November

More firsts for Jillian Grace for the month of November! Gram Glew got Jillian a ducky to start taking her baths in. Jillian loves splashing around in it and is always excited for "tubby time".

Mommy broke down and let Jillian try her first bite of ice cream...from Culver's nonetheless. Of course, she LOVED it and right away looked for another bite.

We stopped in Maquoketa to show the grandparents and great grandparents Jillian's Halloween costume. Great Grandma Hovey sent Jillian home with this cute chair and a set of little cups and plates that Jillian LOVED.

We met in Aurora for a Jackson family get together and Jillian got to go on her first wagon ride. We definitely made sure she was belted in good but she never once wanted to get out.

Jillian was introduced to the piano by cousin, Leah at Thanksgiving. Maybe this is the start to their career playing duets together!

Halloween

This year Jillian was a lady bug for Halloween. One of Abby's patients gave us a gift of Kohl's cash to get the costume Abby had mentioned at an earlier conversation with her. Jillian got to wear her costume several times as she tried to make her rounds to the grandparents and great grandparents.

We also found time to carve a couple pumpkins this year. Jillian even got to feel the "guts" of the pumpkin.

Some of Jillian's favorite things

It's hard to believe that Jillian will be 8 months old tomorrow. She now has 3 teeth and even occasionally blurts out "ma-ma" and "da-da". She isn't crawling quite yet but likes to "belly surf" all over the wood floor. She loves squash, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, bananas, avocados, the list goes on....As you can see from the pictures, she's not a picky eater! It's fun to watch her discover new things every day from watching her own hand open and close to watching a squirrel run all over the park.

Some of her favorite things from the last couple months are:
1.) Bucket swings. At least this is what we call them. When we pull the stroller into the park and she sees kids laughing and playing around, she instantly smiles and her whole body shakes with excitement.

2.)The zoo. We went to the Niabi Zoo in September and were very impressed. Jillian reached right out to pet the goats.

3.) Bibs. As in bib overalls. We've found some great baby consignment shops in the area and last week Paul picked these out for Jillian. She's our little farmer girl now!

4.) Laughing at kids. Doesn't matter where we are or if the kid is doing anything entertaining or not...Jillian laughs! Here she is laughing at her cousin Leah.

Labor Day Weekend

This year we had a very special Labor Day Weekend. We celebrated two big milestones on Paul's side of the family. Paul's parents are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this year and Paul's dad is turning 60! It was fun to have the whole family together.

Many rounds of bocce ball were played. Paul is standing there with two of his brothers, Pat and Mike, and his niece, Alyssa. Can you tell looking at the backs of all their heads that they're brothers? :)

Jillian and Great Grandpa Hovey

Paul with his Grandma Hovey and Grandma Simmons

August--Home improvement projects, visiting great grandparents, and weddings

There goes another month, and no updated blog! To all the busy moms out there who update their blog regularly...you'll have to give me some lessons! Anyway, August was a busy month. We had two weddings to go to. The first was Abby's cousin Dustin and then Abby's good friend Ashley. Both were beautiful weddings and we felt so fortunate to be closer to home to be able to attend! We are adjusting to requesting a seat in back now, although Jillian made it through both weddings very well!

Paul had a weekend off from work in August so we were able to go up to the Manchester/ Strawberry Point area to visit Abby's grandparents. It was such a blessing to see them with Jillian and of course she ate up all the attention!

We also worked on a few house projects in August. We put up some new blinds and got a new table for our dining area. Since we have been married we have been using the table Abby grew up with! It has held up great but we were ready for a little updated version! :)

Jillian continues to grow quickly. It has been so much fun to see her personality blossom! We got 6 month pictures taken of her in August. She is now rolling all over the place and enjoys sitting up on her own. Some activities she's really enjoying right now are to be read to, rolling the ball back and forth with Daddy, trying new baby foods that Mommy and Daddy make, playing in the exersaucer, and babbling in her crib.

Jillian with Great Grandma Jackson

Jillian with Great Grandma Sutton

Paul did a great job installing the blinds



"I love my high chair! Who knows what they're going to try to feed me!" So far Jillian has tried green beans, squash, and carrots all homeade from the Hovey kitchen!



Jillian having fun in her exersaucer!

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!