Dear sweet baby Jillian,
One year ago today we found out you were joining our lives. On that day I was wonderfully excited and overwhelmed at the big turn my life was taking.
Here we are a year later and you are the absolute best thing in our lives. You make us smile all day long with your cute faces, your funny laugh, and the new tricks you learn every day. You are simply wonderful, and we are so so glad to have you in our lives. We love you!
Love, Mom and Dad
Last weekend Jillian and I met my mom in Utah for a long weekend. The first order of business was to find a wedding dress for my sister Katie. Done and done. It took us a day and a half and 2 trips down from Salt Lake to Provo, but we found a dress that is absolutely gorgeous on her. Stay tuned July 1 for the dress reveal.
It's amazing to me how one little thing (a little Jillian to be exact) has changed my life so much. I've joined the ranks of all those called Mother. It seems everywhere I go I end up talking about feeding schedules, sleeping routines, and diapers. People are constantly asking about my sweet little girl and, let's be honest, I love talking about her.
Just today I called comcast about my ridiculously high bill. Jilly was sitting next to me "talking" to the animals on her playmat. The woman on the phone said, "Do I hear a baby? How old is she?" Turns out she has a seven month old baby. We spent the next 10 minutes talking about our little girls. What started out as a boring and frustrating call became very fun. As we hung up the woman said, "I hope you and Jillian have a great day."
All of a sudden I have a billion best friends- all the moms in the world- because we have something wonderful in common- we all love our babies.
My sister Jenn found out that she got into BYU!!! We're so excited for her, and proud that the Anderson Dynasty will continue in Provo.
One of the best things about living in California is that most days this winter have been sunny and in the 60s. Yet, we can drive 1.5 hours and surprise! we're in a Winter Wonderland. On Monday we took advantage of Bryan's day off and drove to Lake Tahoe.
I love croutons. They're my favorite part of any salad, which tells you a little about my healthy eating habits. But lately I haven't liked any of the croutons we bought at the store- too crunchy, too garlicky, too bland, etc. This week I decided to take matters into my own hands. I had heard of people making their own croutons and figured I would give it a try. Turns out it is totally easy and cheap (Am I the last person to figure this out??)
I bought a $1 loaf of french bread at Walmart. We ate half of it with our dinner and I ripped the other half into crouton-sized pieces. I melted 4 tbl of butter, added some parmesan cheese, onion powder, and garlic powder. I spread my bread pieces on a cookie sheet and poured the butter mixture over it then cooked them at 350 for 15ish minutes (I checked on them a lot to stir them around and see if they were ready yet.) And, just like that, I am a salad lover again.
Yesterday I missed teaching more than I ever had before. Valentine's Day was my favorite day of school- valentine's boxes, parties, handing out valentines, writing love stories- it was all so fun and exciting. Nevertheless, it was a very wonderful Valentine's Day around here.
It started on Sunday morning when Bryan made yummy pancakes for breakfast.
