Celebratory Weekend!

This past weekend was a big one in our family!!! My sister Katie graduated from Washington State University with her Bachelor's Degree on Saturday!! We all trucked it over to Pullman (the opposite side of the state) for the ceremony and to move her back home. Then Sunday was Mother's Day. We were all busy busy busy but it was wonderful.

The weekend started early. Thursday night I picked up my Auntie Karen from the airport and took her and Jilly to my mom's for the night. My mom, Karen and Jilly took off from Edmonds Friday morning for Pullman. I worked that morning, then picked up Paul from the transit center so he could go home to pick up the trailer. At his house, Andy joined me and the two of us headed out for Pullman about 1pm in my car. Originally, Steve and I were supposed to drive together and Andy go with my mom. But at the last minute, Steve had to work on Saturday and couldn't find anyone else to cover the shift, so he had to stay home. Luckily Andy was totally cool with driving with me, so I didn't have to go across the state by myself (no one liked that idea, least of all me). We cruised along and stopped in Ellensburg so we could switch driving and get a quick snack. I decided to call my mom to see where she was at (i.e. how long until I could see my little girl again, I was starting to miss her!). Turns out she was in Ellensburg too, but a couple miles behind us!! I couldn't believe we were farther along than anyone else. They had run errands before really getting on the way and were having a nice sit-down lunch, so it made sense. But still amused us. Andy and I made remarkably good time as we traveled across the state, stopping one more time outside Othello to switch driving, arriving in Pullman about 6:30pm or so. Man, it felt SO good to get out of the car and then curl up on Katie's bed for a little bit. My poor pregnant bones could only handle so much car sitting.

Mom, Karen and Jilly got there around 7:30pm and we started packing up Katie's room. Poor girl had been so busy all week with studying and finals, that she hadn't gotten time to do ANY packing! We packed for a little bit, then decided we all needed to eat badly and get our buns out to Lewiston to the hotel. We went to a yummy Thai restaurant and had a fun time. Soon enough, Mom, Karen, Jilly and I took off for Lewiston, leaving my car in Pullman with Katie and Andy. For those of you not super up to date on Washington/Idaho geography, Pullman is at the very eastern edge of WA state on the Idaho border. Lewiston is in Idaho, still along the border but somewhat south, around 45 minutes or so away. That was the closest hotel we could find when we booked, 11 months in advance! I think we finally checked into the hotel around 11pm. Soon after, Paul and Juliet showed up and we all got unpacked and crashed into bed pretty quick. My poor little trooper of a two year old was EXHAUSTED! She had only gotten a 45 minute nap between North Bend and Ellensburg earlier that day. And she had been SUCH a good girl! She didn't cause trouble for anyone. Sweet baby sure enough was very ready to be put in her playpen at 11:30pm and was snoring within 5 minutes, even though there were lights on and people moving around and talking. The rest of us followed suit within about 30 minutes.

All too soon that alarm rang at 5:15am (UGH!). We snoozed for a little bit, then dragged our sorry butts out of bed, more than reluctantly. Jilly had a tough morning, getting less than 6 hours of sleep (she's used to more like 11-12 at night). I took her to get breakfast but she didn't seem to cheer up until we were in the car. By that time, Mom and I were both stressed about running late, Jilly crying and generally exhausted. Add to this, the fact that I am 7 months pregnant and while it's usually not an issue, the stress of the trip was really throwing my hormones out of whack, and we ended up yelling at each other and me crying in the car. Not exactly my most favorite moment, but hey, it's what happened. Everything was resolved shortly, but I could tell my emotions were going to be funky for the rest of the day. We made great time getting back to Pullman, picked up Katie and Andy and got to campus for the ceremony.

I am SO grateful that there were so many willing helpers there. There is no way I could have done that trip without everyone there. We never used the stroller (it would have been way too difficult with the crowds and cramped spaces) and Jilly just couldn't do all the walking by herself. I didn't have the strength to carry her, so everyone else had to carry her, while I had to keep slowing them down, calling, "Wait for The Waddler! She can't keep up with you!" As we were walking to the coliseum, Katie was walking with Jilly and we got some CUTE pictures of them.

Jilly was very sweet and kept trying to step on her shadow, saying "Step, step," as she did so. It was adorable.

