Monday, December 31, 2012

2012 Review

January

I picked my word and verse for the year.
I left Jillian with a babysitter for 2 hours and was away from her for the longest time since her birth.
Jillian was diagnosed with unilateral hearing loss.
After a scary incident, Dr. V told us Jillian had acid reflux which required medicine twice a day.

{Taken on 1/1/12}

February

I showed off Jillian's first "nursery" in our apartment.
We celebrated Valentine's Day with my parents and brother.
I confessed my new-mommy woes.
I shared my obsession with photo shoots of Jillian :)

{Taken on 2/29/12}

March

I got Jillian's Pregnancy Book from Shutterfly!
Jillian laughed and I caught it on camera :)
I started tracking my calories and weight. I didn't focus on it as much as I should have, but I needed the accountability.

{Taken on 3/11/12}

April

I reflected on the day I found out I was pregnant with Jillian, (aka April Fool's Day).
I shared my baby list for the basics and extras. I also described Jillian's bath routine.
We celebrated Easter as a family!
We survived two nights of scary storms.
I talked about our new church home.

{Taken on 4/27/12}

May

Jillian finally got some teeth. She also went to the zoo for the first time!
I celebrated my first official Mother's Day :)
Phil turned 28.
Phil and I celebrated 4 years of marital bliss love :)
We had a bad storm the night of Phil's defense that left some damage to our apartment.

{Taken on 5/16/12}

June

I said goodbye to my brother as he moved from Oklahoma to Seattle.
Jillian turned 6 months old!
We had a family reunion, Jillian's baptism, and Father's Day all in the same weekend.

\
{Taken on 6/27/12}

July

We announced that we were under contract for a house!
I talked about how certain TV shows aided in shortening my temper and how it wasn't fair to my family.
Between being hot and tired, I had to condense my life in a long update.
I ranted about Jillian's sudden finicky eating and the chaos of living in a small apartment full of boxes.

{Taken 7/30/12}

August

We moved into our home on the hottest days of the entire summer.
Jillian's personality started to really come out and she's pretty funny!
Jillian and I went to one of my BFF's baby shower.
I finally got to finish and reveal Jillian's Alice in Wonderland nursery :)
Jillian and I visited my parents in Minnesota again and even stopped by a Laura Ingalls Wilder home.

{Taken 8/2/12}

September

Our air conditioner broke less than 2 months after we moved into our house :-/
I shared some parental wisdom, (at least what little I have)

{Taken 9/4/12}

October

We took Jillian to the playground on a cold morning.
I had a day of silence in honor of Matt Turner.
I participated in my first blog swap! My partner was pretty awesome :)
I admitted that I need to start taking my PCOS seriously.
We took Jillian to a local pumpkin patch.
My BFF Carrie had Jillian's future husband her son Elliot!
My parents came to visit while Phil was out of town.
Jillian dressed up as a Queen Bee for her first Halloween :)

{Taken on 10/1/12}

November

Jillian had her first big illness :(
It turned into a viral rash and an ear infection.
Phil's grandfather passed away the week before Thanksgiving.
I had my first contest/giveaway!
We celebrated Jillian's first Thanksgiving with Phil's family, but I had to wait and post pictures later.

{Taken on 11/22/12}

December

We had Jillian's first birthday party!
My baby turned the big O-N-E :)
Phil wrote a special entry for Jillian's birthday.
I talked about a wonderful man from my past.
I observed a day of silence in honor of Sandy Hook Elementary.
I learned the true meaning of "daily bread"
Phil and I got sick with a bad bug and missed our train to Minnesota.
We drove through an icy Iowa and made it just in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! {#operationwhitechristmasplanb}

{Taken 12/24/12}

It has definitely been quite the year for our family. The good, the bad, the learning; it was all necessary to get us to where we are today. We have so much more to experience, and I'm looking forward to what 2013 will bring.

Happy New Year to all!

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Christmas Day {2012}

Jillian woke up around 7:15 on Christmas morning. She was pretty thirsty so we gave her a large sippy cup. Once she was satisfied, we looked through our stockings.
{Jillian looking at her stocking gifts}

{My stocking minus the candy}
{Every year we have a slight theme. This year, we all got headlamps ;)}

In keeping we tradition, once everyone was awake and looked in their stocking, we read the Christmas story from Luke's account. Once we observed the true meaning of Christmas, I played elf and passed out gifts :) We all got some good stuff like:
{Political poppers for some fun}
{And yes, diapers for Jillian was a gift}

