Jillian turns 15!

Phew…these past 12 years have flown by in the blink of an eye! So much has changed for us over the past decade but one thing is still the same! So much of our lives revolve around our kids, and in particular, our first born, Jillian! This kiddo keeps us on our toes and has changed so much. It has been such a joy to watch her grow and evolve, but to still see so much of our little Bear in there too. 

There is no better occasion than Jillian’s 15th birthday to get the blog going again. You see, for the past 18 months, she has obsessed over reading the old blog. Day after day, I’ll look over her shoulder to see what she’s doing on her phone and often times, she’s reading stories of when she was little or looking at old pictures of herself. It has been so awesome to relive so much of her life, and I would have NEVER remembered half of these stories had I not written them down. I always dreamed that she would find her way to this and have the experience so many of us used to have when looking at our photos in baby books. Except she has the joy of looking at the pictures AND reading the stories. She sees herself through my eyes and in my words. I pray it gives her the slightest glimpse into how deeply and fully loved, cherished, and adored she is by us!

Jillian at 1 month, 1 year (12 months) and 15 years (180 months, in case anyone was counting 🤣)

Jillian has asked me to start and keep up with blogging and I think I’ll try it. Let’s see if I can keep it up to give her (and the boys because I fully intend to write about them too, sorry, Jill 🙃) a gift that I know will always be treasured! 

So here we are, on Jillian’s 15th birthday, celebrating her! As always, Julian and I take the day off on each kid’s birthday to give them special 1-on-2 time where each kid has both of us all to themselves! Jillian looks forward to this day every year for all the reasons that a kid looks forward to their birthday. But I think it is especially because of this tradition of spending the day with them.

Starting out her special day

As a full-fledged teen now, we were still up at midnight last night and were the first to wish her a happy birthday! Naturally, that meant she wasn’t out of bed until 10 AM! We got ready and headed out the door to go shopping for CDs and clothes at thrift stores. There is a really awesome area in Austin called The Drag that has five or six thrift stores within a one block radius. I love thrift store shopping with Jill! She always finds the cutest stuff at the best prices that fit her personality and style perfectly. 

Since there is a cell phone ban in Texas schools, we also bought Jillian a CD player when the school year started. This kid loves music and used to spend so much time on Spotify. So when cell phones were banned, we were genuinely worried what Jillian would do to get her music fix. Julian had the good sense to lean into the CD player that also connects to the radio. While Jillian always had great taste in music, it has certainly expanded and improved as she’s gotten older. So today, she got so many CDs, from Selena to Reba McEntire, and OutKast to Korn. Of course, she’s still Lana Del Rey’s biggest fan so she got 2 of her CDs. 

At The End of an Ear, doubling her CD collection

Super thankful to be your Mom and Dad, Little Bear!

Annual birthday flowers from a long-time secret admirer

All that shopping wore us out, so we came home and took a nap before Julian made us his famous hamburgers for dinner. But we weren’t done giving Jillian her gifts and she had one last one to open.  Jill's love language is far and away, giving (and receiving) gifts. The look on her face was pure joy when she opened it up to find a Macho Man action figure! Yet another thing she is very much into these days is WWE. She’s been collecting figurines for a few months now, but Macho Man is by far her favorite so she was thrilled that we found an older version on eBay and gave it to her. She said it was her favorite gift!

Pure joy at getting her Macho Man action figure (while wearing a Macho Man shirt!)

It’s been a wild ride since this kid was first born. I thank God everyday for bringing us Jillian as our firstborn baby, the one who made me a mommy and made us a family! Happy 15th birthday, my love! May you remember, today and always, that you’re our favorite (daughter/sister)! 😉 

Jillian always jokes about having "2 stinky lil bros," but deep down inside, I know she loves them!

When your teenager tells you they had a great day, it was a great day for you, too!

Jillian's Christmas Program

Jillian's school had their annual Christmas Program. It is my ABSOLUTE favorite thing that they do at her school.  The teachers work all month to teach the kids all the songs and dance moves.  And wouldn't you know it, our kid is a H-A-M!

Jillian asked to wear her favorite dress, her golden dress from her 3rd birthday.  She looked so pretty!

This year, her class performed with the older kids too, so Jillian and Jackson's class sang their songs together.  And thank goodness for that because Julian had to be in Houston for school work, but the Malnars got the performance on video so that Julian (and all our family) can see it.

She did so good, singing all of the lyrics and doing all the dance moves.

After it was over, we took a quick family photo.

And here are the stars of the show, Jillian, Jackson, and Andrew.

She looks like such a little grown up in this picture *tear*

I can't wait for the Christmas program again next year to see Jillian perform again...and because I think a certain little boy named Alex will get to be in the program, too.  I can't wait!!!  

O Christmas Tree

The house transformation for Christmas has begun.  We are slowly but surely making our way through all the rooms in the house to get them all decked out for the Christmas season.  Over the past 2 nights, we worked to put up the kids' Christmas trees.

Julian and Jillian put up her tree last night, and I can tell that it really brightens her day.  

