Falling apart

Our house is falling apart.....ok, not really, but it feels like it.

It started in May with this:

 Our AC unit. Apparently, when we moved into our house, our home builder, Newmark, put in a unit that was too small for our house.  They put in a 3 ton unit and we were supposed to have a 5 ton unit. So, every summer (our house is only 4 years old), something would go wrong with the AC and it would break. We finally had to bite the bullet and buy another unit. Ugh.  On the bright side, our AC is wonderful now and I have peace of mind that it won't break again!



 June has been an eventful month as well. Right around the beginning of June, I noticed that my oven was cooking things very fast.

 I found out first by burning a breakfast casserole to a crisp and it still had 40 minutes on the timer to go! Next came the cupcakes for Jillian's party.  They were supposed to take 24 minutes and they were done in 8! I was actually thinking that this could really save me some time! LOL.

Well, a few days later, I turned on the oven to heat a hot dog bun and after about 2 minutes (because it heats so fast) I took it out and turned OFF the oven. I then went upstairs to put Jillian down for her nap. When I came back down the stairs, I felt heat. I thought maybe I had forgotten to turn the oven off. I checked it and it was turned to OFF, but the oven was ON and blazing hot! I think it heated itself up to 500 degrees!

It would not turn off and it was quickly heating my house. Thankfully my parents and my brother came over and turned off the breaker and gas.  We had to call someone to fix it....apparently we had a bad thermostat.

Moving on. This week, I noticed that all our sinks and toilets were making gurgling sounds.
Not good.
Called someone out and to make a loooong story short... our clean out drain (which I had no idea about, but it's in your front yard) was broken. The sewer line was broken!!!  It had been broken since we moved in and had been filling with mud and stuff for 4 years! That's why we were having gurgling sounds etc.
Apparently, when they landscaped our yard, they ran right over our clean out drain and broke it. Again, thanks Newmark.
We got that fixed. It's nice to be able to shower at my own house again (and wash dishes and clothes!)

This is our new clean out drain! Isn't it beautiful?? :)  I kid.  There was a big bush in the empty space, but now just this pretty little white drain. (I think the workers left a blue washrag...not sure what it's doing there)

June is coming to a close and I'm praying that July and August are nicer to us!

Happy Father's Day 2011

My girls have the best daddy! They love him so much and are so excited every day when he comes home from work! 

At church yesterday, they gave 3 reasons why they love their daddy: 

Kaitlyn: He brings me surprises, He lets me play with his phone,  He plays with me

Kennedy: He plays with me, He brings me surprises, He loves me.

Kaitlyn, Jillian, Kennedy

Our attempt at a group picture! :)
(L: Kaitlyn  R: Kennedy)

Kisses!!

Happy Father's day!

8 years

 After Jillian's party (see post below) , Tony and I were able to have a little get-away for our anniversary! Our anniversary is June 14th.   Tony had gotten a hotel for us and we had a wonderful time just relaxing and being together.

 In the lobby of the hotel

Out to dinner! We had so much fun!!

Our waiter brought us a free cheesecake for dessert and we took it to go and ate it in the hotel later that night! Yum! 

It was so wonderful to be together and we were so thankful for Tony's family for watching the girls for us! Happy 8 years to my best friend and the love of my life!

Brought to you by the letter J and the number 2

 Tony's family came down from Springtown/Azle TX to come to Jillian's birthday party. We wanted to have a family party and were so thankful that everyone could make it. They arrived Friday evening (Jillian's birthday)  and Tony was working, so we packed up and headed to Chick Fil A for dinner.  Tony went on break and got to eat with us! The girls were soooo excited to have them all there!

 All of us! What fun!

 The birthday girl!

 Ya Ya and Kennedy

 Aunt Dar and Kaitlyn

 Saturday morning we all got up and started getting ready for Jillian's Sesame Street birthday party. She had told us that she wanted a "Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird birthday party"

We asked her to show us 2 fingers and this is what she does. She hasn't quite figured it out yet, but she tries.

 My girls!

 Tony grilled lunch for everyone! Thanks babe!

 My birthday girl with her party hat!

 Kisses!

 L to R:  Kaitlyn, Cale (my cousin's son), Cooper ( my nephew) and Kennedy enjoying their hot dogs!

 Cookie Monster juice boxes! Big hit with this little girl!

 "Happy Birthday Dear Jillian....Happy Birthday to YOU!"

 Cupcake!!

 Kisses from Pa

 Present time!! She got a big Elmo book!

