Camping

We finally ventured out for another camping trip this past weekend. Of course, before we were able to go, we had to make yummy cookies to take with us. In order to keep Jillian busy while I cleaned up, she got to lick her 1st spatula and beaters.
She was quite pleased with the results and the mess she had made.
On Friday we headed out to Canyon Lake and arrived after dark. Luckily James and Donnie were able to go a little earlier and had some of the tests and campsite set up already. We didn't get to finish dinner before the cool front blew in and it got cold fast! We spent a lot of time in front of the fire on Friday night and fared pretty well through the cold weather.

All the girls together: Karin, Hannah, me, and Renee
Karin & Donnie
Sean & Renee
The next morning was really cool but we kept busy and before we knew it the sun was keeping us nice and warm. Jillian had a lot of fun playing bubbles and ball with Uncle Donnie
We got her to take a short break for a family picture
We passed the afternoon and evening playing dominoes
and taking rides in the wagon
well and acting silly
Jillian and all had a great time!

Halloween

Jillian's first "big girl" Halloween was a real success! Earlier in the month she got to go to the pumpkin patch and pick out her very own pumpkin. It was much more difficult to take pictures of a moving target at the pumpkin patch then it was last year. Jillian tended to like the bumpy, ugly pumpkins so Mommy and Daddy had to help her pick out a pretty one.


She was happy on the way home with her two little pumpkins and one big one.
Last Sunday she wore her costume for the 1st time at Joshua's birthday party

On Thursday night we went to B00-da Halloween and did some trick or treating for the 1st time. Jillian saw her best friend from school, Avery, there and was very excited!

Friday at school, she wore her costume there for a costume parade through the school but I didn't get any pictures b/c by the time they got to me, Jillian was not cooperative.

On Halloween I even got James to dress up with us so we were a total 50s family!
Matching Poodle Skirt girls
We headed out for trick or treating and Jillian did so great-walking by herself and holding our hands
She caught on quickly but didn't quite understand why we left each house so quickly after getting there. She seemed to want to hang out for a little while at each house.


Jillian had a blast and we hope you all did too!

Videos

So Brad has been here helping us fix our computer since I have not been able to post videos since we got this new computer. Turns out nothing was apparently wrong with the computer but anyway it is fixed. So here are several recent videos. The first one was taken several months ago when Jillian was first learning to identify body parts.

The next video is of our little helper - Jillian likes to help with many things so when James was washing my car the other day, she of course, wanted to help.

This last video was taking about 2 weeks ago at the city park. We surely didn't think Jillian would go down the big slide but she wanted to climb up to it. She did not even hesitate when she got to the top - she slid right down and loved it!

Therapy - Jillian Style

When you experience a loss like we did, it really makes you count your blessings and be grateful for the many things that God has given you. We are so blessed to have such wonderful and supportive family and friends. We are also blessed that we are healthy and have a beautiful, healthy little girl! During our time of sadness, Jillian knew exactly how to make us feel better! She made us laugh and smile we we needed and knew when it was time to be loving and cuddle.

We were eating dinner and I was trying to use my stern mommy voice to tell Jillian not to put the pickle that she had dipped in ketchup into her hair. I guess she listened because instead of putting it in her hair, she proceeded to stick the pickle on her forehead.

She licked syrup off of her breakfast plate
and was just plain silly while riding in her new wagon.

She also started to play airplane with herself while eating. I had a really cute video but I'm not able to post it. Once our computer gets fixed, I'll try to update it.

Parade

A couple of weekends ago. I loaded up the care and took Jillian and Willa to Hallettsville. It was the weekend of the Kolache Festival and there was a parade. My aunt had decided to enter a float in the parade in honor of all our military serving our country and especially in honor of my cousin, Mark, as we await his return home. They had the trailer decorated very nicely and we went earlier in the morning to sit on it for the judges.



At this point the girls were melting and it was quickly getting hot so we decided to go home and come back for the parade. We sat early in the parade route and watched all of the floats go by. The girls enjoyed watching and waved at all the participants. They also got a lot of candy thrown at them for two little girls!


Since our float was one of the last in the parade we then hopped on and rode it the rest of the way.

Jillian got to ride in her very first parade! We were excited to hear as we rounded the square that we had actually gotten 1st place in the non commercial category.The girls enjoyed playing outside at Granny's house. Jillian began picking acorns off of the ground, which I found very amusing b/c when I was little I distinctly remember doing the same thing and trying to fill up a whole big bucket throughout the fall.
Later in the afternoon they enjoyed some swimming time as well.

Picnic/Labor Day

We spent the weekend in Hallettsville and it was a busy weekend. We started off the day Saturday with pig tails and peeling potatoes for the Church picnic on Sunday. Since my mom is in charge of the potato peeling we often have to help. We aren't talking peeling a few potatoes - we are talking over a 1000 pounds of them!

In order to keep Jillian entertained so we could actually help, we opened her very own box of potatoes and she enjoyed bringing them to people. She was entertained but I think she may have actually slowed down progress because of everyone looking at her and commenting how cute she was - I sure don't mind though - I'd have to agree!

Then we were on to Ainsley's 1st birthday party where Jillian had a good time playing. On Sunday, we headed to the picnic. After a delicious lunch Jillian attempted some games. She did the bean bag toss
and rode the train (this was her favorite - she did it 3 times). James was sad that she was now a "big girl" and could ride by herself and didn't need anyone to hold her
She got tuckered out pretty quickly so we headed home for a nap
but came back for more. We tried to get Jillian to do the jumpy castles but she got through the doorway and started crying. She did enjoy playing on the deflated one though.
We finally got her to sit on the side of one and she seemed to enjoy that - maybe next year, we will actually jump!
Labor Day was filled with many labors helping Grandpa with his new project. She had to help put the nail in,
and hammer it in.
At this point Grandpa was just having her pose for pictures so we had to do a pretend hole with the drill.
We enjoyed our weekend and we hope everyone else enjoyed their holiday as well!