How sweet it is to be loved by you!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

2011-08-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

While planning my 2 week vacation from work I knew I wanted to keep the weeks fun and full of adventure. I immediately thought of taking Jilly to the beach, park, Zoo, Aquarium, etc. Then another idea hit me. The circus!!! Since Jilly's kinda scared of huge animals at the moment I didn't want to take her anywhere that she'd have to be super close to them, but this kid loves a good entertaining show so what better place then the circus, right?? I looked up online when they'd be in town and it just so happened the Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Circus was in Anaheim in early August! We had a couple dates to choose from but I immediately went to August 6th because Jilly will be 18 months old so it was her half birthday! I'm never one to celebrate half birthdays but the dates fit why not right??

The circus was, well a circus! In all aspects. I don't remember the last time I went to the Honda Center but I do NOT remember the seats being THAT tiny. It was insane. INSANE. I consider myself to be a fairly small person and I barely even fit comfortably in the chairs. Eddie, Grace, Haley, Drew, Jessica, Jake, Jill and I squeezed into our row of seats and started to get situated. Within 5 minutes of sitting down Jake moved his elbow just right and knocked his large soda out of the cup holder and onto the stairs filled with people trying to take their seats. Oh no! He contained his anger just enough to sop up what he could then go to the bathroom to wash off his now sticky feet. Meanwhile I waited for the cleaning crew to come on by and help us with the mess. Little did I know that a slope was pooling the soda onto MY feet and the bottom of Jilly's diaper bag. The cleaning lady shows up but is quickly called to the seats behind us where someone ELSE drop their soda, spilling it all over. This second soda continued to run down the seats under Haley and Eddies feet and onto THEIR diaper bag. Seriously, it was a mess. But there was nothing we could do. Accidents happen and as parents were pretty used to being sticky all the time anyways!!

I'm pretty thankful this all happened before the show even started because I would have been upset if I or Jilly missed anything good! But once the lights went down and the stage lights up went it was pretty cool! The circus always has to much going on that it was hard to pay attention to just one thing but that was great for little kids like Jill and Grace! So much to look at and so much to pay attention to and keep them busy! The show lasted a little over 2 hours and Jill definitely got restless towards the end, hopping from my lap to Jakes then back again - over and over again. But we had fun. Pizza, Soda, Cotton Candy, Popcorn, entertaining clowns, tigers, elephants, trapeze artists - that's what the circus is all about!!!

Ringling Bros - Barnum & Bailey Circus!!

Jessica is gonna kill me for posting this - but I loved it. LOL

She wanted that one!

So she got it! Spoiled!

Color Me...All Over The Place!!

2011-07-31T11:57:00.000-07:00

In the midst of my busy 2 weeks off I of course needed/couldn't avoid it/had to/wanted to spend some quality time with Haley, Grace and Drew! I was actually really sad that we only got one day together but we for sure made the most of it!! We took the kiddos to Color Me Mine to paint some pottery and being the control freaks we are, we tried our best to let the girls go a little crazy. I picked out a nice little bowl to make a candy dish for Jilly to paint as a birthday present for her Aunite Nanana and Haley picked out a huge coffee mug for Grace to work on.

Drew was an angel and slept for most of the adventure for us - this made it 10 times easier to keep reign on both the girls. I used to paint pottery all the time with my friend Jamie and I would spend 5-6 hours EASILY on a project so letting Jilly loose with paints, mixing colors and not painting an even layer made me panic for a little bit. haha I convinced her to be content on painting the construction paper on the table for a while and I finished painting the piece a nice solid color so she could then decorate it. This is only the second time Jilly's painted so I wasn't very surprised that the paintbrush ended up on her face, in her mouth and on her clothes a few times. What's the fun in staying clean?

The pieces were supposed to be done on Saturday so I could give it to my sister in time for her birthday but I guess a power outtage happened and the pieces didn't fire properly. *sigh* I want to find a local ceramic shop (other then a commercialized Color Me Mine) that I can go to and start painting my pieces again. I had lots of fun doing it in the past and it was so relaxing! Although I'm not sure when I'll ever have a full Saturday to myself to just paint?!

Concentrating reallllly hard

Paint doesn't taste so good!

Hand prints!

That tickles Mommy!

Foot prints for Auntie Nanana

July Photo Dump!

2011-07-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

After the June calm, July came at us with a bang! Jilly's daycare is closed the entire month of July so Jake and I always plan our vacation times around that. My Mom watched Jilly at the beginning of July, while Jake took a couples day off in the middle and I took the last two weeks off completely. I loved being home with my little girl!!! While I fully intended on sleeping in, watching cartoons and staying in our jammies most days that absolutely NEVER happened. We were too busy!! We traveled to Arizona, went to the fair, went to the park to ride the choo choo, painted with the Jacksons, went to lunch with my sister, etc. Busy, busy, busy and my head is still spinning!!

July Photobomb:

She was SO scared of the fair animals!

Turkey Leg!

Look what Daddy helped me win!

OC Fair 2011

My hair's long enough for a pony!

Choo Choo Train at Irvine Park!

Oooohhh ooooohhh ooooohh oooohhh

Don't take my picture!

Jillian gets her wings!

2011-07-24T10:38:00.000-07:00

This past week Jilly went on her first flight! We hopped on a plane very early Wednesday morning to fly to Pheonix, Arizona to visit Jilly's Great-Grams and cousins! Jilly did so well on the plane but boy is it a lot of work to travel alone. A couple of reminders to leave the gentlemen beside me alone, and no you can't get down and here's some more fruit snacks/granola bars/goldfish/sippys and she was good. You just have to keep them entertained is all! And at 6:30am I wasn't much for entertaining anybody. But again, she really did SO well - I'm pretty lucky. No crying, no throwing fits, just sitting there munching on anything and everything and looking out the window while I controlled my air sickness by taking deep calming breathes.

My Grama picked us up from the airport after she got off work and we dropped a couple things off at her house and then went to lunch with Jess, Cruz and Rider. My cousin Jess and I became pretty close when she studied dance in LA the summer of 2000 but over the years it's been harder to stay connected. We both got married and had kids and work, work, work so it was really nice to sit down and be normal with her again. I wish they lived closer!

Jilly and I spent 3 days visiting, sleeping and eating. It was just what I wanted. My Grama was a great hostess and just let me do what I wanted, when I wanted. While Jilly was napping, I was lounging on the couch reading my books and Grama was on her computer and fidgeting with a puzzle. We ventured out everyday to visit more with cousins or to make our trip to WalMart to visit with co-workers so Grama could show off her favorite great-granddaugheter (nevermind she's the only great-granddaughter!). One day we even ventured out to a local park with a choo choo train! Great-Grams knew just what Jilly liked!

After 3 days away from home I was ready to go back. I'm truly a homebody and as much as I was welcomed in Arizona, I just missed my own bed and missed my Husband. Next time he'll for sure come along because I know he missed out on visiting this time around. Thank you Grams for flying Jilly and I to Arizona to visit with you. We'll do it again soon I promise!

Her very own train whistle!

WalMart shopper in training. hahaha

Cruz & Jilly

Hop, Skip and a Jump!!

2011-07-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

...well maybe not quite yet but I'm very, very, very proud to FINALLY announce that Jilly is a walker!! (listen to that crowd cheer) Oh my God I don't even think you understand how extremely excited, proud, relieved I really am. 17 months. 17 months!! Most babies I know walked between the ages of 9 months and 12 months. So for 5 agonizing months I wondered what the heck is going on with my little girl. I heard time and time again that she'll walk when she darn well wants to. Well, what happens when IIII want her to?? I don't even think I blogged about all that we've been through with this walking thing. We've seen her regular doctor, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a cardiologist, ANOTHER physical therapist and a neurologist all in the last year. It's been a lot of work and worrying and doctor's appointments to make sure Jilly's legs were "normal". As an infant she had discoloring in her legs from time to time, then as a one year old she did this funky crawl/drag my leg type of thing that made us think one leg was weaker then the other. But as the advice poured in and Momma got frustrated at the numerous doctor's appointments we just let Jilly do her thing. And her thing now is TO WALK! Everywhere, all the time.

Let the chasois begin. I've been craving it for many, many, many months.

Choo Choo!!!!

2011-07-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

Jilly's new obsession lately has been those short little Choo Choo Soul music videos that they play in between shows on the Disney channel. The second she hears the first choo choo she eagerly squeals "ooooh oooooh ooooh oooh" - it makes me heart swell every stinkin' time. Well my Mom saw a link on Facebook that Choo Choo Soul was playing live at the La Mirada Theatre and told me that I should look into it to take Jill. I clicked on the link and saw that they were having two showings on Sunday and the tickets were DIRT CHEAP. You don't even understand how excited I was. I couldn't wait to see how Jilly reacted to seeing Genevieve and DC live on stage.

When we got to the theatre Jilly was pretty restless because I wouldn't allow her to run around the aisles while everyone was trying to take their seats. She threw her fits and tried her best to squirm off our laps. I was worried that she was too young to enjoy something like this. But then that choo choo sounded and she was all ears! She did her "oooohh oooohh" while Genevieve skipped out on stage and I couldn't help it but I totally cried. haha Sounds pathetic huh? But my tears were because I was so happy to see my little girl SO extremely excited for her favorite performers. The show lasted about an hour and it was more of an interactive show then I thought it would be. Parents were dancing in their seats, I was clapping to the beat and singing all the songs I knew and Jilly clapped and "sang along" to the parts she knew. Oh and Jake was happy too. hehe He loves seeing Jilly so excited about her choo choo and he even rocked out with her a little bit as well.

Today was special. I can't wait to have more moments like this.

Ice-Cream, Ice-Cream - Get your Ice-Cream here!!

2011-07-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July wouldn't be the same without our annual Ice-Cream Sundae Bar Party and Fireworks Show! It's a day to celebrate our independence and gather with all our friends and family who can make it on over to enjoy the holiday with us! What more can a girl ask for? I'm truly blessed to be an American and I hope that I can pass my pride on to Jillian. I know she'll have it too.

And with all the hype on an Ice-Cream Sundae bar I completely missed taking a picture of it!!! Bummer! Well it's kinda difficult scooping up ice-cream and taking pics all at the same time!

Moose & Darla (cousins)

Welcome to the world little man!!

2011-06-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

Haley and Eddie welcomed their son into the world this afternoon!! Andrew Mathuew Jackson arrived at 3:11pm weighing 7lbs 14oz and 20.5" long! Mom and baby are doing wonderfully and Big Sister Gracie couldn't be more excited!! Eddie's Mom brought Grace to the hospital right when the waiting room received the announcement that her baby brother was here and she was TOO cute. She got excited for about 5 seconds and then wanted to play Angry Birds on her Hama's phone. haha!! After a little family bonding time in the recovery room, Haley, Eddie and Drew were moved up to the postpartum floor where the whole fam-damily was waiting to squeeze them tight! Holding a new little bundle of joy has put my baby fever more into effect lemme tell ya!

Welcome to this crazy world Drew! I love you so!!

June Calm

2011-06-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

June has been a very calm month for us. And I'm appreciative!!! It was very, very, very much needed! With a bridal shower, bachelorette party, wedding, mothers day, baby shower, birthday, and fathers day all wrapped up in the last few months WE NEED SOME QUIET TIME. So nothing much happened over the last few weeks so here's a little photo bomb instead of stories!

27, 27, 27, 27

2011-05-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

... well the number is lucky for Jake so maybe if I embrace it enough it'll become lucky for me?? As I reach my late 20's I'm finding myself yelling "SLOW DOWN". 27 isn't old - I know this. But it's older then the 22 year old I feel that I am!! haha This year for my birthday I just wanted to relax. I wanted to sit in the backyard, lay out the kiddie pool, drink sangria and just relax. So that's exactly what I did and I enjoyed every single second.

The next morning we went on a little hike, Jilly's first hike, up somewhere near Corona. We only had Jilly's infant pouch to carry her in and we quickly learned she's just too darn big for that thing now!! Time to invest in a big backpack carrier as we definitely plan to be an outdoorsy family! I absolutely love nature and the hike was pretty peaceful. I wish I lived in the middle of it! Seriously I need to live in a house in the middle of nowhere. Someday I will - I promise!

My Party

I love this little boy more then words!!

*Cousins*

Spank that bum!

Get away from me, no kisses!

Beauty!

Lookin' out my kitchen window

So here's to 27! Let it be lucky!!

Welcome Little Prince

2011-05-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I threw Haley a baby shower for her special Little Prince on the way!! A lot of people believe that you only get one baby shower for your first bundle of joy. I strongly, strongly, strongly disagree with that! Every little baby deserves a celebration and shower no matter if it's your 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 10th. I don't care! So I was super eager to jump on the opportunity to throw Haley's shower, plus she's one of my very best friends so why wouldn't I??

