Happy Memorial Day!

Second car show of the season today...Sam's hosted our Memorial Day car show. The weather was great, a little windy. The club did a BBQ to raise money for Seattle's Ronald McDonald House....many Alaskan children travel to Washington state for medical treatment. We ate lunch at the BBQ and it was so windy that Jillian's hot dog and plate blew away. Thankfully the cooks were kind enough to make her another one! Thanks guys! Jillian had a blast! She loved riding around in the stroller...

...and she loved running around the parking lot even more. As soon as she got a taste of freedom, nothing else would do. She did not want to be held, she was too busy exploring. Although, she cracked up when Jeremy held her over his head. I was lucky enough to get a great shot (top pic).

Driving Miss Jillian

Miss Jillian attended her first car show of the season this afternoon. Lithia in south Anchorage (Chevy dealership) hosted the annual reunion show for the Anchorage Corvette Association. At first, Jillian was very shy and not sure about all the people and cars. She warmed up quickly though and before we knew it she was running all over the place. Which meant I was one step behind saving the newly waxed cars from baby fingerprints. The only car I let her touch was ours....sorry Daddy, she was too fast - like a rocket! Jeremy walked in and immediately noticed the fingerprints....its like he has an internal radar. You should hear him when I come home from the store with a new door ding. I almost believe he thinks I should park in the back row (you know, the row that is always empty) and hike to the store with Jillian on my hip. Hmmmm, I suppose I should consider the potential exercise.

Jeremy and I had fun watching Jillian play in the car. Jeremy was a good sport to let Jillian play behind the wheel. Miss Jillian rides in the Corvette more than me! The car seats 2 and since our family numbers 3 (not counting Athena) it means that someone will always be left behind. Ahhhh, before you feel sorry for me - just think of all the things I'm able to do when Jeremy takes our girl cruising. Yep, bubble baths and naps and reading and sometimes even housework, but mostly naps.

The weather here in Anchorage is beautiful - warm (70's) and sunny! And for all you southerners - 70 is hot for us Alaskans! :) We are loving this weather!!!!!!! Jillian gets to wear cute summery clothes. Another biggie here where nice, warm days are not in abundance.

Happy Memorial Day to all of you! Hope you all have a GREAT weekend!

Summer Saturday Smiles

The sun was so warm on Saturday. While Jeremy was working on the shed, Jillian and I played in the yard and on the deck. She is so fun and cracks me up with the way she interacts with our lab Athena. Jillian giggles when Athena just looks at her.

On Sunday Jillian learned a new game. A few years ago, Jeremy built a display cabinet with a glass front to hold all of his diecast cars. On Sunday, Jillian walked over to the cabinet and hit the front with both hands really hard. It scared me to death thinking of the glass shattering all over her. I ran over, told her "No, Ma'am" and tried to distract her with a toy. It didn't work. She immediatley turned around and RAN back to do it again. Jeremy and I sat there and laughed so hard. Probably not the best response. I again tried distracting her; but, this time I couldn't stop giggling. She kept going back and hitting the glass - but, now she would hit the glass and turn around to look at us and smile. Oh No - a new game! She did this probably 4 times. Finally, Jeremy and I decided we should just ignore her. We were sitting on the couch holding the newspaper in front of our faces, trying to swallow our giggles, as our ornery daughter would run and hit the glass. After only one time of not getting the response she wanted, Jillian stopped hitting the glass. Hopefully for good.

This Girl has a Hot Rod Heart

The airport in Minneapolis has a "mall" with a fun GM store. During our layover when flying home last October, we found this super cute romper. In the picture above, I was trying to get her to crawl through the tunnel. She decided that she would rather lift it up instead.

Here she is picking up a toy. Miss Jillian just won't quit growing....this is the last day she'll be able to wear the romper because she is too long. :) I am thinking about making it into a t-shirt, but then I'd have to cut off the cute "vrrooom" on her bottom.

Yesterday, we played outside in the grass and on the deck. The afternoons are finally getting warm enough to be outside....and then only in the sun. The shade is still chilly. Both the wood deck and grass must have felt funny to walk on because she was very nervous to walk alone and didn't want me to go far.