{Mother-Daughter matching TOMS shoes :)} 

{Blocks and race cars} 

{The Christmas Aftermath}

Then we enjoyed a nice breakfast casserole, fresh fruit, and hot chocolate :)
{Yum!}

I wanted to get some pictures of Jillian in her special Christmas outfits. Let me show you how well it went...
{At first, she was not in the mood}

{Then her skirt was much more interesting} 

{Finally, with three adults behind being as silly as possible, I finally got a smile :)}
{Headband: One Little Monkey Shop on Etsy

{Her fun/mom-doesn't-mind-if-it-gets-dirty outfit! This is the only shot I got where she left the hair bow in long enough for me to take a picture HAHA So it begins...}

{Jillian and the tree} 

{And now she's done with photos. Time's up mamarazzi!}
{Outfit: JCPenny}
{Hair Bow: Polkadot Posies}

We Skyped with my brother and his girlfriend, then Phil's parents. After that, we mostly relaxed at home. Mom and I finally baked and iced the cookies, but they didn't last a week :) We had a large lunch which included brisket, my favorite mashed potatoes, rolls, and a little wine for everyone but Jillian. 

Overall, we had a great day. I hope y'all had a day full of love and relaxation too :)

I have more photos since then that are mostly on Instagram. The main thing that happened after Christmas was one of my gifts from Phil: an overnight stay at a hotel. It was my first night away from Jillian since she was born! Luckily, we had a nice night :) We saw The Hobbit, checked into our really nice hotel, then had a delicious dinner at The St Paul Grill. We walked around Rice Park for a few minutes, but it was pretty cold and didn't last long. The next morning, we ordered room service for breakfast and got home to our baby by lunch time. It was so much fun, but I was very glad to see my Jilly!

Today, I went to church with my dad this morning. He was guest preaching at a church across town. Phil and Jillian stayed home just so she wouldn't have the opportunity to catch another stomach bug. We all took naps this afternoon, then I bought some new cross training shoes. I'm going to start the Couch-to-5K program on Tuesday, {and hopefully my dad will do it with me}, and I needed new shoes. The last time I got athletic sneakers, it was Christmas 2009. It was time for sure!

I did get a few good pictures of Jillian and my mom today.
{Jillian helping mom cook dinner from the floor}

{If this face doesn't say she's up to something, I don't know what face would ;)} 

{Playing with the Elf Karaoke Microphone}

Hope y'all had a great weekend! Make the last day of 2012 count tomorrow :)

Christmas Eve {2012}

I'm including our few photos celebrating Christmas at my in-laws before we all got very sick. I also have several more photos I took via Instagram, so check them out!

On the 19th, Phil and I made it to Tulsa to celebrate Christmas with his parents. The plan was to wake up early the next day and drive to Kansas City to take the train to Chicago on the 21st. Well, I explained what happened to those plans. However, we had a nice time before the sickies invaded :)
{Jillian with one of her favorite gifts: talking tea set!}

{I wonder what else is under here!}

We made it to Minnesota on the 23rd around 2:30 in the afternoon. We spent the rest of the day just decompressing after our trip through Iowa. It was just so great finally being at our destination. Operation White Christmas Plan B was a success :)

On Christmas Eve, we had a nice breakfast, than headed to the mall. We wanted to get a picture of Jillian with Santa! She did ok in his lap until I walked out of her sight for a second. Even then, she didn't cry too much. Our picture of her has her pointing and not smiling, but she wasn't crying :) Then we had to look for wrapping paper so we could wrap all our gifts. Of course, we had to stop at the carousel in the middle of the mall. We've been waiting a while to take her and were happy to finally do it!
{Jillian wasn't too sure at first...}

{but then she started to have a little fun :)}
{And yes, that is her bow in my hair. She ripped it out as we set her down and I put it my hair for safe keeping}

{Whee! It went faster than I expected}

We had a quick lunch at home, then mom and I made dough for the Christmas cookies. {We ended up not actually baking the cookies until Christmas day, but that was ok with us :)} My mom's church has a Christmas Eve service at 4:30 and mom had to pick up some brisket at Famous Dave's before the service. I offered to go with her so she wouldn't be alone. Phil and I sang with their choir and we also sang solos :) It was a nice service and great to be together!
{Our family, minus my brother and his girlfriend}

On the way home, my dad and I had to stop at Target for a few minor things. Once we got home, we decorated the tree and hung the stockings. I took a video of my dad reading the Cajun Night Before Christmas to Jillian, {a family tradition}, but she was ready for her bottle and bed. My dad worried he should have read the Texas Night Before Christmas instead ;) We just explained that she does that with her favorite stories if she's tired enough.
{Helping Daddy hang ornaments} 

{All of our stockings! Jillian's was the red one :)}

And I wanted a shot of the three of us in our Christmas pjs! I've waited years to do a photo like this.
{<3}

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Newtown Fundraiser through Laura at The Everday Joys

I wanted to mention this earlier, (life pre-sickness and travel-mania), but didn't get a chance.