It took me a little bit to decide on what theme I wanted to have for her shower because Haley's a very girlie girl and having a shower for a little boy was totally throwing me off my game! I had a huge plan if she was pregnant with a girl; purple polka dots everywhere, glitter everywhere - sugar, spice and everything nice!! But this boy thing threw me for a loop until I happened upon a decoration idea that simply stated "welcome home Little Prince". P-E-R-F-E-C-T!! I couldn't have been more inspired! And with a little internet research help from my sister Shannon, the ideas never stopped!

The invitations let everyone know we were honoring Her Majesty Haley Jackson, the return address labels let you know it was at the Headlee Castle, the stamps were even Kings and Queens!! Alright, I'm tooting my own horn here but I worked hard on details! And at the end of the day Haley was super grateful and impressed and that's all I could ever ask for!! A special side thank you note to Whitney and Kim for helping me fine tune some details and helping me out. It was very much appreciated!!!

Brunch Buffet

Welcome Prince Andrew!!

Cousin Matty!

A New Little Prince

Momma & Hostess

Big Sissy & Mommy!

Duuuuuuude

Auntie's are awesome

Haley and her cousin Jill are only a few weeks apart!

Mommy & Big Sister!

4 Generations

Mother's Day Surprise!

2011-05-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day I decided to have Jilly make her Grandma Debi and Grammy a special flower pot with her artwork and hand/foot prints on it. I'm a sucker for ANYTHING homemade. I loved making my grandparents cards, yarn animals, Christmas ornaments, etc. So I hope to pass this love down to Jilly. Homemade gifts are so special and the receiver can actually see how much work went into it!

Jilly has never played with paints yet so last night I laid out some towels, squirted paint in 8 different Dixie Cups and prayed for the best! I was trying to keep it low mess. haha Who was I kidding?? The second Jilly saw all the amazing colors of the paints she dove right in. I managed to keep the flower pots looking nice but she did her best to make her own kind of art on all the paper I had laid out. She did great! And while I forgot to get pictures of the finished products you can trust me that they're prize winning!! *wink*

Palm Springs Vaca - Year 3!

2011-05-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

This year our Palm Springs vaca was cut a little short since my sister's wedding landed on the Saturday that our weekend usually began. Instead of cancelling the trip completely, Haley and I decided to go up early Sunday morning sans Husbands! The boys decided against taking Monday off of work and let us girls have a little get-away, with the kiddos of course, to ourselves.

The girls did great in the car which I was very thankful for. Jilly is hit or miss on long car rides sometimes and since she's still rear-facing (my decision I KNOW) I was a tad bit worried that she'd be a terror on our trip up there. But nope, she surprised me as usual. We quickly unpacked the car with ice-chests, floaties, inner tubes, towels and sunscreen and jumped in the pool the first chance we got. It was really different not having the boys around this year. For one we were the #1 supervisors of our girls, naturally, but #2 we weren't able to crack open a bottle of wine, pour it in our red cups and float for hours on end while we let our skin crisp up... because the boys would be watching the girls at the point! I really missed that part! haha Next year will be different. Mr. Drew will be here to join in on the fun activities and Jilly will be running around jumping in the pool like Grace did this year. I can see it now, it'll be a blast!

I love our Palm Springs Vaca tradition. It's relaxing, peaceful and something I look forward to every single year.

Now Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Jason Smith!!

2011-04-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

My little sister got married!!! Jake was a groomsmen, I was the Matron of Honor and Jill was the Flowergirl. Wedding's are so much fun when you can stop and enjoy them. I love all the love in the air. The excitement and stress running through the bride all day long, making sure everything is perfect and in place. The excitement and stress running through the bridesmaids making sure that the BRIDE is happy and that things are running on time. And then the groomsmen, sitting back enjoying a brewsky, waiting for the girls to arrive. Ahhh just once I want to be a groomsmen!!

Shannon's wedding day was perfect! No April showers for their wedding day at all, just clear skies and a mild breeze to make sure the sun wasn't too warm. The girls gathered early in a nearby hotel suite and we sipped mimosa's while getting our hair and make-up done. Haley and Jessica were Shannon's secret little helpers at our beck and call all day, helping to set things up and make sure things looked great (thanks girls, it meant the world to me). Shannon and Jason opted to have ALL the pictures taken before the wedding ceremony. This way after the ceremony they could actually enjoy their cocktail hour and not take up too much time with pictures. My friend did this at her wedding too and I think it just worked out so great! So we hustled down to a park and Jason was placed strategically on a bridge nearby for their first meeting of the day. awwww! Shannon snuck up on him and the photographer shot away at this magical moment. Then afterwards the rest of the bridal party joined in!

Jake's Dad performed the wedding ceremony and we make a joke that Kevin Headlee is now the official wedding officiant for our group of friends! He married Jake and I, then Jessica and Rick and now Shannon and Jason!! Who's next guys?! The ceremony was short and sweet and perfect. Jill was the flowergirl and Shannon and I thought for sure that she'd be walking by now... she's almost 15 months!! But she's stubborn and decided that's not what she wants to do yet so Jackie walked her down the aisle instead which made it extra special anyways. And Megan walked Jaxson down the aisle too since he was the little ring bearer!!

The second the reception started I breathed the biggest sigh of relief! Let's get this party started!!! All of their hard work had paid off and now it was time to relax! Jason worked hard the day before setting up ALL the white twinkly lights for the reception and it was so gorgeous!

Shannon & Jason - I'm so excited for you guys. I wish you the best in your new journey together. I love you both!

Easter Weekend 2011

2011-04-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Be prepared... this post is going to be overloaded with pictures, pictures, pictures!! Rather then try and separate this fun fulled weekend up in numerous posts I'm going to jumble it all together in one big Easter Basket!

Easter is usually a pretty calm holiday for us, with not a whole lot going on. But not this year! Jilly definitely adds tons of excitement to holidays now-a-days and I get to relish in the joys of being a kid again. I absolutely love it!! Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and decorated our Easter Eggs. Jilly is just one year shy of really understanding this task. Last year Jilly fell asleep decorating eggs but this year she was actually interested in staying awake and watching us decorate! I gave her an egg and a crayon and she slowly started to color on it but truly she was only interested in cracking it open and chowing down. Eggs are her favorite!

Then it was time to get all dolled up and head over to Haley's family Easter picnic. It was a nice day with only a slight breeze in the shade so I really enjoyed the weather and soaked up some sun. Jilly is very mobile since she's mastered the skill of scooting around everywhere. But she's not very fond of grass so instead of being in the middle of everything like she normally is, she stayed back on the blanket with me and just watched the kiddos play. And to top it all off Jilly actually stood by herself for the first time on Saturday!! I'm so proud!! I was laying down on the blanket and Jilly was crawling all over me when all of a sudden I didn't feel any hands on my back. So I turned around and Jilly was just standing there!! Then she promptly flopped down on her bum. haha But it's progress and that's all I continue to ask for. As long as she's still progressing then I have nothing to worry about. Even if she IS 14 months old! haha

Sunday morning we woke up to discover that the Easter bunny had stopped by our home and dropped off some goodies for us. He even remembered to bring her the bouncy ball she's been eyeing at Albertsons for WEEKS (thanks Jake for the late night run to the store Saturday night!!! HAHA). Seriously every time I'd walk into Albertsons they were sitting there right by the carts so of course Jilly spots them and screams "Ball, ball, ball, ball, ball" and points longingly at it. I told her time and time again that maybe the Easter Bunny would bring her one! Well the Easter Bunny had ummmm forgot about it... so the Easter Bunny's helper went out late Saturday night and helped her out. haha Jilly did so good this year finding all her Easter eggs. She was so excited to discover each and every one of them and she was quick to toss them in her basket and proceed on to the next one.

After a quick afternoon nap, we headed over to Aunt Lisa's for an Easter BBQ. I told you we were busy!! It was non-stop! After an early dinner I unwrapped a Crunch bar and let Jilly enjoy some of her Easter candy. I'm so happy we caught this on video. She's such a silly kid.

We had a wonderful and very busy weekend. And now on to the pictures... boy am I glad I'm a picture taking person. I never want to forget any of these special moments.

BFFs

2011-04-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when Eddie goes out of town I get the pleasure of watching Grace for a couple hours while Haley's at work. I love these nights!! Jill is finally at an age where she can actually play with other kids. And Grace is at an age where she understands that you have to be "gentle" with the babies so she's not jumping all over them. haha It's a give and take type of relationship. hehe For Christmas I bought Jill and Grace matching purple and blue star jammies. Since Haley's in love with stars and our thing is the "moon and stars" I had to buy our girls matching ones! It only took FOUR MONTHS to get them together and posed for a quick picture... but I got it! I used to love having matching jammies with my girlfriends so I'm now on the lookout for new ones because they both grew out of these Star ones pretty quickly! Can they just stop growing for a little bit??

This is my favorite. FAVORITE. It will be blown up and put on my walls. I love that they love eachother!

Weekend Sun

2011-04-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend was nice and warm and sunny and just flat out wonderful! I've said it time and time again but we're just so busy and that's made it so hard for us to just take a step back and enjoy our everydays. I miss weekends like this one and I hope to have many, many more this summer when things settle down. But for now I'll cherish the ones I do get.

Saturday Jilly and I spent the day lounging around while Daddy worked on his Jeep. Jilly had received a little kiddie pool for her birthday so I blew it up for the first time in hopes that Jilly would enjoy it! Ummm let's just say she's pretty used to bath water. My spoiled girl. LOL she loved being outdoors that's for sure. The pool water was just a little too cool for her. Oh well, we spent a nice Mommy and Me day outdoors, sunlight is always a secret cure for happiness!

And then on Sunday Amy, Leonard, Jax, Jill and I went down to Fashion Island to go meet the Easter Bunny! Jilly did great last year but probably because she was barely 8 weeks old. LOL This year, not so much. She loved playing with him when he was standing far away and Mommy was holding her... but once that bunny grabbed for Jilly she freaked out! Why do I torture my child? For the cute pictures and memories of course!

She's going to trip over that bottom lip one day... it's ALWAYS sticking out!

Getting good at using the fork!

I love this girl

Daddy's cheeseball smile

All dressed up to meet the Easter Bunny!

Smile

Beautiful

My Muse

Get away from me bunny!

Hesitant Smiles!

Shannon's Last Fling Before The Ring!

2011-03-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend was my sister's bachelorette party and we've been eagerly anticipating this day for a long time!! With all the planning and hard work that comes with the wedding, it's every girls dream to have a raging bachelorette party to let off some steam!

Shannon suggested pretty early on that she'd like to go to this piano bar at the Universal CityWalk so we made sure to plan everything around that. Amy and I brainstormed a bunch of different things to do in Hollywood and ultimately decided to stick around the CityWalk because they just have SO much to do there! Our first stop was at iFly Hollywood for indoor skydiving! They wouldn't let us have our cameras so we didn't get many pictures but BOY was that a fun experience! To be completely weightless in that wind dome thingy was such a trip. It also didn't help the embarrassment factor that we had to wear ridiculous jumpsuits with very sexy helmets AND the wind dome was OUTSIDE right in front of the store so every patron walking past could watch us. haha ahhhhh.

After indoor skydiving we took our time walking to the hotel because it wasn't quite ready for us yet! Some of the bridesmaids opted out of skydiving so they were put in charge of decorating the room for Shannon's arrival. We made a small detour at a small Mexican restaurant for some kamikazi shots to get the party rolling then it was finally time to head to the room.

The girls did an awesome job decorating with balloons, streamers and even penis straws! haha Good job girls! Shannon loved it. We got ready in the room, had some drinks, then it was time to head back over to the CityWalk for some dinner. I had decided we need to go to Saddle Ranch Chophouse for dinner because I found out they had a mechanical bull and how perfect was that for a bachelorette party?! The manager quickly found out we were celebrating a bride-to-be so he brought over two of his speciality 2 foot high martini glass FILLED with cotton candy. Awesome!! After dinner was done some of us more gutsy-er (same as the skydiving group!) girls signed up to ride the bull. Thank you Alex, Rox, Amy and of course Shannon for being daring! We were lucky enough to have a raunchy, nasty looking chick precede us on the bull... why you ask? Because that just made us look all the better!! haha We were all worried about making asses of ourselves but definitely not after seeing that chick on it! We were pros!

Now for the grand finale! Like I said earlier Shannon had let us know early on that she wanted to go to a kick ass piano bar at the Universal CityWalk. Howl At The Moon was by far the best piano bar I've ever been to! The performers were so talented, funny yet classy and wild. We reserved the front four tables for our bachelorette so we had as much access to the stage as our performers did and boy did some of us girls take advantage of that. lol Shannon got pulled up on stage numerous times but the best was when they pulled her up there to sing Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Shannon stood between two pianos and lip-sang her heart out and even threw in numerous amounts of hair/head tossing when necessary and appropriate. haha

So this was my fun filled bachelorette Saturday night and it went off with a bang! All the hard work and planning turned out great thanks to all the bridesmaids for their help! And a special thank you to Amy for being my DD and taking me to Del Taco afterwards. A girl's gotta eat!

iFly Hollywood

(Me, Rox, Shannon, Amy & Alex)

The Globe @ Universal Studios

Hotel Room Gang!

