayte and Brody had their little boy, Mason Andrew Douglas, on December 1st. He is just a peanut...and cute too! He weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 21 inches long. He looks a lot like his dad, don't you think!?

Jillian just has so many new friends to play with cousin Bode Schrammel (8 months old), cousin James Deibert (4 months old), Maddi Ausseum (2 1/2 months old), Ryker Rissman (1 month old) and now Mason Hamel (only 12 days old!). We can't wait.

4 months and growing...!

Jillian had her 4 month check up today with Dr. Amy. She is doing well and growing like a weed. She weighed in at 15 lbs. 7 oz. (85th percentile, went down this month), 25 1/4 inches (80th percentile, went up this month) and a normal head! Dr. Amy has given us permission to start cereal! Jillian told her she was just so hungry and mommy can't keep up with her. We are excited to start cereal and that should make for an interesting blog in the future. She did have more shots today and those just wore her out. Take a look...

We hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season.

Kelley

A Blog of Why Nots?

Sitting down in front of the computer just now I thought about what I wanted to Blog about. Of course I had a great time at Thanksgiving. Of course Dan Murray cooked a fantastic turkey. Of course I ate too much of that fantastic turkey. Of course I was exhausted by the end of the day.

So instead, I thought I would highlight some recent pictures Kelley and I have taken with our new camera. So why then, you ask, is this called "A Blog of Why Nots"? Because these will be pictures that have nothing to do with the other. Enjoy!

First up: Me. I'm not afraid to stand infront of a camera when someone is attempting to play with the timer. Why not growl at it?

Next up: My niece Zoey. Why not show what a lot of chocolate covered peanuts and lack of sleep can do to a 5 yr old.

Next: Jillian. Looks like she ate a few too many marshmallows! "Get In My Belly!"

Next on my list: Kelley. I thought it was called Wine Nots?? Real or Photo Shop?

Sweet Baby James: "What chu talkin 'bout Willis?"

One more Jillian Picture: I call this one...Like Daughter Like Mother

And lastly, Why not include a picture of a glacier, huh?

Not my best blogging ever, but hey, why not show those random pictures!!

Jason

The Power of a Smile

The drive home from Deer Hunting is always a feeling of mixed emotions. Regardless of filling your tag or not, something happens to me inside as I pass the Pioneer gas station. It could be that I have to wait another 363 days until the next deer season. No more beer drinking, farting, talking dirty, peeing on trees, or outhouse. Or it could be that I know I'll be another year older the next time I sit in the cold, in a tree, wearing blaze orange, at 5:45am. For those of you that have never communed with nature the way hunters do every year, it's hard to understand what drives hunters to do this ritual every year. I'll give you my best effort by giving this example of what happened a few short days ago. The over night temperature on Friday night dropped just below freezing but low enough to cause frost on the trees and fallen leaves. As the sun began to rise on Saturday morning and the shadow, which you thought was a deer standing 20 feet in front of you all morning, began to actually look like a shadow and then disappears. As the sun's rays began to weave themselves through the trees, the temperature began to rise and that frost starts to melt. What happens next I know actually happened and it's not something I dreamed because everyone else confirmed it with me. It sounded like it was raining. Now if you were anywhere else but in the middle of the woods you wouldn't know this was happening. Sure store owners go through the morning routine of "opening the store" every morning, but this was nature's way of waking up for the day. Amazing.



So why is the title of this Blog called "The Power of a Smile"?



Every year as we pack up the car and get ready to leave the cabin, someone always starts the waterfall of "it goes by so fast" comments, and the "I can't wait until next year" comment. So every year as we head south and drive passed the Pioneer Gas station those mixed emotions set in. Well this is the first year that I am OK with waiting those 363 days. Why? Walking into Dad and Kathy's house and seeing the smile on Jillian's face once she recognized me made me forget about those 363 days.

Thanks Jillian.
Jason

Who needs chipendale's!

Well hunting weekend is over and Bambi is safe from my husband again this year!

Jillian had such a great time this weekend during our Widow's Weekend she slept 8 1/2 straight hours last night...I guess she partied too hard this weekend. We enjoyed our time in Portage. Triple A (Auntie Annie) came down and spent the weekend with us. It was so great to see her and catch up, although we could have chatted and caught up for days! We watched 'Sex and the city', ate some good food, opened a bottle of wine (or two!). To quote Kathy "It's 5 o'clock somewhere!" So who needs Chippendale's to entertain the hunting widow's when you have family and friends to enjoy your time. Thanks for a great weekend girls!