 BIG BIRD!!! She held on to this present from Uncle Chris, Aunt Jenn and Cooper for the rest of the day!

 Pots and pans etc

 She got a new apron and started cooking away! (She has on new flip flops from Aunt Dar and of course she is holding Big Bird)

I snapped this picture of Dar and Kaitlyn. I don't think either were really asleep, but they were both very still and quiet. They kept opening and closing their eyes. I guess the party wore them out! :)

Jillian is 2!

My sweet baby turned 2 on June 10.  Where did the time go?

Here are a few pictures of when she was little bitty. 

 

My one year old

My TWO year old

 Here are some things about Jillian at 2 that I want to remember:

Favorite TV/DVDs:  Sesame Street, Barney, Signing Time, Veggie Tales

Favorite foods: fruit, cheese, breads (muffins, biscuits etc) and yogurt....and of course anything sweet!

Favorite stuffed animals: She loves stuffed animals of any kind, but her favorites are Elmo, Cookie, Bob and Larry(veggie tales)
She got Big Bird for her birthday and now that has become her character of choice! :)

What she sleeps with at night:  She has to have her paci, lovey bear and blanket at night and naps. At the end of her bed, she has about 10 various stuffed animals and some books. She is still in her crib and hasn't tried once to climb out.  Her older sisters climbed out just days after their 2nd birthday, but I don't see that happening with Jillian.


Most used words:  Jillian talks in full sentences now, but a couple of her favorite phrases are "What happened?" and "What is that?" She says those 2 things all the time! She completely understands when you give her a command ( Please go get your shoes and bring them to mommy) and can answer any question you ask her.
Right now she is using so many polite words: please, thank you, excuse me, bless you etc. I sure hope that sticks! :)


Favorite activities: playing with/in water, going outside

Pretend Play:  She loves to pretend she is cooking in her little kitchen and often brings us "coffee" and other food and drink. She also loves to wear Kennedy and Kaitlyn's dress up shoes and I know it won't be long before she is wanting to wear princess dresses. She pretends to talk on the phone and it's cute to hear her one sided conversations. She rocks her babies and takes her stuffed animals for rides in her stroller and grocery cart.

Prayers:  I love hearing her pray at dinner. She folds her hands and bows her head and usually says this: "Dear God, mommy, KK, D, teddy bear ....amen"  Poor Tony gets left out! LOL.  (KK= Kaitlyn and D= Kennedy)

Her independence is kicking in. She wants to buckle the top buckle on her car seat by herself now, tries to put on her shoes and wants to walk up and down the stairs with no help! (usually with an arm full of stuffed animals!) I have a feeling potty training is around the corner. She tells me she needs to go potty often.

She loves to give you kisses ( I love this!) and is generally very affectionate.  She is still a mommy's girl and likes for me to hold her often.

Weight: 28 lbs 2 oz (75%)
Height: 35 in (75%)
Size 7 shoe
Size 2T clothes
Size 4 diaper

We love you Jillian! Happy Birthday!

Summer!!

 We are loving summer! We have already been quite busy, but at the same time, we have had a lot of time to relax and just be at home.  I decided to see how Jillian would do if I tried to potty train her. She was a pro at sitting on the potty, but she never went in the potty (just decided the laundry room was a better place. lol.)   By nap time, I put her diaper back on and just decided that I'll try later. I probably could train her if I kept trying, but I'll just wait another month or so. 

 Sitting on the potty with her animals...she always has some sort of stuffed animal with her at all times. Don't mind her crazy morning hair! :)

Kennedy and Kaitlyn started taking swim lessons this week. A student from FBBA is teaching them at his house and they are really enjoying it. They are going slow, but that's what they prefer anyway.     Day 1: Get IN the water. 
Day 2: Get your face wet
You get the picture.

 Colin helping the girls put on their floaties

 

 Kaitlyn going under water! 

 Slowly stepping into the deeper water

 Each evening, we get out the water table and blow up pool and the girls play for hours. I love it and so do they!

 Kaitlyn, Kennedy

 Friday evening, Matt and Leigh Fox treated us to dinner at Taste of Texas! (Thanks guys!)  We were celebrating our anniversary coming up (14th), Tony's birthday (15th) and the Fox's new baby coming in January!

 Saturday we painted a dresser for Kennedy and Kaitlyn's room. This dresser had been in my baby room when I was little and my mom let us have it to use for the girls! It was originally yellow and we wanted to paint it to match their room and rug.

 We painted the dresser white, the bottom drawers pink, and the top 3 green, purple and yellow. We put some cute knobs on it and it was done!