8 & 9 months!

we're doing these 2 months together because i put the 8 month post off long enough that it just had to be melded with 9 months!




jillian has now been out in the world longer than she was inside me! that is so wild to think about!

she is still wild, crazy, and sweet as can be.

and, not that i am partial, but is getting cuter and cuter!

her stats?

17 lbs {10th percentile}
27 inches long {25th percentile}

* she just got her first tooth this week! {i didn't think she'd ever have teeth, but i was ok with that, because her gummy smile is just too cute!}


* this week she also had double ear infections and RSV -- not a fun week, but we're getting past it now!

* she walks like crazy if she can hold onto anything that will slide across the floor - toy, box, chair, etc.

* she can stand without holding onto anything for like 30 seconds, and can even drink a bottle when doing it, but i think she is just showing off!

* she is such a little ham! she will do something and then just look at us, waiting for a laugh! {and most of the time she gets it!}


* we cannot keep her out of the trashcan! which is gross and annoying! she'll pull it over in the kitchen and dump it all out. her only flaw - ha!

* her favorite thing to do? probably climb in and out of her chair or up and down stairs.

* yes, she has mastered going up and down stairs!


* for the past couple of months she has been sleeping so great! we just lay her down and she goes right to sleep without a peep. but with her being sick this past week, sleeping has been a challenge, so we're trying to get back in the swing of that.

* she loves any and every other baby or kid! if we're at a restaurant, she we'll spot them several tables away and just stare at them.

* her cousins? she loves them and just follows all the older ones around, thinking she is a toddler!


i'm kinda wondering if i'll be talking about walking in the next post. i think i will be ok either way. as long as she doesn't start running first!

2010 iN REViEW!!

this has been one of the greatest, most changing year we've had as a family, yet!

the year we got married was also the greatest, but i don't feel like it was quite as "changing" as becoming parents.

it has been incredible to meet jillian, and getting to know her these 9 months.

we started off the year about 6 months pregnant and growing rapidly!


in february, we got almost a foot of snow, which we all thought was the greatest thing ever! {i don't look 7 pregnant here all bundled up}


in march, we were just counting down the days to our march 31st due date. we really weren't super anxious about it until we were going past our due date, then we were more than ready to meet our sweet girl!

here were were going on a date for my birthday {almost a week past our due date}


april 4th was my actual birthday and easter. we went to church and family lunches - everyone asking when the baby would get here! well we had an answer -- we were getting induced in the morning!

on april 5th, we went in to start our induction, and it kinda went south from the beginning!

between my crazy high blood pressure and jillian's crazy low heart rate, we landed ourselves in an emergency c-section! not exactly how i would've planned it, but i wouldn't have changed a thing now!

after a very looong day, we got to meet jillian grace at 9:06 pm on april 5th!
goodness gracious! it was love a first sight!


{he's not proud, no?}

we had to spend a few days in the hospital because of surgery recovery and jillian's jaundice. at the time we were kinda itching to get home, but looking back, those were such sweet days for the 3 of us to get acquainted =)

in may, i got to celebrate my first mother's day!


in june, we celebrated kyle's first father's day.



we also celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary. a new member was added to our annual church steps picture!



in july we celebrated the 4th of july.


{her smile in this picture melts my heart. that dimple!}

we went on vacation to galveston with the nelsons.



jillian started to master the tummy time and head control.


in august, she started sitting up in bumbo and eating rice cereal. from that day forward, she has "inhaled" any food we put in front of her!



she also started army crawling, and has not stopped moving since!

we took jillian to her first ranger's game.


and the texas state fair.



in september, a week before 5 months, she started crawling full force!

jillian also got a new cousin - haylie rae jones!



october -- jillian made a pretty darn cute bumble bee for halloween.



jillian got to celebrate her first thanksgiving in november.


and go to her first aggie game!


december was full of a ton of fun holiday festivities!





this year came with a lot more "monthly updates" with a baby!

everyone said "it'll go so fast!", but i never imagined how much of an understatement that would be! looking at all these pictures makes me so happy, yet very sad at the same time!

i cannot believe how big she is and what all she can do now!

i can't wait to see what 2011 will bring for our little family!

right now we have a 9 month old who thinks she wants to be a toddler, so we are starting this year off quite busy!

