My Purse

I was tagged by Sariah, and even if she's hadn't "officially" tagged me, I would have done it anyway. I love purses that much. :-D

My purse:

1) "Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late (and the inside too). No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. I want to know what you carried today or the last time you left the house."

The outside:


The inside:


Inside I have my makeup, a small notebook, paystub, wallet, keys, a PopTart, pens, the keys to the Parts building at work, sunglasses, lipstick and carmex, and I'm sure there's more.


2) " I want to know how much it cost:) And this is not to judge. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I’d love to hear it."

This purse cost about $26 I think, by far the most I've ever paid for a purse. I debated about whether that was too much or not for awhile. But I wanted it badly and I was on a girls night out, so I decided to splurge and get it. And I definitely have gotten my money's worth out of it! I originally bought it so I could fit my Primary binder in a stylish purse and only take one bag to church (instead of my purse plus another bag for the binder, not to mention the diaper bag). It's ended up being great because when I go out during the day or on errands at night with Jilly, I can just throw a couple things in there, diapers, travel wipes and a sippy cup on the side and I'm good to go!

3) "Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why the heck you’re showing everyone your diaper bag/non-diaper bag."

I tag:
Candace
Nancy
Christy
Michelle
Bri

Go for it ladies!!

Picture Time!

Recently, my sister griped to me that I hadn't put up any new pictures since Jilly's birthday, over two months ago. Well, first off Katie, bite me. Second, here you go. Some new pictures.

Jilly was getting ready for bed and we wrapped her up in the comfy, super soft adorable purple robe Auntie Karen sent for Christmas. You can't help but want to cuddle her for hours when she's in this!


Next we have Jilly demonstrating her most cute grin. Of course, she is chewing on her fingers at the same time. That has been a rather typical experience lately, as her upper 2-year molars are coming in (and all that goes with them, we love Motrin).


After her bath, she is still just as cute, wrapped in her towel as when she was a newborn. It never gets old. Cute little girl. :-)


Dressed in her pjs, she chows down on pretty much her favorite food, a bagel. Her food vocabulary has exploded lately as she can ask for all her favorites: bagel, apple, (ba)nana, orange, juice, milk, and go-gis (goldfish).


She has these beautiful curls in the back of her hair and I keep marvelling at them. So pretty!


This is the dress she wore to Stake Conference this morning. Auntie Terry sent it for Valentines Day. It's so pretty!!!!


And for those that don't believe me, just call her Captain Destructo!! She is insane these days, tearing apart everything in the house. This was at the end of the day, when she'd pulled only half her toys out, but gotten a hold of her diaper bag, ripped a Kleenex into tiny bits, and thrown goldfish ALL OVER. Twerp.


But just one look at that smile, and you can't stay mad. ...Or can you? ;-)


So there you go, a quick narration of some pictures from lately. Happy, Katie? ;-)

Quick Hitters

This week has been a bit of a lazy one for us. Jilly was still recovering from her cold, and I just had no energy. So there was more than one day where we both laid in bed until super late. But you could tell she was feeling better when she started destroying and coloring all over the place (see my latest Aimeeland blog). What can you expect from a 2 year old? ;-) But of course, as Jilly is getting better, Steve is coming down with her cold and has spent most of the week feeling sub-par. Poor guy.

Probably the most exciting moment of the week was the Season Premiere of LOST!!! We were so stoked about it. I think Jilly skipped her nap that day and we packed her off to bed before 9pm so we could watch in peace. It was awesome. I could go on for hours about how amazing this show is, and Steve loves it even more than I do. But we were a little weirded out by the first episode ending at 9:53pm. It didn't seem like the next episode started right away either. That was slightly annoying, but oh well. Still loved it. :-)

