Grandma and Grandpa...where are you?

This past weekend we headed down to Dekalb. I had my good friend, Anni's bridal shower on Sunday (so fun and cute by the way!), so we decided to make a weekend of it. We drove down Saturday, but...Grandma and Grandpa were not there! My parents had already made plans for the weekend when we decided to come down, but we came anyway. We got down to Dekalb late Saturday afternoon. Jillian and daddy hung out while I ran to the grocery store. Jillian just loved all the space at my parents house. With her new love of walking she made lap after lap around my parents house. After the first three or four laps Jason decided to sit down because she was going the same path every time. It was super cute! After she went to bed Jason and I enjoyed some R and R in the hot tub!

Sunday we got up and played with cousin Zach (they were at the Fire game with my dad Saturday night so Jillian didn't see them until Sunday morning)! Jillian kinda followed Zach around the house. Both kids are used to playing with themselves mostly so it was interesting when they wanted to play with the same toy. Zach is almost 3, so everything was "Mine"! Here are some pictures of these cute kids.


Here is Jillian following Zach around...


They stopped running around for a minute to pose on the steps!

While I was at the shower Jason, Jillian and Grandpa went for a little bike ride around Dekalb. Jillian did awesome (of course she did when I wasn't there, every time I take her she screams!). She really enjoyed the ride and even napped a little bit in the bike trailer. When they got back Grandma had gotten home and shortly after that I got home. We cooked a nice dinner for my mom to celebrate her upcoming birthday and then headed home.

It was a nice weekend, thanks for lending up your house Grandma and Grandpa!

Big girls feed themselves...sorta!

Tonight Jason is working, which leaves me to do the night time routine by myself and Jillian wasn't interested in eating dinner, which led to....

...feeding herself!

She did attempt to use her utensils...


"Feeding myself makes dinnertime much more fun!"
(so cute)

Go Pack Go!

Sunday the Packers were on and Jason was giving Jillian lunch...so we had to do a little moving of furniture so Jillian could eat and Jason could watch the game. I was busy running around the house finishing up chores without a little person following my every step. This is what I came upstairs to...

GO PACK GO!

Nolan

Today is the end of our first "full" week...and I am proud to say that Jillian and I both survived! This week on Monday we had Nolan (his second full day with us). Nolan is a very sweet baby. He is 7 1/2ish months old. He sits up on his own, rolls over from his back to his belly but not the other way just yet. He is a big boy, matching Jillian's weight right now. He always has a smile on his face and is very easy going when Jillian steals his toys (she is quickly learning the word "share"!). Nolan has two bottom teeth already, but drools a lot and it looks at though the top will pop through any minute! Nolan loves his bottles and is an eating machine at lunch time! It is fun to see the two play. Jillian stands over him and gibber jabbers like she is telling him a very interesting story. Nolan just looks up at her and smiles. I can tell that once he is on the move these two are going to be into some trouble! I may have my hands full then=)
Meet Nolan...



Here is Jillian showing Nolan that she is a big girl!


Having some lunch! (needless to say, I had to sneak in a lunch when they both were napping in the afternoon! I was lucky to get 30 minutes of them both sleeping at the same time!)


Then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week we had our 4 year old friend, Cole, over to the house! It is definitely different when Cole is here versus Nolan...I have to get out different toys! Jillian is lucky to have two sweet boys to play with every week! She really enjoys when they are here and they seem to like playing with Jillian as well! I am sure I will have many more fun stories to share about Cole and Nolan...stay tuned!

walkin my hippo

Hungry Hungry Hippo

So with Jillian a walking machine lately we got her this hippo walker. It is super cute...it eats the blocks as she is pushing it. The handle also can be brought down so she can sit on it. She doesn't make it very far moving it with her feet, but she really likes to push it around and she navigates it really well. She is using the walkers less and less....and walking more and more on her own!

Take a look at this cutie walking with her hungry hippo!





I am amazed at Jillian's interest in books, she could look at books all day. I got her a new book and she went through it page by page!

Mowin' with Daddy!

The other afternoon Jason was out mowing the lawn so Jillian and I decided to help (well sorta...if you can call it help!) Jillian is walking so much lately and doing really well with her walker. She typically uses the walker all the time. So here are some pictures of Jillian helping daddy mow the lawn!


Jillian thought it was the funniest thing to push her walker alongside Jason as he cut the grass...like I said she is walking like crazy!

Brewers Fan!

Jason had tickets for the Labor Day Brewers game and we decided to go as a family. It was a 1:10 PM game, which is the same time as Jillian's afternoon nap. So it is always a gamble when doing things like that during her nap time. But Jillian does frequently surprise us...which she did on Monday. We had a great time at the game, beside the fact that the Brewers lost! Jillian was such a good girl and enjoyed the people all around her more than the game. We were sitting in Jason's work seats so we had one for Jillian...although she wanted to sit in my lap more than anywhere else. She was so good during the game and is such a good little Brewers fan.


Jillian took a ride into the stadium with daddy.


We had to do a little 7th inning stretch a little early!


Mommy and me!


Jillian had so much fun...she tuckered right out while we were walking out!

It was such a beautiful day and we had a great time as a family. Thanks for taking us daddy!

Food + Friends + Football=FUN!

Sunday was Jason's fantasy football draft (and our good friend Jack Towne's birthday, Happy Birthday!)down in Illinois. So we loaded up the car and drove down to Lake In The Hills for some food, friends and fun! The significant others and their families also came. While the boys were "drafting" the girls and kids stayed upstairs to play. This event has definitely evolved now that there are kids involved. And there are many kids there for Jillian to play with! For a short while it was chaotic...but once everyone adjusted to sharing all the toys it calmed down. Jillian seemed to have a great time (so great she didn't want to take an afternoon nap) and played well with all the kids. Here are some shots of the day.


Little Josie Towne having a snack

Jillian playing with a cool bubble maker...thanks for bringing it Andrea!

Carrie with her little cutie, Kaitlyn playing on the floor with Jillian

We attempted to take a picture of all the little kiddies. This was toward the end of the night...not the greatest picture, but this one is so funny. (From the left) Jillian is sitting there with a look of "what is going on here?", Robbie Seifert is next looking at the crying child next to him, Kaitlyn is in the middle...screaming with Jackson Towne next to her wondering "why is she always crying?", then Josie is on the far right just cheesing away!

Jillian and her daddy, can we say "cheese" daddy!

Last but not least, little bruiser Jackson Towne. He wore a Bears jersey and looked like a linebacker...with the belly hanging out and all!

It was a great time, thanks for having us over Towne family:)

Grandma Grace and the Edelweiss

This past weekend Grandma Grace came to stay with us for a few nights. She came up early on Friday morning to help me out with Jillian. I went dress shopping for my cousin's upcoming wedding. I knew trying on dresses and watching Jillian would be a challenge. So she came along to help with Jillian and give me some input on dresses as well. On Saturday we took a historic tour of Milwaukee on the Edelweiss (boat tour). It was pretty cool. It took us along the downtown area along the Milwaukee River (Did you know it is about 75 miles long?!). It was very informative and fun to be out on the water. It was a beautiful day, we couldn't have asked for better weather. It was a little chilly (as you will see we were pretty bundled up) and breezy, but the sun was out. It was a nice weekend and we couldn't have asked for a better time with Grandma Grace.



This is before we got on the boat, waiting in line.



Here are some of the scenic sights we saw....tug boats are so cute!



Jillian did get a little ansy towards the end. It was an hour and a half long. She did really well for the first hour, but needed to be mobile after awhile. So we all took turns walking her around the boat or trying to hold her.

Thanks for coming up and spending time with us!