(Shannon, Me, Alex, Lauren, Marissa, Amy, Katie & Rox)

Roooooooxxxannnne!

Awe-some!

Ride it, sister!

Go me!

On the way to the grand finale!

::It's Shannon's Bachelorette Party, Buy her a shot!!::

haha

It's not a party unless Raggedy Anne straddles you to give you a jello shot!

Jackie, Lauren, Katie & Marissa

Jackie, Erin, Ali & Marissa

Erin & Me!

Shannon & Haley

B.F.F.

::I see a little silhouetto of a man::

::Thunder bolt and lightening, very, very frightening me::

::So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye::

::Nothing really matters, anyone can see... nothing really matters, nothing really matters... too meeeeee::

Sister's Bridal Shower

2011-03-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Today was my sister's bridal shower. I still find it hard to believe that my BABY sister is getting married. I think I find it hard to believe because that just means that I'M growing up and "getting old". haha

Shannon's soon-to-be Sister in Laws, Jaimie and Mel, threw Shannon's shower in their Dads backyard in Anaheim. It was a Honeymoon themed shower so they decorated it all up in beach themed since Shannon and Jason will be going to Cabo. Lucky!! Shannon's normally in charge of the photography for parties but since she was just a teeny bit busy I stepped up and became photographer #2. Which was fun for me because I absolutely LOVED a lot of the detail that Jaimie and Mel put into the party so I was eager to snap some photos so I could steal their ideas for future parties at my house! haha Hey, that's a compliment right??

Shannon made away with some awesome loot and it was fun to see her embarrassed looks as she unwrapped some riske' lingerie in front of the in-laws. haha Nothing to hide anymore sister, you're getting hitched!!

Just 7 more weeks until the big day!! Invitations already out, dresses and shoes purchased, and honeymoon booked!! Sounds like we're all ready sister! I CAN'T WAIT!!

Mama & Sha-Loo

"Sandy" Cupcakes (LOVE this idea!)

Garnishes for the Margarita's

Jax & Meg

Auntie Nanana & her Bodyguard

My new FAVORITE picture EVER. Love, love, love it.

The real us...

The fake us...

<3 Seeeeester's <3

Shan & Haley

Shannon & all 9 of her bridesmaids!

The Bride!

First Camping Trip/ER Visit

2011-03-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

Jake works the Terra Del Sol (TDS) Off-Road Event near Ocotillo Wells almost every year. If he's not working it, then he's attending as a spectator. Last year Jilly was barely 6 weeks old when he went so it really wasn't a good time to take a family camping trip but we decided that this year Jilly and I would definitely tag along with him and keep him company while he worked the booth! Good intentions right?

So Jilly woke up Thursday morning with a slight fever but I didn't think anything of it because she's working pretty hard on getting some more top teeth in, no big deal. Jake and I go to work and Jilly goes to day care. The day goes on without any hiccups but while I'm on my way home I get a phone call from daycare telling me that Jilly's fever spiked at 103.7 when she woke up from her nap. They gave her Tylenol, stripped her down and gave her a sippy full of ice water. I get to daycare and Jilly's still just in the best mood ever. Smiling, laughing, eating her snack and drinking her sippys. No indication that she might be sick other then that darn fever. So I again just think it's teething. Well, we were supposed to leave Thursday night to go camping with Jake but with Jilly's fever still lingering at about 100 we thought it would be best for Jill and I to stay behind that night just in case Jill gets worse but Jake had to head out there for work. So we spent the night at home and we wake up bright and early Friday morning with fever having a low 99 fever. Again, BEST MOOD EVER... but a fever to go with it. Well I decided that it truly was just teething and I'm not about to cancel a family fun camping trip just because Jilly's getting a couple more chompers right? So I skipped the doctor's appointment we made for that morning because I didn't want to waste my time for the doctor to tell me to alternate Motrin/Tylenol ya know?

So Jill and I pack up and make the 2 hour drive down to Ocotillo Wells. An hour after we get there I noticed Jilly's pretty warm again. Damn it. So I take her temperature and she's back up in the 103's again. Crap. Now I'm doubting myself. How can it be teething when it's shooting up past the 103's? That's not a teething fever. Well with Jilly's fever being so high and it being 80 degrees outside I didn't want to pack her back up in a NON air conditioned car and make her suffer the 2 hour drive home yet. So we stayed in the shade, kept cool and waited out the day until the sun set and the fever went down. By the end of the day Jill's fever was back down to 99 but I decided we needed to go home anyways. I'm not chancing another high fever, in the middle of no where, just in case we need to go to the ER.

So I pack her up and made another 2 hour journey for the day. We get home and I go to take Jill out of her car seat and I see that she's sweating bullets and she's groggy and she's just not herself. I rush her inside (remind you Jake's still out in the desert because he needed to stay for work, so I was kinda freaked that I was alone) and quickly took her temperature; 104.7. Hell no, we're going to the ER. I called my sister and asked her to come meet me but before I got Jill back in the car I stripped her down and placed her in a bath just to see if I could get the fever to break because I didn't want it lingering that high for too long, it scared the crap out of me! I was able to get it down to 103.5 before I got her back in the car and rushed to Fountain Valley ER.

We didn't have to wait TOO long before a nurse took her back to check her out. By that time her fever was down to the low 101's so she was no longer in the scary levels, which means we now get to wait since it's not as much of an "emergency". Ugh. So we wait and wait and wait. And I'm sure it wasn't too long of a wait but by this time it was about 11pm and it had been a VERY long day and Jill was tired and cranky. So we get back in the room, the doctor comes in, tells me it's definitely NOT teething and teething temperatures cannot get that high and it's just a viral infection and nothing they can do about it. Soooo guess what he tells me to do? "Alternate Motrin/Tylenol and keep an eye on her". haha I should have guessed. So we went home, Jill slept great and her fever hasn't hit over 101 all weekend long.

*sigh* Oh the life of a Mommy. I wouldn't change a thing. <3

What's up with the duck face Jill?? haha

Just relaxing...

Daddy showing her how to cruise on the quad

This, my friend, is how I roll

Danny, Jason & Jake

JCH

My happy girl in the ER Room

1 year stats

2011-02-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

On Friday we took Jilly in for her 1 year check-up and shots. This time I asked Jake to come with me because I thought they were going to give her more then the 2 shots she got plus I wanted him to be there to discuss Jilly's development over this past year. At 1 year, 3 weeks old she weighs in at a petite 19lbs 2oz and is 28 3/4inches long. 16th percentile for weight and 32nd percentile for height. She checked out great!

Months back we took Jilly to get evaluated by a physical therapist after our pediatrician repeatedly recommended it to us visit after visit. I don't think I even wrote a blog about it because honestly it bugged me a little bit and I wasn't ready to talk about it. Jilly has ALWAYS been physically slow in her development, according to the charts and books. She only rolled over once or twice at 5 months old and then never wanted to do that again, she's never crawled "normally" - she only sits up straight and bounces around on her butt to get around. And more recently she's dug her heels into the ground to use those as tools to get around. Again, not traditionally crawling. And then around 4-5 months old she stopped wanting to stand up. You know how most babies will push their legs straight once you hold them up? Jilly refused to do this, she either wanted to be held or more often wanted to just sit up on the floor by herself (thank you very much!). So our doctor was very concerned that she was falling behind physically and wanted to get her further evaluated to see if she needed therapy. I knew deep down inside that my girl was just fine. She didn't (and doesn't) need therapy. She's just developing at her own pace and ultimately giving all those books and charts "the finger". But a nagging voice was always in the back of my head telling me to just go check it out, what can it hurt, and if they're wrong then so be it but at least you followed the proper protocol. So we took her. And she did measure behind. 28% behind to be exact and at 11 months old she was using the physical skills of an 8 month old. And since Jilly doesn't like to be told what to do, immediately after her evulation she decided that she wanted to start pulling herself up onto every thing. She even had her first fat lip to prove that the coffee table really is a fun place to play. In order for her to be accepted into a physical therapy program she would have had to be 33% or more delayed and Jilly obviously wasn't. Especially with her newfound skill of pulling up. So for now she's learning at her own pace. At almost 13 months old she still is only pulling herself up on things. No cruising furniture, no standing on her own, no walking. But it's ok - she'll do it in time I know.

So this is really why I wanted Jake to come with me. With him working out in Corona it's hard for him to be at every single appointment that Jill has to go to. So a lot of the appointments where our doctor was telling me that something may be wrong I had to do it alone (or with my Mom) so this time I wanted Jake to be there. So that he could report to the doctor what he sees on an everyday basis too. And boy oh boy am I glad that Jake came this time!! I originally thought that Jilly would get her little finger pricked for a blood test to check her iron. Well apparently my doctor's office is different and now they do BLOOD DRAWS on one year olds to check lead and iron. I was pretty frickin' distraught to say it nicely. I don't even like to have my blood drawn. How the heck can I except my tiny little baby to sit there nicely while the big mean doctor takes 2 viles of blood? Needless to say I fought my doctor on this for a good 30 minutes. I was making her explain and re-explain and then re-explain again why they couldn't do a finger prick. I thought it was an insurance issue at first so I offered to pay cash just to have her finger pricked but it couldn't be done. The blood draws were more accurate then just a finger prick. I DO trust my doctor, there's a reason I go back to her time and time again, but it was just the unnecessary pain that I was having troubles in dealing with. So finally we went down to the lab and did the blood draw. Jake held Jilly because I couldn't do it and honestly Jill did SO good. Of course she cried but only at that one little prick and then she just sat there and whined pretty good until he was done. No damage done and only a few tears. I think I was more upset then she was. *sigh* I'm glad it's over.

So what's going on in Jilly's day to day life now?:
*Drinking 100% whole milk now at daycare
*But also still breastfeeding twice a day (yay for NO MORE PUMPING!!)
*Can say Mama, Dada, Eyes, Eggs, Nana (stands for Banana, Nana, Auntie Nanana she says it for them all) the letter A and the letter B and Shoes is the newest one.
*Pulling up onto EVERYTHING.
*Knows that shoes go on her feet and tries to put on Mommy's shoes
*Knows where her eyes and nose are
*Her favorite food is scrambled eggs
*Not allergic to peanut butter
*Has learned to drink out of a straw
*Cries when Daddy leaves her at daycare now
*Learned to give kisses
*Loves it when Mommy sings Old MacDonald and she tries her darnest to say "E-I-E-I-O" but it comes out more like humming EIEIO.
*She's a priss and proud of it. Anyone want her in let's say ummmm 13 years?
*She's starting to point at things she's interested in and she grunts while she points which means "tell me what this is".

Family Photo Shoot #2

2011-02-19T17:13:00.000-08:00

This morning Shannon came over early and we headed out (in the rain) to take Jilly's 1 year photos plus some more family photos. I'd like to try and stay in the habit of taking family pics every 6 months so we can see how much Jilly's grown!! So since our last photo shoot was in August, we were due! They came out great! Thank you SOOOO much Shannon for always being available for us. I love the memories you make for us!

Happy 1st Birthday Jillybean!!!!

2011-02-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

Today is Jillian's FIRST birthday. All new Moms say this and I'm guilty of saying it over and over and over again but WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?! How has my precious little baby girl turned into a one year old toddler? She has opened my eyes so much this year and made me appreciate things I had forgotten about. She's the reason I stop and smell the roses more often and she honestly makes me strive to be a better me. I cannot imagine my life without her anymore and Jake and I are more complete because of her.

Since Jilly's birthday landed on a weekend day we decided to hold her party on her actual birthday. It just so happened to be SuperBowl Sunday as well. And yes, I got a lot of grief for that. Oh well. Suck it up boys! We had a fairly huge turn out for her party, around 50 people. I never expected her party to be so big but we have so many family and friends close by it was hard to keep it small. Thank Goodness we have a huge backyard to accomodate! A couple weeks before her party I was in panic mode because I wasn't sure what the weather was going to be like. On her birthday last year it was pouring rain all morning (which I absolutely loved) but I wanted it to be sunny this year so we could stay outdoors! To my relief it was a beautifully, sunny day!

Amy made Jilly's smash cake with chocolate cake as requested by Mommy because that's what I had for my first birthday too. Jill wasn't too fond of the idea of smashing up the cake though. She poked at it a little and then tried pushing the whole thing off her tray. haha Jake was trying to get her to get messy but my prissy girl just wasn't having it. And that's ok! It's her birthday and she definitely "cried if she wanted to". Jill had been fighting a nasty cold all week long so she was still running a low grade fever today but overall she did pretty darn well having so many people lovin' all over her.

Thank you SO much to everyone who came and celebrated with us! Jilly is one lucky and loved girl!

Birthday Morning - New Swing!!

Happy Birthday Jillybean!

Jilly is one!

OK I know it's sideways but my computer WON'T let me turn it!!! Oh well. Rainbow cake!

