Happy Thanksgiving!

Our family has so much to be thankful for.  In 2 days (November 29th) it will be 4 years since the attack that injured Ryan and took the lives of 2 of our friends.  And yet, a few days prior to the date where our feelings are mixed between celebration of Ryan's accomplishments despite serious injury, and mourning the loss of 2 wonderful men, we gather with friends on Thanksgiving-  a day designed to take pause and reflect on all the wonderful things you have in your life. 

Some of our local friends joined us for a fabulous meal, and we really enjoyed ourselves.  

We are thankful for how wonderful our fried turkeys turned out:

For good friends (and chocolate milk):
For an abundance of delicious food (we all felt the way Liv looks in this photo after dinner!
and for our beautiful family:
Happy Thanksgiving!

50mm lens

It may be a bit of a stretch to say I'm in love with something like a camera lens, but I am.  Of course, there are many, many things I love more (such as the subject matter it is helping me to capture) but I am rather fond of this new piece of equipment.  I've been wanting it for awhile, and when I mentioned this to a friend, he oh-so-generously offered to let me borrow his to make sure I want to buy one.  

I'm sure.  

So... Santa (aka, Ryan)- can I please have a 50mm lens of my own?

Just look at those eyes!

Jillian meets Jill

Yesterday for Veteran's Day our family was invited to attend a special Veteran's lunch at the Biden's house in DC. It was a nice event, and Ryan and I both got a chance to talk to Vice President Biden as well as Dr. Jill Biden. Our goal when talking with them was to plug bill S1963, but all Jillian wanted to know was if "her (pointing at Dr. Biden) name is Dr, Jill, or Dr. Jillian" haha... When we talked to her, I joked- "Our daughter Jillian likes your name".  Dr. Biden turned to Jillian and said- "Oh, wow! Your name is Jill too!?" to which Jillian replied: "No! I'm Jillian!"

Jillian also met the Vice President, but was "shy of him" when he tried to say, "Hi".

Hope your Veteran's Day went well, and that you took time to thank someone who has served our great country.  To all our military personnel out there, our family appreciates what you do!

Help our wounded service members!

Happy (almost) Veteran's Day!

I have a favor to ask you...  please, click the link below to visit our Caringbridge site, and read about how you can take just a few minutes to help our most seriously injured service members!

Click HERE www.caringbridge.org/visit/ryankules

Thanks,

Nancy

Little Bo Peep & her sheep...

Oh no, where has my little lamb gone?There she is!
I caught her! (was not hard... this is an incredibly sleepy sheep!)
Happy Halloween! Click HERE for the rest of the photos of our Halloween fun!

(Oh, I also think it's of note to mention that I made both of their costumes. My Mom helped with the little white shirt under Jillian's while she was here awhile back, but the rest of the sewing I did yesterday and today! (Mostly today- lol) nothing like a deadline to get you motivated!)

Video

This morning Jillian was cracking me up.  She played with "her other friend, Jillian" in the mirror for about 5 minutes before I had to go get the camera to record her.  At the beginning of this video she says:  "Hello Jillian friend... can you find your nose?"  Then she gives herself a high five.  Haha!  So funny!  Later on, she even gives herself a kiss.  :)

Later on in the day, she came out to tell me that the little girl in the mirror was named "Lillian".  I laughed and said, "okay Jilli, that's cool."  About a minute later she came back out and announced:  "Mommy.  Lillian wants a cookie!"  Nice try kid-o!

More Fall/Halloween Fun!

I had Halloween outfits for the girls all picked out, and was wondering what backdrop I should use to take a few photos. Then, as if by magic, there was a knock on the door, and a box from Shere containing this fabulous Halloween quilt. It is SOooo cute! Thank you so much Shere! (Not only for the adorable quilt, but for your phenomenal timing as well!)
Liv sleeps through a lot of photo shoots still...
We went out to another local farm today. Boy was it crowded! Seems like everyone wanted to squeeze in a little more pre-halloween fall fun. Despite the hoards of people, we managed to find 4 perfect pumpkins... One for each of us. Stay tuned for photos of that!

Here's one photo of Ryan and Jilli:
And a shot of Jillian I took to show off her HUGE bow I made. I know, I know, it's extreme. However, it's a "holiday bow" so I figure we can have a little more drama. Thanks to Kelly for your bow tips while I was in AZ!
This is Liv with her best baby friend, Laney. Laney is Tessa's new little sister. Jillian & Tessa, Liv & Laney! Cute group of little ladies! Jillian and her BFF Tessa are about 6 months apart, and Liv & Laney are exactly 6 weeks apart. Turns out Ryan and I are pretty big fans of their parents Nate & Karen too, so things work out perfectly for our families!
That's all for this post. As always, there are more photos, so visit the Shutterfly site to see them all!

