Jill's Halloween Parade!

Jill was able to participate in her first school Halloween parade! Grandma, Nonna, and Grandpa all came to see Jill parade around the sanctuary, sing a song (although she pretty much stared at the crowd), decorated a treat bag, and made out like a bandit with all the treats Grandma helped put in her bag! Nonna and Grandpa gave Jill a "best costume" award and a fun Halloween barrette to wear. Jill definitely had a lot of fun with her grandparents there, thank you for coming even though it is a short program! And I know she is gonna love the attention on Grandparents Day at school next month! Stay tuned...Joey is up tomorrow for his school parade, and of course Happy Halloween!

Fall Fun!

I am falling a little behind in updating only because so many fun things happen from this time of year til the end of the year! A week and a half ago on Friday we went to Sonny Acres to get our pumpkins! Always a fun night, and luckily it wasn't too terribly cold, and it had just rained so we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. We went just after dinner, and just before we left to come back home the high school crowd seemed to be heading out for the night. The kids had a blast picking out there pumpkins and having the run of the place. Andrew, Emma, Uncle Chris, and Grandma braved the Haunted Hayride while the rest of us checked out the goats! It was a little late to carve the pumpkins when we got home, but we had a lot of fun playing out there. Saturday morning after hockey and dance Joey couldn't wait to carve his pumpkin. Daddy helped Joey while I helped Jill, and then once the seeds were out the kids pretty much got bored so they went to play while Mommy and Daddy got to work. This was my first pumpkin carved like this...I am usually a triangle eyes, nose, and whatever happens for a mouth kinda carver so when Jill asked for Snow White and Daddy told me I was doing it I was a bit worried. Daddy did great on Ironman, and said in front of Joey that Snow White looked like she had a mustache! It was the princess upper lip, not a mustache but Joey totally believed him and tells most people that Mommy made a silly pumpkin of Snow White with a mustache! That Sunday we also went to Goebert's Farm with Nonna and Grandpa! Grandpa made his yummy blueberry pancakes to give us some energy before heading out to feed all the animals! The kids loved riding the horses, the camels, and feeding every animal they encountered! Jill was even fascinated with the mechanical dinosaur that ate a pumpkin and then thought it was hilarious that it had quite the belch afterwards! We had some tasty snacks and looked around the store before heading back home. It was quite the fall weekend! This past weekend (like I said I am over a week behind) we didn't do as much outside since it was much cooler. We're glad we were able to get out and have our fun when we did!

Today while Jill was in school Joey and I had some projects to do. Joey told me last night he wanted to make a windmill and a scarecrow just like George (Curious George). So that was just what we did. First we made the pinwheel/windmill and then we made the scarecrow using our Mickey pumpkin head. Making sure it was not all work, Joey took full advantage of a few good sprints and jumps into the pile of leaves!

Moving on up...

Joey passed his first hockey class and was moved up to the next level! He was super excited! Jill continues to love dance class and is willing to put her hair up, loves getting her dance gear on, and with the cooler weather we pulled out the leg warmers Auntie Miya made Jill when she was a baby. Back then the leg warmers barely fit over her chunky legs, now they are perfect for dance class!

Science Experiements

Last week in a weak moment at Walgreens I got Jill her first makeup kit. She had the option of Barbie, Tinkerbell or Princesses and I thought she'd pick one of the latter two, but she chose the Barbie kit. It had nail polish (which I was trying already to get her to like the .99 one over the $4.99 one that was the same exact color, but when she saw the whole kit for nearly same price as the good nail polish I figured why not? Well, because she loves putting makeup on everyone else and Joey was more than happy to be her victim! Last Friday we also had a science experiment when Daddy went to the store to buy dry ice. So here are all the fun things they did experimenting with the clouds in our kitchen!

Congrats Auntie Trish and Uncle Alex, and a pretty flower girl named Jill!