Another score this week was Tuesday night when my mom and I took Jilly to Gymboree to get some cute things. She had earned "Gymbucks" last month (spend $50, get $25 off during a certain time period) and I had a gift card from Jilly's birthday. So basically, we were getting $50 worth of stuff for free. Score! We found an adorable nightgown that will fit her for a looong time, as well as some bright turquoise with white polka dot leggings. We also got a couple of white undershirts, since she's outgrown onesies. This time we actually managed to bring the stroller with us (we'd forgotten the past several times we'd gone to the mall). But as always, once actually in Gymboree, Jilly insisted on being let out, so she could watch the TV. She also helped move some of the boys underwear around. Apparently, it needed to be hung in a different spot. ;-) She ran into a couple of colleagues there, who were about their same age. Once the little boy said Hi to her and she just stared at him. Then later a little girl came in, Jilly walked over to her, says Hi! and the other girl proceeds to yank the keys right out of Jilly's hands. Hahaha. It cracked me up quite a bit. We had a lot of fun with Granny. We always love Gymboree.

Jilly had her 2-year-old pictures taken at Yuen Lui last week, but since she was sick they didn't come out that great. I think we'll be getting them re-taken. Poor girl was all red-cheeked and glassy-eyed and it really showed up. The photographer did a great job getting as many shots as she did (we love Amanda at the Alderwood Yuen Lui, I would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone!) but unfortunately, Jilly just wasn't all the way there and it showed. But we'll get them redone soon and they'll look great. :-)

That's pretty much all we've been up to. We hope your week is going well!

Christmas and other assorted updates

I feel a bit like I am coming out of hibernation or something. Even though we've been seeing lots of my family, I've pretty much neglected the rest of the world for a few weeks now. The blogging world especially has been completely ignored, both posting and reading. Sorry dears, I'll repent now. :-)

Last week was a rather nice one for us. Steve got the entire week off from work for his vacation. This makes the 4th year in a row (every year we've been married) that he's gotten that week off. We love it. Our house is so much cleaner with Daddy around full time, not to mention yummy breakfasts and dinners that he cooks. Jilly has been LOVING all the attention she gets from him too. And it's been nice for me to get to veg out and not worry about what I should be doing so much. Monday through Wednesday evenings I had to work, which was a bit of a bummer, but worked out fine. We were lucky Steve had that time off work, because it took me a lot longer to get to work this week, I had to leave the house early. If he'd been working, he also would have been a bit delayed getting home which means I couldn't have left early. So yay for that.

One of the reasons transportation is taking longer these days is because of all the SNOW we've had!!! It's insane. Over two weeks we've had snow on the ground, and we are sick of it!! I think total, we've gotten 12"-15". Ridiculous. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if 1) I had an SUV/truck/ or some All-Wheel Drive vehicle; 2) we had a yard to play in the snow in; and/or 3) it just disappeared, rather than turning to slush with 15" potholes. Our poor little Elantra has been beaten up as we treat it like an SUV and go bouncing through the slush, snow and ice. So far the worst has been in our apartment complex itself. We did find out that Reverse is our "power gear". The couple times I've almost gotten stuck, I've been able to back up and get out of it. Anyway, we did take Jilly out in the snow at my mom's for a little and she had fun. Since she doesn't have great snow gear (i.e. any snow gear) we put her in her Halloween costume and she was a Snow Bat! It's a great outfit for that because it's all fleece and thick and has straps at the bottom to hold the pants down over the shoes. Anyway, she's definitely learned the word "Snow" and loves to exclaim it. "Snow! Snow! Snow!" ;-) Now everything is melting and we're happy to see it go. We want our parking lot back! :-)

Christmas Eve was a BUSY day for our family. We got up and got rolling and headed out to do some last minute shopping. We hit Alderwood Mall, Best Buy, Target and Safeway, all within about 4 hours. It wasn't actually totally insane either. Well, parking and getting from the car to the store was a little tricky, especially having to carry a 2 year old because I knew she couldn't walk in the slush. But other than that, it was good. We got everything we needed and then some. We got home, put Jilly down for a nap and Steve got busy putting away food and such while I wrapped some presents. Then it was off to work for me and he made a bunch of food. That night we had my family over for our Christmas Eve tradition. We make Mexican food and get lots of soda and just hang out, eating and relaxing. Andy and Steve will play Madden on the Xbox and Jilly will flit from person to person begging food and attention. We had chicken and cheese enchiladas and tortilla soup and it was SO good!!! Steve is an excellent cook. The evening was relaxing and calm and super enjoyable. After everyone left, we read the story of Christ's birth from the Bible and sang Christmas carols, then it was off to bed.

