Bridget's Ball Game

Bridget has a game that she loves to play while she sits in her activity center. It involves her pushing a ball off the platform, and watching the ball roll or bounce away; then, someone (Mommy or Daddy) puts the ball back on the platform for her to push off again. This game can continue on for a long time.

Happy 3rd Birthday

Jillian had her 3rd Birthday Party! The time has just flown by. Our little Sweetie-Pie is growing up so fast.

This was a birthday where Jillian really understood what was going on, and was very excited about it. She had been looking forward to it all week. Many family and friends came to the big birthday party on Saturday night. It was the first big gathering at our house, now that the remodel was mostly finished and we had enough space. So, it was pretty cool that everyone got to come visit at Jillian's house. The kids had a good time running around and playing; of course, there was lots of crashes and crying. While the adults relaxed in their seats, the teenagers saddled up to the bar and feasted on the snacks. We had 18 adults, 10 teens and 'tweens, and 8 kids for a total of 36, and that was about right; so now we know our hosting capacity.

Jillian had picked out the theme of "My Little Pony". The cake wasn't exactly what we wanted, since Fred Meyer forgot to make our order. Jillian had been asking for a "flower" cake, so we ordered one with lots of flowers. The cakes we ended up with only had one flower, but that was just fine. Everyone sang the happy birthday song, then Jillian blew (spit) out the candles. Then, Jillian ate a big piece of cake with the flower on it; actually, she ate the frosting and that's it.

Then, we went into the family room and Jillian sat on the floor, with all the kids surrounding her, and opened up presents. She was thrilled with all the great gifts, and it was all we could do to keep her in the family room and not run off. By the time it was all over, there were some very tired little kids who were worn out from all the excitement.

SNOW DAY!!!!!

It was great to have Jillian spend the night and see her when she woke
up, looking out the window at all the snow. She was so excited and couldn't wait to go outside. As soon as breakfast was finished it was time to dress her in snow clothes, which in itself took awhile, but she was definitely warmly dressed. She had to get a carrot out of the frig so she would be ready for the snowman. First thing, we had to get the sleds out. I still had to ride with her so we took a couple of runs down the hill. Then she wanted to wake up Tierney so she could sled with her. While we were waiting for Tierney, we worked on the snowman. She did a little rolling but I guess her main job was making it look like a snowman with the carrot and rocks for the eyes. She got sticks for the arms and put on the scarf I brought out. Tierney got there in time to help finish the snowman. She wore her hat that matched Jillian's hat.
Next it was off to the hill. She rode the sled with Tierney many times, laughing or smiling all the way. She got quite the workout walking back up the hill every time but she did it willingly.









They did that for quite awhile then headed inside. We weren't inside for too long when Dianne called to see if Jillian could play with Rielee since there wasn't any school. They played inside for a long time then they went out to play on the spinning teeter-totter. They had so much fun on that. It was warmer and sunny so Jillian did that for quite awhile although she didn't have snow clothes on. Her hands were freezing before she would give it up.
One tired girl came back to have lunch and take a nap.

Another Early Dismissal

The kids had early dismissal so everyone came for lunch plus Brock's friend Nick. This is the quiet before the chaos. Bridget was content to watch the mayhem but Jillian was in the middle of it with the boys egging her on. The boys piled up all the pillows and a couple of cushions on top of the dog's bed. Then when Jillian would tackle Ty, he would throw her off onto the cushions. Jillian got quite the workout.

Cooking and Smoothie

We made a quick trip up to take Alan's birthday card to him and visited the twins. The twins really watch Jillian and when she's done playing with one of their toys they quickly reclaim it.

Almost every time Jillian is here we must do some cooking. She asks what I would like and she puts it in the yellow bowl then proceeds to bake it in her oven. At least I can have a pretend healthy lunch. Another thing Jillian loves to have is Papa's smoothie. He makes one every day for lunch and she is always happy to share. In this picture she is on her second cup and slurps it down to the last drop.

It was interesting today or Jillian was really tired, but when Jillian went for her nap, Bridget woke up from her nap at that same time. So since Papa was gone I asked if Bridget could lay down for her nap too with Jillian. Of course, since Bridget just woke up she was in good humor and only wanted to play. It wasn't long when I looked over at Jillian and she was fast asleep. It was too easy!