4 times 7, take 2

On Wednesday we celebrated Jeremy's Birthday. My wild man went all out for his Birthday this year and took a few days off from work to build a shed in the backyard. He has been putting in some long days and is almost done with the project. I had him pose with the cake I baked, he looks exhausted (and dirty).

Mercy Daddy, Mercy!

Here is Jeremy holding Miss Jillian over the air purifier....blowing on high. She thinks the blast of air is funny. And whatever we can do to make her laugh..... :)

Jillian said Ma-Ma for the first time this past Saturday. I was gone all day and missed it, but thankfully Jeremy got it on video. She has said it everyday since! :) This morning she said 2 new words. Kay brought Mr. Zach over to play this morning. We were all sitting on the floor and Jillian was playing with Zach's coat. Kay asked Jillian if she could say coat and Jillian said "noooooo". (Thank goodness she said mama before no.) It was cute how she used it perfectly in the conversation. Then Zach was playing in the yellow tunnel and Jillian wanted to play too. She walked over to Zach and said what sounded like "go". This would be 4 words in Jillian's speaking vocabulary (she understands many more words than she actually says) and the 4th word being Da-da which she has been saying since about 7 months old. Most of her talk is in her own language. :)

As for signing, she still uses all done and love intermittently and very rarely on demand. Mostly she uses all done when we are doing something that she wants to stop - like washing her face. Last week she signed milk and Jeremy didn't know what she was doing, so it didn't "pay off" for her. She signed drink for me this weekend and I tried to go over the top with my reaction. She has also signed flower for me, but I haven't gotten her to repeat it lately.

Good times! :)

Happy Spring from a Cute Chick!

Each new day brings more sunshine - longer days and warmer temperatures! Us Withrows can't wait to get the summer started, we are looking forward to an awesome Alaskan summer! :) Hope you all are enjoying spring, wherever you may be.

4 times 7

Yesterday was my birthday! :) Every Friday the corvette club picks a local restaurant to have dinner. Last night, Outback was chosen - yummy! We decided to join the group and Jeremy coordinated with club friends Dave and Margo and the restaurant to surprise me with a cake! I LOVE cake, I could eat it for every meal of every day. So, this surprise was especially sweet and loving! Thanks babe! :)


Look at these two cutie-pies! Miss Jillian looks so grown!! She ate too much frosting and was up most of the night. Super-fun. She also loves cake and frosting and everything sweet. She gets that from me.

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter! Hope everyone had a fun Easter weekend!! Miss Jillian had a very busy weekend, starting with attending her first Birthday party on Saturday. Mr. Zach turned one yesterday and his family celebrated with a friend party on Saturday afternoon. There were lots of kids and Jillian had a blast playing with everyone. She has no fear, a couple times she walked up to the bigger kids and took their toys away. We are still working on the sharing thing. The Easter bunny visited Jillian Sunday morning and she had fun opening her presents before church. Then Jeremy and I went to church and Jillian played in the nursery. The church we go to is HUGE with thousands of members, they have different nurseries for almost every age. Jillian was in the 12-18 month group. After the service, it took us a bit to get back to the room and when we arrived there was a line of parents picking up their kids. We could see Jillian standing at the gate looking for her mommy and daddy - it was so cute! We think they must have wore her out because we came home and she slept for 3 hours!! Joy, Josh and Luke came over in the afternoon to visit, play x-box and eat ham. Yummy! :) All in all, it was a wonderful first (technically, second) Easter for Jillian.

Kindermusik

Last Wednesday Zach, Jillian, and I met Zach's mom to attend a music class - Kindermusik. (I hope I'm spelling that correctly.) We had a great time! I brought the camera thinking I would be able to take all kinds of pictures....we were so busy that I was only able to get one shot at the very end. We had so much fun that we plan on going again this week! :)

Spring Sun

The weather has been so lovely in Alaska lately - warm and sunny! On Wednesday we got about 3 inches of snow, but it melted the next day. We are enjoying spring! We have a window in the front of our house that looks out on the street. Jillian likes to stand on the windowsill and wave hello or good-bye. She likes to watch over the neighborhood and see whats going on. BUT, she needs one of us to hold her up to get a good view. One afternoon, she knocked over the air purifier and pushed it over to the window. She was able to get a good view all on her own. I thought her creativity was adorable and had to capture the moment.