Mommy & Jill

Grandpa Rob & Jax

Singing Happy Birthday

Poke

Smash

Ok I'm done!

Daddy smashed frosting on my face!

Aaaahhhh

::It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To::

Outfit change after cake!

Babycenter Gals!!!! Diana, Leah, Me, Jilly, Kelly and Connor!

All of Jilly's Friends!!

<3 Jilly & Gracie <3

**kiss**

**BITE**

"Jillian Carey I Love You" Love, Grama

Bouncing on her Zebra

Verrrry tired Mom & Dad

Fresh from our naps

New bathtime toys!

Jillian - Happy first birthday sweet baby girl. You have made me the proudest Mama ever. I wake up every single day excited to see what the world's holds for us and I've loved experiencing all your firsts with you this past year. There are so many more to come! Mommy loves you so much Jillybean.

::Love You Forever & Forever,

Mama

Zoo Day

2011-01-29T10:57:00.000-08:00

It was such a beautiful day out yesterday that Jake and I agreed we definitely didn't want to stay cooped up in the house. Jake suggested we go walk around the Santa Ana Zoo since it's close and cheap to get in to! What a great idea! I was so excited, especially since Jilly's never been before. I haven't been to the Santa Ana Zoo in at LEAST 10-15 years. So I kinda expected it to be a "normal" zoo. Ya know, with lions, tigers (and maybe even bears, oh my!). But nope. It was so deserted it was eerie! They did have animals, just not your traditional zoo type of animals that you would think. We spent a good deal of time around the monkey's because Jill is getting pretty good at making the "oh oh ah ah" sounds when we make them first. It's too cute.

I packed up a sack lunch so we could sit and enjoy the weather and not spend too much money at the zoo and that worked out perfectly. We laid a blanket on the grass and just enjoyed the rays. I did have a Mommy oops moment though and I need to share it because I'm sure I'll want to look back at this someday and shake my head. Well, we were constantly getting Jill in and out of the stroller because of looking at all the animals so every time I sat her back in it I didn't buckle her back in. Well at one point my little wiggle worm decided to scoot her way under the safety bar and while I wasn't looking she plopped her butt down on the dirt in front of me!! Well since I was looking the other way I didn't notice it happen sooooo I, um, kinda ran her over! Or maybe it was more of a "bumped into her". It's kinda funny now but it was so embarrassing at the time! She apparently landed in a sitting up position so when I ran into her it just folded her in half and she just whined like "get off me Mom!" no bumps or bruises to show. Ahhh if that's the worst thing that ever happens when I have a Mommy oops moment I'll be lucky!! My poor kid.

Hmmmm I'll have to think about that...

Daddy's Little Girl

Lunchtime

My Loves

Jilly's 1st Carousel Ride

She was actually pretty scared of it...

Weeeeee!!!

2011-01-17T21:46:00.000-08:00

Jilly officially loves the swings. I. LOVE. IT Jilly's first experience on a swing was back in May 2010 (see here) but she didn't seemed too thrilled with them. Why would she be? She was only 3 1/2 months old. Soooo all summer/fall long I never thought to take her to a playground to put her back on them to see if she'd actually like it! Well today while we were on a walk I made a detour to head towards our local playground. I was honestly pretty nervous because it was super crowded and I was by myself and I'm weird like that. Well the toddler swing was available so I plopped her down in it and just starting pushing. I wish I would have been taking video because the expression on her little face was adorable. She lit up like the sky on the 4th of July. She was SO excited. She giggled and squealed the whole time. Guess what she's now getting for her birthday?!

Smiles

Big Kid!

Teethies!

Squealing with joy!

My Girl

Annual Big Bear Adventures!

2011-01-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

Every year we head up to Big Bear with the Jacksons. It's become a nice little tradition for us and a great way to get out of the hustle and bustle of Orange County and up into the nice pine filled air of Big Bear! As many things have been lately, this was a special trip for us because it was the first time Jilly was in snow! The weather was nice to us and it was actually in the mid-50's all day long so even though we were playing in the snow it wasn't TOO freezing for the kiddos. Score!

I swear one of the main reasons we go to Big Bear is to eat. Yes, we drive an hour and a half up a windy mountain rode just to grub on some yummy food. Hey, what can I say, I love food! Every year we try out a different restaurant/cafe for breakfast or lunch so we get to try new things and discover new "must haves". This year we finally got to try out a pizza joint that we've been smelling every single time we go there. Seriously if you've ever been to the main town in Big Bear you should know what I'm talking about. They must pump the smell in the air or something because you can't walk past that place without having your mouth water. The pizza was SO yummy! Just as good as I imagined it! It's definitely been added to my favorites list and now I know of a GREAT pizza joint when Jake and I go stay up in the cabin. And of course, nothing goes better with a yummy lunch then a great dessert! We always go to this candy shop every time we're there (the name slips my memory at the moment) and get caramel apples and a bunch of other goodies! This year Eddie (and Jake) were sweet enough to make Haley and I little gift certificates for the candy shop to get some chocolate covered strawberries (which Haley had been DYING for) and whatever else we wanted. Big mistake! We ended up with caramel apples, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered pretzels and a chocolate dipped frozen cheesecake covered in sprinkles!!! HEAVEN. We ate 80% of it in just under 10 minutes I'm sure. I love this place!

Grace was a lot of fun this year because she was so excited to see the snow and play in it with me. Jill on the other hand wasn't 100% thrilled with it. She did "ok" but since she's not really mobile yet she wasn't too fond of just sitting in it and letting her little tushie freeze off. hehehe So Daddy got a lot of cuddle time while Grace and I worked super hard on making our first snowman!! I've never built a snowman before which isn't TOO surprising since I don't live in a town where it snows! Next year I'm stocking snowman supplies for sure but this year we made due with borrowing a few of mine and Jill's winter clothes for making it complete!

I can't wait for next year when both girls will be running around crazy together! Maybe they'll even understand the concept of Snow Angels then. I love Snow Angels!!

Our Girls

Family

Mommy & Jilly

Snow Bunnies! (yes Jake's in a short sleeved shirt - it really wasn't ALL that cold)

The Jacksons

Haley & Bug

Bug, Bug, Bug

Our Creation!!

Hugs and Squeezes

I pushed her down so we could make Snow Angels! haha

Chocolate Covered Pretzel!

She's less then impressed...

Daddy's Girl

Happy New Year 2011!!!

2011-01-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011!!! We decided to stay put at home this year and just take it easy. I wanted to make sure Jilly was comfy in her own bed so Jake and I could stay up late and have a few drinks and not have to worry about driving. Mike, Ali and Shannon came over to spend the evening with us too. We played games and even whipped out Guitar Hero at the end of the night but mostly we just sat around and enjoyed eachother's company. It was a very relaxing and very awesome New Years Eve for us!

As midnight approached I went in an woke up Jilly so that Shannon could get a midnight kiss! Plus I wanted Jill to be awake to enjoy the New Year celebrations too!! She's such a trooper. She was so confused as to why I was waking her up when it was still dark out. After a few smooches at midnight and some cuddle time I laid her back down in bed and she quickly passed out! I have such an easy kid sometimes!!

So here's to a wonderful and exciting 2011!! I don't know how it can top my 2010 but we'll see what's in order for us!!!

Last Headlee Family Pic of 2010

Mike & Ali

Auntie Nanana's Midnight Kiss

Family Kiss!!

We <3 the Breathalyzer

Guitar Hero

JillyBean!

2010-12-29T13:52:00.000-08:00

Shannon came over yesterday to take Jilly's jelly bean pictures for her 1st birthday invitation that I need to get sent out. Did you read that correctly?? FIRST BIRTHDAY. What the heck man?? My little girl is turning ONE in little over a month. Why oh why do the years seem to flash in front of your eyes before you even know it?? Last year at this time I was on my death bed with the flu, but it just seems like yesterday that I felt her rolly polly moves in my belly or sat down on the couch to watch my stomach make waves. *sigh* I miss it definitely.

So Jilly's 1st birthday party will be "jelly bean" themed so I got together about 10 pounds of jelly beans and a bunch of other props to get some cute pics for her invites. Enjoy!

Jillian's First Christmas

2010-12-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

Having a baby around just makes the holidays SO much more special to me. I get to be excited for Santa Claus to come and watching the piles of presents build and build just makes me down right giggly. Jillian had FIVE Christmases this yea. Yes, 5. She's one LOVED baby! And we have so many family and friends we like to spend the holidays with that it was inevitable that we were pulled every which way! But we made it out alive and have all the wonderful memories to go with it.

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Night One was spent on Christmas Eve night with Jake's family.We always go to Jake's family's house for Christmas Eve and I love the tradition. It makes it easy on us to not have to decide where we're going every year and on what day and what time, blah blah blah. We were blessed with having extra family around this year since Uncle Paul, Aunt Susan and Amity came in to spend the holidays with us too! Jilly made out like a bandit and she did pretty good on trying to open the presents herself. Her bedtime is normally at 8 and since we try and stick to a schedule she was pretty cranky at me when 8:30 came rolling around and we were opening presents. So Mommy and Daddy did the majority of opening but she did ALL the playing. She wanted everything taken out of their boxes so she could try things out. haha What a great way to start Christmas!

When we got home, before I let her head off to bed, Jake, Jilly and I set up cookies for Santa and carrots for Rudolph and all his reindeer friends! This is probably going to be one of my favorite traditions. I can't wait until she gets all giddy thinking about Santa coming down the chimney at night. And I can't wait to see her face in the morning when Santa has taken bites out of his homemade cookies and drank all his milk! So we tucked Jilly in for the night and Mr & Mrs Claus got to work on those cookies! Yum. Jake sent me off to bed early because he had bought Jilly's gift from Santa this year and I wasn't allowed to know what it was. He knows I'm just a big kid at heart!

So Christmas morning Jilly let us sleep in a little bit but we were quick to hop out of bed when she did call out for us. And we quickly showed her that Santa had left a path of candy canes from her room to her stocking and presents by the fireplace (thanks for the idea Vickie!!!)... he didn't want her to get lost on the way to the goodies! Santa has brought Jilly a Princess Buggy and she couldn't have been more excited about it! She's still a little too small for it but she sure didn't mind Mommy pushing her around the living room in it. The rest of the morning was spent opening gifts and checking out all the cool things we got! I made us a yummy breakfast and then we got all ready to head out for our Annual Christmas Movie!! Jake and I have gone for 9 years now and so it was important for me to bring Jilly to start the tradition with us! PLUS it was her first time in a movie theater! So it was a double plus! We went and saw Gulliver's Travels and it was pretty darn good. Jilly did ok during the movie. She's like her Mom and wants to move around a lot but no crying or screaming so that made me happy!!

After Christmas #2 it was time to move on to Christmas #3 at my Mom's house. This is also an ongoing tradition for us. We always go to my Mom's for Christmas afternoon/dinner. Amy and Mom had made a HUGE spread of BLT's for dinner. Simple, easy AND yummmmmmy. And Sheila was also there to spend the holidays with us!! I love spending Christmas at "home" because it just feels so cozy and comfortable. I love it. My Mom decorates the insides of her house at the beginning of November so she can enjoy all the lights and holiday cheer for longer. And I can always count on the fact that A Charlie Brown Christmas will be playing on the TV at some point during the night. Jilly once again made out like a bandit and this time she really was starting to get the hang of this opening presents thing. Although she would rather play with paper and boxes. The life of a 10 month old right? haha

On Sunday we woke up and got ready to head out to Grandpa Rob's (my Dad) for Christmas #4. My Dad had prepared a wonderful Christmas feast for us. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, etc... he pulled out all the stops. We came prepared with Jilly's highchair so we wouldn't have to chase her around the living room and so she could enjoy her Christmas feast too! We went there in the middle of Jill's normal afternoon nap time so we set up her pack n play in Meggie's room and attempted to get Jill to go down for a nap. She wasn't fussing or screaming or anything but she pretty much just laid in there for about an hour and a half just playing with her feet and her blanket and talking to herself. haha At least she rested a little right?? Soon it was time to head back home because we had one more Christmas to add to our day!

Our fifth and final Christmas adventures were spent at the Jacksons. Grace is now at the wonderful age where she gets SO excited when she see's presents and she won't wait for you to tell her they're even for her before she's tearing into them. haha I came in with presents piled high and Grace ran for them and starting opening, I loved it! She was so excited to see everything we got her. Then it was time for Jilly's presents. By this time I think Jill was pretty much over the opening presents game. She was tired and whiny and just ready for bed. So Mommy went to town opening them! Haley had gotten her this dinosaur walker toy that I told her I loved so I was very eager to rip it open and put it together. The dinosaur roars at you so Jill was pretty apprehensive at first but Grace quickly showed her how fun it can be! hehehe

Christmas this year was absolutely WONDERFUL. I wouldn't have change one single thing at all. My heart is so filled with joy that it's going to burst! Thank you EVERYONE for making Jillian's first Christmas so extremely special. We love you all!