Super exciting weekend! Jillian was a flower girl in her Godmother and Aunt's wedding. Auntie Trisha and Uncle Alex had a most beautiful wedding and Jillian was more than ecstatic to be a part of it. We did the teaser pics of her trying on her dress at the wedding shop, but it really couldn't compare to how pretty Jill looked and pictures can't capture how awestruck she was to be a part of something so big and be a princess! For starters the rehearsal was Friday night and Jill learned her part in using the basket of leaves to walk down the aisle with her cousin Andrew. The two were a cute couple and both personality plus. Jill received a basket full of goodies from Auntie Trish and Uncle Alex, which was filled to the brim, some of the bigger highlights were stick-on earrings, a very cute frame about her being a flower girl that is already on her vanity table in her room, books, and a string of pearls! Auntie Trish, Auntie Pam, and Auntie Tiff as well as the rest of the bridesmaids were so wonderful at including Jillian on every step of the wedding day. She went with them to get her hair done (which she had a few moments from being burned by the curling iron but recovered well) and was ecstatic to have her nails professionally done! She loved watching the other ladies get ready too. She had her fair share of snacks, ask any of the girls, but she didn't have a real lunch or nap and did awesome the whole day. After getting her dress and pearls on she was ready for action. Auntie Trish made a most beautiful bride and all of her bridesmaids were sure to take good care of her. We headed to the 19 Century Club for the wedding... then across the street for some pictures... and back to the 19C Club for a fun reception... The kids loved dancing, were dancing during cocktail hour, and Jillian was whisked up in the dancing with many friends, bridesmaids, and even the bride and groom took her for a few spins on the floor. Jill has her mom's blood running through her; while Joey fell asleep in Daddy's arms, Jill and I were still on the dance floor. Jill has decided she loves Kiddie Cocktails and given the chance would have closed the place down with the rest of the wedding party. Joey was quite out though so we got Jill to leave the dance floor only to have her first tearful moment of the night when we were saying goodbye to Grandma and she kept asking me for another Kiddie Cocktail, wanting to go back up and keep dancing! Once we hit the car and put pj's on, she was out within 3 blocks. As I mentioned earlier, Auntie Trish is Jillian's Godmother, but she is also Joshua's Godmother too. Never forgotten and I am always taken off guard, Trish walked down the aisle with the rosary that was made for her from the flower from Josh's casket. And if that wasn't enough to make me cry finding out, seeing the rosary, and then watching the beautiful bride walk down the aisle knowing she had that, the song that they exited to from the ceremony as husband and wife was Viva La Vida by Coldplay (done by the quartet), but that song has been a "Josh" song between Phil and I since we first heard it shortly after he passed. So once again, tears down my cheeks and knowing he is letting the sun shine down along with his sweet smile. Alex and Trish looked so happy and so in love. They had a great first dance--so fitting for them, and such a wonderful day. I do have a lot more pictures Auntie Trish, a few keepers from the park for sure, but didn't post here. ;) Congrats to the happy couple!

NICU reunion party 2012

Each year, usually in October, we are invited to the NICU reunion party. It is the best celebration of life you can think about; seeing so many kids that spent days, weeks (Joey), and for some (like Josh)months in the NICU now they are getting bigger, thriving, and showing how capable a preemie is of overcoming any obstacle. We were able to catch up with our favorite NICU nurses which we just recently saw some at the CHARGE run, and some that we hadn't seen since last year. There as usual was great kid food, lots of crafts, bubbles, games, haunted house jumpies, and the band! Even though it was earlier this year the kids were still allowed to dress up so here is also a preview of their Halloween costumes. We stopped by Assumption to thank Josh as well as Joey for allowing us to be invited and included on such a great day.

Clearing the Camera...

We have a very busy and exciting weekend coming up as Auntie Trish and Uncle Alex tie the knot and Jillian gets to be princess for a day as flower girl. She is very excited and I am sure I will have plenty of pics of that, but for now here are some of what Phil says are the same pics. Yes, the Arboretum! I love it, and at this time of year breathtaking with the leaves changing. Luckily I have my nature boy Joey who seems to love going there as much as I do, so we went last week but only were able to go for a very short time because we had to pick Jill up from school. This past Tuesday Jillian stayed for the enrichment program because she absolutely loves her teachers, socializing, and being at school! So Joey and I were able to spend a few hours and a nice lunch on a nice fall day at the Arboretum. October had hit so the scarecrows were out lining the lake which we walked first, caught some grasshoppers, played in the Children's Garden, and had our lunch al fresco before getting Jill at 1.