Click HERE for more photos of Liv and Jillian on the blanket,
AND at Homestead Garden!

Arizona Trip

I am so glad I decided to travel to AZ with both of my little girls!  

I got to spend a "big girl" evening out with these lovely ladies:

And was able to introduce Liv to lots of family and friends!

Here's Liv with my Grandma Ruth:

Me and Grandma:

My Grandma Mary and Liv:

Liv with Uncle Travis:

And a few Fall shots of the girls yesterday when we returned home:

Posing Pretty:

Silly Jilli:

There are a BUNCH more photos from our trip to Arizona...  Click HERE to check them out!

Have a wonderful day!

Pumpkin Farm!

There are lots of people I miss who live in Arizona. Growing up, going through school, college... I have so many wonderful friends there, and a lot of family too! So, sometimes I admit I wonder what it would be like to be raising my girls there...

And then, I go to a farm 5 minutes from my house, where I can get photos like this:And where my little girl smiles at her friends, like this:And where multiple Moms I hang out with will 'spot' my baby so I can take ridiculous photos like this: And, where out in the sunshine with my two beautiful girls, I feel like this:I L-O-V-E fall on the East coast!So, as the song goes: Make new friends but keep the old... I'm happy with that idea, and feel so lucky to have my days filled by our wonderful friends around here. And, (as an added bonus) truly experiencing all four seasons rocks!

I love my life.

MORE PHOTOS OF THE FARM... CLICK HERE!

Apple Picking!

Ryan's parents are in town visiting, so today we took a little drive and went to a farm to go apple picking.  The farm was GORGEOUS.  

We all really enjoyed soaking up the sunshine, and eating/picking apples:

Here's Ryan's Dad, Jay, with Jillian:

And his Mom, Canice, climbing a ladder to reach some perfect apples:

Jillian  r e a c h i n g  to get an apple "all by herself":

And then there's Liv... sleeping through the whole thing:

Jillian cracks me up... Here she is trying to find her shadow:

I thought for a minute our farm trip was going to be rained out, but it turned out to be gorgeous weather, and we got a whole basket full of delicious apples.  Stay tuned for an apple pie post!

Of course, the photos posted here are only a few... for the rest of the pictures from today, click this LINK!

:)  Nancy

P.S.- On the way out of the farm, we saw this sign...  Ryan wants you to know:  "Rule #4 is totally BS"

Pretty on Purple

How lucky are we to have two gorgeous girls?  Seriously.  We count our blessings every day.

Writing Jillian's name...

I got to thinking that Liv will have it so much easier than Jillian when it comes to learning to write her name.  But then again, Jillian actually only has 5 letters in her name, so maybe it's easier than I thought!  Today while Liv was napping, Jillian and I worked on learning to write the letters J, I, L, A and N.  I'd say she did a pretty great job for being 28 months old!  

Silly Girl!

5 minutes before nap...

5 minutes before nap time, Jillian shows up at the back door looking like this:

So obviously, we have to do this:

"Are you mad Mommy?"

Nope.  Not even for a second.  I love this kid.

A little Jillian fix for ya...

Needless to say, we've been a little focused on Liv for the past 2 weeks.  If you don't already know, I've got a separate site for Liv that I plan on updating weekly...  You can check it out at www.kulesfamily2.blogspot.com  

Anyway, for those of you who need a little Jillian fix, here you go! 

Her sticker says, "Awesome BIG Sister!"
Heidi and Jillian looking at the water/boats in Annapolis:
Chocolate dipped marshmallow treat for Jillian:
Playing at the park:
Jillian LOVES to swing:
She's also a pretty big fan of spaghetti: 
And really enjoys a nice long shower:

Who's who?!

Jillian looks a lot different now than she did when she was born.  We thought for sure we would have a little girl with dark brown hair, and brown eyes, and somehow ended up with a daughter who has light hair and grey-blue eyes.  It's amazing!

Now, who's to say if Liv will follow the same changing trend as Jillian, but so far, I'd say when compared at birth, they're clearly sisters.

A photo of each girl below...  Are you sure about who is who???

Liv Madeline Kules is HERE! :)

Our little girl has arrived!

Liv Madeline Kules

Thursday, August 20th 2009- 4:46am

7.1 lbs, 20.5 inches

For the whole story, please visit Liv's page at:

www.kulesfamily2.blogspot.com

Jillian LOVES to cook!

My sweet Grandma Mary (my Mom's Mom) sent this little apron she made for Jillian the other day.  Boy oh boy does Jillian like it!  As if she needed any more incentive to cook in her kitchen!

THANKS Grandma!

I am SOooo lucky!