(sorry I had to add the pictures at the bottom because Blogger sucks now!!!)

Mommy's Little Elf

The Krause side of the family

The Headlee Side

Leaving cookies for Santa!

...and carrots for Rudolph!

Princess Buggy

Mommy & Jilly got diamond earrings! Ohhh la la!

Meow!

Jilly got Daddy a Nerf Gun

"I'm as Cute As My Aunt (ies)"

Piggy Face!!

Jake got the "pocket" knife he wanted. That thing is huge!

Jilly's 1st Movie!! <3 Gulliver's Travels <3

Blue Icee!

Being Grama, haha

My AngelBaby Girl!

Mr. Jax Man

Little Bo Peep Cabbage Patch Baby!

Roar!

Holiday Traditions Commence!

2010-12-20T13:38:00.000-08:00

With a sweet little baby girl in the picture I wanted to start some new holiday traditions in the Headlee household so that every year Jilly gets to share in the joy of this holiday season. And hopefully in time she'll look back and cherish all the memories that I've tried to create for her.

I love holiday goodies but I'll admit I'm not a very good baker. So this year I asked around for some simple and easy holiday cookie ideas so I could try my luck at baking once again. Not wanting to overwhelm myself I only chose two recipes this year: Monster Cookies and Homemade Sugar Cookies w/ frosting. They were both a success!! I even ended up having to make an extra batch of the Monster Cookies due to an overwhelming demand (hehe).

I made the Monster Cookies earlier in the week so I could take them to Shannon's Gingerbread party but I waited to make the Sugar Cookies so that Haley and Grace could come over and bake and decorate them with us! Grace was very enthusiastic when it came to helping me prep the sugar cookies. She loved throwing flour on the cutting board and rolling out the dough with me. It made it so much more special since Jill is too little this year to really appreciate all that was going on around her, but Grace is at the perfect age to take it all in! After we patiently waited for what felt like 100 cookies to bake, we were ready to start decorating! Since I'm an amateur baker I didn't really plan ahead for the whole decorating thing. I knew I had food coloring in my pantry and I thought I'd just use those and run with it. And I did, but our cookies turned out to be more bright and bold colors rather then Christmas-y. NEXT year I'll be prepared with better cookie cutters, gum drop eyes and better colors!

I gave Jilly a mini cookie with a spoon full of white frosting and let her go to town. She actually didn't do TOO bad. I was sure that she'd just shove the spoon in her mouth and eat everything but she actually didn't. She smeared the frosting on the cookie and just played with it. Goofy little girl. Grace was drawn to the blue frosting and used that most of the time which turned out to be a little too much it turned out. Wanna guess what blue frosting looks like coming back up?? Yup. The exact same as it did going down. But it didn't really faze her all that much. She was soon bouncing off the walls again and begging Daddy for an Oreo. LOL!

All in all the night was awesome and I had so much fun creating a new holiday tradition with my family. I can't wait until next year when Jilly will be old enough to partake!

My little helper

Covered in flour... Mommy was so happy. hehehe

Making shapes!

Yummmmm blue frosting!

Jilly checking out her cookie

Hmmmm Yum!

Messy girl

Our finished products!

3rd Annual Gingerbread Party/Moustache Themed!!

2010-12-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

I've been looking forward to this party for months!! I even bought my mini Christmas themed village back in September. haha Seriously. Every year I have these wonderful intentions of making the best gingerbread masterpiece ever and every year I always get so frustrated that I almost throw my project across the room! This year wasn't any different. I "accidentally" forgot to read the box when I bought my gingerbread village and didn't notice that it didn't come with pre-made frosting at all. I had to make it myself. Damn. So while I was feeding the baby, trying to mingle and trying to mix up my special batch of royal frosting everyone else pretty much finished their houses. So I sat down and got lost in my own little world of making this Christmas Village! And honestly I had a blast! The first house was frustrating but by house two and three I was a gingerbread pro! Ok, so the pictures may not look too fancy but this is my best year so far!

Cool cats

That's one hairy bunch!

Jill & Grama

Moustached-Out Family

Isn't it a beaut?! hehehe

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!!

2010-12-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

Last night Jake, Jill and I went out to Elmer's Tree Lot to pick out our family Christmas Tree!! Every year we go to Elmer's because it's a small family owned Christmas Tree lot and they've always had pretty comparable prices and it's just so much more personable then Home Depot or Lowes or a place like that. Well this year was a little different. It was still the small family run business but the prices just seemed to sky rocket to me for some reason!! And being in a penny pinching mood it was hard to pick out a tree that I loved without crying over the price tag!! But I'm set in my ways and I really didn't want to go from place to place to go pricing out trees, so we found one we loved at a decent price and brought it on home. But you can count on it that I'll be at Home Depot next year!!

After dinner and Jilly's bath time, we turned on a Jim Carrey's version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and started decorating our tree. We helped Jilly put her special ornaments on the tree and she even helped Daddy put our very first star on top of the tree!! We've never had a tree topper before because I could never find anything I loved but I ran across this one at Big Lots of all places and with a cheap $4 price tag I was sold!! I love the smell of a fresh Christmas tree and this has just helped get me even more into the holiday mood. I love Christmas-time!!

A pink tree just for Jill!

I love the smell of PINE!!

Shaggy Daddy and Silly Jilly!

Pretty lights

Decorating the tree

First Family Ornament

Putting on the star!

Beautiful!

First Road Trip/Nesper Wedding!

2010-12-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

Jake and I have been promising my Grama Imo that we would take a trip out to Arizona for YEARS. Seriously, years. Like at least 5 years. Well we finally made good on our promise, Grama! It only took Danielle's wedding to get us out there. hehehe

We left at Jilly's bed time on Thursday night because this was going to be her first road trip and I was really nervous that she'd cry the whole way there! So at least leaving a bedtime meant she would sleep all the way there right? Nope. She probably slept a total of 3 hours out of the 6 hour car ride. BUT no tears either! Yay! She drifted in and out of sleep and just enjoyed the ride. Thank Goodness!

First road trip!

We arrived around 3am (stupid time change) Friday morning and my Grama was kind enough to give up her bedroom so we could all be comfy cozy and not worry about Jilly's pack 'n' play fitting into the den with us (thanks Grams!). So we chatted a bit but then quickly found our pillows and crashed, hard. Jilly let us all sleep in until about 9 (AZ adjusted time) that morning. Ahhhh that was nice. And I don't know if it was the dry Arizona weather or the fact that I was finally getting a much needed vacation but I woke up that morning feeling a little off and as the day progressed I pretty much lost my voice for the entire weekend. Bummer. At least I wasn't "sick" feeling. Just no voice. Some people didn't mind. haha

So Friday was spent lounging around and going to my Grama's WalMart to show off her newest Great-Grandbaby to all her friends. Then it was time to head out for a late lunch/early dinner before going to Danielle and Cameron's wedding! We chowed down at Olive Garden and went to the wedding in sort of a food coma. It was a dessert wedding so we planned ahead!! Their wedding was so gorgeous and quaint. It was just close friends and family nearby to witness them exchange their vows and celebrate with them on their special day. I loved every second of it! Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Nesper!

Great-GramMooMoo & Jillybean

Julie, Jill, Jess

Danielle & Cameron Nesper!!!

Jilly and Cruz (giving her kisses!)

Saturday morning we were blessed with yet another morning of sleeping in!! All this time change and traveling must agree with Jill or something! She doesn't normally wake up TOO early but 9am is always better then 7am in my book! Today we planned on going back to my Grama's WalMart and visit Santa Claus as he was making a special appearance there all weekend! I was SOOO looking forward to introducing Jilly to Santa and she did exactly what I hoped. She bawled. Yup, I wanted my kid to cry. haha Ok well I felt awful when I saw how scared she really was of him, but it made for some awfully adorable pictures don't cha think?

After our morning with Santa, Great-Grams wanted to take Jilly out to Toys R Us to "show" her what she wanted for Christmas this year. I learned you have to be careful about what you show my Grama because if you even hint at the fact that one of her Great-Grandbabies might like it then she buys it up!! Kinda fun, but I felt bad!! So Jilly ended up with a couple cool new toys as a early Christmas present and she couldn't be any more thankful!

Saturday afternoon we spent at my cousin Jessica's house. We didn't have a whole lot of time to catch up with her at Danielle's wedding so it was nice to hang out again and of course to meet her newest son, Rider!! He's too frickin' adorable!! And I'm horrible. I didn't snap a picture of him! In my defense he was sleeping the entire time I was there and only woke up within 10 minutes of us leaving. So there!! haha But trust me, he's perfect! But Jilly was able to get more acquainted with her other cousin (sort of) Jessica's older son, Cruz. He just turned two in November and he was very hesitant on what to do with Jilly but by the end of our visit he was sharing his dump truck with her in exchange for Gerber's Puffs and he even kissed her on her forehead a couple times while his Mama snapped some cute photos. And she'll give them to me soon *cough cough** so I can share them!! Love you Jess!

And then there was Sunday. The weekend went by too fast and I wish we were able to stay longer!! We woke up at a more "normal" decent time Sunday morning and lounged around for a while before heading back home. We packed up after lunchtime, once again in hopes that Jilly would take a LONG nap since this would normally be her long afternoon nap time but nope. haha This girl works on her own schedule thank you very much! She stayed awake for the first two hours of the trip and just babbled and laughed to herself and to her new puppy doll and then finally crashed out hard for the remainder of the trip. We really enjoyed our long awaited trip to Arizona and we're reallllly going to try and not make this a "once every 5 years" thing so Grama I promise we'll be back soon in 2011!

Jax & Jill Christmas Photos

2010-11-30T15:11:00.000-08:00

It's so much fun having Jax & Jill be so close in age. My sister and I get to experience a lot of the same things at the same exact time. This Christmas is going to be extra special to my family because it's Jax and Jill's first Christmas so my sister and I took the kids out this weekend to capture some memorable photos we're bound to cherish forever and ever.

Merry Christmas!! Love, Jax & Jill

My little elf

Gobble, Gobble

2010-11-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

The holidays are coming at me so fast this year that I can't believe we're already celebrating Thanksgiving!! I have so much to be thankful for this year I don't know where to start. First and foremost, my beautiful, gorgeous, precious little girl, Jillian. She has turned my life upside down in the most amazing way I could never look back and picture my life without her. She was the missing piece to my puzzle and she has made Jake and I the happiest parents on earth. I'm so very thankful for my happy, healthy, smiley, laughing, cranky at times, little girl. And coming in as a close, close, close second I'm so thankful for my Husband, Jake. It's been one crazy roller coaster ride for us this year as we learn how to be parents but I couldn't imagine doing it with any other man in my life. I love you babers. And third, I'm SO very thankful for all my friends and family who have supported me this year. 2010 has been a crazy one and I couldn't have survived it without all of you.

Every Thanksgiving we switch off between Jake's family one year and mine the next, well this year landed on Jake's family so they got to spend Jilly's 1st Thanksgiving with her! Lucky ducks!! hehe We headed over to Nikki's house in the early afternoon to begin our day of slowly grazing over all the yummy snacky snacks we normally set out before the big Thanksgiving feast. This year was extra special in the Haymes household because they had just recently had their kitchen remodeled so it was very awesome to enjoy a home cooked turkey dinner in a brand spankin' new kitchen! Jilly's been doing perfectly on eating "normal people food" so I was excited to dish up all of our Thanksgiving favorites onto her highchair tray and let her go to town and discover things she loved and things she hated. Well this girl STILL is an amazing eater and I haven't stumbled across many foods that she won't eat so I'm not sure why I was surprised when she enjoyed all of her turkey, cranberries, candied yams, croissants, green bean casserole and even pumpkin pie and banana cream pie!! Yup, she ate it all. haha How is she NOT 30 pounds already?! She even followed a family tradition and munched on a turkey leg (Daddy's favorite) until Mama took it from her to give her "real" food. Our Thanksgiving was wonderful! A very special thank you to Nikki for hosting and Mike for cooking! I will always remember this Thanksgiving.

The Headlee's 2010

Orion & Jillian

Uncle (Sponge) Bob & Aunt Lisa

Joee' & Jilly

BE IMPRESSED! We got ALL FIVE dogs to sit together for a picture. haha It took a lot of work! From left to right: Lady, Patches, Lola, Moose and Tahoe!

Hmmmm

Baby's First Turkey Leg

Thanksgiving Feast!

9 Month Stats

2010-11-23T22:17:00.000-08:00

It's that time again. My little girl is growing, growing, growing! At 9.5 months Jilly weighs 17 pounds 1 ounce and is 27 inches long. Almost 10 pounds heavier then her birth weight! So neat. Jilly's right below the 15th percentile for growth right now so even though she's growing so big right before my eyes she's still a teeny, tiny petite little girl. Her doctor ordered some "fatty" foods like more avocado and cheese for her diet so we can fatten her up a bit! haha Believe me, I feed this girl! She's just been blessed with a great metabolism! A close friend of mine lists her daughters goals and accomplishments in bullet points and I love the idea so I'm stealing it... again... thanks Alie!! It's just so easy that way!