Winter Woolies

Jillian got a special treat on Sunday. She got to ride Jazz (the horse) at the Winter Woolies at the Clark County Fairgrounds, thanks to the Paul family. And thanks to Cindy for the wonderful photos of the whole event.

Anytime that Jillian can get dressed up in something pretty is a good time for her. Dany got her into the horse trailer and put her into McKenna's old riding outfit, along with the chaps this time. She also got to put on a little bit of makeup for the showing. Then, Lindsey led Jazz and Jillian into the practice area of the arena.

Jillian was very excited by the whole thing, smiling and yelling to everyone she saw. Then, it was time for the "Leadline" competition, and Lindsey and Dany took her into the main showing area. Jillian rode around in both directions, and was talking the entire time. We're sure the spectators enjoyed the commentary. Whenever she rode by us, she yelled out "Hi, Mommy! Hi, Daddy!" When that part was over, all of the horses lined up for the inspection by the judge. When he walked up to Jazz and Jillian, Sweetie-Pie immediately became shy-girl and looked away. Oh, well. In the end, the announcer said that all of the 8-and-under riders had tied for 1st place! So, Jillian got a blue ribbon, a stuffed animal, and a sack of Dora the Explorer goodies. Jillian told us that it was her "first win".

When Dany asked if Jillian would like to do it again next month, Jillian replied "oh, yes!"

The Letter "J"

Jillian ran into the computer room (Bridget's room, actually) and handed Daddy this piece of colored paper and said "This is for you, Daddy." As you can see, Jillian had written a big letter "J" on it. She's getting pretty good at writing "J"s, thanks to Grannie.

Grannie's School of Torture begins only a week from now. Yipppeee!

Sighting No. 58

Here's a little photo of Bridget, having some tummy-time on Jillian's carpet. Bridget is getting to the point that she likes being on her tummy, because she can see more and grab things. Plus, she's starting to slowly spin around on her tummy.

Mommy's Birthday (Belated)

Took a while to get this photo on the blog, but here it is. We all went up to Grannie and Papa's house to celebrate Mommy and Aunt Julie's birthdays. As usual, Jillian helped blow out (spit on?) the candles.

Love that Glitter!

Jillian has been busy the last couple days making Valentines cards for everyone. She signs her cards, always starting with J and finishing her name with a lot of straight lines for i and l,l,i. Then she designs her cards but they all look remarkably alike because she uses a lace heart for each one and lots of glitter. When I asked if she'd like to use glitter her eyes lit up. She would tell me where to put the glue for the glitter and then pile it on like this picture shows, almost covering the card. Luckily I could shake the excess back into the container. She is so proud of her cards but I can't show you a finished one yet as it is supposed to be a surprise. She held up a finished one for a picture with a big smile.

Bridget and Basketball

For over two hours at the girl's basketball game Bridget was a trouper. She would go to anyone but never look at them because there was too much action on the floor between the cheerleaders and players. She would sit mesmerized and watch everything, especially enjoying the cheerleaders when they used their pom-poms. Dianne held her for awhile and Jillian and Rielee were playing nearby at halftime so she spent that time watching them. Here she is blowing bubbles and drooling (constant now) as you can see on her wet shirt. Not long after the game she was worn out and went right to sleep.

Two Cuties

It is so hard to get a good picture of these two, although Bridget is always smiling. But Jillian doesn't want to smile for the camera so when I get a smile out of her, of course, Bridget won't be smiling at that moment. Bridget likes to be propped up to watch Jillian play and this day, Jillian wanted to sit beside her which is nice. But of course it doesn't last long!

Dance Party

This is a common scene in Jillian's room. She knows how to use the CD player, and she really likes "The Cheetah Girls" CD that she got from the Paul family. So, she puts on her dancing dress and dances all over her room.

Sighting No. 57

It's a Sweetie-Pie sighting! We like to reinforce to Jillian how she is getting to be such a big girl, and sometimes she smiles and likes to hear it, and other times she tells us that she doesn't want to be a big girl.