My sweet friend Karen hosted a baby shower for Liv today, and we had a wonderful time.  Check out all the details and photos on Liv's site:  www.kulesfamily2.blogspot.com

Also, on Liv's site, there's a link on the right side where you can place your guess for Liv's arrival date, weight and length.  Happy Guessing!

IKEA Trip

I hate to trump the ballerina photos so quickly, but I have to share this story:

I've got about 30 days before Liv arrives, a room to finish decorating, and lots of other things to do.  So....  Why is this little girl running around the house naked?  No time to dress Jillian???

WE'RE POTTY TRAINING!

Perhaps against my better judgement, I've decided to go gung-ho on potty training.  I know it will be a pain once Liv gets here, but Jillian is really into it, very capable of using the facilities, and understands the whole concept.  It's going pretty well so far!

So- what's the rest of the story?  

Today my Mom and I took Jillian to IKEA to shop for a few items for Liv's room.  This was Jillian's FIRST trip out of the house without a diaper on.   We went to the bathroom before we left the house, and we went to the bathroom immediately upon arriving at IKEA.  Jillian tried to go when we arrived, but no luck.  She did however promise to let me know if she needed to go.  

We went into the elevator to start our marathon trip, and mere moments after leaving the bathroom for the first time Jillian announces, "Oh no- there's poop!"

Ahh!!  I look in her underwear, nothing yet.  We run (wrestling with those wiggly IKEA carts!) to the bathroom telling her, "wait Jillian... wait!" 

When we went to the bathroom, she looked really confused.  We had her stripped down, ready to go but she refused.  "No Mommy- no poop!  You need to poop?  NO POOP MOMMY!"

Confused, we decided not to push the issue (isn't the the rule when potty training?  Don't stress them out about it?) so we told her to let us know if she changed her mind.  

As SOON as we got back into the elevator, she announced, "POOP!" again.  Goodness child, I think I'm going to lose my mind.  Maybe we're premature on this potty training issue.

Then- I followed her gaze to the wall of the elevator, where they were advertising food from the IKEA cafeteria.

OH.  Mommy moment.  No sweetie.  Those are meatballs.

My Mom and I could not stop laughing.  Hope that does not ruin IKEA meatballs for you if you are a fan!

Hahah!!!

Final ballet Class- Summer '09

Jillian really enjoyed ballet class over the past 8 weeks... She is the littlest ballerina in her class by far, but she did a pretty good job! For the final class, we were able to go in and take video/photos. These photos are all from after the class was over, and I'm still editing video, so look forward to that- she's a hoot. The hardest part of recording was keeping the camera steady as I giggled... the 'performance' was adorable.

Ryan is out of town for a week (fishing in Alaska!) so my Mom was able to take advantage of a frequent flier ticket, and hop a plane to keep us company. She arrived just in time to attend story time this morning, go out to lunch with friends, and ballet this afternoon- Tuesday is my favorite day of the week so I'm SO glad she was able to be here to join in all the fun!

LINK for the other photos from ballet...

Jillian's alter ego

I know you're used to seeing Jillian in lots of pink, doing ballet... dainty girl-ish things.  Well- I'd like to introduce you to tough Jillian.  She's a whole new kid when she wears the Vans Aunt Marilyn brought for her.  Don't make this baby mad... look at that face!

Jillian Quotes, #1

I decided to title this one with a number, because I know there will be lots more where these came from ;)

I also know you may not find these two stories as hilarious as I did, but I want to write them down... for documentation sake!  :)

#1- The crib for Liv has arrived, and we set it up in her room.  Jillian was helping me wash linens the other day, and tie the bumper onto the crib.  During this process, she asked if she could, "get in the crib?"  I told her, "no... This crib is for when Liv comes home to stay with us... it's just for tiny babies!  Your crib is in your room."  She looked a little confused, ran out of the room, and came back with her baby doll.  "For tiny baby?" she asked?  "No Jillian.  Just baby Liv- no toys."  Hmm...  Pondering this, she ran out of the room again.  When she returned a minute later, she grabbed my hand, pulled me over to the crib, pushed on my belly and said, "Okay Mommy... Then GET IN!"  Haha...

#2- I just went into Jillian's room as she is supposed to be napping, and was playing/crying instead of sleeping.  I checked to make sure her diaper was clean, and then told her she, "needed to nap before I took her out."  She looked at me with great big alligator tears running down her face and said, "YOU take a nap!  I just want to make dinner!" 

Sounds like a good deal to me!  ;)

More adventures...

Our family at Sesame Place:

After dinner, with Elmo!
Ernie stopped by while we were eating:
Jillian on the carousel: 
Daddy, Jillian and Mommy watching the Abby Cadabby show:
Helping Daddy find our next destination on the map:
Ryan and Jillian planning the most efficient route to see all the shows we could squeeze in:
I know, I know... we've gotta slow things down a little bit, but I feel like there is so much to cram in before Liv arrives in a month or so!  It's been such a fun summer!