The next morning, we were all lazy. Jilly and I didn't get up until around 9:30am. We opened our stockings, which were pretty much just full of candy. We also opened our presents from the Aunt Becky & Uncle Kevin and their kiddos. Jilly got a PINK SAN ANTONIO SPURS tracksuit! It's pretty much THE MOST ADORABLE outfit we've ever seen. I put it on her right away and she wore it the whole day. She also got a super fun Melissa & Doug toy called Cutting Food. There's a bunch of food cut up into pieces that velcro together, as well as a cutting board and a wooden knife. Jilly can cut them apart and put them back to her heart's content. It's fabulous and she LOVES it! Steve got a subscription to National Geographic and I got a clothing gift card. We were all super stoked. THANKS ZIEGS!!

We eventually headed out to my family's house, in the SNOW! Yep, not only was the ground all white for Christmas, but it was snowing all morning to boot. So we did have a White Christmas after all. After arriving at the house, we talked to Auntie Karen and the boys in Canada, Steve talked to Becky and we finally settled down to open presents. We had a nice little crowd gathered: Mom, Paul, Katie, Andy, Juliet, Steve, Jilly and me. Jilly and I played "Santa" and distributed presents to everyone. It was a lot of fun. We all got stuff that we love. The highlight was probably Jilly opening her present from Auntie Katie. It was an MP3 player. Not like an iPod or anything with headphones, but rather the updated version of those Fisher Price cassette players we had as kids. You know, the ones with the microphones that you could carry around with you? Anyway, it's awesome! It doesn't have a microphone, but you can download your own music files as well as the music already on it. There is also a Teddy-Bear looking cover that attaches to a crib, so you can use it for little newborn babies too. (Not that we'll be doing that! Jilly doesn't need another thing to play with in bed!) :-) Jilly hands down LOVES and ADORES the thing. Granny sent Uncle Andy off to download some Raffi on to it and Jilly just loves making it sing and light up. I admit, some of the songs get on Mama & Daddy's nerves, but luckily we can put it away and distract her with something else when we need a break.

By the time we finished opening gifts and clearing up the paper, it was like 1pm! We finally got started on breakfast and sat down to eat our Waffle, Eggs and Bacon feast about 2pm. ;-) After that, it was time for Miss Jillypants to take a nap and the rest of us settled in to watch a movie. Well, Jilly decided a nap was not high on her list of priorities but was fairly content to babble, talk and sing to herself in her playpen for 2 hours. We watched Baby Mama, which Katie gave us, and found it quite funny. We let Jilly get up after a couple hours and then we watched Disney's Robin Hood (which Jilly got from Auntie Karen and the boys). I fell asleep and got a little nap while everyone either watched the movie or got dinner going. Dinner was fabulous with Prime Rib, mashed potatoes, asparagus, Caesar salad, and sparkling juices. YUMMY!!! While the dishes were being finished, Juliet, Katie and I played a game of Scrabble. On the initial draw, I got stuck with the Q, X, and Z!! The only vowel I got was a Y. Seriously crummy. But as the game went on, things got better and I was able to make some big plays, which resulted in me winning the game. Sweet. By that time, it was definitely past due for us to head home. Jilly, having had no nap, was tired and ready for bed. Granny had gotten her into her new jammies already, which was a good thing, because she fell asleep on the way home! She managed to stay asleep while I got her out of the car, up the stairs, and into the apartment. As I laid her in her crib (with coat still on), she opened her eyes, I handed her Bunny, and she flopped right over to sleep. She stayed in there without a peep until 6 am, when I took off her coat and settled her back down. It was surprising because normally she wakes up when we get her out of the car seat.

