Off we go

We're off to celebrate Christmas with our families! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! Send your safe travel thoughts our way today.

New Suitcase

In anticipation of our trip to Washington for Christmas, we got ourselves a new suitcase. We were in desperate need of a new one since the luggage we have been using was a graduation gift for me. A high school graduation gift. We are talking luggage that has been around the block. The last time we flew home the suitcase came back wrapped in airline tape with my underwear hanging out of it. I knew that once the entire Salt Lake City International Airport saw my drawers, it was time to retire the old worn suitcase. Jillian, of course, had to be the first to check it out.

"Yes, the stitching is of good quality. And this zipper seems quite sturdy."

"Yes, this suitcase will do!"

Thank you Jillian, for your thorough inspection. Now, could you please get out so I can start packing?

Twins?

Is this the same baby?

Could be. But it is not. Jillian is in the first picture and Holly is in the second. We look like we're related, right?

11 Months Old

Jillian is 11 months old today!!! I can hardly believe it! Here are some pictures of her.

Of course, modeling this year's penguin fashions.

Hanging out with her Dad. She likes to be taller than everyone else.

Jillian's best zombie impression.



If you look close you can see all of Jillian's bottom teeth. She has three. And she cut her first upper tooth yesterday. I think she is going to have an interesting bite because her first upper tooth is not one of her front teeth. It is the one just over from the front two teeth. I've never seen anyone grow teeth like my Jilly.

Sean gotta job

We weren't unemployed for very long!

www.thoughtlab.com

Rough times

The last couple weeks have been rough for our family. I got laid off a couple weeks ago and then we found out Monday that Sean was being laid off as well. I understand that the economy is not great right now and that things like this just happen but it is still hard to take when they happen to you. We are pretty sure that Sean can get a new job quickly (he has already had an interview) so right now we are playing the wait and see game. I know that if we remain positive and continue to do what we know to be right the Lord will see us through this difficult time.

Funny Story

I was bombarded while walking through the mall yesterday by a person who works at Kiddie Kandids (a photo place, if you can't tell by the name). I was all ready to tell her no thanks to whatever she was selling since we had pictures done only three days before (see previous post). She was a new employee there and wanted to practice her photography skills so she asked if she could take some shots of Jillian and we could get a free 5x7 out of the deal. Well, I can't pass up free pictures of my adorable little girl so I let her be a model for a few minutes and this is what we got:



I had a hard time deciding between the first and last pictures but ultimately decided on the last because she looks so grown up (even if her smile is cuter in the first picture). Funny how the only two times she has had her picture professionally done was within three days of each other.

Pictures

We got some family portraits done this week because we hadn't had Jillian's picture taken yet(professionally at least). So here we are in all our glory.

All but two pictures of Jillian had her sticking her tongue out...what a silly little one!

And for those of you who are thinking that you want a copy (we're talking grandmas and grandpa and aunts and uncles) never fear, we'll bring you a copy at Christmas!

To the Zoo

On Saturday, Jillian and I went to the Hogle Zoo with my sister and her in-laws. We had fun. Maybe I should rephrase that...I had fun. Jillian looked like this the majority of the day:




We checked out all the cool animals. I had to make sure to get a picture of the penguins for Sean (he was at school so missed out).




I thought the giraffes were pretty cool.



Jillian remained unimpressed:




Jillian had to get out of her stroller to pose on the tigers. She is pictured with my sister's nephew, Luke, and my sister's sister-in-law (not Luke's mom), Kimberly. P.S. Sorry I cut off your head!

By the time we made it to the elephants, Jillian was fast asleep.

So we rode the train without her (don't worry, there were others in our group that weren't riding the train as well. I didn't just leave her all by herself.)

My cute sister with my nephew, Tanner.

And of course, while we were driving away from the zoo we past East High where "High School Musical" was filmed. My brother-in-law reluctantly pulled over so Heather and I could get a picture. Eat your hear out HSM fans!

On Monday I while I was getting ready for work I was thinking to myself how nice it would be to have a day off. I just wanted a day or so to catch up on stuff around the house (like cleaning, making a dinner menu and then grocery shopping for said menu). I mentioned my desire to my coworker and went about my morning. That afternoon I was called into the office and my supervisor let me know that I was being laid off. My company was cutting a few people, I already knew, so I wasn't too shocked to find out. I was however, very sad. After making such a hard decision to go back to work and finding that I really enjoyed working, and my job, and the people I worked with, I was now being asked to leave. I know there are some benefits to being laid off (like being home all day with Jillian again, having time to clean my house, etc...) but I am really bummed about the whole situation.