Still breastfeeding 9+ months and counting!
Still allergic to squash
Starting to become more mobile by hopping on her butt. No crawling in sight.
She got her two bottom teeth within 3 or 4 days of eachother at 7.5 months old
Her favorite color is green
She only uses the binky at nap and bedtime
Learning how to use a sippy cup pretty well
Loves, loves, loves her baby cousin Jaxson. She's fasinated by him!
Mommy's Girl
Cannot keep her left sock on to save her life!
Still loves bath time
Learning what the word "No" means
Loves it when Daddy chases her down the hall w/ Mommy
Hates to be in the car too long

Family Movie Night

2010-11-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine, Kalli, does Friday Family Movie Nights with her kiddos and she let's them pick the movie and camp out on the floor. Usually she makes them things like pizza or pancakes that are designed how the kids want them or some kind of snacky snack of their choice! Every time she talks about it I always tell her that I would love to start something like that with my kids. It's a GREAT way to keep the family close and have fun together at the same time.

My Mom let me borrow her Toy Story 3 and we were eager to see it and I knew Jill would enjoy it so we sat down last night for our first family movie night! We got all cuddled in our jammies and pulled out our massive bowl of Halloween candy and just sat back and enjoyed the show! Jilly paid attention for quite a while and we even let her stay up a little past her bedtime (hehehe) but soon she was sleepy so I rocked her to sleep while we finished the movie. It was a great night and Jessica was even there to enjoy it with us (thanks Jess!). I can't wait to have more family movie nights in the future!

First Family Movie Night!

So enthralled in the movie

Lazy!

Jess & Jill

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet, Gimme Something Good to Eat...

2010-10-31T22:59:00.000-07:00

...if you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear!! I can't wait to teach Jilly this stupid, silly rhyme that I ALWAYS would repeat over and over and over on Halloween night. haha Tonight was Jilly's first Halloween! I know she's only 8 months old but I was determined to take her Trick or Treating even if I would get odd stares from old ladies answering the door to a baby! She's a kid too and deserves to trick or treat!! We got a good size group together (Grace, Haley, Eddie, Jilly, Me, Jake, Shannon, Jason, Jaxson, Amy, Grama Debi, Grandma Suzy, Malli, Laura and Jamie!!) and took to the streets of Anaheim! We were out for a good two, almost 3, hours and Jilly made out like a bandit again! I'm going to have Halloween candy coming out of my ears for a LONG while! It made it so much fun to have bigger kids with us (Grace and Malli) to run up to the doors and ring the doorbell while I held onto Jilly so it didn't seem THAT bad that I was trick or treating with an infant. hehe Can't wait for next year when Jilly will be dragging Jake and I up to the doors to ring the doorbell herself!

Ding Dong!

Such a cute Minnie!!!

Sisters and babies!

My Mom always so festive for the holidays! <3

Best Friends w/ their girls!

J.C.H

Jax was a trooper the whole time. Such hard work being carried around all night!

Cheeseball!

Little Orphan Annie & Minnie Mouse

Auntie Nanana & Uncle Jay

Jack-O-Lantern

2010-10-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

Last night Jilly carved her first pumpkin! Or at least we opened it up and let her play with the guts... same thing right? She wasn't a big fan of this AT ALL. She was being Miss Priss all night so after trying to force her to have fun we just let her do her things and carved the pumpkins ourselves!! This year pumpkin carving seemed to take FOREVER. We just weren't in the mood to do it and with Jilly being a Cranky Crankerson we decided to just gut them out and carve the faces the next day. Oh well. Things can't always go as planned!!!

Princess Girl

Auntie Mimi

Mom & Leonard carving out there pumpkins!

Yum!

What's This?

Stop it Mama!!

I can do it myself!

What are you doing?

This is gross!!

Take me out of here!!

Whatca looking at?

Pumpkin Carving King

Our finished product a couple nights later!

Trick or Treating with Mickey Mouse!!

2010-10-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

I'm not a HUGE fan of Disneyland like some of my friends but since I AM a huge fan of Halloween I quickly jumped on the oppurtunity to go Trick or Treating at Mickey's House aka Disneyland! Haley, Amanda, Grace, Jilly and I were supposed to go last week but with all the rain we've been having we decided to push back our trip a week and I'm SO glad we did. It POURED last Tuesday and that would have just been miserable to try and trick or treat with tiny kids in the rain.

So after I got off work yesterday I headed over to my Moms to get Jilly since she was spending the day there and she got all dressed up in her flower costume and we headed to Disneyland! The crowds weren't as bad as I expected them to be but by night fall there were definitely some areas of the park our strollers just couldn't manuver through, it was insane! But all in all I had a blast (and Jilly did too!) and I'm glad I can say that I HAVE been trick or treating in the park! We ended up going home with two huge buckets of candy that I knew would take us a year to get through!

Flower & Minnie Mouse

Two fairies!!

Gracie & Mommy

Mommy & Mommy Sam

My Rag-A-Muffin Kid

Flower Child!

Jack!

Sally!!!

Nom Nom Nom

Night Night!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday so I've been looking forward to Halloween festivities all year long. I knew this year was going to be especially great since it was Jilly's 1st Halloween and I got to start new holiday traditions with her.

We got up bright and early this morning and headed on over to the Irvine Park Railroad to visit the pumpkin patch! Jolene, Haley, Grace, Eddie and Jessica came along too! I did some research online to find a cool place to take the kids because I wanted somewhere that had a couple different activities to make the experience even more special then just searching around for a pumpkin. This place had a hay maze, a haunted house, a hay ride, haystack ponies, John Deere tractor cars for kids... the list goes on and on. Jill couldn't do all the cool things this year but I have high hopes for next year!!

Jake and Eddie took Jill and Grace in the haunted house. It's funny that Halloween is my favorite holiday because seriously I'm such a chicken when it comes to stuff like that. I was too nervous that something was going to jump out and scare me!! Yet I allowed Jake to take our 8 month old in there. LOL After they got out of the maze Grace was laughing so I thought "hey I can do this" so I grabbed Jill (because who would scare a women with a baby in her arms?!) and Haley grabbed Grace and we headed inside. Well it was dark. And it was scary. And it had strobe lights!!! I clutched Jake's arms and made him walk faster. Nothing jumped out at me but the scary scenery was enough to make me uncomfortable. I even made Jilly cry because I was squeezing her too hard. Poor little girl!

All in all we had a great time and it's so awesome to me to be sharing all these holidays with my little girl. She's making me look at holidays in a new light now and it makes me appreciate them all the more.

Welcome to Irvine Park Railroad!

I'm this tall!

The Girls!

Headlee's

Mommy & Daughter Pony Ride

Joee', Jake, Jill & Me!

Mommy squeezed me too hard Daddy!

Jackson's

Jake taking the girls through the hay maze

Come on guys!

Jilly's typical -_- face

Stylin'

2010-10-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

I've gotten a LOT of crap for Jilly's hair over the last couple of months and I finally buckled and decided it was time for her first official hair cut! Jilly was born with a very full head of dark brown hair and after her first bath the nurse styled it in a fo-hawk and it stayed that way for a couple months. Then slowly her hair has changed to a lighter brown and instead of growing nice and even like every Mom wishes, it grew long in some areas and just fell out in others. LOL So she sort of had a nice mullet going on there for a while. So this morning while I was putting her hair up in pig tails I decided it was time. She DID look a little silly with the mullet hanging down her neck but I never really realized it until I cut it all off! What a difference a hair cut can make. She looks so much more grown-up to me, hence the reason I didn't want to cut it! Oh well, she's even more beautiful now then before!

Long Shaggy Sideburns

Mullet!

After!!

After she got all dolled up we headed on over to Auntie Mimi's for a visit with our cousin! Jilly really loves Jaxson, it's SO cute. She brightens up just watching him. And of course she loves to steal his binky. hehehe

Jilly looks so huge next to him!

Ummm I think that's mine...

...so give it to me!

Finger Foods

2010-10-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

Jilly has always been so interested in the foods we eat that introducing new things to her has been a cinch! Since just recently two teeth popped through those poor swollen gums we thought it was a good time to start giving her some finger foods to try out so she can learn to feed herself. It was a complete success! In no time at all I know she'll be strictly on "human food" instead of all those pureed veggies/fruits. My big girl!

Ooooo broccoli!!

Hmmm lemme check this out first

Please Mom, Can I have some more??

Such a happy girl with a full tummy

Big Baby Blues

Happy Anniversary my love

2010-10-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Jake and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary today. We really wanted to make a weekend trip up to Big Bear like we did last year but that just wasn't in the cards for us this year. Instead we spent a family day at home just enjoying eachother's company and the company of our little Jilly which was just perfect in my opinion! It always amazes me how fast time flies but this year I think I'm even more amazed. In 2008 we were a happy newlywed couple without a care in the world, in 2009 we were 5 months pregnant with our 1st bundle of joy, and now in 2010 we're parents to the most gorgeous little girl in the world! I'm the luckiest Wife/Mama/Women in the world! I love you babers, thank you for all that you do and all that you are.

Forever & Ever, Amen

I now pronounce you Man & Wife...

2010-10-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Jessica got married!!! My best friend of over 25 years is no longer Jessica Burgener. She's now the proud owner of the name Mrs. Rick Lee!! Jessica's wedding day was gorgeous. It was my idea of a PERFECT weather day. Storm clouds in the sky, thunder and lightening sporadically throughout the day, ::raindrops keep falling on my head::!! Alright so it's not EVERYONE'S dream weather conditions for a wedding day but if anyone could handle it I knew it was Jess.

The morning started off bright and early at 7am. The clouds lingered in the sky but didn't shower down on us quite yet. But by 10am though the thunder and lightening were in full effect and the rain was coming down in buckets. Jessica wanted to panic but I kept reminding her that she had 7 hours until the wedding, let the storm come now and it'll pass before she walks down the aisle! No worries! I guess now would be a good time to let you know that this was a strictly outdoors wedding. Ceremony/reception, the whole sha-bang.

By 11am the lights were flickering in our hotel room (Presidential Suite!!) and we periodically lost power for the next 3 hours. Curling iron's got cold, steamers weren't steaming, but the Bride was still glowing. She really wasn't going to let anything ruin her day. She was about to marry the man of her dreams and that's all that mattered to her.

We got to the Munkenthaler Mansion in Fullerton around 1:45pm and on the way there the sky's were gorgeous! The storm had passed and left us with rain kissed streets and trees and a beautiful bright blue sky backdrop. One.Slight.Problem. The Mansion had lost it's power during the storm and it still hadn't been turned back on. The Bridal Suite at the mansion no longer had A/C and the flowers for our bouquets and centerpieces were starting to look a little "parched". I guess I forgot to mention that it was in the low 80's... not the kind of weather you want to be sitting in a 20 pound wedding dress! Still, Jess just smiled and insisted we proceed with things as normal!

So we take our pictures right up until the very last second before the boys arrived, then it was there turn for pictures while we waited. And waited. And waited. 4pm rolled around and we still did not have power. The wedding was supposed to start at 4pm. The Mansion had ordered back up generators but they'd yet to arrive so we were left to wait. At 4:45 Jessica decided she was done waiting, she just wanted to get married. Music or no music! So the ceremony was performed with no electricity. It was still broad daylight outside so at least we had that as a plus! But we were out music and microphones. Walking down the aisle in silence was a little awkward but everyone quickly dismissed that the second Jessica came down the aisle. Jessica barely took one step down the aisle when a few of the guys in the bridal party started humming the Bridal March. It quickly caught on and by the time Jess got to the front the ENTIRE wedding was humming to Jess. It brings tears to my eyes and still gives me chills. It really was such a magical moment and I love that those guys started that for her.

Having a front row seat myself, I was able to listen to the whole ceremony. Listening to Rick speak his vows was so touching. He said everything straight from his heart and made us all cry. During the cocktail hour the generator arrived and the DJ quickly hooked up his system and got some music playing. The generator was only enough to power up the DJ booth though, so the wedding reception was going to have to be lit by candlelight only. The sun didn't set until about 7 and by then everyone was drinking, dancing and singing the night away on the dance floor so candlelight was just perfect!! Around 9:45pm (15 minutes before the end of the wedding) the power came back on! Go figure, huh?? So we spent the last 15 minutes dancing away and admiring the twinkly lights that were originally supposed to light up her reception! haha

Overall this was the best wedding I'd ever been to, including mine! It was just so gorgeous. I would definitely get married at the Munkenthaler if we renew our vows in 10, 20, 30 years!

Congratulations Jessica and Rick! I know you two will spend a lifetime full of happiness together!

Best Friends on her wedding day!!

Jen & Sheila making mimosa's in the bridal suite!

Soon to be... Mrs. Lee!

Pics stolen off the Zach Hodges Photography website. Check him out, he's great!