{i had to finish this post in the starbucks parking lot, because our internet is still sketchy. yes i am that person, but do you really want me bringing a 9 month old into starbucks for any length of time!?}

the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas has seemed to have come and gone much faster this year!

we had so much fun with jillian. it's been a blast to see everything through her eyes, and i can't even imagine how much more in the next few years!

jillian was so sweet all day. we were a little nervous that she might be in rare form because she was so exhausted! but she was such a trooper and just went with the flow wherever we were!

on christmas eve, jillian missed the memo that she was supposed to be asleep with sugar plums dancing in her head.

she was up allll night! finally around 3 am, she fell asleep for good in our bed.

then woke up at 7:30!


so with very little sleep Christmas morning, we had our little Christmas with just the 3 of us. it was so sweet to watch jillian love every little thing.


then we went to the nelson's for breakfast and festivities.





doc and gigi got jillian the little tykes car, and she was quite a fan! you can put a "floorboard" in it, so she won't fall out and we can just push her around in it. which makes it perfect for her right now!


mom and dad got a few fun things too!

then we went to lunch at my parents.


we had the annual "vote" by andrew to see if we take naps or open gifts after lunch, and somehow gifts won again! hmm..

we tried to get a picture of all the grandkids and that is always an adventure.


these kids love each other so much! it's so fun to watch them all together!


jillian (and izzie and haylie) got these big chairs and jillian has played in hers soo much! she'll climb in, sit for 10 seconds, then climb back out, and repeat 100 times! it's so funny to watch her. i think she feels so big to have a chair her size!


after all the craziness was over there, we went to the shaver cousin christmas (the nelson cousin christmas was the week before).

we ended the night back at my parents watching the cowboys embarrass themselves on tv!

we were so exhausted by the end of the day, but i wouldn't have changed a thing! we all came home and crashed and slept till 11!

(jillian woke up at 8, but we moved her to our bed and she slept 3 more hours, praise the Lord!)

our first Christmas with jillian was a huge success! i can't wait for the next few years when we can start traditions where she really understands the true meaning of the holidays.

i say i can't wait, but i most definitely can, i'm not wishing any time away. at all!

each day is so sweet right now.

i hope this finds each and everyone of you just as happy!!

catching up..

it is somewhat difficult to keep a blog updated when our internet does not work 75% of the time.

i'll be ready to sit down and update, and that is the time it doesn't work. but then it always magically works when i'm ready to go to bed.

i'm trying to see this inconvenience as a good thing (i'm sure kyle would disagree with this statement), because i spend waaay to much time online, reading blogs and what not. and it's not even that i'm doing/reading negative things. it's all things that are beneficial spiritually, or to raising kids, or cleaning house, crafting (that's a positive!).

i think that super large amount of time could be better spent doing some other things. like actually using the tips and getting my house clean!

but i still want to blog also.

this post is just going to be some pictures and what not of stuff we've been up to since thanksgiving! (good grief, it's been a month).

we had thanksgiving lunch with the nelsons and dinner with my family.

then kyle went hunting and i went to work, so jillian got to spend the night with ammaw and papa.

i only took a few pictures that day. (none at my parents, because i was only there for about an hour, and kyle wasn't there at all!)



jillian's bow makes her look like the chiquita banana lady.


a bunch of nelsons and shavers went to the a&m - baylor football game in waco. heated rivalry in the family!


the little nelsons (us) went all as aggies.

i pretty much love this picture!

kyle had a class for work down in austin, so we all went as a family on a mini trip. this is jillian's first time to stay in a hotel in like 5 months, and she didn't do quite as well as she has before, but we made it through.

the luggage it takes to get that girl out of the house for just a few days!!

we didn't know it, but there was a lady from kyle's class next door to us at the hotel, and one morning in class she said, "i didn't get any sleep, because there was a baby next door that kept crying!"

oops. i didn't think it was quite that bad!

we were there 3 nights, and by the third, she was doing really well!

jillian and i just hung out and played most of the day while kyle was in class. it was a nice break from home.

ashleigh and i opened up shop selling baby and toddler clothes! (more on this to come).


we're just working from home making custom stuff, and we had our first booth at a craft fair at the hospital, and did pretty well, so we were excited! that has kept us pretty darn busy!

kyle hung our christmas lights and jillian had fun watching. this endeavor included kyle falling off the ladder. no hospital trip was needed, just a couple bruises! (and jillian was not sitting there when he fell!)

now we're into all the christmas craziness and having so much fun with jillian! it's so fun to do this with kids now! (although a lot more tiring at times!)


so this has been a very "cliff's notes" version of the last month, but we're still here and trucking along!