Easter Bunny

Saturday there was a parade and Easter Egg hunt at the church at the end of our block. Jillian napped through the parade but as soon as she woke up, out we went. I didnt know what to expect, but it turned out to be fun! There were tons of kids running around, they had a fire truck on display, and then I saw her..... the Easter Bunny! I was hoping they would have one. Yay!

Jillian was not scared of the bunny at all. She was quite curious though, probably thinking 'this is the biggest stuffed animal ever'. She sat on the bunny's lap for a total of 1 minute, but kept turning around to look at her.

We are ready for Easter at our house; another 'first' for Jillian! Too bad she cant go on a real Easter Egg hunt, have chocolate or understand the true meaning of Easter, but in time she will!

Nana & Papa

Nana and Papa came to visit Jillian, and everyone had a great time! They spoiled Jillian with not only an entire suitcase full of clothes and toys, but lots of love! We had a great time and cant wait for them to come visit again soon!!

The weather was phenomenal all weekend, so we spent a lot of time outside.

Saturday we met for brunch at Bread Winners, went to the park, and then we camped out at our house Saturday night since Jillian goes to sleep at 6:45.

Nana loved feeding Jillian.

Sunday we had brunch at Deli News (ranked #1 bruch in D Magazine). It's a lot like a NY deli - and it's AMAZING! Seriously fattening, but so yummy. Nana and Papa then spent the afternoon at our house.

Looked what I caught on our front steps..... Nana getting the best arm work-out ever???

She did 'Flying Baby' for probably 10 minutes - Jillian loved it!

Then we relaxed on our back patio. Jillian was honestly in la-la land. Soooo relaxed, so happy, perfect breeze. Every once in a while she'd look up and make sure Nana was still holding her.

What a wonderful weekend!!

9 Months!

Sweet Jillian is now 9 months old! What a fun and precious soul she is. Such a constant source of joy and laughter in our lives. Her personality is becoming more evident everyday. In new situations/places she sits back and observes for a while - like a wall-flower. Jeff tends to be like that too. After she has observed everything and feels comfortable, then she'll start playing and getting active. She always looks to me for comfort and to make sure I am smiling and enjoying the activity before she will.... so cute.

Here's the latest on Jillian:

~ Still no teeth :) Jeff's side of the family didn't teeth till close to 14 months, so it could be a while longer.... time will tell! I'm lovin' the gummy smile as long as I can.

~ About 3 weeks ago, she started saying consonants. She started with ba-ba and da-da. Now she says moma, dada, baba, and nana. It's one of my favorite milestones, listening to her jabber is the cutest thing!

~ We are in the process of transitioning from 3 naps down to 2. This has been some-what of a struggle for her. Some days she still needs the 3rd nap, other days she doesn't. Soon she'll drop it without being tired.... I'm counting on it!

~ Over the past week, she's seemed more hungry. She must have hit her 9 month growth spurt. Now she drains each of her 8 oz bottles and every bite of her 3 meals. If this keeps up, I'll start introducing snacks.

~ Tuesday she successfully fed herself for the first time! She was eating puffs and actually got it into her mouth. For weeks now, she would get frustrated with herself because she couldn't quite figure out how to release the puff into her mouth. She would try and eat her fingers/fist but couldn't get the puff out. I was so happy for her!

~ We're Army Crawling. The hiney is in the air, the knees come up, but she hasn't quite gotten it all together to start crawling at a fast pace. She's still using her arms and elbows to pull herself around. This is as far as we've made it:

~ Stranger Anxiety seems better - for the time being. New people used to send her into a dither and she'd start crying. She is so much better now.

~ Wears either 9 month of 12 month clothing. 9 month is starting to get a little snug, but 12 month is a little big.

~ Weighs exactly 19 pounds and is 28.25" tall.

~ It's probably way to early to tell, but she definitely uses her left hand a lot more than her right.... so she might be left-handed??

~ When she's sitting and playing with her toys, she somehow manages to get them all behind her. I guess she tosses them.

~ At the perfect age where she loves to sit in the high chair at restaurants. Here she was today at Snuffers; she was in a fantastic mood so we took advantage of it and went out.

So of course, I've taken quite a few pictures of her to mark her 9th month b-day. There are quite a few....

Sweet Jillian, we adore you and love you SO much. We can't wait to see what this month brings us!

Daddy's girl

Jillian looks a lot like her daddy! Although she's got a little bit of me, she definitely favors him :) This past weekend, Jeff's parents were in town (post coming soon) and Ellen brought of a baby photo of Jeff. My mouth dropped; she looks SO much like him as a baby. I wish I was proficient at Blogging, b/c I want to put these pics side by side, but I don't know how. So here is the best face I could find of Jillian that is similiar to the one Jeff is making....

I think it's safe to say she has my eye color, and probably my nose.

Sleeping

When Jillian would nap, I used to relax and get stuff done - do the dishes, get some work done, finally eat breakfast/lunch, ect. Over the past week she's developed the need to no longer sleep on her back. She instantly rolls over to her tummy and crawls all around the bed, exploring. She's started pulling her bumpers off, and playing with her Sleep Sheep.... all that sounds fun, right? Well, once she's explored for 15 minutes she just face plants into the mattress and falls asleep.

That freaks me out! The first few days I'd go and roll her over or try and reposition her head so she could breath easier. That didnt work out so well. That'd usually wake her from a nap = not good. So I now spend her naps checking on her and staring at the video monitor. Any other moms out there have crazy babies that sleep the same way?? Should I be worried? We see our pediatrician next week so I will be quizzing him.

(It is funny to see her face when she's just woken up. Her whole face is red from being smashed in the mattress.)

We just got back from visiting my sister in Colorado. My parents came along too, so the whole family was together - we had so much fun! It was great to get away for 5 days. Although I came back MUCH more tired than when I left, we still had a great time. Totally worth it. Jillian was a great little traveler again! She got a little restless on the 3 hour flights, but no crying. I was soooo relieved! I sadly didn't take ONE picture! I took my small camera I rarely use anymore and left the memory card in my other camera! I start snapping photos and it tells me No Memory...... no!!

Earlier this week Mariam and I took our babies to the Arboretum. We got to enjoy the gorgeous spring weather, and the babies loved it! We even ran into Pam and her friend Courtney with their little ones. Needless to say, the Arboretum was full of momma's with their babies.... we'll definitely be going back!

They wouldn't let babies under 2 into the petting zoo area.

Jillian was still amused through the fence.

It's so cute watching babies interact. Leila is just so active and fun. Jillian watched her crawl and pull up on things to stand. (I forgot Jill's sun hat!! I'll remember it next time!)

Another thing I love about Spring?? Seeing Jillian's CHUBBY arms again! check those out!

Monkey Man

Monkey Man/Austin Pants/Monster.... this post is for our crazy Golden Retriever!

Since we had Jillian Austin has certainly taken a backseat in the family. So I decided he needs some love on the blog.

Austin has really REALLY been a trooper since we've had Jillian. No jealousy. Nothing but love, gentleness, and plenty of slobbery kisses for Jillian. He really loves her! And she loves him right back.

Here are a few pictures from the past few months of A & J getting some quality time.

She grabs, pokes, pulls and he just lays there. In fact,he usually nestles in even closer.

Yep, that's Austin kissing her.

And again.

Love this one - she's asking for a hug.

We sure do love Austin. Even when he's crazy hyper and begging for some much needed attention after Jillian goes to bed. He's going to be such a great dog for Jillian to grow up with.