Welcome to the world Jaxson Wade Buster!!

2010-09-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, September 25th @ 4:12pm I witnessed my sister, Amy, give birth to my gorgeous nephew, Jax! I was honored that my sister asked me to be in the room with her for the whole thing. And I'm thankful that I gave birth first because if I had witnessed that BEFORE I had kids I just don't know if I could go through with it! haha I'm even proud to report that I'm the one who held my sisters foot while she was pushing. Yes, me, the one who has a foot phobia. I pretty much begged her to put on socks but she wouldn't. Damn, overheated pregnant women!

No words can explain how proud I am of my sister. She had a long (over 17 hours) and hard labor and she was so strong! She only freaked out maybe one or two times! hehe I'll never, ever forget this day. It definitely ranks up there with the birth of Jilly.

Auntie & Nephew!

Grama Debi and her favorite Grandson!

Jilly meeting her cousin for the first time

Sisters and cousins

He's here guys!!!!

Grace turns 2!

2010-09-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

Gracie Nichole Jackson turned TWO WHOLE years old today! OMG. I know every single year I'm gonna be absolutely amazed about how fast it went by so needless to say this year just ZOOMED past. I can't believe she's 2. I swear Haley was in labor just yesterday!

Grace is such a high energy, rambunctious, squeezable, chaseable, fiery little girl. I love her more and more with every minute I spend with her. I'm so lucky to live so close and to be best friends with Haley that I get the opportunity to watch this little girl grow right before my eyes. Everytime I go to Haley's house Grace has a new "trick" she can do and she just amazes me. Just recently she had me smiling from ear to ear when she learned to fake sneeze after you tell her "Bless You". LOL Watching her grow up makes me more and more excited for Jill to grow up so I can watch them both play together.

Since Grace's birthday landed on a weekend Haley was able to throw her a party on her special day. We woke up early and headed over to Nonnie's Clubhouse to set up. Haley had chosen an "Under the Sea" theme for her party and had a bunch of ideas on how she wanted it all set up. I think it turned out great and everyone was super impressed on all the effort that was put into it!

Happy Birthday Gracie Girl. Sam loves you SOOOOO much!!

Official Party Planner!

Decorations!

Gracie enjoying her present from her Godparents

Uncle Jason (yes he's HOLDING her!) & Auntie Nanana

Us!

So embarrassed when everyone sang to her!

Jilly scoring a ride from Grace's new present

Opening presents!

Grace Nichole

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

Lollipop, Lollipop, Oh Lolli, Lolli...

2010-09-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

I swear since the day Jilly was born her Uncle Lenny has tried giving this little a girl a lollipop. It's the funniest thing ever. Seriously whenever he's around he always magically had a tiny lollipop in his pocket ready to give her with Moms ok. Well today was finally the day! Since Jill's on all jar foods and has tried many, many different table foods I knew she'd be ok with a little sugar rush that said lollipop was sure to give! Man oh man she was in love. She was confused at first but quickly realized how yummy lollipops are! I'm pretty sure Uncle Lenny is currently her favorite person of all time. haha!

What the heck is this?

Hmmmm...

Alright I think I like this!

Yum!

Give me that, I can handle it myself!

Giggle Monster

2010-09-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

We've recently discovered just how ticklish Jillian is. I absolutely LOVE it because I love her huge belly laugh. It warms my heart. Jake's been so good on getting little video's of her and posting them on You Tube. So here's another one for ya. Enjoy!

Tickle Monster vs. Giggle Monster

***************************

Happy Birthday Honey Bunny!

2010-09-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

This past looooong labor day weekend we celebrated Jake's 28th birthday Phineas & Ferb style! Saturday night I threw him a party featuring his current favorite cartoon character which he absolutely loved. We had the normal gang over again this year and just had a kick back. It's so nice to have our whole group together these days since we're all so busy it's been really hard to see everyone.

Official Ding Dong Holder!!! haha

Happy Birthday Cupcake!

The Gang

Boys will be boys

On Sunday we headed over to Adam & Erin's house with the Jackson's and spent the afternoon poolside. I can't believe we didn't spend our whole summer at the pool this year! Especially with Jilly being such a water bug. But as usual we were busy and haven't had much time to sit and relax! Erin made a scrumptious lasagna and garlic bread made with fresh roasted garlic. OMG it was SO good. I was so excited to learn a cool way to roast garlic for our future Italian dinners! We spent hours around the dinner table, finishing 5 bottles of wine, while Jilly & Grace played/slept/watched Disney movies. The evening ended with the whole group of us laying about the living room watching Beauty & the Beast. Ahhh the life of parents.

I love my family

The hosts!

Jackson's

Then on Monday, Jake's actual birthday, we went over to Jake's Aunt Lisa's for a little family BBQ. We just sat around, chatted and ate some yummy food. All in all it was great weekend full of family/friends and relaxing days. Just what the doctor ordered!!

Happy Birthday Baby Love!!! I hope you enjoyed your weekend!

"Soooo Big!"

2010-09-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the proudest Mommy moment so far! My big girl is learning things so fast it's amazing. Since the day she was born Grama Debi always has told Jilly "sooo big" and held her tiny arms up in the air. She's been working so hard on teaching Jilly this concept and last night she finally got it!

Jilly is "SOOO big!"

Jilly kept doing it over and over again but I was nervous to get the video camera out because my child does NOT perform for cameras. So Jake handed me his iPhone and I hid it as much as I could while getting video of her. It was priceless! I'm so very proud of her it's ridiculous! Well now that we have it on video she kinda refuses to do it again but HEY I have proof that it can be done! haha

Headlee Family Pictures

2010-09-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

As most of you may know, Shannon, my sister, is Jilly's personal photographer. Even before Jilly arrived Shannon has always taken my all time favorite pictures of Jake and I so naturally when we were ready and eager for a family photo shoot Shannon was the first person I asked to do it and of course she graciously accepted! About two weeks ago we went down to the Huntington Beach Library for its beautiful nature filled backdrop which has become a trademark in ALL my pictures, what can I say I love nature! Jilly was a little groggy today it seemed so we couldn't get many shots of her actually smiling which I was disappointed about but it didn't matter because the pictures turned out awesome! I love them! I love my family! Thank you sister for taking our first family pictures!

Jessica's Bachelorette Party!!

2010-08-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

Jessica's bachelorette weekend in Vegas was well ... ummm fun and interesting. It's definitely a different Vegas experience then I've ever had! A handful of the girls took Jess up early on Friday to start the partying and us married/engaged folk (me, Haley, Megan and Shannon) left bright and early Saturday morning to meet them out there. Traffic out there wasn't too bad and the tunes (Nigga Bop Fo!) was awesome too. We arrived around 12:30 but checking into the Flamingo was another story. It took us about an hour just to get through the line!! Ugh. Not a way I wanted to start my vacation weekend. Finally around 2pm we joined the rest of the party down at the pool for some great music and awesome cocktails! Little ol' Sarah didn't realize just how crazy the pools in Vegas can get. I had totally come ALL equipment with my People and Cosmo magazines and tanning oil expecting to be able to sit back, relax, catch some rays and get drunk. Nope! The pool was CROWDED and it look like something out of MTV's Spring Break. So I grabbed myself a bucket of Coronas and just jumped right in. We headed back up to the room around 5:30ish to get ready for that night's festivities.

Flamingo Pool!

Shannon's still standing!! ...

Megan & Shannon

Vickie & Cheese

We had booked tickets for Thunder From Down Under and I was SO nervous to go cuz I've never been to show like that before! Before heading over to the Excalibur for the show we decided to have dinner at Toby Keith's Bar & Grill. The food was great but our party group was falling flat. Sitting out in the sun all day by the pool (and partying the night before) had taken the energy out of all the lovely ladies. We even ran in to Jake's Aunt Lisa there (she was also on vacation) and she even noticed how quiet the table was. After dinner we were all pumped to go to the show so half the group taxi'd it over there and the other half decided to walk. Haley and I are walkers. I refuse to pay for taxi's in Vegas when I have two perfectly good feet AND a $15-$20 taxi ride means less alcohol for me!! So I opted to walk this time but that proved to be the BIGGEST MISTAKE ever. Not only did we end up with blisters (or bloody feet) but it turns out we ended up being 30 minutes late to the show!!!!! Are you kidding me??? I told everyone the show started at 11. I KNEW it started at 11. I would have bet my life savings that it started at 11. Nope. I was wrong. Jessica and a bunch of gals commented on how short the show was but I didn't notice anything since I'd never been before. Well no one thought anything of it until Jess checked their website on Sunday on the way home and she found out online that it started at 10:30!!!! I'm so embarrassed. Not only did I want to walk, but I made everyone 30 minutes late??? Epic Fail!!! (I'm SOOOOOO sorry still Jess!!!)

Bride & Maid of Honor

Me and Ness

Me and Jen

Jessica & Toby

Everyone in our room was tired after the show so we just ended up walking around the Flamingo, losing $10 in a slot machine and then calling it a night. I was so bummed. I had thought Vegas would turn out SO much more different and it just didn't reach my expectations. So Jess, I WILL take you out soon and you WILL NOT refuse alcohol and I WILL make you puke like you did to me at my bachelorette party. Just be prepared!!!

Gracie & Jilly Time

2010-08-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

While Haley and Eddie were on vacation to Hawaii, Grace came to spend the weekend at our house so that her Auntie could get a little break and I could get in some much needed Gracie time! Despite the fact that Grace is my Goddaughter I actually don't get the oppurtunity to babysit her because #1 when Haley's doing something fun without her it's usually with me and #2 she has two Grandma's that are always anxious to get their hands on her! haha So when Haley booked her trip I demanded that I get her for a few days!

I know how much energy that little ball of blonde curls can be so I made sure to keep us busy all weekend long. On Saturday I set up Jilly's kiddie pool in the back yard and let Grace run wild in that for a couple hours. That kid sure does love the water! We BBQ'd that evening with Shannon and Jason and Grace just hung out with us in the backyard and took in her new surroundings.

Jill & Grace

Bath Time Fun!

Sunday morning we got up, got fed and headed down to Mother's Beach. My Mom ALWAYS took us down there when we were little and I hadn't been in at least 12 years so I wanted to try it out again! It was a lot smaller then I remember it being but what kid place isn't right? The water was perfect for Grace. She could go out and run in it and it never went much deeper then her armpits. Mother's Beach is set up in a little harbor away from all the big waves so it's perfect for kids.

Playing with her bucket

Testing out the water

Grace spent the night again Sunday night and I took her back to Auntie's house Monday morning before I went in to work. With Jilly being only 6 months old and NOT mobile I'm pretty darn spoiled right now. Grace sure gave me a run for my money all weekend long and by Monday I was actually ready to go into work just so I could get a break!! haha Haley, I don't know how you do it all day, every day but I applaude you! Another thing I learned is, my house is NOT baby proof yet. Grace never got into anything that could hurt her or be broken but she sure did love pulling DVDs off the shelves and picture frames off of low places. Hmmm guess I still have a lot of work to do!

6 month stats

2010-08-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

Jilly had her 6 month check-up/shots appointment on Friday and unfortunately for me, Jake wasn't able to come to this appointment so I was in charge of holding Jilly for her shots. Talk about heart-breaking. I just felt like the world's worst Mother with Jilly's tear filled eyes staring up at me like "Mom what the heck's going on?!". Ugh it was awful. But she (and I) recovered quickly and there were smiles all around.

Jilly's weight gain has slowed down some this time around. She only weighed in at 14lbs 13oz and 25" (only 1/2" growth since 4 months!). According to the charts I go by online she's only in the 10th-15th percentile for growth right now. Well I guess I DID ask for her to stay small just a little bit longer huh??? Even with her small stature the doctor said she's growing just fine - I mean look at how short I am? During this appointment I voiced my concerns that Jilly's legs still seem to have circulation problems. They will randomly turn a light purple with bright pink spots but then quickly go away. She's had this since she was born and although it IS getting better it's still not gone completely. A new symptom also popped up, sweaty palms and feet. So Jilly's doctor is referring her to a cardiologist just for an evaluation to make sure her heart's doing all that it should. It's a little scary to think of taking my teeny tiny 6 month old to a heart doctor but it's also comforting to know that her doctor just wants to cover all the bases to make sure Jill stays 100% healthy. We should be going within the next month once I get the referral paperwork and I'll keep everyone up to date on what's going on.

Jilly @ 1/2 a year old:

Sits up on her own
Loves to talk/squeal
Mocks Mommy & Daddy when they playfully scream at her
Eating stage 2 foods like a champ
Still a breastfed baby!
Starting to learn the concept of "SO big!"
Loves it when Mommy sings "Wheels on the Bus" to her
Is starting to throw tantrums (oh how exciting)
Learning how to use a sippy cup
Loves to swing with Mommy in the hammock
No longer sleeps through the night (oh how I miss that)
Blows raspberries and is learning to click her tongue
Laughs all the time
Her favorite food is Garden Veggies (peas, carrots, spinach mixed)
Not a huge fan of fruit
Still not interested in rolling over at all - we think she's going to skip this milestone
No sign of teeth
Love to jump in her jumper
Absolutely LOVES bathtime

February 7th, 2010 (1 day old)

August 15th, 2010 (6 months)

One Month Behind??