We dropped Katie off in the line with all the other Psych grads and found our seats with Paul, the Aunties and Katie's roommates. The ceremony began! We were all so excited to see Katie walk in to the arena in her cap and gown! It was awesome. After the (seemingly endless) introductions and recognitions, they finally got into the meat of the program, the commencement speaker. Funny moment: During the National Anthem, we were all standing, with my mom holding Jilly. Apparently, Jilly knew that this was a sitting-event, so she starts yelling at everyone, "Sit down! Sit down!" Oops, guess I need to teach her some manners and respect for the National Anthem. Hahahaha. As was the theme of the whole evening, my mom pretty much took care of Jilly the whole time, so I didn't have to. I got up during the speaker, so that my mom could go listen if she wanted to (she'd been walking around with Jilly). I hung out with them for awhile, but my back really started protesting, so I went and sat down once they started calling names. That part of the ceremony went by surprisingly fast, even though there were like 900 graduates. We were all cheering and hooping and hollering as we saw Katie be handed her diploma and shake hands with the WSU president. HOORAY FOR KATIE!! She is a college graduate!!! YIPPEE!!!! They then had some closing remarks, sang the Fight Song and Alma Mater, then it was over! (Note: I drew the line at singing/clapping along with the songs. I am a Husky! I stood out of respect, but couldn't bring my purple and gold self to sing along. That would have been high treason. ;-))

We met up with Katie outside, where it was sunny and beautiful and took the bajillion obligatory pictures. Here are some of them:

The proud graduate with her diploma. Congrats Katie!!

Mom and her three kids.

All the family: Andy, Paul, Katie, Mom, Auntie Karen in back. Jilly, me, and Auntie Juliet in front.

The three kids. You can see just how huge my belly is. As my friend Regan said when she saw the picture, "Where's Katie? I can't see her behind your belly!"

Auntie Katie holding her favorite niece, who is so proud of her!

Sisters (and Wildcat).


We went and spent the rest of the afternoon packing up Katie's apartment. With so many of us, it went very well and much faster than expected. After a couple readjustments and a quick trip to the hardware store, the trailer and three vehicles were packed to the hilt with all Katie's stuff from her life in Pullman. Paul and Juliet took off first with the trailer, and the rest of us left soon after. We stopped in Colfax (a small town about 25 minutes outside Pullman) for lunch at Arby's and gas, and finally really truly headed out about 4pm. Jilly hadn't slept yet, so she was wooooorn out. My mom said she was asleep before they even made the first turn out of town. Auntie Karen and I drove together and had a delightful time chatting. We stopped in Othello and switched cars a bit. Andy ended up driving my car with Karen, while I crashed in Mom's car with her, Katie and Jilly. Jilly was still asleep, but woke up as soon as we left Othello. We stopped for a couple minutes in Royal City (about 10 minutes away) so we could change her diaper and let her walk for a bit. Then back in the car and off we went.

We stopped in Ellensburg to get some food and Mom checked in with Paul and Juliet. Turns out they were still in Ellensburg (we'd talked to them a bti after we'd left Othello), in the very restaurant we were parked outside of! We decided we were in fact hungry and to get dinner there. Yum. All too soon, we were back in the car, heading home. Andy and Karen had eaten at a different spot and so were well ahead of us. We eventually pulled into Mom's house at almost 11pm. Two days, most of them spent in the car or sitting, and we were all wasted... By the time we got back to our house, Jilly and I collapsed into bed.

Sunday we woke up for church and I was given my first Mother's Day gift. It was from Steve and Wildcat (apparently they collaborated whilst I was sleeping). Steve told me that it was a little self-centered of a gift from Jason, but I loved it anyway. It was a bag of Ghiradhelli Milk Chocolate & Peanut Butter squares (which he'll also get to enjoy) and The Bourne Ultimatum DVD (about Jason Bourne, his "namesake"). Awesome! We ended up being rather late for church, but oh well. In Primary, we had the kids make candy necklaces for their moms. They each got 8 pieces of candy, that they wrapped in saran wrap and tied with ribbons. There were extras so I made one for my mom too; I figured it had been a few years since anyone had made her a Mothers Day gift in Primary. ;-) In Nursery, Jilly made me a sweet foam card with flower stickers on it and a flower of gumdrops and a fudge stripe cookie. Of course, as soon as her Nursery leader handed it to me, Beanie snatched off the top gumdrop and ate it, then when we were in the Primary room cleaning up, she also grabbed the cookie while I wasn't watching. Hahaha. Silly girl.