Busy Baby Returns

The other morning Jillian woke up full of energy! She crawled through the house and left her mark in each room. She emptied out kitchen cabinets, my dresser drawers, and spread books all over the floor in our bedroom - all before getting dressed for the day! I had to take pictures to document the whirlwind we call daughter. Her nose is still a little runny, but her energy has(thankfully) returned. I believe that she is feeling better and she is eating more too! I still think that when this is completely over, that we'll take her in to the Dr's to have her ears checked. I want to feel secure that she isn't suffering, when I called the Dr. last week his nurse told me that sometimes kids will have ear infections with no symptoms!!!! Then I read that if a parent got ear infections as a baby, oftentimes their baby will also get ear infections. Jeremy's mom said that he got ear infections after colds. Hmmm, we'll see and keep ya'll updated! :)

One More of the 4-Legged Baby.....

OK, I had to add this one. Jeremy made Athena a few signs to wear. On the back of one, I wrote super beast - because that is what she is!!!! He took a picture of her wearing it and sent it to me at the Guard this weekend. I love it! She looks huge (super-sized lab!) and is sitting so still! What great posture. :)

Our Other Baby

I just finished the most wonderful book - Marley and Me-Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, written by John Grogan. This book was a gift from my sweet husband - Thank-you Jeremy! This book is all about Grogan's dog Marley, a yellow lab, who was quite ill-behaved and still a cherished member of their family. I wanted to share some pics of our sometimes ill-behaved and much loved member of our family, black lab - Athena Isis! We adopted Athena from Wetland Retriever Lab Rescue when she was about 8 weeks old in October of 2003. She was an adorable puppy and has grown into a beautiful dog. She will be 3 years old on August 8th. She is most certainly a mix-breed dog, but she looks all lab.

Athena is watching the ducks at Connor's Bog here in Anchorage - a very fun place to go run and swim off some of that extra energy. (I wish I could bottle her energy for me!) Jeremy and Athena love to play fetch-the-stick.....and sometimes Athena even brings the stick back to Jeremy.

I love this picture....Athena had been with us maybe 2 weeks. She was so little as a baby! (She was so little that she could come and go through the cat door to the garage! Very cute!) I had just come home from shopping where I found this great tub for Halloween candy. (This was before I learned that not too many kids go door-to-door in our neighborhood and normally one bag of candy will be too much. Thanks Josh and Luke for always visiting us! You both always make my night!) I brought the tub upstairs and Athena jumped right in for a perfect photo opportunity! You can see in the background a bucket of cleaning supplies....in the beginning this bucket was always near-by for puppy accidents. :)

This is Athena during her first Christmas - look how big she has gotten! This is only 2 1/2 months after the picture of her in the Halloween tub!!!!!!! She is chewing on her Christmas present from my sister Katie. I think this bone might have lasted 2-3 hours.....yep, 3 hours tops. She is wearing the Christmas collar she got at the doggie Christmas party we attended. It was a lot of fun and very crazy!

I enrolled Athena in puppy obedience classes...so far we have taken 3 classes and Athena knows the basics. She is also great at going through tunnels and hopping over hurdles. My next goal is to take a class on agility or maybe flyball. She'd be great. The first teacher we had is a wonderful lady who LOVES dogs, she has 4 herself and also trains and rescues many others. Her students used to get together at a local ball field and play - we called it puppy park. It was a blast - Athena loved getting together with all the other dogs and playing. It was also a safe place for my runner, the field is fenced with a gate. After Jillian was born, we took a family trip to the ball field so that Athena could get some play time with us. This is a great picture of Athena chasing the ball. The municipality has started fining folks $50-100 if they catch you there with your dog off leash. Its too bad, especially considering not one of our off-leash dog parks are completely fenced-in.