It's no secret that I really love Laura over at The Everyday Joys. We've been web friends for almost 5 years now and she is one of the sweetest people I've had the pleasure of knowing! She is an Independent Scentsy Director, and has offered to do something amazing. Through the end of the month, {aka Monday, 12/31}, she is offering 100% of her commission to help families in Newtown, CT. Whether you buy Scentsy, Grace Adele, or Velata, it all goes to this fundraiser. So get to shopping and support Newtown Youth & Family Services!

{via}

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

We're Alive

Boy do I have a story for y'all.

If you follow me on Twitter, you already have an idea of what happened. I don't like mentioning that I'm going to be of of town until we get to our destination for safety's sake. Well, Wednesday we made it to Tulsa to celebrate Christmas with my in-laws. The plan was: we would drive to Kansas City Thursday, catch the train to Chicago Friday and spend the night, then take a final train to St Paul and be with my parents late Saturday night. It would be a long trip, but would be worth it not having to drive all the way up to Minnesota. Well, this did not happen.

We opened gifts Wednesday night, but I started to feel a little icky. I assumed I ate something that wasn't agreeing with my Metformin. That night, both Phil and I got violently ill. I mean, it was not pretty. We ended up staying in Tulsa for Thursday which meant we would miss our train early Friday morning. We felt well enough on Friday that we were able to drive to KC. Saturday we drove to Des Moines and stayed at a Holiday Inn. The roads were still pretty awful from the large storm earlier in the week. We finally got through Iowa and make it to a cold, but sunny St Paul Sunday afternoon :)

It ws not the best trip, and incredibly stressful at times. However, it as worth it to be with my parents for Christmas! Now that we are all feeling better, I will try and give a Christmas recap in the next day or so.

We figured out Jillian must have gotten a stomach bug at a visiting church because she got sick 2 days later. We got sick in the same amount of time, then unfortunately Phil's folks also got sick two days after we left. Luckily, they are feeling better, and our reign as Typhoid Marys is over ;)

I hope y'all are having a fun, and blessed holiday season.
Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Daily Bread

A part of my personality cannot stand it when people speak to me like I'm an idiot. Making the same point over and over and over again will make me mad very quickly. It comes across like I'm perceived as thick-skulled or something. This is just one of my many flaws.

Sometimes I get the feeling God is trying to tell me something. While a part of me doesn't like feeling pushed, He has a way of doing it politely so that I'm more perceptive to it. {You know, like He knows what He's doing or something ;)} 

The bible study at my church has been exploring 1 Samuel. It's been enlightening most weeks, and I have enjoyed the discussion. The week before Jillian's birthday party, someone brought up a point about daily bread. She said that daily bread doesn't mean we're sitting pretty. It just means we have the bare minimum to get us through the day. So if we live to see another day, no matter how many items on our to-do list are not checked off, then we got our daily bread. As someone trying to prep the house for a 1st birthday party/open house, I found this comforting to a point. Then of course, Jillian ended up with a fever a few hours after the bible study. This meant my to-do list for the next 24 hours was completely shot. Talk about instant karma. Without the daily bread idea in my head, I would have been a little more upset about what I needed to get done. Instead, I was able to focus on taking care of my sweet girl.

About a week later, someone on Facebook posted this article. After reading it, I felt it related to the daily bread idea. Sure, I could try to do all these amazing things with Jillian. I could craft and cook and do all sorts of things. But all of that? It's just icing on the cake. Don't get me wrong; I won't be a free-range parent either. I just don't need to feel the mommy-shame or pressure to do everything everyone is in the world is doing. {Or at least, claiming that they are doing.}

All this to say, I'm listening. I get it. It will take a little time for me to cut myself that much slack, but it will be worth it. My sanity, my relationship with Jillian, my relationship with God; they are all dependent upon my ability to accept my daily bread. If I get the energy or time to do extra stuff? Super duper fantastico! Otherwise? I will thank God for my daily bread and get ready for another day in my hectic, beautiful life.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

A Box of Raisins

I feel the need to say something about the tragedy that unfolded early yesterday. While I can't even begin to imagine how those parents may feel, I was encouraged by the support flowing from all of the social media I am a part of. My church even held a special prayer service for those victims in Connecticut and in China. I felt it was more important for me to just stay silent rather than try to find vain words to make me look like an insightful person.

