welcome, welcome

Mattie Claire

May 15, 2013 at 5:22pm

7lb 9oz, 21 inches

More to come as she made quite an exciting entrance, but for now we're spending all our time loving on this sweet girl (sometimes a little too much love from big sis!)

a baby-free weekend

On Friday some friends threw me the most lovely shower.  It was in my friend Megan's backyard, which is already to die for.  But they added lots of icicle lights, glittery gold candles, and gorgeous flowers.  Seriously, it looked so beautiful.  We all sat around chatting for hours; I finally looked at my phone and was shocked to see that it was 11:30pm (this is coming from the girl who thinks going to bed at 11 is late.)  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures until the very end so I didn't get any group pictures.

Everyone was so generous- we got some cute outfits for baby girl (helpful since she is coming at the exact opposite time of year as Jillian), blankets, and Megan made these adorable dolls; I can't wait to see both my girls playing with their dolls together!

Then on Saturday Bryan, Jilly, and I packed up a picnic and headed to Folsom Lake.  Jillian is even more of a fish than she was last year.  She loved being in the water, especially since Daddy was so fun to play with.

And her close second favorite thing to do was sit in her little chair drinking juice

 We found tons of ladybugs (yes, necklaces are necessary at the lake)

 We all loved having a day to just hang out together

Bryan and Jilly really spoiled me on Mother's Day.  I got to sleep in, we had french toast for breakfast,  they gave me flowers and new pajamas, we skyped with my family, had a nice day at church, and then ate gyros for dinner (which were an amazing recommendation from my bff Lisa.)  I'm so lucky to have  these two!

friday five

1. I generally shy away from pictures of my pregnant self, but on Sunday I caught a glimpse of my profile and decided it had to be documented.  I find it difficult to believe that really is my body and there really is a living, growing sweet little girl in there.

2. About a year ago we started a savings account for Jilly at Wells Fargo.  They gave her this horse which has sat in her stuffed animal basket until this week when suddenly she is obsessed with it.  We all know that every princess has a prince and all princes must ride a horse so I'm assuming that's where the sudden fixation came from. 

3. Going along with Jilly's love of the horse is her new favorite line in Sleeping Beauty.  When Prince Philip hears Aurora singing in the woods he offers his horse carrots to go out of their way to find her.  But when the horse throws Philip into a pond he says "No Carrots."  This little line sends Jilly into a fit of giggles and she repeats it all the time.

4. Bryan and Jilly both have birthdays in November which means they both have half birthdays this month.  My policy is to never pass up an opportunity for cake so we had half of our favorite cake this week to celebrate.  

5.  10 more days!  That's one day shy of single-digits. (Unless the little dear decides to come late, in which case she will start out life with a mother who is slightly annoyed.)

To my sweet Jilly,

Some big changes are coming our way.  It's not going to be just you and me together during the day anymore.  We're going to have a baby sister join us.  In all honesty, I'm kind of scared about adding a new little person to our mix: a new schedule, another car seat to buckle, an extra person to keep happy.  But at the same time I am over the moon excited for you to have a sister.

Trust me, I know all about being a big sister.  I know sometimes it really stinks that you'll have to share me with someone else.  But, I promise, we are going to love her so, so much.

You have a very important job- you must be her best friend and teach her everything you know.  She'll need to learn about princesses and dresses, how to make up funny songs like you do, and where the best places are to hide when playing with Daddy.  She is so lucky to have you as her big sister.

And please always remember that I love love love you.  No matter what, you'll always be my Jilly, my first little girl, my buddy.

xoxo, Mommy

cinco de mayo

We take Cinco de Mayo very seriously at our house.  In the words of my dear husband, "Cinco de Mayo is like Christmas for my mouth."  Lucky for me, May 5th fell on a Sunday this year so Bryan was home to do most of the cooking.  He made pork chili verde which was so, so, so delicious.  I'd post a recipe, but he kind of created his own compilation of a few different recipes he found online.  We had it over this rice, which was an excellent suggestion from my cousin-in-law.  I usually make this rice, but have recently decided I'm over cilantro so this new recipe is a perfect replacement.  I also made Mexican sweet corn cake for the first time, and we will definitely be having it again soon.  Even Jilly, who can be picky, scarfed down this meal.  Muy delicioso!

Summer Dress #2

My grandma gave me lots of pretty purple eyelet lace fabric last summer and I'd been looking for a way to use it.  I finally used this tutorial to make a dress for Jilly.  I love her tutorials so much because they have lots of great pictures and are easy to follow.  

 And Jilly loves this dress, which is saying a lot because we have had some rough two-year-old weeks full of tantrums because her dresses are "not working."

I wanted to take some pictures of Jilly in the dress before she went to bed so we walked over to the newly-blooming rose garden in our neighborhood. 

Jillian loved the flowers and was especially fascinated by the snail we spotted hiding under one of the bushes.

Spoiler Alert: there is a coordinating dress for baby sis and I cannot wait for her to get here so I can enjoy my matchy girls.

five on friday

1.  It is May, which means we are having a baby this month which totally blows my mind.  This week was so, so busy and flew by.  I hope the next few weeks are just the same!

2.  Blake and Lisa came to visit for a night which we loved.  "Bake" and Jilly are getting old enough that they can finally talk to each other and and really play together which is hilarious.  We took the kids to the park and to the library to show techy Blake the new iPads in the children's section, but I'm pretty sure their favorite activity was screaming while chasing each other in circles around the house.  Lis and I managed the chaos, chatted to our hearts content, and sipped on cherry limeades and Italian sodas (what can I say, we like our fancy drinks!)

 

    

3.  Thanks to Bryan and his kind parents I had a few free hours this week.  I was able to get a fresh pre-baby haircut and tons of errands done which would have taken me forever with my usual sidekick. You better believe I also got some decent sleep in as well.

4.  I had a girls night out with some friends this week. We got ice cream then weren't quite ready to head home to husbands and children so we wandered through Target and almost all bought matching flats (sadly, they didn't have everyone's sizes.)

5. On Tuesday a friend mentioned that she was taking her kids to the Chick fil A family night for dinner.  I looked around at my freshly-cleaned kitchen and decided that going out for dinner was an excellent idea.  Jilly got her arm painted with a rainbow and butterflies and loved showing it off for days (yes, that means we went a few days without a bath- this girl has me totally wrapped around her finger.)

**As I read through this I realize it's no wonder it was a great week, I was totally spoiled all week long!