So that was our Christmas! I will be posting pictures later, but I need to get some from my mom as well as download from our camera. It was a very nice and relaxing day. We are ending this year with hearts full of gratitude for our many, many blessings (too numerous to name) and look forward with hope and determination for the year to come! :-)

Jillian is 2!!

Thursday was not only Thanksgiving Day, but our little Jillian's 2nd birthday! WE didn't really celebrate that day, because of the holiday, but we sure did the next night! It seems that in our family, we tend to group birthdays. Steve, Andy and I all get one party in August. Katie, Juliet and Jillian celebrate all together in November. Mom and Paul actually get to have their birthdays alone. Anyway, we had a party for all the birthday ladies Friday night and it was a blast! As you can imagine, Jilly kinda stole the show, but hey, she's just that cute. :-)

We got the night rolling with a tantrum when Auntie Katie wouldn't let her play with the camera. Yeah, she's just kinda 2.


One of the things I was most excited for was the 'No Man Cake. When Katie was 3, she was obsessed with Snowmen, or as she called them "'No men". For her birthday, my mom made her a No Man cake and she got a No Man ornament for Christmas. This year, Mom offered to make a coconut cake for the party. We were trying to think of ways to make it more fun for a 2 year old, and Mom remembered 'No Men. So a 'No Man Cake came to be! It was a collaborative effort for sure. Mom and Katie baked it. Mom cut and frosted it. I "snowed" it with coconut. Paul bought all the embellishments. Then Mom and I decorated it. (Yeah, Mom did most of the work.) It came out SUPER CUTE!



My mom, amazing seamstress that she is, also made Jilly this BEE-YEW-TEE-FULL dress!! She saw the pink ribbon fabric and dreamed up the rest of the dress. We found the rest of the material bit by bit and a pattern to work, then she just adjusted it to her specifications. It came out absolutely lovely and suits Jilly just perfectly, color, shape and all. Mom is still going to add some embellishments to the bodice and make some hairbows, but the dress itself is all together. Isn't it just gorgeous?!


The first present Jilly wanted to open (and I mean that, she dragged the bag off the table) was from her parents. She reached in and pulled out this!


Yep, we got her a dump truck! I think it's way fun and it has duplo-block thingies she can stack or put in the back. She LOVED it right away and ignored the rest of us for like 10 minutes, pushing it all around the kitchen.


You can't see Katie at all, but this is the pretty scarf she got. She asked for one, since it's cold over there in Pullman and she needs to keep her neck warm! It's also kinda silky and big enough to use as a pajmina (did I spell that right?) for fancy occasions.


Auntie Katie got Jilly a very exciting gift. A fairy wings dress up set! Complete with wings, tutu and wand, and all in its own nifty case too. How fun!


Jilly helped open her last present from Auntie Juliet. It was a nice leggings & velour top outfit. The top is ice blue and the leggings are cream with blue and purple stripes. I can't wait to put her in it.


After the presents were over, it was time to play with the loot! We put the wings on Jilly and handed her the wand. She immediately (and I'm not kidding on that) headed over to the mirror to check herself out. She would go over, then turn so she could look at the back! Hysterical!


Check out the awesome wand.


The little fairy ran off to cuddle with her Granny and Grandpa for a few minutes.




Later, after No Man Cake, we put on the tutu as well and let her run around in her full regalia. She had such a good time showing off for everyone.


And I thought she was the most adorable thing EVER!


She even went over to her Auntie Juliet to ask to be picked up.


And here's a final shot of the back of the fairy wings.


I didn't get any pictures of her blowing out the cake with my camera, because the dratted battery died in the middle of the night. But I got some with my mom's so as soon as I get them to me, I will post them here. They're precious with the candlelight on her face.

