Easter

Easter weekend was a full weekend! Friday and Saturday we went to Maquoketa. Saturday we had an Easter Egg hunt outside and Great Grandma Hovey helped Jillian find all of her eggs!

Easter morning we attended a sunrise service and our regular church service. Jillian was so tired she slept in Mommy's arms the whole church service! Then we headed to Clinton for the afternoon.

Pigtails and Easter Eggs

Yesterday was a big day for Jillian! She had many firsts! Mommy got ambitious and tried putting her hair up in pigtails. Jillian didn't like the process but she sure got a kick out of the finished product. We also decorated Easter eggs outside and Jillian loved it! Happy Easter, everyone!

Jillian's Birthday

After weeks of training Jillian to respond, "gonna be two..." when people ask how old she is going to be, now we are trying to train her to say, "I'm two!" Hard to believe we are the parents of a two year old now. We had a great time celebrating her birthday last weekend with both sides of the family. Not many kids are spoiled with two parties all in one weekend! Jillian loved every minute of it! We are so blessed to have so much family close by to share this special occasion with!

You can tell she's had some practice opening a present or two. No assistance needed this year, thank you!

Jillian's long talked about "Butterfly cake"
Happy birthday, Jillian!

One of Jillian's favorite gifts was a hair dryer!

Jillian got her first tricycle from Mommy and Daddy. She currently has a love/hate relationship with it! She's very excited to see it and to climb onto it but as soon as she tries to pedal, the frustration begins. A little patience and practice will be necessary...

Jillian's First Hair Cut

Jillian has been needing a hair cut for a while to get things "shaped up" but Mommy has been dragging her feet thinking it would be a traumatic experience since Jillian hardly lets Mommy even comb her hair. We had a friend recommend this kid friendly place in town and we gave it a try last week. Everything went fabulous and I don't even think Jillian even realized she got her hair cut! It may have helped that she had slides to go down in the waiting room, a Dora car to sit in while she got her hair cut, a video to watch, and tons of toys in her lap to keep her entertained. If this isn't a baby spa, I don't know what is! :)

Christmas Part II

Over New Year's weekend we were in Maquoketa celebrating Christmas with Paul's family. Here is a picture of Paul's parents with all the grandchildren...7 girls and one boy! Poor Christian! Notice Jillian has improved grately in this picture over the Thanksgiving episode!

Jillian talking on the phone with cousin Brittney

Jillian laughing at her cousin Christian running around
Checking out a new book she got...

Helping Grandma figure out the letters on her new sign

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas with our families. On Christmas Eve day, we had our own little family Christmas before heading up to Clinton to join Abby's family. Jillian was suprised with a kitchen set that she absolutely loves! She is busy daily making us coffee and tea and telling us her oven is "too hot" and "no touch".




We arrived in Clinton Christmas Eve night and attended a Christmas Eve service with the kids where they got to pet a live sheep! Then we came back to the house and sang happy birthday to Jesus.

Leah and Jillian are really starting to play together more and more however this means they can be best friends one moment, and worst enemies the next! Keeps us entertained!

Family photo

Thanksgiving

So before Christmas is upon us, I thought I should finally post some pictures from Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving in Maquoketa with Paul's family. It was one full house but we had a good time! Jillian enjoyed playing with her cousins and of course loved all of the new and different toys Grandma and Grandpa's house had to offer. She spent the majority of her time on a little slide going down over and over and over again.

An attempt at a picture with Great Grandma Simmons and all of her great grandchildren. Notice the little girl in the brown dress who is screaming...

An attempt at a picture with Grandma and Grandpa Hovey and all of Jillian's cousins. Again, notice the precious little girl on Grandpa's lap who is in tears once again....

Eating a whole pear by herself! She requested that it NOT be cut up!

The girls doing exercises with their aunts. They already had their princess costumes on by 7 in the morning!

Jillian and her favorite slide