What a Strange Trip It Has Been!

Wow, December 31st! What a quick year this has been. I just can't believe that it is the last day of 2008! Is it even possible? So much has happened this year, I don't even know how to sum it all up.

I guess, let me tell you about our Christmas. It was wonderful; possibly the best Christmas I have ever had! On Christmas Eve I made bread! I haven't done that in I don't even know how long! It was SO nice to do. I really enjoyed kneading the dough. I may definetly have to do that again some time. The that afternoon we went to Eric's Mom and Dad's house. Rebecca, Jeff, Richard, Tiffiny, and Sarah came too. We had such a nice time. Both girls got SO many toys and clothes, it isn't even funny. We had some great food and desserts. It was such a fun day. All the girls were so cute watching them play together, or annoy each other, however you want to look at it.

We stayed home on Christmas Day. I've never done that. I almost didn't know what to do with my self. We got up, I made Monkey Bread. We got the girls up and we opened gifts and watched the girls play...they are so dang cute! We ate breakfast and just played and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Then Eric's Mom and Dad came down for the day and my mom and dad came up. We had ravioli for lunch and played games and had a wonderful Christmas. I did miss my dad's side of Christmas, but it was great to be able to stay at home.

On the 28th, we went to my cousin Crystal's house for my mom's side of the family Christmas. It was great to see everyone and we had MORE good food. I made Pierogies. It was kind of emotional. This was the first time someone made them since Grandma died. Everyone said they were good, so I hope I did them justice. It was great to see everyone that was there. The ones that weren't are missed, all of them.

So, now we are playing catch up. We are going to my friend Carli's parents house tonight for New Year's Eve. I am doubting we will stay late as the girls are going with us. We are going to play cards and games though so it should be a lot of fun.

So, what a lucky year it has been. Jillian joined our family and is such a blessing as is her big sissy. Layla is a wonderful big sister (usually!) and has grown up so much this year. She is getting close to being potty trained, if we could just figure out the going #2 thing. She got her first stitches and has learned so much. Sometimes it just amazes me how smart she is. Jillian is almost walking by herself. She cruises along on everything and can walk and push things. She is babbling all the time and I am just waiting for that first "Mama"!!

I hope that your year has been as wonderful as ours. I hope your 2009 is blessed and well-filled. May God be with you throughout the year.

Enjoy these pictures of Christmas day here in our house...we sure did! This is a LOT picture heavy!
Love,
Theresa

Merry Christmas!

May everyone have a wonderful Christmas! May the joy of the season be with you and may your Christmas be filled with many great memories for the years to come! God Bless!

Merry First Christmas Jilly! Merry Christmas Layla! I love you girls so much!

She's OK

Just wanted to touch base and let everyone know that Layla is feeling fine. She will remember her stitches every now and then and tell me her head hurts, but other than that she showed no signs of slowing down. She keeps wanting to jump on the bed so it must not have traumatized her too bad! :) Thanks for all of the concern and prayers!
God Bless,
Theresa

Guess She Got My Grace

Well, it is official. Layla has unfortunately inherited my gracefullness, or lack there of. This morning, my MOMS Club (R) group was here for a get together and Layla and her friend Aubrey were for SOME unknown reason jumping on the couch. Now, Layla knows she is NOT supposed to jump on the couch so what she was thinking I have no idea! So, you guessed it, she fell off of the couch and hit her head on the corner of the coffee table. She was bleeding pretty bad as most head wounds do and I was just trying not to throw up on her (as I do NOT do so well with blood). My friends were wonderful and helped me get her ready to go to Urgent care. I ran next door and got my neighbor to come over and sit with Jilly. Then Aubrey's mommy (Cindy) helped me get Layla in the car. Once we were at the doc office, Layla was a champ. She let the nurse and Doc check her out and didn't fuss. She wouldn't let them take her temp, but no surprise, she never does. Anyways, the doc said she needed stitches andwe put her in this papoose thing so she couldn't wiggle around and she sat SO still while he stitched her up. She didn't cry or fuss a it. I am SO proud of her! We stopped and got a Happy Meal on the way home and I let her eat it while watching a movie. She has been a very big girl today and such a trouper. I just thank GOD that she is OK and that it wasn't much worse. The doc said there was no concern of a concussion or anything so we were very thankful. I tried to take a picture of the stitches, but not sure how great they turned out. You be the judge.

Layla smiling in spite of it all!

And one of the shorty monster!

What Big Teeth You Have!

Jillian has 6 teeth! Can you believe that? Four on top and 2 on the bottom. I hope she gets a little bit of a break now with teething, it has been a bit of a nightmare.