I was going to post something yesterday that I would like to today. I do not want to make light of the situations that happened yesterday, but I did experience a form of loss that I want to talk about.

In October, the world lost a wonderful man. This man, while very dear to me, is someone that not many people knew. Even I have to admit that I didn't know him well.

His name was Milan. He was a member at my mom's church in Small Town, Missouri. My mom served that church until 1988. It was one of my first church homes. The church was very small and had a nursery/playroom the size of a large closet. Milan would watch me during the service. If I got fussy, he would take me to a different room that had a portrait of the Last Supper on it. This usually got me to calm down enough to stop crying. He would also bring me boxes of raisins to munch on. When we moved to Arkansas, he gifted me the portrait to remember him by. It has always had a special hanging spot in my room and it is now in our dining room. {It's even in the original frame!} I even called it "Jesus and his boys", which my family will never let me forget :)

After we moved New Year's Day of 1989, I never saw Milan in person again. However, he would send me cards on my birthday. He even sent a beautiful necklace to me on my 16th birthday. I would send thank you notes as a young girl. As I grew older, I sent him graduation invitations, a wedding invitation, and our annual Christmas card.

In his cards, Milan would speak of how he remembered our family fondly. He hoped I was doing well and pursuing my dreams. Included in every card was an empty raisin box. The last one I remember, he wrote on the side with the words: "Do you remember when your hand would fit in this box? I do very clearly. I know someday you'll have children that will be able to reach inside as well." It was almost our personal inside joke. I didn't know him personally well, but he was always so thoughtful and sweet.

Knowing he was getting up there in years, I wondered about sending his Christmas card with Jillian's birth announcement last year. Just in case, I sent it anyways. I figured it was worth trying :) When addressing our Christmas postcards last week, I wrote a special message on his card. "I think Jillian is almost ready for raisins :)" I remember smiling as I drew the little smiley face. I hoped it would make him smile too.

On Thursday evening, I was talking to my mom on the phone as I do almost every day. She then mentioned that she got something interesting in the mail. It was a letter from Milan's daughter. It included a letter she wrote to me that was sent to our last address that got returned to her. She mentioned that Milan had passed away in October. However, it meant so much to him to get our card with Jillian's picture in it last year. She thanked me for all the correspondence I kept with him over the years. He was in his early 90's when he finally left this world.

My mom told me that the letter she wrote directly to me is very fat. I'm not sure what's in it, but I have a feeling it will make me cry when I read it. Although I didn't know him well, hearing that he passed made me realize just how much our sporadic correspondence meant to me too. He was such a sweet man and a direct link to my young childhood. It showed me that making that little effort with someone can mean so much in the end.

The Last Supper portrait now means even more to me than it did before. As we sent off most of our Christmas cards, I picked his up and set it aside. It was sad for me to have to take it out of the pile knowing it wasn't going to him anymore. I ran my fingers over the message I wrote him and choked back tears. No one else may understand the connection we had, but I am so grateful for it. He will be dearly missed.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Contest/Giveaway Winner!

Thank you to everyone who made a guess! Even I was surprised by the actual number. Our total number of unedited photos we took of Jillian's 1st year of life is....

2,854

This means the winner is Laura with a guess of 2,800. Congratulations!

I had fun with this on my end. Maybe I'll do more in the future :)

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Jillian: {Twelve Months}

Jillian -

You are 12 months old today. This means you are a whole year old! I cannot believe that I now have to refer to your age in years instead of months. Your 12 month well check-up is tomorrow so I will post your official stats then. If we had to guess, you are 18 lbs 4 oz and 28-1/2 inches long. UPDATE: You are 18 lbs 9 oz, and 28-1/4 inches long. This means, you gained 12 lbs 3 oz, and 8-1/4 inches since birth :)

You wear a few 9 Month and 6-12 Month onesies, but you are in mostly in 12 Month clothes. You wear size 1 shoes, (if I can get you to wear them), and size 3 diapers.

Eating has really improved! First of all, you are not really a picky eater at all! You tried a few new foods and liked all of them. The foods you tried are: turkey hot dogs, dill pickles, red cabbage, animal crackers, sliced tomatoes, plain oatmeal, pancakes (made with formula and no egg), strawberry cake with Cool Whip vanilla frosting, strawberries, chocolate cupcake with buttercream frosting, scrambled eggs, crescent rolls, oranges, and baby mum mums. With permission from your doctor, we started whole milk a few days ago because we were out of formula powder. You don't mind the taste, but you don't like it cold. You have 3 full meals, two(ish) snacks, and a bottle before bed. You drink from a sippy cup for your main meals. The bottle before bed may be the hardest to get you to stop taking, but I have faith in you :)

You have 5 teeth now! Your left top front tooth is still just about out. It'll be out before you know it.