After church, we ate lunch and then took naps. Before naps, I got my Mother's Day gift from Steve and Jillian. Steve had spent quite a bit of time making a photo montage-video thing for me. It was set to one of my favorite songs and was filled with photos of me along my journey to and through motherhood, from dating to engagement to wedding day to my pregnancy with Jilly and all through her life so far. He couldn't find the pictures of me pregnant with Wildcat, but there are a couple pictures from Halloween of me, when I was brand newly pregnant, so that counts for me. It was very sweet and my pregnancy hormones really made for an excellent reaction, I sat there sobbing through all 4 minutes, and a few more after. ;-) I loved it! When it was time for a nap, Jilly, being the incredibly brillant two year old that she is, decided not to sleep until well after 2pm. Well, at 3pm we had to wake her up so we could go meet my family for dinner. She was less than amused about it. We met my family at their house and then we all headed down to Palisade on Elliot Bay for dinner. Katie had picked it, because she had wanted to eat there for months, and it was her graduation dinner (we Moms were just hangers-on ;-)). It was beautiful!!! There is a stream running through the middle of the restaurant, and you have to walk over a bridge to get to your table. We had a big round table for all of us, with a view of the Elliot Bay Marina. They had even put a card on the table congratulating Katie and decorated it with flower petals. We had a marvellous time over the evening! The food was SO GOOD!! Most people got seafood, but since I hate seafood, I went with a yummy steak. We took a bunch of pictures of everyone so here they are:

Mom and Paul

Katie and Auntie Karen

The three of us kids again

The Hall family. Not really a great picture of either Steve or me, but Jilly is cute, and let's face it, that's the most important.

Juliet and her fiance Kelly were there as well, but I don't have a picture of them.

We exchanged cards and presents for Katie and the moms. It was such a nice time, food and company wise. The restaurant is AWESOME! I would definitely recommend it. It is expensive, but the service and quality of food are top-notch. We kept having to take Jilly on walks here and there because she'd get bored sitting in her highchair. Steve and I took turns and then during dessert, Andy took her without even being asked, walking on the bridge for a little, then taking her outside. I think we were there for 2 1/2 or 3 hours total. Lovely time. :-)

After dinner we headed home and hung out at the family's house for a little before going home. We had such a great time with all of our family over the weekend. The Aunties were especially excited because they both got to feel Wildcat move really well. Nice to know he can perform when he needs to. ;-) Mom and Auntie Karen had stopped at the Outlet Mall in North Bend on Friday and ended up buying Jilly two new pairs of sandals, one white, one pink, for the summer. Mom also got Wildcat a bunch of newborn onesies that are very cute, and Auntie Karen had brought an outfit for him from Canada. Travis, my cousin, picked it out. Mom crocheted around the edge of some burp rags, so Wildcat got just as spoiled as Katie did this weekend!

It took Monday to clean up the house and recover from the weekend, but now we're back to normal. It was a great time! Yeah, incredibly exhausting, more physically than anything else, but well worth it I would say.

CONGRATULATIONS to Katie on her graduation!!!

Big Sister toes!

I've been meaning to paint my toenails for weeks, because it's been many many months since I last did it. We're going to my sister's graduation in Pullman this weekend, so I wanted to look especially spiffy. So today, I finally sat down to do it while Jilly was in the bath. Then I decided, I wanted to paint hers too! So after the bath, she's starting to get tired, so I sit her down on the couch with a sippy cup, in front of the TV and paint her tiny tiny toenails. I was apprehensive about doing it, because I was afraid she'd move around and smear them. But she sat very still for me and let me paint, wipe off the extra and let them dry. They turned out adorable! She was so excited about them. She kept looking down at them and smiling. Clearly, she is a girly girl. ;-) Gotta love it.

Here's a cute picture of her, smiling and posing for me.

And her cute cute red toes!

And the other foot.

This is her new shirt from Aunt Becky. She's pretty darn psyched about it!


I guess if she can sit still long enough to get her toenails painted, she's old enough to be a big sister! Hope so, because she doesn't have a choice. ;-) Hahaha. What a cute girl!

Tulips!!

Earlier this week, we got an email inviting us to go to the Tulip Festival with some friends from church. I was very excited because I'd heard they were beautiful this year and I thought it would be a lot of fun. Stacey was generous to offer to drive us with her and Austin. We oke up to beautiful weather and got dressed in T-shirts and shorts for the day. Jilly wore a brand new outfit from Aunt Becky, which was just perfect. It was even cuter when I did her hair in pigtails with the daisy hair clips. BUT... she pulled them all out halfway to La Conner. Turd. ;-) Here are our pictures!

This was the first field we visited. We only were there for like 10 minutes, because neither Austin nor Jilly wanted to walk and we'd left the strollers in the car. Oops!

