Daddy and me

Daddy takes real good care of me while Mommy is at work (as well as the Grandmas of course!). I have to say, my Daddy has to be one of the coolest guys I've known in my short life. Here is a little video Daddy took of us hanging out one day! Enjoy! ~Jillian Grace~

New house, first plane ride, rolling over, weddings, birthdays, and rice cereal

By the sounds of the title of this blog, you probably have guessed we have been quite busy in the last month. We moved into our house in Bettendorf over Father's Day weekend and have enjoyed having shorter commutes and a place to call our own. We are still working on unpacking those final boxes but it is slowly becoming home to us.

At the end of June, Jillian went on her first plane ride. We headed to Colorado for a long weekend to attend a wedding of some dear friends of ours. Jillian did great on the plane and had fun visiting her birth place again! :) We were able so see several of our friends from church, seminary, and our work places while we were back. We even took a day trip up into the mountains.

Jillian's first plane ride!

Strolling around with Mommy on a trail up in the mountains.
"Why did my parents leave this great state? It's beautiful here! I guess Grandma and Grandpa tell me Iowa needs me!" :) ~Jillian

Paul and I both celebrate our birthdays in July. For my birthday, we were in Iowa City for a wedding and then met up with my brother and his family for supper. It's so fun to be closer to family to be able to do this kind of stuff again! I surprised Paul for his birthday this year as it is his 30th and invited his parents and grandparents down for supper and dessert.


Jillian continues to grow and is a little over 5 months now. She rolled over a couple times for us at the beginning of July but unfortunately hasn't repeated it since. She seems to enjoy tummy time much more but doesn't have a real interest in flipping onto her back. I'm sure it will come in good time and we have been told by many parents to enjoy this time when she is pretty stationary! She recently started trying some rice cereal which has been a fun adventure too! She is a very smiley baby and continues to bring us so much joy every day!

Teeth, Rolling Over, and Losing Hair

Wow, I can't believe it's already been a month since we last blogged! There has certainly been a lot that has happened. Jillian is growing like crazy and has managed to already start teething, rolling over (one time...and only witnessed by Mom), and losing her hair like crazy. We might still have a bald baby after all! Jillian has been a very good baby, giving us lots of smiles and sleeping 9-10 hours at night. We are very grateful and consider it pure joy to be her parents! Abby is back to work full time and Paul continues to work at Lowe's part time (mostly weekends) and watching Jillian during the week. We have enjoyed many wonderful times with family since we've been back to Iowa. We will be officially closing on our new house June 17th in Bettendorf so we are anxious to get rid of our 45 minute commute to work and scale it back to 5 minutes! It has been quite the process becoming home owners and I think we can safely say we've learned a lot along the way! We are looking forward to going back to Colorado at the end of June for a wedding. We are flying so we'll see how Jillian likes her first flight!

Jillian at 3 months telling secrets to her bunny

Paul reading to Jillian and niece, Leah. They both love books!

Jillian gets spoiled about once a week when she gets to hang out with Grandma Hovey and cousins, Brittney and Kailey
Jillian loves her cousin Alyssa too!

Friends, Stephen and Carrie Mulligan came to visit at the end of May with their little girl, Mikah

Jillian has been enjoying her bumbo for about a month now!

Jillian and Gram Glew

Jillian with Aunt Erica and Uncle Nick

Jillian with Great Grandma Jackson and Gram Glew

Enjoying relaxing in a cute summer dress from Grandma Hovey

I love my bumbo!

Last weekend, Abby and Jillian went with Gram Glew over to Marion to visit Abby's brother and his family. Abby's brother, Nick, got the great idea of getting out their bumbo and seeing what Jillian would do. She LOVED it and was able to hold herself up so well! I think we found a new source of endless entertainment! She even loves to have books read to her while she sits in it!

2 months!

This picture was taken closer to 9 weeks. Jillian is already 10 weeks now so before long we'll be posting a 3 month picture! Oh, how time flies!

...and MORE family!

It doesn't stop there...here are more picture of Jillian meeting family!

Uncle Nick, Aunt Erica, and cousin Leah came to visit the first weekend we were back home

Abby's cousin Melissa came to visit with her son Kaden and Abby's Aunt Pam

We went up to Maquoketa to celebrate cousin Brittney's birthday party. Jillian had some time with Grandma and Grandpa Hovey. Grandma Hovey even got to babysitt this last week and Jillian had a great time with her and the Hovey girls.

Jillian gets to be held by Great Grandma Simmons. Four generations here!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Hovey with Jillian

Jillian meets family!

Since we have been back in Iowa, Jillian has been able to meet so many family members! It has been such a joy to be reunited with family and to share our little girl with everyone. Jillian continues to grow! At her 8 week appointment (2 weeks ago) she weighed 10lbs 11oz (50th percentile) and 21.5 inches long (30th percentile...a shortly like Mom!). She is smiling more and more every day and has been a good baby, sleeping consistently at night about 8 hours since she was about 8 weeks old! Abby has gone back to work now and is adjusting to leaving Jillian with either her daddy or one of the grandparents. We feel so blessed to not have to do the day care thing yet. Paul continues to work at Lowe's part time and is enjoying watching Jillian on his days at home. We are in the process of getting a house in the Bettendorf area that we'll close on June 17th. We have felt so blessed to be able to live at Abby's parents during this time but are also looking forward to having our first home!

Uncle Matt with Jillian. Uncle Matt was nice enough to come out with Grandpa Hovey to help move us back from Colorado!

Great Grandma Hovey made this beautiful quilt for Jillian

Cousin Alyssa loved playing with Jillian. She has had quite the baby experience with having two younger sisters!

Great Grandma Sutton with Jillian. A 4 generation picture! Abby's aunt Vicki also came along to meet Jillian. She seemed to have a way with being able to make Jillian happy no matter what the circumstance.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Jackson with Jillian. Another 4 generations!