Our family just returned home from a quick road trip to Pennsylvania where we were able to participate in a press release for Sesame Workshop, AND go to Sesame Place!  It was such fun!

Sesame Street just launched a new tool for families to stay in touch online.  Think facebook for kids...  It's a totally secure site where you can invite up to 30 people to join your 'family' page.  Then, each person can contribute to the site: share photos, use the tools on the page to make fun drawings...  This is PERFECT for military families, or anyone else looking for a way to allow their computer savvy children to safely stay in touch with loved ones!  Check it out, and email this link to others if you feel they could benefit from this site- it's a great tool! LINK

And, here is a  LINK for the rest of the photos we took at Sesame Place!

All about Cabo!

I made a couple of collages with our pics, but if you'd like to watch a slideshow of the photos in their full size, click this LINK!

The entire trip went really well!!  We had a wonderful time despite the fact that our return flight ended up being delayed over 11 hours.  We had to spend the night in Texas and return home this afternoon rather than late last evening.  That was a little tough on us since it was already the longest amount of time we've been away from Jillian.  It was comforting though, knowing she was at home in good hands- my Dad was in from Nevada watching her, and they had a wonderful time.

Despite this being a work trip for Ryan, we ended up with a good amount of time to relax together.  We went swimming and took FULL advantage of the spa vouchers that were not being used by our group.  Ryan had 2 massages while we were there, and I had 3 PLUS a pedicure!  Woo Hoo!

Enjoy the photos!

Home Sweet Home...

It may be hard to believe that even though we're here:

We are really, really looking forward to being back here tomorrow:
Ryan and I are at a BEAUTIFUL resort in Mexico...  Cabo has been great, but we're ready to go home!  Wish me and my big-'ol belly luck on our long plane ride home tomorrow!  We can't wait to see sweet Jillian...

More photos soon!

Follow up from 4th of July...

Okay-  Here's a LINK from YouTube... If you scroll to about 5 minutes, 40 seconds into the clip, you should be able to see one of the times Jillian, Ryan and I were on TV!  You can also see our good friends, Nate, Karen, and Tessa!  With these cute babies, how could the camera have resisted us!  

4th of July fun!

Last night we were on NBC for the Macy's Fireworks show in NYC!  I don't have a link to watch it online (yet!  I'm still looking!) but we heard there was a close up of me, Jillian and Ryan watching the fireworks!  Woo Hoo!

Once the filming for the show started, I could not take photos, but here's a couple from before that, and here's the LINK for the rest I took...

Although the Intrepid in NYC (a retired aircraft carrier) was closed to the public for the fireworks, we were lucky enough to score tickets through Wounded Warrior Project to be guests on the ship for the big show!  We were sitting in the first row, and had an awesome view of some of the best fireworks I've ever seen!  We could even see little bits of paper floatingin the air from the explosions! We were that close!!!

This is at about 6:45 pm.  The show did not start 'til 9pm, and look how many people were waiting near where we were headed!  We were up on the big boat in the back of the photo...

She's trained so well to smile!  ;)  This cute outfit came from my wonderful cousin Heidi for the occasion!  Thanks Heid!

Ryan was also able to get tickets for our friends Meg & OZ, and Karen, Nate and Tessa!  It was a great group!

I know this looks cheesy, but yes, we really were having that much fun!

Check out the NYC skyline behind Ryan and Jilli!  How crazy lucky are we to be a short train ride away from this cool place!  Visiting NYC is so much fun!

Swimming in the backyard!

I just can't get enough of this little girl.  The link below has the other 38 photos I took of Jilli today in the backyard!

Happy 4th of July Weekend!
LINK

She's getting SO big!

I know there will be a time when we'll look back at these photos, and think, "AW!  She was SOooo little!" but right now, at this moment, she's big.

To be honest, sometimes it's a little hard to deal with!  Where is our baby?  Good thing we're weeks away from meeting Liv- I know that will help! ;)  But, what about when Liv is an ornery 2 year old?  Geez...  I guess I can understand how people end up with a dozen children!  Haha!

Last night I went to a book club with some friends in the area, and Ryan tucked Jillian in.  When she knew it was bedtime, she ran into the kitchen and sat down on the floor.  Once Ryan tracked her down she said, "Daddy, I'll just do a time out."  haha.  See what I mean?!?  She's BIG!

Here's a few photos I took of her today:

And some yesterday at ballet class:
I found this new outfit at TJ Max for $10 and could not pass it up.  I wanted her to wear her ballet shoes outside for the photo, but she's all about the rules, and "ballet shoes are ONLY for inside!"  Oh well- Crocs it is!

Happy July!