I tried to get a bunch of pictures of Jilly, but she wasn't very interested and most of them turned out bad. This was the best of all the pictures. ((sigh))

This picture has three bright colors all together, purple pink and red. Pretty!

You can see the mountains in the background.

There was this neat old barn next to one of the fields. I wish I had a better camera, because there was some definite cool-picture potential there.

This was the second field we went to. This time we were smarter and brought the strollers, so we wouldn't have to carry the 2 1/2 year olds. There were more colors and more variety in this one. Loved it.

I think this might be my favorite picture. The purple was just gorgeous.

Jilly took this picture of what was probably the only cloud in the sky, so I just had to include it.

Proof that I was there as well.

I love how there is a huge block of red, then a swatch of pink and just a little more red at the very back.

At last, a picture of all four of us! Jilly was the least enthused about taking a picture. ;-)

We got back in the car and briefly discussed venturing out to Deception Pass, but decided the kiddos probably wouldn't handle the extra hour or more. So we'll have to do that another time. It was a smart decision because even though we fed them when we got back in the car, they were tired and a bit worn from all the sun. Austin had a rough ride home, poor guy. But we made it home and are so glad we went! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Stacey for inviting us to come. It was a lot of fun.

When we got home, I laid Jilly down in her crib to relax for a bit while I worked on the blog. She laid for a few minutes, then jumped up and started talking. She was practicing a bunch of phrases, unbidden by me, so I had to document it. Of course as soon as she saw the camera, she stopped saying some of them, but I caught a few. ;-) She was saying, "byebye!", "See you later!", "I love you!" among other things. Very cute. So that gets added here. Enjoy!

Jilly the Exhibitionist

Just so you know, Jilly will not be upstaged by some unborn baby brother.

Wildcat!!!

This week has been a rather exciting one- Wildcat wise. Wednesday we saw the midwife and Thursday we had the ultrasound!

I was very lucky Steve was able to take Wednesday off work, so he could come to the appointment with him, and so that I didn't have to drive him to work. We had a nice morning all together, which is rare for our family, then dropped Jilly off with Michelle and Maya, so we could go without her. The appointment itself was wonderful. We talked a lot with the midwife about hers and our expectations for the pregnancy and the birth. We felt very comfortable with her and quite reassured. Most of the 90 minute appt was spent just talking! We briefly discussed nutrition, but will have a more in-depth discussion on that at the next appointment. We talked about what tests we were going to do and which ones we would decline. There was more, but I can't remember everything. ;-) It was a very fruitful discussion for sure and we got lots of good info, as well as really started building a relationship with the midwife. After talking, we did a quick exam and blood draw. Wildcat is already head down, which she determined almost immediately (I'm so not shocked). My belly is measuring right where it should and the heartbeat was nice and strong. My blood pressure was a little higher than normal for me (124/66, I'm often more like 100/60), but still classically normal. And the blood draw was super easy! She got it in immediately and it hardly hurt. Niiiice! Once that was over, she gave me the Glucola drink and instructions for the Glucose Tolerance Test next appt and we set that up. I'll see her next on April 30th.

After we left, I started thinking, I don't know if my OB spent that much time with me over the course of my whole pregnancy with Jilly! It was awesome to have plenty of time to talk things over and feel like she was really listening to me. I loved it. Unfortunately, we also realized that we'd left without any paperwork for the ultrasound, which she was going to order that day. I was just going to call her later and get it figured out. At this point in the day, we were both starving, so we checked in with Michelle to see how Jilly was doing and she said it would be fine if we went out to lunch before we picked her up. Hooray! We hit Olive Garden and it was sooooo yummy. Not to mention, the sun came out while we were there. What a lovely time it was to have a lunch date, just the two of us. :-D Major thanks to Michelle for watching the kiddo for so long, so we could really enjoy our day!

I went to work that afternoon, and checked my email, and there was already an email from the midwife waiting! She told me that she had faxed over the ultrasound order and I could call and schedule it. Fantastic! I took advantage of a slow period and called to set up the appointment. Turns out they could get me in the next day! I was shocked, because I was expecting to wait at least 2 weeks, if not more like 4 weeks. And the timing was really convenient for me, Steve AND my mom. So I said, let's go for it! After I set that up, I called Steve and my mom to make sure they could come, which they could. Excellent! It wasn't until a little while later that I realized I probably needed to find a baby sitter for Jilly. Oops! I had spaced on that one, and now would have to find someone last minute. Once again, I was saved by a great friend. Even though I called at 7pm the night before, Jeanne said she'd be able to watch Jilly for the afternoon while we went to the ultrasound. What a load off my mind. I suppose we could have taken Jilly with us, but would you really want to spend an hour, in a dark room full of medical equipment with a rambunctious two year old? Especially when we're all trying to pay close attention to the procedure? Hehehe, I think not.

