Playdate at Lake Geneva

This past Saturday Jillian and I met our friends Kayte and Mason in Lake Geneva for a little playdate. We were a little unsure if our beach plans were going to be ruined with the grey clouds looming overhead and the rain pouring down. But eventually it blew over and the sun came out, it ended up being a perfect day! The babies had a fantastic time in the sand and water. Both babies really enjoy the water so we had no trouble with them the whole time we were there. Neither baby slept very long on the way to Lake Geneva so we were thankful they were good babies. They were so well behaved it gave Kayte and I a chance to catch up! Here are some pictures of our fun day:)


The babies got along so well. They both ate an okay lunch in Jillian's new wagon. I think they were both more interested in each other than eating! Mason is too cute and will be a good friend to Jillian (he is only a few months younger, but is getting to be about the same size!). They had so much fun, that Mason fell asleep on our walk back to the car and Jillian didn't make it out of Lake Geneva! Thanks for the fun playdate Kayte and Mason.

Cute as a Button!

Last Saturday (July 31st) we hosted Jillian's 1st Birthday party here at the house. It started off a little rocky with the weather. When I got up at 3:00 AM with Jillian it was pouring rain...not a good sign. But as the morning rolled on the rain stopped, but it remained a little dark. So Jason and I decided not to take any chances and cleaned out the garage to hold the food. If it rained more we didn't want to be scrambling to find shelter! So we set up the table and chairs in there, along with a pop up tent on the parking slab with some chairs. As it got closer to noon our family started showing up. Jillian just loved all her family there and was excited with each new face. She wore a "1" onesy all made out of buttons (yes, I was the crazy one who sewed it) with a pink tutu skirt. She looked super cute and very grown up (as grown up as a one year old can be)!

We ate lunch first and the kids ran around playing. After lunch the older kids played "pin the button on the shirt" and won a goody bag full of fun things! After the game we rounded everyone up and headed back into the garage for some cake and ice cream. We sang happy birthday to our cute little button and she blew out her candle on her pink button cake (yes I also made the cake...I must have been crazy). She wasn't too sure of the cake at first. She would touch it and look up at us with a face that said "are you sure I can eat this?". Eventually she got into it and it ended up all over her face and hair. I am not sure how much she actually ate, but she definitely needed a bath after we were done. So we rinsed her off and put her in party dress #2 and she was ready for more! After the cake the kids played another game, "Find the button". There were various sizes, colors and styles of buttons hidden around the house...but only one SPECIAL button was out there and that person received the prize. The kids ran around frantically finding many many buttons. Hailey (Our step-brother's daughter) found the special button was very excited to take home the giant bouncy ball.

After the game we moved out to the parking slab to open presents. Jillian of course was more interested in the paper and tissue paper than the actual gifts, but she received some great gifts. As the days have passed since her party she has enjoyed the gifts more and more! Jillian (and James) were so good, considering they did not nap that afternoon. They just played in the play yard and were content to have an audience watching them. It was a great day and Jillian had a ton of fun...onto the next year of her life!

Now for some details (yes, I have details)...
In the living room, a "cute as a button" banner hung. It was made all out of buttons and yes I glued that as well (I don't think I want to see another button for a long time)


There were two tables with pink table clothes and flower center pieces. There were white daisies, pink carnations and some greenery. Around the vase was a pink ribbon with buttons tied on. Simple but still tied into our button theme.


The "pin the button on the shirt" game was a colored yellow shirt on poster board. All the kids had a button with their name on it and velcro on the back. The goal was to get all the buttons in the middle, but some found their way all over the shirt.


The cake was chocolate with strawberry cream cheese filling. It was button shaped and covered with pink frosting. Then is was decorated with pink ribbon for the "thread" and had a "one" candle in the middle. We also had yellow cake cupcakes with pink frosting.


Here are some action shots from the day. Our sister-in-law, Misty, took on the photographer role for us and took 202 pictures! Here are a couple of the 202...


We really want to thank everyone for coming and celebrating Jillian's special day with us. We want to thank Grandma Grace, Grandma Kathy and Grandma for helping with the food. We also want to thank Misty and Shaun for taking great pictures for us.We love you all!

button cake singing.MOV

One Year Old and one day!

Yesterday was Jillian's first birthday, my has the time flown. We had a nice day, nothing too crazy! Jason came home from work a little early and we hurried to jump back in the car to head to the zoo...we both thought the zoo was open at least 'till 6:00 PM, but it closes at 5:00 PM (we pulled in to the entrance at 4:40 PM, not enough time). So we turned around and went to Jacobus Park instead. We climbed, slide and swung instead! Jillian enjoys the park, although I am not sure if she enjoyed all the people there instead. She could have just sat there and looked at all the people! After awhile (not too long, the mosquito's are bad this year) we headed home for some dinner and cupcakes! Jillian ate a good dinner and while mommy and daddy ate she enjoyed a birthday cupcake. I am not so sure she ate any of it, but she really liked the frosting and squeezing the cupcake into many different pieces! She had to go right into the tub of course and shortly after she was in bed. After all...being one is exhausting!



Jacobus Park Fun!


Yummy cupcakes...more please!

Today we had our one year doctor's appointment with Dr. Amy (we love her!). Jillian wasn't too sure of things, before she liked playing with all of Dr. Amy's gadgets, not she was more aware of what was going on...She weighed in at 19 lbs. 14 oz., 30 inches. We have a growing girl on our hands. Although she eats, eats and eats more she was in the 35th percentile for weight (so nothing low fat for her!). She is in the 75th percentile for height. She is definitely getting taller (she will for sure take after her daddy) and thinner. We are still working on drinking milk, she doesn't want anything to do with it. We are down to 2 nursing sessions a day and that will be gone sooner than later as well. All in all she is a happy healthy girl! And it seems that our doctor visit wore Jillian out!

One Year Old!

I can't believe tomorrow is Jillian's FIRST BIRTHDAY! One year has come and gone...I hate to admit that everyone was right when they said it would go by quickly. Jillian is doing new things everyday and getting so big. Here are a few things that she is doing these days. Jillian pulls herself up on furniture all over the house (even things she shouldn't be pulling herself up on). She is shuffling along things and uses her walker, walking all by herself! (just take a look at the video below). I am sure it will be a very short time and then we'll have a walker on our hands! She takes every opportunity to climb the stairs, especially when the gate is open. She likes the game "patty cake" and plays when we sing to her, she does "so big" and will hold up one finger when you ask her how old she is. She talks all the time! She signs "more", "all done", "please" and "up". She of course says "momma", "dadda". Her favorite thing right now are doggies and says "woof" whenever she hears or sees one. She waves hello to everyone she sees, a very social butterfly. She waves bye-bye and blows kisses as well. She has really grown into such a personality. She has been doing this really funny grin, where she scrunches her face up and shows all of her teeth. It makes me laugh because it totally looks like my father! Jillian has four teeth, one just poked through the gums and another one is almost there. With all those teeth she eats anything and everything she can get her fingers on (she eats her fingers as well!) She still loves her bath time and really has enjoyed the pool this summer...a fish for sure! Jillian also really likes to be outside. She gets really excited and waves when we take her outside. She likes to swing and would be outside all day if I let her. All in all Jillian is such a happy little girl. Jason and I have been so blessed to have her in our life and we love her to pieces!

Jillian going upstairs.MOV

Jillian using the walker