Jillian and her Christmas tree - Christmas  2014

Where did the time go?!

Jillian and her Christmas tree 2011, 2012, 2013

As for Bubsy, we got him a tree last year, but never really found the right ornaments to deck out his tree.  But trusty Target came through again and we found these adorable woodland creatures that were perfect for him.

And I don't know if Jillian was more excited to put up her tree or to help put up his.  

Once I assembled the tree, I put the first ornament on.  Alex is a fast learner and he got right to work on adding the rest of them on.  

Jillian had already spent the night giving names to all of the animals.  So Alex would put one on, and Jillian would go rearrange it... "Alex, Robbie the Reindeer wants to be next to Ballie the Bear."

What resulted was a cute little tree for Alex's room.  Once we put everything on, I figured out that there are still more trimming that we can add to his tree, but all in good time.

How I love thee, O Christmas Tree,

And the little people you belong to!

Eat, Drink, and Be Scary

Last weekend, we had the Annual Halloween Party with our friends at our house.  It was the first of the Halloween festivities this season, which means that it was the first time Jillian and Alex got to wear their costumes.  

We have been asking Jillian since August what she wanted to be for Halloween this year.  She came up with a lot of ideas, and she was originally determined for her to be Minnie Mouse and Alex to be Mickey Mouse again.  I knew it was going to take a great costume idea to stray her away from using the same idea as last year.  

It was a no-brainer when I thought that she could be Queen Elsa and Bubs could be Olaf from Frozen.  As soon as I mentioned this to her as an option, she could think of nothing else!  

 

I knew there were going to be a million other little Elsas out there on Halloween...surely none would be as beautiful as mine!  

And our Olaf was the cutest little snowman around!  

Some people are worth melting for, and he definitely melted my heart!

As I was getting ready to host this year's Halloween party, I turned to trusty Pinterest for some party ideas.  And of course I found tons.  I made mummy hot dogs, ghost bananas, orange pumpkins, and monster yogurts (not pictured).  And of course no party is complete without cupcakes and goodie bags.  The other families brought lots of treats to add to the party fare too!

Everyone ate, drank, and enjoyed each other's company.  We stopped to snap a few family shots.

The Skows

The Malnars

The kids ate a lot of sweets and needed to burn off some sugar energy.  Jillian ran around serenading everyone to "Let it Go."

And we played a mummy game where the daddies mummified their kids, then they had to dance the monster mash, and hug their "mummies."  It was great fun for all most!

Elsa and Buzz ended the night with a dance.  The kids have been coming home telling us that they practiced their wedding dance at school.  They were excited to show us their moves, complete with a dip.  

It was a festive good time and we can't wait to host the Halloween party next year!

Adorable Alex: Walking Boy

Our Bubsy is a walking boy!  He started taking his first steps 3 days before his 1st birthday.

(This video is a little fuzzy)

But here in the last few days, he has really been taking off and walking so well on his own.

Another big milestone for our little guy!  We love you, little walking Bubs!!!

Adorable Alex: Home Run Photos

It's funny to look back and think of the things that you dreamed for your child.  I prayed that Alex would be healthy.  I hope that one day, he'll be kind and gentle.  I knew that we would raise him to be loving and strong.  You know, all the important stuff that matters in life.

But I also dreamed of silly things, too, like who or what he'll be one day when he grows up. I don't know if one day, Alex will grow up to be a ball player. And the truth is, we really can't even control if he develops a love for the game, even as a fan. All I do know is that we'll try our hardest to raise him right, to develop an appreciation for America's pastime. 

So here's the truth...I remember waking up in the middle of the night when I was pregnant with Alex, thinking all about how much I hoped he would love baseball, like his daddy. Like all moms who are awake at 3 AM, I turned to my ol' friend, Pinterest. From about 3-5 AM, I planned out his birth announcement, photo shoots, and 1st birthday party theme, all centered around baseball.

But I knew I couldn't trust these important details to just anyone. That's what happens when you have amazingly talented artists in your circle is you go to them with a vision, a dream, and you ask them to help you make it a reality.

So I pitched the idea of a series of photo shoots to our trusted photographer, Sarah Burns. Sarah has captured all of the amazing moments on our journey of parenthood, from maternity pictures to current day family photos. I told her I would supply the photo props if she would make the magic happen. 

What resulted was a series of photos of our son that will last us a lifetime!

Alex's newborn shoot

Alex at 3 months

Alex at 6 months

Alex at 1 year

The images are absolutely priceless to us. They tell the story of our baby boy becoming a toddler, right before our very eyes. Sarah did what Sarah does best, and that's capture our lives so perfectly in photos. 

I knew that these images would need to be matched with the creative genius of Becca Paro so that we could share them with our family and friends.  So I sent the idea of a baseball card birth announcement and baseball ticket birthday invitation to Becca. Her design, plus Sarah's images, made for a perfect way to share our love of our son, baseball, and the Yankees perfectly.

You may think I'm crazy for staying up nights working to see this vision and then working to make it a reality. Welcome to my crazy! But it was all worth it to get to capture Alex in such a way that we will always look back on and smile.