2010-08-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

How do I get so far behind on my blog writing? I enjoy writing, I love coming back and reading through the many events in my life, but seriously I'm so sick of being so far behind! July was by far the busiest month this year. We were NON-STOP and still are. August is already full of events and before we know it it'll be September already! Yikes. Slow down time, k? I need a break! So until I get all my chickens in order here's a cute picture to stare at.

*****EDITED***** Alright so I'm not behind anymore. Thank Goodness!! But I couldn't delete the post with this cute little picture of Jilly!! hehehe

3rd Annual Float Trip!

2010-08-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend Jake and I went on our annual float trip. Every year we've gone with Shannon and Jason and this year Rox (along with Danny) and Alex (along with Sean) joined us too! I debated back and forth for weeks trying to decide whether or not I was going. I've never left Jilly overnight before, she's not even 6 months old, and I was having a really tough time with the decision. Jake and I ultimately decided that we needed the vacation so we booked the trip. Well Thursday night before we left Jilly spiked a very small fever. Damn it! She's never had a fever before and 12 hours before I'm supposed to leave her she does! I knew she wasn't sick and that she was only teething but it still broke my heart. I told myself to just sleep on it and if she feels better Friday morning then everything will be ok! So Friday morning we woke up and Jilly was her happy, normal self with no fever. So we dropped her off at my Moms and got on the road!

We hit some major traffic on the way there and it ended up taking us just over 5 hours to get there instead of 3 1/2 but we didn't let that ruin our good moods! We got there and immediately cracked open some beers and started to set up camp. Jilly was staying with Amy for the two nights we were gone so I called her around 5-ish to check on Jilly. Well Jilly once again started getting a small fever and was cranky. I felt so horrible because I was having a really good time while my girl was at home feel cranky and sick. But she was with her Auntie Mimi and I knew she'd be just fine.

We woke up early (stupid sun) and got ready to head out on to the river. Last year ( Float #2 ) the bus ride was pretty uneventful and there were signs up that said "No Water Fights". Well this year was a complete 180! We hopped on the bus and the aisle ways were soaked and there were buckets of water along the sides too. The whole bus ride up the river was one big water fight, it was a blast! We were also celebrating Shannon's 23rd birthday as it landed on a Saturday this year! Stupid me I was so excited for the float that I didn't tell my sister Happy Birthday until 10 o'clock that morning. Oops!!!!

Wet Bus Ride!

When we got off the bus we were all drenched and ready to jump in our rafts and start our day! The river water was freezing. I always describe it was "ice chest water" and anyone who's ever gone with me has always agreed to that. It's FREEZING! We waddled in anyways and jumped in our rafts and were on our way! The river wasn't as fast as last year, thank goodness, so we weren't struggling to keep up with everyone. We tied ourselves together and just lounged for the next 3-4 hours, drinking beers, singing songs, telling jokes, playing Picnic (phenomenal penguin people!!). The day was AWESOME. It was so relaxing to sit there with good company and just be at peace.

Jake & I

Shannon & Jason

We got back to camp and everyone was ready for a nap but I of course needed to call my sister again. By this time it's around 2:30pm and Amy said that Jilly's starting to become a little Gremlin. She was feeling a little warm still and just flat out cranky. That was it, I needed to come home. For myself more then for Jilly. She wasn't feeling well and I just needed to be there for her. It also didn't help at all that I'm still a breastfeeding Mom and I'd already been away from Jill for a day and a half and I was sore. Let's just say that pumps aren't always the greatest at doing the job right! We stayed a few more hours to rest but ultimately we packed our things up and got back on the road.

We got to Amy's around 9 that night and I woke poor Jilly up just so I could squeeze her. The float this year was awesome and I can't wait to go next year!

The Girls! (Alex, me, Shannon & Rox)

Jake & I

Again...

Jello Shots for her birthday!!

A little one on one w/Jilly

2010-08-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

During the 5 weeks of July Jillian's daycare is closed. A little crazy huh? But everyone needs a vacation I guess! We knew this from the day Jilly was born so we were already prepared for who would watch Jilly while they were closed.

The first week was Haley and Grace week see here! Haley had been looking forward to spending quality time with Jilly ever since she made her appearance in February! I'm SO grateful that I have a best friend nearby who's also a stay at home Mom! It was nice dropping off Jilly every morning at Haley's so we could chat and catch up but it made me miss working with her all the more!

Jilly's second week was spent with Grama Debi's! My Mom is also at home right now so it worked perfectly for us! Jillian really enjoyed her time with her Grama and it was comforting to me that even though I had to work, my Mom was taking care of my little girl. I'm sure my Mom was even more thrilled to get some extra practice in since she'll be watching Jax in the New Year once Amy goes back to work!

The third week Jake took off of work to get some very special Father/Daughter bonding time in. It meant a lot to me (and I'm sure Jilly!) that he took this week off to spend with her. Jake was only able to take a week off of work when Jilly was first born where as I took off 3 months! So I wanted him to sit at home with her and enjoy her as much as I have when I was home.

And finally the last two weeks of July I took off. Yup, I still had bunches of vacation time saved up specifically for this! I had been looking forward to this two week vacation since the day I went back to work in May. Having this vacation to look forward was something I really needed to hold on to when I had to leave Jilly every morning to go to work. Leaving for work every morning is still hard. I'm still always late. It still breaks my heart to walk into my cubicle every morning and think of her sitting at daycare without me. I hate it. It's especially hard when it's extremely slow at work and I'm bored out of my mind! This happens more then not unfortunately but deep down inside I know this is what I have to do for our family right now. On a happier note I really tried to make the best out of my two whole weeks off with Jilly! Most morning's I would bring her back to bed with me and she would sleep an extra couple of hours so we both got some extra sleep. We would watch Playhouse Disney every morning and check on our garden vegetables every afternoon! The two weeks went by WAY too fast. Especially with all the things we've had going on in July (and into August), we had a lot of planning and prepping going on during my time off so it flew by. Hopefully things will slow down soon so we can enjoy our time a little bit longer.

Thank you to Haley and my Mom for watching Jilly for those 2 weeks. It means a lot that we have all the help and support we could ever need!

Another side of green beans please!!

2010-07-26T22:55:00.000-07:00

We've recently started Jilly on fruits and vegetables and boy oh boy does she just love it all! She was 100% ready for food. She was strictly breastfeed until she was 4 months, then we introduced rice cereal into her diet for breakfast and dinner and then right after 5 months she was showing signs of being ready for something a little bit more so we decided to go ahead and dive on in! Jilly pretty lunch loves everything! Especially her green beans and peas! Although we have learned a few things: Squash gives her an upset tummy, peaches aren't her favorite but she'll eat them anyway and bananas and apples stop her up. haha In case you were wondering.

I'm absolutely loving this new stage she's in. I love feeding her dinner every night! It's just another way to interact with her and teach her new things and it's so amazing. There's not a day that goes by that she doesn't do something cute and exciting to just make me beam with pride. I'm so in love with this little girl!

Not so sure of green beans at first...

...but they quickly became her favorite!

Happy Birthday Matty!!!

2010-07-25T22:45:00.000-07:00

Whitney's little boy, Matthew, turned one yesterday!! She threw him his first birthday party this afternoon at Huntington Beach park and it turned out so great! Jillian and I went early to help them set up and boy was that a challenge. I volunteered for the easy task of blowing up all the balloons while everyone else had the harder task of setting up tables and awnings, tying balloons and streamers up, and setting out plates and napkins. It was pretty windy in the morning so all these tasks proved to be quite a challenge but it all came together quite nicely right before party time!

I'm such a bad picture taker sometimes, I didn't even get ONE SINGLE PICTURE of the birthday boy today!! I blame it on the fact that I was mostly in charge of Haley's camera so I wasn't focused on mine. But I DID at least capture a few cute shots of Jilly of course!

Love Bug

Family

Just too frickin' cute!!

A Shower for Amy & Jax!

2010-07-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Shannon and I threw Amy a baby shower to help her and Leonard get ready for their little boy coming in September (or October I guess if he's really stubborn!). I love baby showers! I could watch a new Mom open presents for days and days and days because anything baby is just too darn cute. As noted in my previous post, I had a little too much fun the night before Amy's shower so I left my bells and whistles at home and got to Shannon's house over an hour late with big black sunglasses on and a personal driver (thank you Jake!). Needless to say I was pretty useless in the hours before the shower but with the help of happy volunteers we got the shower all set up and ready for when Amy arrived!!

Jilly, Auntie Mimi & baby bump Jax

Amy was so appreciative of everything which made Shannon and I beam because we had definitely put in a lot of hard work to making sure this day was extra special for her! Shannon even made Amy a soundtrack for the day which started the water works on the hormonal preggo Mommy. Did you know Phineas and Ferb could make a pregnant lady cry? Well you know now!

We played a couple games but by far the favorite of the day was the "birth your baby" game. We froze little plastic babies into ice cubes and had everyone go out into the backyard (into the 90+ degree heat) and using only their hands they had to melt the ice until the baby was born!! It was so much fun and SO hilarious to watch everyone try and get these babies out.

Jilly found the babies quite refreshing!

Jax scored big time at the shower and now I can't wait to see his nursery filled with all his goodies! Now the only thing to look forward to from her is to meet the little guy! Come on Jax, Auntie Sarah wants to squeeze you!

Sisters (finally adding a boy into the mix!!)

Lindsay & Jilly

Jilly with her Great Aunt Colleen

All aboard!!!

2010-07-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Friday night I was invited to Shannon's 30th birthday party aboard a fancy, smancy yacht in Newport Beach. I was SO excited to attend! I've never been on a yacht before and I was really looking forward to getting all dolled up!! The party was on a Friday night and since Jake works all the way out in Corona he wasn't going to have time to come home, shower, get ready and get down to Newport Beach before we departed so he had to miss the party and I was super bummed to not have a date for the night. But Eddie picked up the slack, let me tell ya! He had four dates that night; Haley, Amanda, Whitney and me!

Eddie w/ date #1 and #2

Date #3

Date #4

I was really nervous when the yacht departed from the harbor because I get car sick, air sick, sea sick, yup just about everything so I was hoping the waters weren't choppy that night! I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't even notice that we were on a moving boat! Thank goodness because I was not looking forward to hanging myself off the side of a boat all night long!

Shannon splurged on her party and provided us with an open bar all night long - curse you Shannon but thank you all in the same sentence! The party was a blast and I was sad (but very, very drunk) when it ended. July has definitely been a party month for me. So many events, birthdays, celebrations going on! I had a little too much fun Friday night and I definitely paid the price that night (and into the next day too!). A very special thank you to Eric for driving and a very, very special thank you to Eddie - no need to hand out details. They never need to be relived again!!

Doesn't Amanda look like a Charlie's Angel with her hair all flowy?

How sweet it is to be loved by you!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

Color Me...All Over The Place!!

July Photo Dump!

Jillian gets her wings!

Hop, Skip and a Jump!!

Choo Choo!!!!

Ice-Cream, Ice-Cream - Get your Ice-Cream here!!

Welcome to the world little man!!

June Calm

27, 27, 27, 27

**Welcome Little Prince**

Mother's Day Surprise!

Palm Springs Vaca - Year 3!

Now Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Jason Smith!!

Easter Weekend 2011

BFFs

Weekend Sun

Shannon's Last Fling Before The Ring!

Sister's Bridal Shower

First Camping Trip/ER Visit

1 year stats

Family Photo Shoot #2

Happy 1st Birthday Jillybean!!!!

Zoo Day

Weeeeee!!!

Annual Big Bear Adventures!

Happy New Year 2011!!!

JillyBean!

Jillian's First Christmas

Holiday Traditions Commence!

3rd Annual Gingerbread Party/Moustache Themed!!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!!

First Road Trip/Nesper Wedding!

Jax & Jill Christmas Photos

Gobble, Gobble

9 Month Stats

Family Movie Night

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet, Gimme Something Good to Eat...

Jack-O-Lantern

Trick or Treating with Mickey Mouse!!

Pumpkin Patch

Stylin'

Finger Foods

Happy Anniversary my love

I now pronounce you Man & Wife...

Welcome to the world Jaxson Wade Buster!!

Grace turns 2!

Lollipop, Lollipop, Oh Lolli, Lolli...

Giggle Monster

Happy Birthday Honey Bunny!

"Soooo Big!"

Headlee Family Pictures

Jessica's Bachelorette Party!!

Gracie & Jilly Time

6 month stats

One Month Behind??

3rd Annual Float Trip!

A little one on one w/Jilly

Another side of green beans please!!

Happy Birthday Matty!!!

A Shower for Amy & Jax!

All aboard!!!

Welcome Little Prince