Today was my last day of work and everyone was just so sad, not just for me but a lot of good hard working people are losing their jobs. It is heartbreaking, not only for those that are being let go but for those that are staying and have to pick up the slack that all the empty positions will be leaving behind. I love my job. I hope that the economy will turn around sooner rather than later and things will go back to normal.

Next time I think I need a day off I'm going to keep it to myself.

Pat-a-Cake

Jillian's favorite song is Pat-a-Cake. She can play over and over. Sometimes she even sings along. We have a good time singing and clapping.

Election Day

Jillian was so excited that we got to vote today. She proudly wore her "I Voted" sticker all day!

Halloween 2008

Our Halloween spanned two days this year. I posted last year about how big Halloween is at my work. We dressed up on Thursday.

This is me as the devil.This is my partner at work. She was an angel. We got a lot of funny looks and comments like, "Shouldn't you two be dressed the other way around?"

Jillian before we went trick or treating on Friday night...

Things got better as soon as we got her out of her car seat.

Funny Bunny.
Playing in the leaves.

I let Jillian eat some mini oreos that she got while trick or treating. She loved them!

I realized that we didn't get any pictures of Sean this Halloween but he didn't dress up so I guess it is ok. Maybe next year...

Quick post to tide you over

I can't believe it's been over a week since I posted. We have been busy this week, not doing anything thrilling but our evenings have been busy so that makes things seem pretty crazy. The most exciting thing was a baby shower on Saturday that Jilly and I went to and help host. Jillian was the hit of the party (you know, besides the preggo gal)! What a cutie. And this week we've been running running running again. I promise to have more to post this weekend (what with Halloween and all...). Here is a little picture of the Bean looking like she got caught doing something naughty (she was just playing, but the expression on her face is, "Uh oh! I got caught!" I know what Heather is thinking, "Look at those chicken legs!" It is true she has skinny little legs but they get her around as now she will climb on anything she can and pull herself up to standing. One of these days she'll take off walking and never look back.

Tuesdays Stink!

I hate Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings. Mostly because Sean is in class for hours and hours and I am usually in bed by the time he gets home (on Tuesdays, I'm up and most the day is gone on Saturdays). One good thing about Sean being gone is that I have a one-on-one evening with Jillian. Today we ran some errands after work and then came home and ate and took some pictures.
I had to get a picture of Jilly in her new pjs. She's right inbetween sizes right now, the 3-6 months are way too short for her but the 6-9 months are way too long! These jammies are fuzzy and warm which will be nice since today was such a cold day.Jillian has been going to bed between 7:30 and 8 (which is pretty early for her) so I get lonely while Sean is in class. Thank goodness for Eli Stone (uh, that would be a television show on ABC not some man I'm seeing behind Sean's back).

Teeth and Jammies

I haven't got a good picture of Jillian's cute little teeth up on the blog so I thought I'd better post one today.

Also, Jilly got new pjs this weekend so here is a picture of her in her yellow zebra jammies.

Nothing too exciting going on with us. We had a quiet weekend at home. Next week is busy so hopefully we'll have some fun things to post about!

Daddy time

Honestly, Sean isn't always Jillian's favorite (come on, everyone knows babies love their mommies best). But they have a good time playing around anyway.

I can't get her to take a cute picture with me. So maybe she really doesn't like me best...

9 month check up

Jilly-Ann-Beana-Boo had her 9 month check up with the doctor on Monday. Here are her stats:

Length: 27.5 inches 53%tile
Weight: 14 lbs 10 oz 1%tile

That's right, Jillian is in the one percentile for weight...And this is what the doctor said, "Fatten up your kid!!!"

You may recall that little Miss Jilly was 14 lbs 12 oz at her 6 month check up and 14 lbs 4 oz at her 4 month check up. So she really hasn't grown at all (and actually from her 6 month she's shrunk). Oh, and have I mentioned that she loves to eat? She eats more than my one-year old nephew does. I want her metabolism. Anyway, I have to add fatty things to her diet, like butter and cream cheese and peanut butter. Also, I'm supposed to give her sugared cereals instead of plain ones. You know, all the things you're not supposed to feed babies...
Lucky kid. Hopefully we can get her weight up before her one year check up. That's when the doctor said we'd need to worry. So send us your fatty thoughts. Well, just Jillian. Sean and I are fat enough all by ourselves.

Snow

We woke up this morning to this:
I thought the snowing yesterday was just a fluke but it has been snowing all day today. Yuck!

Winter?

Last week it was still 80 degree weather. Which was a little warm for me but nice. Then this week was in the 70s until yesterday when it suddenly got really cold and then this afternoon it looked like this:
Sean is showing his opinion of snow in October. I would have to agree! What happened to fall?