Athena the mountain climber! Here she is on top of Flat Top! On this day, I was at home sick as a dog (hee! hee!) - I was pregnant and just beginning to learn how this baby would rock my world. Jeremy took our out-of-state visitors (cousin Brian and wife Rochelle) hiking to get a great view of our lovely city.

Athena is wild - she can be destructive when left alone, is a crazy-jumper (initially) around visitors, she will run away at the first opportunity to explore, she has selective hearing when we issue commands, and when we're not looking she will sleep on the furniture. She is not the perfect, most well-behaved pooch. But as I write this blog, Athena is laying at my feet. She is loyal and loving. I remember being 3 months pregnant and so sick of being sick. I came home from work crying and only Athena was there to greet me. She got on the bed with me and just sat there and listened to my woe-is-me's, then she laid her head in my lap and stayed with me until I fell asleep. She is not perfect, but she is family and we love her. Athena, you enrich our lives and we are better for loving you!

Daddy's Girl

Right now Jeremy spends his days in bliss, naive to the knowledge that before too long those baby blues will bring him to his knees with the slightest flutter. Underneath his manly exterior, is a Daddy who adores his daughter. Observing Jillian's reaction when he enters the room, one might say she feels the same about him. And I consider myself to be the lucky one.

Miss Jillian has been sick the past few days. This is a first for us. She had a little something back around 9 months - it was nothing compared to this though. She started getting sick on Saturday and had a fever that was 101 degrees at its highest. (It was high enough for me to worry. But, that wouldn't take much.) She has been coughing, sneezing and her nose is running like a leaky faucet. She has not been sleeping well or eating well and last night her fever came back. Thankfully it was gone again by bedtime tonight. We're hoping she's over the worst of it and tomorrow will start the first day on the road to health and happiness.

First Walk of the Season!!

The weather has been awesome in Alaska! The sun is shining and the temps have been reaching almost 50 degrees! We have been really excited about that! This afternoon I called my good friend Joy and asked if she'd like to go on a walk with Jillian and I. Since she lives so far away (right next door), and happened to be available, we were all able to get out and enjoy the sunshine. I didn't get a picture of Joy today, but here is a picture of all of us from last summer. :)

The Withrow Family

Jeremy and I celebrated 7 years of marriage yesterday. WOW! The years have just flown by!!! In honor of our anniversary I wanted to post a few family pictures. The top was taken by our photographer friend (Lisa!) last October during our visit to Illinois. We are in Hawaii in the bottom shot, we had a lovely visit to paradise last December. (Can paradise be anything but lovely?)

2 Kids and 1 Silly Girl

This is Jillian and Zachary - I like to call them Zach and Jill. (Hee Hee) Mr. Zach will be spending his days with us and we are so excited! At times, Jillian and Zach appear to play nicely together - although I hear that play at this age is not so much interactive, more like parallel play. They are funny to watch. I am learning all kinds of new things about Jillian, spending concentrated time one-on-one with another baby her age is a first.

Miss Jillian is cracking up at Athena - our horse disguised as a lab. :) Athena is trapped downstairs by the stair gate and Jillian thinks that is so funny! She pushed her activity table over by the stairs. I think she wanted to play and tease Athena at the same time. Ornery. She must get that from her father. :)

The lighting in this pic is not the greatest, but, I just love Jillian's pose and facial expression. I smile just looking at her in this photo and thought you all might too!

Birthday Presents

We waited for a whole week before letting Jillian open any of her Birthday presents. Mainly because Jeremy and I weren't finished with our shopping for her. Finally, we got organized and opened presents this past weekend. We videotaped the whole thing and got lots of cute photos. :) We think that this will probably be the only year we will get away with being behind schedule.

By the time the last present was opened, Jillian was ready for a nap. She was worn out!! After her nap, she looked at all the toys in the living room with this expression of awe - like it wasn't a dream, everything is still here! :) Cute, cute. She is so much fun!

Oh, you may notice that I made everyone wear the same clothes we all wore at the party. So, in the scrapbook it will look like everything happened on the same day. Tricky, tricky.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hi All! Hope you had a fun filled Irish day!! Jillian is sporting her green, and looking quite cute at it, I must say. :)