We had a wonderful night celebrating all the birthdays. Our little girl is pretty much the luckiest little girl in the world, to have so many people who love her and want to make her happy. We love our Jilly Beans!!

Been a little occupied

Has it really been over 3 weeks since I last blogged on here? Shame on me! Unfortunately, you're not getting anything exciting.

Jilly will be 2 next week and I can't believe it!! Wasn't it just like a month ago that I was moaning and whining about being 9 months pregnant for Thanksgiving and desperately trying to get the baby OUT of me? And now she's two?! She's throwing tantrums and being Little Miss Independent (shocking). If she doesn't want to do something she shrieks, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" and flops face down onto the ground. Which usually sends us into giggles. Not sure if that's sending the right message to her, but what else are you gonna do? Get upset over it? Laughing is better. At least I think so. ;-) Jillian has also developed this new trick of grabbing my hand and pulling me off the couch and leading me to what she wants. The usual suspects are the kitchen (for food and/or drink) and her bedroom (for bed and/or diaper change). Yes my kid (sometimes) asks to be put to bed. Hands down, usually the highlight of my day when that happens. But strangely, she only does it to me, not to Steve. Well, just another one to add to that list. But she still is our happy, sunny little Beanie Breath and we love her more than we ever thought. :-)

Steve and I aren't up to very much. We're both plugging away at work and Church. Steve fills his Saturdays with lots of college football (HOOK 'EM HORNS!), that is when he hasn't been roped into working. I am still working at the same place, same hours. I've been rather tired as of late, so Steve's had to pick up the slack at home. Luckily, he doesn't mind too much and is always happy to serve his girls. But I don't think there is much else going on with us. We're boring.

So that is my mini-update. I felt bad I hadn't blogged in awhile, so this is my Band-Aid fix. Hopefully, I'll get back in the swing of things soon. Until then, persevere my loyal subjects.

Trick or Treat!

Last night Jilly got to go Trick or Treating with Granny and Mama. We went in Granny's neighborhood. We were a little disappointed there were more kids out, but I guess it meant more candy for us! ;-) Jilly was quite the ferocious and terrifying bat, and of course charmed everyone in sight.

Before we left our house, I wanted a picture of her without her jacket one, so you can see her cute Halloween shirt.


Once we were at Granny's with the Bat Bag in hand, she was ready to go!


I didn't get any pictures while we were walking around, but let me tell you. For the few houses we went to, we scored pretty darn well. One house we went to gave us a King Size Snickers! Can you believe it?! Steve was sure psyched about that one. She did a good job of either picking a candy or taking the one they offered and putting it in her bag. However, I did get the feeling she was trying to escape from me. Everytime someone opened their door, she tried to walk inside! :-) Granted, I don't think she'd ever encountered a situation where we just stood at a door and didn't go inside, so I don't blame her for trying. Hehehehe.

Jilly inspected her loot quite closely when we got home.


For quite awhile after getting home, Jilly walked around the kitchen, dragging her bag with her. It was adorable.


Then she started playing with the candy itself. The suckers were quite a hit with her.


We finally let her have a piece. I gave her a Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar, which she LOVED! Can you tell? ;-)


This was an accidental video. My mom was trying to take a picture, but I forgot it was on video mode. Nonetheless it was cute and you can see Jilly licking her fingers.


On the way home, I let her hold her bag of candy. I could hear her playing with it, throwing it in the seat next to her and such. Then it got a little quiet. I stopped at a light and turned around to see this!


She hasn't unwrapped it at all, but rather chewed on the corner, melted it with her hot little hand and sucked it all out! I let her finish the Krackel, but drew the line at the Mr. Goodbar. I was not going to let her eat peanuts while I was driving! She didn't like that idea.


We got home and I let her have a "Creepy Pop" skull-face sucker. She LOVED it! And proceeded to get it all over her face, hands and clothes. Once she began using it as a drumstick on her toys and booksheld, I took it away and she got a bath.

All in all, it was a very successful and fun Halloween!!