Country Girl

We spent the weekend in Hallettsville last weekend and Jillian loved it! She is such an outdoor girl and loves to get dirty. She picked beans in the garden with Granny and Grandpa...


Played with the potatoes that Grandpa had dug up...
Then helped put the next batch of potatoes in the bucket


She worked really hard at picking up the potatoes and I have a really cute video of her doing it but for some reason it will not load. She was like a little weightlifter - every time she reached down to pick up a big potato she would grunt like it was so heavy!

The next day she helped Granny make cinnamon rolls
Notice how curly her hair is - there is something about Hallettsville that makes it even curlier - it is never that curly here.

And I couldn't resist her first picture with pigtails. I think they are so adorable but I am too much of a perfectionist and she is too much of a wiggle worm to make them work. When I look at them all I can think about is how her hair is not parted perfectly down the middle and they are not even. Maybe when she gets older, she will sit still long enough for me to do it.

April Happenings

We held a bridal shower for Karin who is getting married in Vegas this summer. Afterwards we had her bachelorette party which included a wine tour to 3 local wineries. We had a blast!

Jillian attended her first birthday party at a jumpy place. She wasn't too sure about the jumpy castle but I tried to show it to her. She enjoyed everything else at the party and had a wonderful time playing with her friends from school!



Jillian has begun making lots of faces lately - here are a few of our favorites that we have actually been able to capture on camera


Jillian has become Ms. Independence - she want to get on and off of the couch constantly. Unfortunately she cannot quite get on by herself so she needs help to get on and will throw fits if you don't help her. More on her fits later.
Here are a couple of cute pictures that I could not resist. Jillian loves her sunglasses and she is even starting to leave them on for short periods of time when she is outside.
She still loves Bandit! She constantly says DOG and has started bringing him his treats when he gets in the kennel. Here she is giving him hugs on cue for the camera.
For some reason I can't move the videos so they are side by side. The first video is a demonstration of Jillian's fits. Any time she hears the word NO or we don't help her or give her what she wants. This is what she does. I think she is in for a rude awakening! The second video is of Jillian's new word that she started saying this week.

Easter

Jillian enjoyed this Easter a lot! It was fun to see her actually participating in egg hunting and noticing other things that were going on. We all went to Hallettsville on Friday in time for services. Of course we posed for pictures with Granny and Grandpa before heading to the hill for the Henke Easter gathering.
Jillian "noticed" the Easter bunny this year and was not found of him at all so we have no bunny pictures this year. Jillian also wasn't very found of egg hunting because she was woken up from her nap to do it. After eating is when she finally perked up and was being a complete monkeyThe next day we spent some more time at Granny and Grandpa's house with all the cousins and Jillian took some time to explore Bandit's cage. Believe it or not, this is actually the 1st time she has done this, which I'm surprised about.

She hunted eggs again and this time had it down and didn't need much help to find her eggs.


We even found the perfect bluebonnet patch by the house and were able to get some great shots



Our other baby - Bandit learned real quick that we were posing for pictures in the flowers so he posed himself like this - several times I might add - he really wanted his picture taken
On Easter morning, Jillian quickly noticed all the "goodies" on the coffee table and went to check them out
After church we headed to Grandma and Papa's house and got to egg hunt again
Grandma got all of the girls matching dresses for Easter and we tried to pose them for some pictures but again Jillian wasn't very cooperative
She kept walking toward the camera - but she still is very cute!
Here's an "on the run" picture of all three girls in their dresses
We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Spring Break

Spring break has come and gone and it was a nice relaxing break from the busy work week. Jillian, Bandit, and I enjoyed a weekend in Hallettsville for the 1st weekend of the break. Jillian loved being outside and walking around. She loved going up and down the step to the porch (with no hands I might add.)She played with the rocks and put them in the bucket...
and then attempted to carry the bucket around
On Sunday after church of course Granny had to have a fashion show. She put Jillian in the dress that I wore for my 1 year pictures. She had even put new elastic in all of the waistbands. I bet I was just as cute as she is today!
Jillian also enjoyed swinging outside - she giggled every time she went back and forth
Bandit also enjoyed Hallettsville - look no rope! He went the entire weekend without being tied on the rope. He even spent some time outside by himself without being tied up. He made a trip to the pasture with dad and rode on top of the toolbox on dad's truck. He is a totally different dog when he is in Hallettsville. I think he will make a great farm dog one day!
Jillian also enjoyed playing with Willa. We really thought we were going to have a fight on our hands when Jillian realized she could push this baby stroller. They worked it out thought and just started pushing the stroller together. This time they were actually pushing it the same way instead of fighting against each other.
The 2nd weekend of Spring break we had planned a camping trip to Lake Somerville with Kevin, Kelly, Klayton, and Kenzie. We knew that the weather did not look promising but we were willing to risk it. We got there Friday, which was beautiful and we were able to get in a quick boat ride and some fishing before it got completely dark. Jillian didn't really know what to think about her 1st boat ride but she did fairly well with the help of some food bribery.

Saturday morning we thought we were prepared for the weather. We had out pop up tents sent up over the picnic table and cooking equipment and we had a tarp blocking the north side of our shelter. We thought we would be good when the rain started and the wind started to blow. What we didn't anticipate was the sideways rain! Needless to say after a while we were all wet but Kevin and James were very wet because they were trying to secure another tarp to block the rain. After we quickly ate breakfast, we thought it was best to load everyone into the car (including Bandit, who was filthy), grab some dry clothes, and head into town for a while. Jillian was happy to be dry and warm and was able to take a nice nap. We spent some time at the Laundromat and Walmart and by the time we headed back to camp, it was no longer raining but...
It was cold! We had a good set up and made a fire close to our tents. We made it through the day and still had fun. Although some people will say that we were crazy - well many have - we survived and stayed mostly warm.
We kept Jillian warm with as many layers as possible and she had a heater directly on her throughout the night. She had warm cheeks, ears, and nose when she woke up in the morning.
Even though she made it through all right - she was happiest when we were on our way home!