Walking is definitely on your mind. Crawling is your main way of getting around, but you are also quite the cruiser. Standing up and sitting down are easy for you. You have taken a few tumbles, but nothing serious. There is a tendency to be dramatic about the fall, but I don't mind holding you until you feel better. Plus, toys are always a welcome distraction ;) We hold your hips to help you walk around. Your walking toy isn't being used a lot yet, but I'm sure that's coming. Sometimes it's hard to practice standing and walking because you just want to dance! I love watching you dance whether there's music or not. You are such a hoot!

Sleep is still good. You take two naps: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Naps range from 1 to 2 hours. You'll give me a good 2-1/2 hour or more every so often, but they are few and far between. Once you go to sleep at night, you usually stay that way until 6:30 or so. You're getting about 8-1/2 to 9-1/2 hours a night consistently. If we try to get you to bed before you're ready, it's not pretty. As long as you're getting the rest you need, I don't care about specifics :)

You are so smart! You can point to items if we ask you where it is. The following words are in your vocabulary, (though most are still a little fuzzy): mama, dada, gaga {grandma}, uck {duck}, daw {dog}, uh {up or cup}, bah {ball or bottle}, ah {cat}, eow {meow}, eah {yeah}, no, buh {bye}, aah er {cracker}, ang oo {thank you}, and you at least attempt to make sounds similar to words we say to you. You can turn some of your toys on and off by yourself! Reading is a favorite pastime of yours. You read on your own, or let us read to you. You play alone well, but you also love playing with/watching older children play. You are fairly independent, but you let us know if you need some attention from us. Like your mama before you, you come to us and place your hand on us to let us know you need to be held. When that doesn't work, (or if we're too far away), you cry until we sweep you up and give you kisses. Your laughter is infectious! More and more things make you laugh, and you seem to be a little more ticklish lately. You can now let go of items as well as grabbing them. We are working on putting that to use by teaching you how to put your toys in your toybox. I'm sure this will last {HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *gasp for air* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA} You play peek-a-boo, and pat-a-cake on rare occasions. You LOVE music. Singing is not really on your radar, but you will dance and sway all night long if we let you! You do this excited squeal when you see something you like. It is the sweetest/cutest thing I've ever seen. This squeal happens when Yo Gabba Gabba comes on, you see an animal you like, you see the Cheerios box/animal cracker box, or when I open your closet to pick out your clothes for the day.

You went to your first funeral this month. Your great-grandpa Thompson died. Luckily, he went peacefully and the service was lovely. I think having your sweet face around really helped us all focus on the celebration of his life as well as looking forward to the future. You were very well behaved during the service and everyone was impressed!

Thanksgiving was the final holiday that was left to celebrate as a first for you. We had a great time, and you looking darling in your outfit :) We also celebrated your birthday this past weekend and it was a blast! You must have known it was all about you because you were in such a good mood despite taking two 10 minute naps. You really wanted to be in on the action in the living room, and be a good hostess. We were blessed to have some good friends come by. I hope you enjoy the photos and video we took of the party since you won't remember it a bit. I promise you that it will forever be etched in my mind and heart as long as I live. Tonight we will have gifts, a Skype date with all the grandparents, and a cupcake (of course!).

Jillian, my heart is just so full at this moment. You are smart, beautiful, independent, funny, sweet, and everything I could have every asked for. If I could dream up my perfect child, you would blow them out of the water. Love is not a strong enough word for what I feel for you. Most importantly, we've made it. We made it through the first year together, and in one piece. Sure we have some scrapes, scars, and bruises, but they all taught us something that made our little family stronger. I am thankful to be chosen as your mother and hope that I will one day make you feel the same way about me. I love you with my whole heart, baby girl. Here's to the next 12 months! {Plus many many many more :)}

A few outtakes:
{This sticker thing again mom?!}

{See my hand? It's pretty cool!}

{I'm bored with pictures. I'll just play with my feet!} 

{Whee!} 

{Now I want you to pick me up and NOW!} 

{Aaaaaand we're done :)}
And some comparisons:














And just for fun, I took a photo of Jillian at exactly 3:52 p.m. :)

But I Know What It Feels Like

This post is going to be awfully vulnerable and hard for me, but I really want to finally say it out loud. I got permission for my daughter ...