Three years ago today . . .

Three years ago today, we welcomed a beautiful new life into the world.

There are days when it seems like she's been here forever, it's so hard to imagine life without her. And there are other days where the surrealness of her arrival seems only moments behind us.

In the face of the tiny baby, we could never have imagined all of the joys that would lie ahead of us.We couldn't yet see her smile, her dimple, her laugh, the glimmer in her eye, how smart she would be, how creative she would become, how well she would remember things and how much fun we would have watching her grow.

The awe we felt when we first met her as replaced itself with awe of her independence. The most precious gift we could have been given is turning three today.

Thank you Lord for three beautiful, exciting, frustrating, fun, tiring, joy-filled years with our Beautiful Baby Girl!!!

Happy Birthday Jilly Bean!!!

'New' Chairs. Thanks, Mom!

This past weekend, my mom and step-dad came for a visit. It was a really nice weekend and I'm so glad they were willing to make the trip down to see us. While they were here, my mother mentioned for the umpteenth time, that we should really re-cover our dining room chairs. And she's right. The small dining set we have I bought before I was married and certainly before there was a messy toddler in my house. The cushions were an off-white linenish color and after 7+ years, a husband and a toddler, those chairs were looking pretty, well . . . gross.



Somehow, through all of the other times my mother had previously mentioned recovering these chairs, the idea always sounded good but we just never got around to doing it. Until tonight! Somehow, mom's suggestion struck a deep enough chord this time that I made my way down to the fabric store after work yesterday and picked out a nice striped fabric that tied together to two main colors of my downstairs great room. And tonight, after the Bean went to bed, we stapled and hammered and screw-drived and Voila!!! Like new dining room chairs. Well, two of them at least. I committed the cardinal sin of home projects and did not measure the chair seats before I went to buy the fabric and I came up a couple of inches short. Darn!! But we managed to finish two of the four chairs and the room is already brighter. Really. :)




And can I just say, I LOVE doing projects with my husband. We rarely have opportunity or means to accomplish them, but when we do, it is always so much fun! My husband is such a handy guy and I love that about him. And he let's me use his tools which is pretty fun too.



All in all, we make a pretty good team, hubby and I. I think I'll keep him around for a while!

Our Little Hula Girl

One of the first times that Jillian met my Dad's girlfriend. Jodi, she became fascinated with "Happy Feet" and "Lilo & Stitch". Jodi owned them both, we didn't own either. For Christmas she got Happy Feet and "danced Mumble" everywhere she could. For Easter, she got "Lilo & Stitch" and later she got a grass skirt from grandma as a gift from a recent trip to Hawaii. She has always enjoyed dancing but recently, it has become so much more of an interest. She will often as for her Hula skirt and to hula with Lilo. And that is exactly what she will do!

It's a nice day for WET campout!

For the first time ever, Kenton took an entire week off from work this past week. He spent the first half of the week working tirelessly on our backyard's fence. He repaired and replaced all of the boards that were too short, broken or warped. Then he power washed (with a little help) and started staining.



As a reward for all of his hard work . . . . we headed to the coast for a MUCH NEEDED family vacation. Three days and two nights on the beautiful Oregon Coast. Only one problem . . . we didn't know there was a storm a'comin'. Apparently we missed the REALLY GOOD storm that hit inland the night we left for the coast. But unfortunately, the rain didn't stay inland. And we spent most of our time amidst ocean mists and wind. We managed to have a good time (some of us managed better than others) despite the weather but ended up letting the rain drive us home a few hours earlier than we had planned.

I must say, Jillian was a trooper. She didn't quite understand the concept of rest & relaxation and was going a mile a minute from the time we arrived at camp. At first, she was scared of the fire daddy made to keep up all warm. And she didn't understand what was soooo bad about plopping down in the rain soaked sand to play, despite soaking through all of her layers of pants. She found fascination in the many puddles that dotted the campground and in the local wildlife, squirrels and seagulls included. But I can't complain, she slept AMAZINGLY (Praise God) and managed to keep warm both nights in her own bed at the head of ours. I have a funny feeling that our little girl will probably be ready to camp again before we are all dried out from this trip. :)

Sunshine Day

For the last few months, it has not been uncommon to hear our little Jilly, while in the van, randomly say " the market it closed", to which daddy or I will repeat, "yes, Jilly, the market is closed." That was, until last weekend when the Hillsboro Saturday Farmer's Market opened for the season. Since Saturday mornings are one of our rare opportunities to spend more than an hour together as a family, we started the tradition last year of taking in the market most Saturday mornings. If we're in town and without plans, it is likely this is where you will find us.
Last weekend was gloomy but we chanced it. And spent a good majority of the time explaining to Jilly why she couldn't put her "soup" on and play in the water fountain. Which is by far her most popular feature at the market, right after the "puppies". Due to the weather last week, the patrons and puppies were scarce but we managed to find a few. Here are a couple pictures from opening weekend:




This weekend however, the weather was beautiful, the market was packed and we were with friends. Today, we got to be a part of a very momentous occasion . . . Baby Kayla's first Hillsboro Saturday Farmer's Market. Yay!!! I got a baby fix, the big girls got to dance, and play together and we all got some much needed sunshine.

Look who's got a Big Girl bed!

We've been toying with the idea for months of getting Jillian a "big girl bed". Up until now she's been sleeping in her convertible crib's, toddler bed which, as a side note, has been recalled. Wooops! So for safety reasons and in hopes that a new, bigger, softer bed would help her to stay IN her bed all night long,we found a steal of a deal at Shopko on a Mates bed. (thanks, Mom for the heads up)
We finally got the bed assembled this week and she could not be more excited about her new bed. Finishing touches on her room and extra special bedding will probably take a little while longer but for now, this change is enough. And it seems to be working well (knock on wood).

Fun Times with Stitch

Sometime last spring, Jillian was introduced to the movie Lilo & Stitch by my Dad's girlfriend, Jodi who happens to be Japanese Hawaiian. She has often recalled the movie and asked about it on random occasions despite the fact that we did not own it. Recently, I noticed the questions, or whatever reason, becoming more frequent so Kenton and I decided that it would be one of the things in Jillian's Easter basket this year. We hid it in her new Dora lunch bag to draw out the surprise. :) And that girl has watched Lilo & Stitch every day (atleast once) since Easter Sunday.
So, today, when I was at the local Pass It On consignment sale and saw a stuffed Stitch with his head sticking out of a bin there, I felt like I had won the jackpot! I swooped it up and headed home with virtually no will to hold on to it for a good bribe like the lady that checked me out of the sale suggested. I did keep it in the van long enough for Kenton to get home for dinner so we could both enjoy Jillian's reaction when I gave it to her.
Needless to say, Stitch has not been far behind us all night and we even got the opportunity to take him for a walk. Here are some pictures from our evening with the newest member of our family.

A little girl and her alien.

Reading to Stitch (the insert from the Lilo & Stitch DVD)

Going for a walk

Cutting across the field