Thursday morning, Jilly and I woke up WAY early to take Steve to work, since I would have to pick him up right from work to be on time to the appt. Because it had been a long time since we'd been to his work, Steve wanted to take Jilly in and parade her around. She started to freak out when I stayed in the car, so I decided to come in, no makeup, sweats and all. Well, Steve hadn't told anyone at work about Wildcat, so imagine everyone's surprise when my big old 28 week pregnant belly comes waltzing in! Hehehe. It was fun to see everyone and share the news. But it was still really early, so Jilly and I headed home and crawled back into bed. Once we finally got up for the day, we had a relaxing morning (technically afternoon) before I dropped her off to play with Jackson.

We got to the ultrasound lab and checked in, early actually. Soon enough, my mom met us there (we got her out of a staff meeting, which she was happy about) and we were called back. I was really happy that this time I knew ahead of time that a full bladder was not necessary, and thus was able to avoid that particular discomfort. We got settled right in for the ultrasound and right away saw the baby. We knew from the midwife appt the day before that the baby was already head down, so that's where we started, then moving down the rest of the body. We got to see Wildcat's face, both straight on and from profile. The profile shot (which she printed a couple pictures of, I will post them later, once they're scanned in) was really cute, but different than Jilly's. Her little nose poked out a lot more than Wildcat's did. I guess we'll see what the differences are when the baby comes out. The heart looked fantastic, all four chambers beating well, valves looking great opening and closing, etc. I'm always fascinated by images of the spine, it's amazing to me! We looked at the femur (measuring it to check on baby's size), tibia and fibula and then the feet. Turns out the kid was positioned pretty much exactly like I'd thought. Head down, facing my back (excellent!!), with left arm tucked up by head & neck, right arm off to the right, the back up the front of my stomach by my belly button, and both feet tucked off to my right, right by my ribs (ugh). So the kid likes to kick me with both feet and punch with the left arm. Oh joy. After checking out the toes, the tech moved back up so we could find out the gender of the baby.

I had been paying fairly close attention to most of the ultrasound, and usually had a good idea of what she was looking at. At this particular moment, I had been distracted, talking to my mom or something, when all of a sudden the tech said, "Well I know what you're having." We all looked up and I answered, "I think I do too. Is it a boy?" "Yes it is!" Hooray! Wildcat is a boy!! And it was very clear. That particular image could not be mistaken for female anatomy. ;-) It was very exciting. After that, she checked out the arms and some other things. The radiologist came in after the techas done, just to do a quick double check. Everything looks great! Placenta is where it should be, cervix looked good (I know you were all dying to know that), Wildcat has all his organs and they're in the proper place, his heart was beating 131 bpm, and all that good stuff. It was so much fun to get to see the baby in such detail! And he was so big too! Way fun.

On the way home, we made tons of calls and text messages to various friends and family, to let them know "It's a Boy!" Everyone seemed pretty darn excited for us, which is fun, because we're excited too! Now we get to enjoy both genders! Steve is pretty darn over-the-moon about having a son. I am happy, but a bit trepidatious because I'm not exactly a tomboy. I'm not sure what what to do with a boy, but luckily Jilly has already broken me into motherhood, so I don't think the learning curve will be as steep as if I had a boy first. ;-) Jilly still hasn't said the word "brother" but it's nice to be able to tell her that it is a brother, and not "brother or sister". I think she'll love him tons and be so helpful once he's born. People have been asking about names. We do have a first name picked out, Jason, but the middle name is still in the works.

Our glee with finding out Wildcat is a boy, unfortunately got dimmed a bit because all three of us came down with a cold Thursday. Friday we all felt pretty darn crappy, Steve and me especially. I think it's just ridiculous to have gotten this many colds (this is round 4), let alone while pregnant. Grrr... Hopefully, we'll feel better soon.

I do have some pictures from the ultrasound that I promise to post soon. I have to get them scanned in first. But they're pretty fun! :-) So there you go! All our exciting Wildcat news! Everything is healthy and happy and growing well. :-D

What Are You Doing?