Layla did something REALLY awesome yesterday. We got "Blue Hat, Green Hat" by Sandra Boyton from the library yesterday. We've had it before and she really likes it. Well, she crawled up in her chair and started reading it. Now, I am sure that she isn't really READING it, but she knows it by heart and can recognize the word placement! How cool is that?!?!? Here is a video to check out her new skill! Admit it, our girl is a GENIUS!!

Good Day!

Layla had her first outing with underwear! We went to WalMart to go grocery shopping and had her wear her Princess panties. She stayed dry the whole time and even went to the potty while we are there. Good job Layla!

How Many Steps?!?!?

Jillian is WAY mobile! We got some of Layla's "baby" toys out of the attic last week and Jillian has been playing with them. We have a dog that is on wheels that can be pushed around. Jillian stood there and pushed the doggy around taking about 4 or 5 steps!!!!! We are SO very excited! I wasn't able to act fast enough to get a picture, but hopefully next time. She was smiling so big, you could tell she was very proud of herself!

Oh yeah, Layla went #2 in the potty! Slowly but surely we are getting there! Go Layla!

Time Flies!

How the girls are growing! Sometimes I just can't believe it. Jillian is almost 8 months old and Layla is over 3 years old! How does that happen? It is just crazy!

Layla has a new best friend. Her name is Aubrey and they are SO cute together. Aubrey is a couple of months older, but they get along really well. Layla loves her Superhero outfit and wants to wear it all the time. Her crown too. I swear it was Halloween around here for a week. She is doing pretty well potty training, we are getting there. She is dry most of the time, but is still having a difficult time going #2 in the potty. We will get there. Here are 2 pics of Layla and Aubrey on Halloween:



Jillian is just so dang cute She has 2 teeth fully in and 2 more coming in (the canines). It is SO not fun. At least for the most part she is sleeping better. We have had several all night long sleeps so that is great. I am glad we are finally getting there. She is eating really well too. She eats oatmeal in the morning, 2 things of fruits/vegetables at lunch and oatmeal/fruit/vegetable at night. Plus a whole lot of formula. She is growing so much.

Here are some pics of the girls. They are their 6 month and 3 year pics. I took them myself so they aren't great, but they are cute.

Life, Or Something Like It

Catching up...oh, need to catch up. We have been pretty busy lately. What is going on? Well, Jillian is ALL over this house. I can't get over it. She crawls everywhere. It is a little scary, and she is FAST. We have to watch her like a hawk. The second she gets somewhere she wants to be, she tries to pull up. She is getting really good at that and can pull up on just about everything! Granted, she doesn't have the strength or coordination to stay there long so she tends to fall a lot, but she is getting there. She also cut teeth last week. One is completely through and the other is still coming. I am glad, the poor kid has been in so much pain. She is still puking all over the place, it gets a little annoying, but what can you do? Not much. Just keep cleaning it up, over and over. What else? She got her 6 month shots yesterday and did really well. She didn't cry on the first one, whimpered on the second and really screamed on the third, but only for a sec. She was very brave. What else? Jillian is LOVING carrots. Green beans not so much, but she will eat them. Last night she ate a whole thing of carrots. Oh yeah, I am done nursing as well. It was a little difficult to think that I will never nurse another baby, but
I think that it was the best thing for both of us. She is sleeping better (for the most part) and seems to be a little better humor like she isn't hungry anymore. I am glad. I am definitely happier. Now, if we can just get my milk to dry up, we will be in good shape!

Layla is so cute. She is turning into such a little girl, she is definitely not a baby anymore and that is difficult for me to believe an come to terms with. She is doing MUCH better with going to the potty. She is still in Pull-ups when we go out of the house and at nap and night time, but she wears big girl panties at home. She has only had 1 accident this week. :) Now, if we can just get her to go Number 2 in the potty we will be good. :) She is VERY into coloring and painting lately, it is funny. She asks to paint all the time. Grandma Mary got her watercolor sheets for her birthday so I don't have to worry about paint getting everywhere, that is nice.

We were home at my mom and dad's a couple of weekends ago. We had a great time. We visited, did a little shopping (which is always fun), and helped Grandma Irene pick up rocks for her pasture for her horse Banjo. Layla was SO funny. She would run up to the rocks and dig them completely out before she would pick them up. Then she discovered the soybeans on the ground. She picked them up all throughout the plot and called them "Jelly beans". She wanted to bring them home so she could grow Jelly beans at home. We had to clean out her pockets pretty well.