Hunting Widow

Well it's that time a year again....hunting season is upon us and my husband goes away for the weekend to get himself a deer (we can only hope, because the last few seasons we've gone without!). Thinking back to this time last year I kind of chuckle...we were trying to get pregnant at this time and the day Jason was leaving for deer hunting was the day I was ovulating. No question, we had to try! I was teaching and school let out at 3...Jason was leaving at 3:30.

Obviously we made it work...because Jillian is here!

This year we are going to be joining two other widows...Jillian and I will be driving up north part of the way with Jason. He is going to drop us off in Portage and we are going to spend the weekend with Grandma Kathy while Grandpa is hunting with Jay. Triple A (Auntie Anne) is going to come down from Rhinelander while Uncle Pete is hunting as well. It should be a fun-filled girl weekend that Jillian and I are very much looking forward to. I know I am bringing a bottle of wine and so is Anne...should make for an interesting blog on Monday!

Movies

First time blogging! Bare with me...

So I saw Jason mentioned that I borrowed 8 movies from the library and wondered how long that would take me to watch? Let me inform you...not as long as you would think when you are a stay at home mom, who is nursing...with no cable! Depending on how hungry Jillian is and how long she'll nurse I can go through 3 movies a day! I need something to do, it gets boring just sitting there. I am not the best at one hand typing (this blog may tell you that because that is what I'm doing and it is taking forever!) and I don't always have a free hand. So I watch movies. Need a recommendation!?

Kelley

Kids and sporting events

I have to share with everyone that this past weekend we took Jillian to her 2nd Milwaukee Bucks basketball game. This child has been to more sporting events in her short life than I did in my first 10 years..(no need to check with the authorities cause I'm sure I'm wrong.) So far Jillian has been to one Brewers game, two Bucks games, and a triple A youth hockey game at the Petit Center. ACTUALLY, counting the games she went to while en utero, that brings her total games to 5 Brewers, 2 Bucks, 1 Chicago Fire, and a triple A youth hockey game, not to mention all of the high school basketball and soccer games Kelley was coaching at.

Jason

Suprisingly she really enjoys these events...maybe not so suprisingly since she went to so many en utero! The first Brewers game was the test...she screamed all the way there, but as soon as we got into the stadium and the lights and noise got her attention she was set. She stayed awake and interested for four innings, then drifted off to sleep for four innings. She didn't even wake up when Prince hit an home run and the fireworks went off! We knew after that game that we might have hit gold with a child who likes sporting events (well Jason feels that way anyway!). It was pretty much the same thing at the Bucks game...she just loves those lights! I am amazed at how well this girl sleeps through things! I am sure these won't be the last games she goes to and hopefully she participates in some sports herself when the time comes...

Kelley

Do they really grow up as fast...

...as people say they do?

Everyone keeps telling Kelley and I, "watch out, they grow up fast...right before your eyes. And before you know it they'll be asking for the keys to drive the car."

To imagine something so small that actually, "grows up right before your eyes...", doesn't seem possible. For Kelley and I, we see her every day and if we don't step back and look at the snap shot of life, you'd miss it. Well tonight I had that rare moment where that snap shot hit me smack dab in the forehead. As we were giving Jillian her bath tonight I was watching her splash around with her legs kicking and her arms waiving. It might have been the soap in my eye that made me sit back and look at the snap shot right before me. A few short months ago we were giving Jillian baths in the same plastic bath tub but we had a sort of hammock seat for her to sit in. This hammock as you may know is to keep her out of the water so not to get her belly button scab from soaking in the water. Even in this hammock she barely took up any room in it. We were so focused on the scab falling off so we could finally submerse her fully in the water.

This brings me to tonight's bath. SMACK. It hit me. I saw my 3 month old little girl pushing her feet against the other side of the plastic tub. Impossible! It was just yesterday that we had her in the hammock, wasn't it? Now she is hitting all sides of this tub? It can't be.

In a person's life time, 3 months is a blink of an eye. But for a 3 month old child, if you don't stop and look at the snap shots you'll miss the tiny clues that remind you that they don't stay this small for ever.
-Jason

Welcome to our Blog!

As this is our first entry into the world of blogging, I feel as though it should be done professionally and perfect. Well, don't expect much. I earned a "C" in freshman English class at Augustana College so that should give you an idea of what to expect from our blog.

Our goal with this blog is to keep everyone updated with our changing lives thanks mainly to our daughter Jillian. I can't guarantee that this will offer any entertainment value for you, but hey, isn't that what Reality Television is for???

Speaking of tv, we have lived in our new house for just over 2 months and I still haven't gotten around to hooking up cable. What is life without tv you ask? Ask Kelley. Just today when I came home from work she informed me that she borrowed 8 movies from the library. 8 movies!!! How long does it take someone to watch 8 movies you ask?...I'll update you on my next blog entry.

Stay tuned...