The past few days have been just lovely here in Washington. Starting on Friday, we got some real sunshine! It was even WARM for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday! *gasp* Shocking, eh? Actually, not so much. It was our typical April warm streak, but definitely very much welcome, since it's been so cold and rainy and snowy this winter! We have been enjoying it all so much!!!

This past weekend was also General Conference. General Conference is a twice-yearly event in our church, where the leaders of the Church speak to us in 5 two-hour sessions. There are two on Saturday day, one Saturday evening for the men ages 12 and up, and two more on Sunday. For most of the past several years, I haven't gotten to hear Saturday's sessions because I am usually working. That was the case again this year. But Steve and Jilly listened, over the internet, and enjoyed it. Saturday evening, Steve went to the Priesthood session with all the men, and Jilly and I went over to a friend's house for a potluck dinner. It was so much fun!!! Since it was still nice, I couldn't keep Jilly inside the house. She kept running outside to play with all the other kids on the playset. At one point, I realized she even escaped out there without her shoes on. Oops! She got to play with a lot of kids, including her best friend Maya (or as Jilly calls her "My-na"). And I got to eat and talk and relax with a bunch of friends. We ended up being the last ones to leave, because I couldn't stop talking. (Sorry if we over-stayed our welcome Stacey. I have a bad habit of not knowing when to shut up! ;-)) Steve went out for pizza with all the guys after their session of Conference and had a blast too.

Sunday, we got up just before Conference started and listened to the first session over the internet again. Now, this can be challenging for a few reasons. 1) We have a two-year-old. She doesn't exactly get the whole "sit down and be reverent" thing. She ended up spending most of the time in her crib and was pretty okay with it. 2) The computer is in Jilly's room. Which means we can only listen when she's awake. Not to mention the seating arrangements are much less comfortable than our bedroom or the family room. Steve usually sits in the computer chair and I sit in the rocking chair. Of course, that means I have a tendency to rock myself to sleep. Oops! But despite those challenges, we do try and are better for it.

Halfway during the morning session, I remembered that my parents have digital cable, which means they have BYU-TV (which shows Conference). Plus, they were out of town until Sunday night, leaving only Andy at the house. So I called them up and told them we were going to go over to watch Conference for the afternoon. We figured this would be so much better. We could watch in more comfort, in their family room, while Jilly played with all the toys or took a nap if she wanted. Also, with the big TV it was easier to pay attention and hear. We did some tidying up in between sessions, then went over there for the afternoon. Of course, we were slackers and got there about 15 minutes into the session. Oops again. But it was very nice to be there for it! Jilly was mostly content, plus she got to played with Uncle Andy a lot, which I think they both enjoyed. And it was SOOOOO NICE outside, that it was a pleasure driving to and from their house. Then again, Steve and I did take turns dozing during different parts of the session. Oops again again. But like before, we did hear some wonderful things and are glad we made the effort, even if it wasn't a perfect one.

After Conference, we headed home and *gasp* opened ALL the windows and sliding doors, letting some much needed air and light into our house. By doing so, we realized that our apartment desperately needed some cleaning, so we spent a little bit cleaning and tidying everything up. It ended up so nice! Everything was put away, including the massive amounts of laundry in our bedroom. I even went through all Jilly's clothes, putting away the stuff that was too small and pulling out her summer clothes. Hooray! We then spent most of the evening on the phone with Steve's family in San Antonio, namely Grandma Karen and Uncle Dan. I think the phone call lasted 3 or 4 hours total. Unfortunately, our little Beanster hadn't taken a nap, so about 6:30pm she really got fussy and cranky. Even more unfortunately, she did this while I was making dinner, and she of course, only wanted me. As soon as I was finished, I cuddled her up on the couch and she fell asleep within 5 minutes!!! This is soooo not typical Jilly behavior. Yeah, she'll sometimes fall asleep on the couch or in her high chair or something, but pretty much never in our arms. It was so precious. I wanted Steve to take a picture, but by the time he was off the phone, she was awake and had moved. I ended up snoozing with her for a few minutes, and luckily Wildcat didn't kick too much in protest of it's big sister leaning on it. :-)

