New Phones

We got new cell phones so if you want our numbers let me know...I'm not going to post them on our blog:)

Back to work

Today was my first day back at work. I went back to my old job I had before Jillian was born. Lucky for me the gal that replaced me moved far away and didn't want to be in the car for 2+ just to commute to and from work, so my old job opened up just when Sean and I were starting to wonder what we were going to do about repaying his student loans starting next month. By the way, Sean is not done with school but took out some student loans to do a certification program about year ago. You may remember me blogging about neither of us having a job for a month right after Jillian was born.

I have mixed feelings about being back. I loved my job so it was good to see familiar faces (although a lot of people have left since I did) and everyone was very welcoming. At the same time I am very sad to leave Jillian even though I found a great babysitter who I really like and Jillian seems very comfortable with her and her family. I think we are going to have a rough month trying to get used to all the change around here.

If you care to check out where I work feel free...
http://www.islandview-rtc.com/index.html

Coldplay

I love love love Coldplay! I got A Rush of Blood to the Head for my 22nd birthday and have been in love with them ever since. So this year for my birthday I asked for the the two Coldplay albums I didn't have,

Viva La Vida

and Parachutes.

I have been listening to them all day today (my birthday was yesterday) and I am still in love with Coldplay. Especially Chris Martin. Man, he could sing to me all day and I would be one happy girl. Sean is aware of my Chris Martin obession so don't you worry about my poor hubby. He mostly just shakes his head when I mention Chris. Sean isn't really into Coldplay...he's more of a Metallica kinda guy. I'll admit, I think the fact that Chris Martin is British has a lot to do with why I like him. And the fact that I love his music. It doesn't hurt that he's married to Gwenyth Paltrow who is a pretty cool chica. Coldplay is coming to Salt Lake in November and I would love to go but I don't think I'll make it. Hopefully they come back soon! What a good husband to get me these two albums so that I may continue my pining away for dear Coldplay...ah, life is good!

Gloworms and Butterflies

Jillian and I went to my nephew, Tanner's, first birthday party over the weekend. Jillian decided to give Tanner a Gloworm for his birthday. It was quite popular at the party.

Tanner and Jillian both going after the Gloworm.

Luke, Tanner's cousin on the other side of the family, also wanting in on some Gloworm action.
Luke succeeding in getting the Gloworm from Jillian while Tanner looks for the wormy.

Vance wanting a turn with the Gloworm.

And since we are on the subjects of worms, what do they eventually turn into (we'll I guess it's actually caterpillars, but c'mon, the Gloworm resembles a caterpillar more than a worm)...

A beautiful butterfly!

Blessing Dress Revisited

My mom gives pretty sound advice so when I told her I was going to make a dress for Jillian's blessing she told me not to make it the newborn size and to make it the next size up. That seemed reasonable (what if I had a monster-sized baby. We know that this is possible as evidenced by the size of my nephews...love you, Vance and Tanner!). I know Jillian is a little small for her age so I thought maybe I would try on her blessing dress today just to see if it still fits....This is Jillian on the day she was blessed on February 10th. What a tiny little thing!

This is Jillian today in the same dress.

I think it fits better now than it did 7 months ago. She did want to crawl around while wearing the dress which I frowned upon and quickly snatched her from her hands and knees. She got a little lost in all the fabric, the dress is still quite long on her, but it fit around her perfectly. Maybe I ought to go get her professional pictures done in her blessing dress like I wanted to a few months ago...

Nose Crinkle

Jillian does this funny thing with her nose when she thinks something is funny. She also likes to blow spit bubbles.

Weird Week

We've had a weird week here. Sean took a couple of sick days from work because he wasn't feeling well and I got a nasty cold later in the week so we have just stayed close to home and haven't done too much. We were pretty busy this weekend hanging out with friends and visiting some family but we didn't take any pictures of those adventures. Here Jilly is just hanging out with her daddy.
We were tired of cooking so one night we ran out and got some pizza and Jilly was being so cute we had to get some pictures. The pizza was pretty good and we were the only people at the place (it was 7 pm on a Friday night, where was everyone?).













Jilly and I did go to the park for a little bit one evening. We were having a good time and not many people were there except for the group of oddly dressed guys with homemade swords beating up on each other. I didn't want to get too close to them to take a picture because I didn't want them to beat up on me with their swords.

As usual, Jillian loved swinging on the swing set. She was pretty brave and let me push her higher and higher.

Jillian is obsessed with quilts and loves to pet them (I have lots of wall quilts, those are the ones she likes to pet). We got her bug quilt out and let her play on it today. She petted it too.

Hopefully, next week is not so weird and we'll have a little bit more exciting material to post!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday and for the occasion I am going to list 50 reason why my mom is great. 1. She is fun.

2. My mom is optimistic.

3. My mom is friendly.

4. My mom is a genuinely nice person.

5. My mom is smart. Case in point: One time we were at a school board meeting and she got up to voice her opinion (I was in high school at the time) and she was using words I didn't know the meaning to. I guess she didn't need to use big words around me (because obviously I didn't know what they meant...) I always thought my dad was the smart one in my family but my mom is definitely a smart cookie.

6. My mom is a great grandma.

7. My mom is a great birthing coach. Sorry, Heather, you didn't get to experience this but when Sean was falling apart in the delivery room, Mom was right there being an amazing cheerleader.