This past Saturday was the annual Hawkins Fall Party. We had a really good time. Layla is old enough now to really enjoy it. We saw family and friends and bounced around in a big bounce house. Both Eric and I's backs were killing us on Sunday! Thanks for a great time Hawkins!

My Grandmother (the girlie's Nana Belle) is in the hospital right now, we would love any prayers you want to send this way.

Also, we got some great news yesterday! We are going to have a nephew come February! Eric's brother Richard and his wife Tiffiny and their daughter Sarah found out that they are having a boy! We are all so excited. I get to pick out BOY things...wow that seems weird!

Hope all is well with everyone!
Love,
Theresa

3 Years, 6 Months, 1 Proud Mommy! (Photo Heavy!)

I can not believe that my little girls are so big! Jillian is now 6 months old and Layla turned 3 on Friday! We had such a great day! I can not get over her. We woke up and played around and then we went to the library and I let her get movies and books. Then we stopped at McDonald's to get lunch and went to the park and eat it and play with friends that came to join us. After the park we headed to the Ice Cream Shop and had ice cream. After coming home for a nap, Daddy came home and we gave Layla her birthday presents from us. We got her a play kitchen that she has been wanting SO badly! We got her some play food too. She had a hard time being patient while daddy put all the gazillion pieces together, but it was so worth it when she got to play with it. So fun! She has been making us "food" for 3 days. Then we ordered pizza for dinner from Papa John's because that is what she wanted. Then on Saturday we got up and after going to the gym, we headed to Grandma Mary and Grandpa Mike's house for her party. We had lunch and PLAYED so much with Aunt Becca and Uncle Jeff. Later Pappy George and Grandma Irene came over and we ordered pizza and had cake and ice cream. Layla also got some more presents. She got a lot of clothes and some toys. Aunt Becca and Uncle Jeff also got her an easile (Sp?) which she loves. Both girls were SO tired by the time we got home. They slept so hard. Sunday was a day of rest that was for sure! Today, I took the girls for their doctor appointments. Layla had her 3 year check up. No shots, but the doc checked her all out. She is 38 inches (3 feet 2 inches) and 32 pounds. The doc said that she looked great. We are still potty training. The past 2 days though she has been willing to go in public and has even told us she had to go. We are so proud of her. Right now she is wearing anywhere from a 3T to a 4T and a size 8 shoe. She loves Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo. Mac & Cheese is one of her favorite meals and she LOVES peaches. She is very into "helping" mommy and dadddy with things. It is very cute. Here are some pics from her birthday "weekend". I hope she had a great birthday. (Thanks to Aunt Tiff for taking a lot of these pics!! We love you!)








Jillian is growing so much too. At the doctor today she weighed 16 pounds 11.4 ounces and is 26 1/4 inches long! Both girls are above the 50th percentile for weight and almost 75th for height! She is sitting up completely on her own. She is crawling and has also started pulling up!! Can you believe it? The doctor called her "really advanced" which cracks me up since that is our family joke about ALL the kids, but the doc confirmed it! :) At 6 months old, she is wearing 6-9 month clothes and NO shoes. She refuses. It is difficult enough to have socks on the kid. O well, hopefully by the time it gets cold she will be willing. :) She is so cute. Here are some pics of her. Also, there are some family pics.














And My New Favorite Picture!!

My Big Girls!

I can not believe that I have 2 such beautiful big girls! Jillian is crawling all over the place and Layla is just such a little girl, she if not a baby any more! It is so hard to comprehend. I can not believe that she will be 3 years old on Friday. That s just crazy! She is so cute. All she wants is a Dora Kitchen. I think we are going to get her a play kitchen, but I don't think it will be Dora. I have little desire to have a big Dora Head in my house! It will be good for her to get to play pretend kitchen though...should make for good pictures!

Happy 6 Months Baby Girl!

I can not believe that Jillian is 6 months old already! It is crazy! I just can't wrap my head around it!

What a crazy weekend!

Jillian had such a HUGE weekend! I can not believe this little girl. She is not even 6 months old yet! But, she is moblie and crawling all over. It is kind of an army crawl and so cute! If you set her down, she will most definetly NOT be in the same place when you come back into the room. Then yesterday (Sunday), I laid her down on the ground and walked into the kitchen. When I came back into the living room, she was sitting up! I know I did not put her there! I watched her sit up on her own a couple of more times. It was pretty cool! I just can't believe she is able to do that yet! I also started giving her some cereal over the weekend. She did really not know what to think of it at first, but seemed to like it as we went along. We also measured Layla and she is now 3 feet 3 inches tall! Crazy! Here are some pictures of both girls. Jillian is crawling, sitting, and eating!