Monday we hung around the house, but again had all the windows and doors open since it was so warm and beautiful outside! I even wore a t-shirt and flip flops to work! I could have worn shorts or a skirt, but I'd been too lazy to shave my legs, so jeans it was. ;-) L-O-V-E-D IT! Today I was determined to at least go for a walk outside, so after the morning, we walked over the convenience store to get a treat. Jilly loved being outside and even kept her sunglasses on the whole time. She has been saying ALL DAY and ALL EVENING "What are you doing?". Sometimes it's just goofing around, asking repeatedly. Sometimes, it's been in the throes of a tantrum. But it's definitely been all day. It's so cute to hear in her little girl voice. She again, didn't take a nap, and again got really cranky in the evening. This time, she passed out on the couch next to me. I let her sleep for like an hour and half, but then woke her up so that we could go grocery shopping and eat dinner. Those plans got messed up a bit, when Steve's weekly meeting got moved up by about 45 minutes. She was SOOOO fussy when I woke her up. Poor kiddo. She did calm down though, once we gave her the Cinnamon Twists from Taco Bell. Hehehe. Jilly got into the staples in our desk drawer. Apparently the love of office supplies is genetic (Steve and I have to stay far away from Office Depot/Max/Staples, etc without a very specific list and time limit, because we get office supply lust).

Because I haven't posted pictures in a while, I took a bunch this evening. So gaze upon our cute fairy, who then turned into an alien fairy and enjoy!

This is a new outfit I put together a couple weeks ago and I love it. It's spunky and fun, especially with the side ponytail. ;-)


This was also a few weeks ago, when she put on Daddy's shoes and walked around in them. How CUTE is this?!


She loves to play with my Sudoku book, or pretty much any paper, whenever she can get her hands on a pen. This particular time, she had removed her pants. Classy, huh?


Tonight when she fell asleep on the couch. Sweet little girl. :-)


And our Fairy Girl!


She often climbs up onto the couch, and this is mostly how she accomplishs it.


Once up, she'll often perch herself right on their armrest (Grandpa Brad would not approve).


According to her behvior today, this toy can ONLY be played with when it is on it's side or upside down.


You can see some of the lime green staples she was playing with, as well as when the Fairy turned into an Alien Fairy.


And last but not least- Wildcat! This is tonight, 27 weeks and 1 day. Steve thinks I'm way bigger than I was last time, and I have to say, I'm not surprised. It does feel like the belly grew enormously between my last picture (22 weeks) and today. Crazy....

Week In Review

This was a very up and down week, I swear. Monday was one of those days for me. Jilly hadn't gone to sleep until close to 12:30am Sunday night, so I was less than thrilled when she woke up at 6am, crying. I knew she had a cold, so I felt bad for her. I let her come into my bed, since Steve had already left for work. Normally she calms down quickly and goes to sleep with me, but not this time! She ketp whining and moaning, and grabbing my hand. She clearly wanted me to do something for her, but I had no idea what she wanted and she wouldn't tell me. I wsa so frustrated! After like an hour and a half, I got up and took us out to the couch so she could watch TV and I could doze. That worked faily well and she calmed down for the most part. After a bit, she got down off the couch and started playing with her toys. I was very in-and-out for a couple hours, so it's all kinda hazy.

At some point, she climbed back onto the couch with me and cuddled up to sleep. It was rather cute, so we snoozed there for a little while. Of course, while I was dozing, I'd turned it to the Disney channel for her and she ran away with the remote. So as she goes to sleep, I start to wake up and am stuck watching Disney cartoons, because she's cuddled up with me and I didn't want to risk moving her. It was during this time that I looked down and noticed this cute little baby bum was out for all to see. She'd gotten her diaper off, left it on the floor and was running around without anything on her bum. Oops! Hahaha. She slept there for 45 or so minutes, then woke up. Unfortunately, her attitude had not improved that much. She kept whining and complaining most of the day. I was going insane with her, because I couldn't figure out anything to make her feel better! I was never so glad to put her down for a nap, take a shower and escape to work. But just my luck, she slept most of the time I was gone and her attitude did not change once I got home and she woke up. The rest of the evening continued to be frustrating. I was trying to make dinner and she kept coming in and whining at me and crying when I'd send her out. It kept up for hours. Finally, Steve put her in the bath and that seemed to cheer her. I decided that I was way too disgruntled at the day, so as soon as 24 was over, I dashed to Safeway for ice cream and hot fudge. Sure, I had cookies at the house, but it was one of those days that required all three. And I was much happier by the time I went to bed!

Tuesday was heaven, compared to Monday. Jilly slept way in, which means I got to as well. We just had a lazy day at home, then pretty soon after Steve got home, I had to dash off to pick up some food for the Relief Society Birthday Dinner that night. By the time I was leaving Costco, it was still 2 hours until we'd be doing dinner, so I decided that I needed a snack. Mmmmm.... Costco Polish Dog... SOOOO GOOD! The Relief Society dinner was lovely. It was so nice to chat with all the ladies, the food was good, and the presentation about the history of Relief Society was fascinating. I ended up not getting home until about 10 minutes AFTER Steve's meeting started, because I had to clean up after the dinner. Oh well. He only had to drive like 3 minutes. ;-) I put Jilly to bed while he was gone, and it was a quiet evening.