8. My mom is crazy. She would do the most fun things when we were little, like backwards dinners and Family Olympics.

9. My mom is exciting. She's always up for a new adventure.

10. My mom is determined.

11. My mom is happy.

12. My mom is loving.

13. My mom is creative. You should see how many quilts, bags, outfits, dolls, stuffed animals, paintings, calligraphy writings, paintings, (this list could go on a lot longer) my mom has made. Amazing.

14. My mom is a good cook.

15. My mom is always thinking of others.

16. My mom is selfless.

17. My mom is involved.

18. My mom is not afraid to be herself and has taught me the same.

19. My mom has a wonderful sense of humor.

20. My mom loves to laugh.

21. My mom is often smiling (unless one of her kids is in trouble!).

22. My mom is very spiritual.

23. My mom is giving of her self, her time, her talents, anything she can give.

24. My mom is talented. She can play the piano, sing, play the flute, act, touch her nose with her tongue (hey, not a lot of people can do that...).

25. She is caring.

26. My mom is beautiful.

27. My mom loves those around her.

28. My mom is a good mom, she's still raising kids and I wonder how I'll ever measure up to her.

29. My mom loves to try new things.

30. My mom is a good homemaker.

31. My mom is a DIY (do-it-yourself) person. She is always working on a new project.

32. My mom loves to read, which is why most of her kids love to read too.

33. My mom is on the ball. She is one busy woman always has some activity going but takes time out if we need her.

34. My mom is calm.

35. My mom is a planner.

36. My mom is helpful.

37. My mom is going back to school after being away for 30 years. What persistence!

38. My mom is a good listener.

39. My mom is a good speaker.

40. My mom is interesting.

41. My mom is thoughtful. She always asks us what we want to do and what we want to eat while we are visiting.

42. My mom is considerate.

43. My mom believes in killing people with kindness instead of getting even or mad.

44. After having me, my mom decided to have four more kids. My mom is patient.

45. My mom doesn't butt in. She gives her opinion but doesn't meddle.

46. My mom lets me make mistakes, because how else would I learn?

47. My mom is an early riser. Something I strive to be but I like sleeping too much!

48. My mom loves to learn, she is always trying new things.

49. My mom is outgoing.

50. My mom is not afraid to ask for something she wants. This is just a small example but we were buying a dress for a high school dance and my mom asked the lady if the dress would be going on sale anytime soon. The lady said yes and gave my mom a discount! She taught me that it never hurts to ask.

I hope you have a great birthday, Mom! I love you!

'80's Night

We had a church activity last night and the theme was "80's Night." So I put on my hippest '80's threads, ratted my hair, curled my bangs and feathered them and away we went. I had a lot of people come up to me and tell me that they didn't recognize me. I'm so glad because I don't know if I want to look like I stepped out of that crazy hair and make-up era all the time.
Of course, Jillian had to participate with her 'popped' collar and her side ponytail. I had more trouble getting Sean to play along but he did wear his Star Wars t-shirt which is actually depicting a scene from "A New Hope" which was released in 1978 but no one called him out on it which I think he was disappointed about. Always the rebel that one...

Anyway, we had a fun time and got home with some Fun Dip candy and wax bottles, classic '80's candies and friendship bracelet. Go '80's!

8 Months Old

Jillian is 8 months old today. She hasn't grow much physically but she sure has changed a lot. She is now crawling around quite well and can get most places if there is some incentive to do so. She is quite a talker, she says, "mama", "dada", "no", lots of babbling that we don't understand and sometimes she repeats things we say to her. She's also recently learned how to squeal which is funny once or twice but then gets a little embarrassing when we are someplace that requires a quiet voice (the library, church, etc...). Jillian will wave hello and goodbye but usually she just waves whenever she feels like it. She also loves to clap and to play Pat-a-Cake and the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Jillian also loves to stand up and is very good at pulling herself up. She is an active, happy baby and we love her so much!

Snowsuits in September

I think I've posted this picture before. It was taken in February (seven months ago) and Jillian was wearing this snow suit that was size 0-3 months and huge on her!Fast forward to September 2nd where it was 50 degrees when I wanted to take my walk at quarter to nine this morning. I even waited until the sun was up and had been out awhile before I ventured outside. I don't have a jacket for Jillian since it's been a very warm summer (why do you need a jacket when it's 90 degrees out?) so I thought, "I have a huge snowsuit and Jillian hasn't grown a lot in the past few months, maybe it will still fit..."

Voila!

In fact, I think the snowsuit fits better now than it did 7 months ago. Jillian only had a cold nose when we came in from our walk. Hopefully it warms up a little bit before fall, I don't think Jillian is ready for such cold mornings!

Anniversary Party

We went to Idaho for my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary party. Their anniversary is actually on September 24th (my birthday) but my dad has a large family and this was when we could all get together. My dad was asked to talk a little bit about his parents. He mentioned that he had experience in public speaking and he hoped he wouldn't put anyone to sleep.
Sorry Dad! Looks like this was one girl that was lulled to sleep during your speech. But if it makes you feel any better, I didn't notice anyone else sleeping...

By the way, 60 years of marriage is quite an accomplishment, especially in this day and age! Congratulations Grandma and Grandpa Porter!

Piano

I guess we have a little pianist on our hands.
Emphasis on little.

All Clean!

Jillian was so cute after her bath we couldn't help but take a picture.