Wednesday was a bit more exciting. I meant to wake by 10 or 10:15am, normally I hear from Jilly by then. But for some reason, she slept way in again! So I woke up at 10:45am! Normally, not an issue, but my mom and sister were taking us to the Zoo and I need to be up and at it. Turns out Mom was running late, so it ended up being okay that I was too. In fact, by the time Katie got us back to Mom's house, we still waited for like 20-30 minutes for Mom to finish getting ready. Then it was off to Woodland Park Zoo! Now, I LOVE the zoo. I would go all the time if I had a car. I went a bunch last spring (as my loyal readers noticed) so Regan got me a membership for my birthday present. Sweet! Well, that was back in August and I still hadn't gone. Oops. So this was the first time I was using it. And it was AWESOME! I get in for free with the membership, Jilly is still free since she's under 3, and I get any guests in for half off. Plus, until May 1st I get free parking. Score! So to get all four of us in the Zoo and park there, it was only $11! Major deal if you ask me.

So we spent the next couple hours wandering around the Zoo. We checked out the elephants, tiger, hippos, the Day/Night exhibit, orangutans, and much more. Funny story, we had just come up to the tapirs and they seemed to see us and walk towards us. Cool, right? They walked right up to the glass, facing us, then alongside it as well. As soon as the first one turned, to have his back facing us, it peed right on the glass, right at Jilly's face level! It was rather explosive too! Made us all jump back and start laughing hysterically. Well, not Jilly. It didn't scare her, but I don't think she quite knew what to do. Hahaha! Way funny. Quite a few of the animals that we saw were actually out and active, rather than sleeping in the back corner, so that was neat to see. I think we ended up staying the longest at the flamingos (no one else was there), and they seemed brighter than the last time we saw them. It was a lot of fun, but all too soon we had to leave so I could get to work. Mom & Katie ended up keeping Jilly for the afternoon, so Steve had an evening all to himself while I was at work. After work, I picked up Jilly, dinner and then we headed home. Soon enough the Birdie Girl was in bed and we watched Lost. What a nice way to end the day.

Thursday was another lazy day. Katie came over sometime that morning and we just hung out. We ended up watching Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. It was so cute! Neither of us had seen it before. My mother-in-law gave it to me for Christmas a few years ago, and I hadn't opened it yet. I knew Steve wouldn't want to watch it with me, and I'm bad about watching movies by myself. Anyway, Katie and I thought it was a hoot, way silly and fun. :-) That afternoon, I had to make a couple visits for Primary, but after that, we all just hung out at home. Steve started feeling kinda crappy, I could tell he was catching Jilly's cold. Poor guy.

Friday morning, he did not feel any better, so he stayed home from work. You'd think staying home from work would mean he'd lay around in bed all day and do nothing, right? Not quite with Steve. He was up long before Jills and I were, even showered and dressed. Katie called at like 11am, while I was still in bed, though awake. She ended up coming over again, because she'd mixed up the time of her hair appt. It was at 2pm, not 11am. Hehehe. So she came to kill time with us. Steve made us tidy up the house, and then he made us pancakes and bacon for breakfast. He even had to wake up Jilly at 11am! Lazy baby. Later, us girls made a trip to Safeway so we could get some groceries, then it was time for Katie to leave. The rest of the day was spent alternately cooking, cleaning, and chilling out.

Today has been fairly boring. I've been at work since 6:45am. We had some weather issues this morning, but I think things are getting back on track. Tonight, we're going over to my friend Tatiana's place for dinner. I'm not sure if Steve will be coming, it depends on how bad he feels, plus we don't really want to get her whole familu sick, especially right before they have to move! But Jilly and I will be going for sure. I even made Fudge Sundae Dessert to take with us. Yum. Tomorrow, we'll have church and afternoon naps. Fairly standard and low-key for us.

So ther you have it, our excting week! It started out pretty rough but got much better as it went on. By the way- if any of you want to go to the Zoo, I'll make you a fantastic offer. You provide the transportation (since I don't have the car during the day) and I'll get you in for cheap. Seems like a sweet deal to me. Let me know if you wanna take me up on it! I could go once a week and not get bored. ;-) Have a wonderful Saturday!